Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Lately: November

November has been full of outings and adventures and projects galore. Here's a peek at what we've been up to so far this month:

The Annual St. John's-Kinkaid game is held at Rice Stadium each year, and we were all so excited to attend!


Falcon Feast beforehand



Cheering on the Kinkaid Falcons to victory!


The morning after the football game, I had planned an outing to Sheldon Lake State Park with Henry's Cub Scout den. After a late night, morning came way too soon, but Henry and I headed out to learn about pond ecology with his den.


It was a warmish day, but we always enjoy being outside in nature. 


Gene had a lot of travel this month, including travel over a weekend, so the boys and I made kept busy with outings. We visited the farmers market and watched a paella cooking demonstration.


Check out the size of the pan!!


The Houston Arboretum is always a favorite spot.




We also went to hear author Katherine Paterson (of The Bridge to Terabithia) talk about her newest book, My Brigadista Year.



More books!  Nana and Pop joined us at Kinkaid's book fair and family feast.


We came home with a stack of new books.


We have also spent the past three weekends working on projects! Fourth grade at West U is project-heavy and for some reason, they are all clustered together, which means we spent way too much time doing projects, like the salt map of Texas.
 


Henry has been studying Magellan for a reading project and had to research phosphorus for science.



Field Day was last Friday at Henry's school. His class was the Minions! Here's a close up of Henry's photo from the class banner.


They all had cute Minion hats to wear.



Henry was in the hurdles,


baton relay,


and 50-yard dash.


Despite a few injuries, it was a fun field day for Henry!

And finally, I'll leave you with a photo of Ruby and one of her stolen tennis balls. We find them on the street outside the tennis courts and figure they're fair game out there!


 I hope your November has been full of fun fall outings!

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Astros Fever

Way back on November 1, the Astros won their first ever World Series! The whole city was excited and rooting for the Astros, and after the devastation of Harvey, it was just what we needed.

We had several Go Astros! days at school and the kids were encouraged to wear their jerseys.


Gene snapped this photo before the World Series started. If you look closely, you can see the RIP Yankees and the hearse reserved for the Dodgers.   


World Series Champs!!!


There was an incredibly long line outside Minute Maid Park to get gear after winning the World Series.


HISD cancelled classes when over 1000 teachers and school bus drivers called in sick so they could attend the Astros Parade, so Henry packed up his homework and the spent the day at work with Gene.


Making Go 'stros! signs with Ms. Laura


Lunch (banh mi, of course!)


And then these two headed out for the parade! 


It was a sea of people and it makes me feel claustrophobic just looking at the photos of the parade! Over a million Houstonians were in attendance. I watched on TV before heading out to do the Kinkaid carpool run, since Will still had school that day.


The trophy


Our Astros



This was such an incredible moment in our city's history -- watching and cheering for the Astros brought Houston together and gave those affected by Harvey something exciting to focus on amidst the rebuilding. Go 'Stros!  

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Celebrating the October Birthdays

A couple of weeks ago, we got together with Gene's side of the family to celebrate the October birthdays! It was a beautiful, cool day, so the cousins were able to spend a lot of time outside, running and playing together.

This boy loves Frisbee and the Astros! We had to get him a new jersey as his orange was one was too short.




Michael


David was fascinated by the bird feeder.



Deep in conversation 




David caught a lizard and brought it over to show everyone.



Mary was playing house 



and made a delightful feast!



The Notre Dame game was on, so Mike and Michael were peering in at the TV.


 Family photo time!



Lots of outdoor fun

 





 


Pop and Henry



Gene and Will work poring over old Kinkaid yearbooks.





Nancy made a delicious dinner, and then we enjoyed birthday cake! 


Four!







And 44!

 



Present time!

 




Happy birthday to our favorite October babies!