Beating the Heat

Ah, there's nothing quite like summer in Texas! You know you're a Texan when a "cold" front comes into town in July, knocking down the humidity so you can actually breathe outside (even though it's still in the low-to-mid 90s) and you grab everyone in the family to go on a mandatory evening walk with the dog to enjoy the "cool" weather.  

But most of the dog days of July and August look more like this:  

Unbearable heat + too busy to get to the pool = sprinkler fun in the backyard

Ruby just tries to eat the water.

Water boy 

Will joined in on the fun too. 

Praying for cooler temps? Nah, just meditating. 

But maybe some prayers wouldn't hurt!

Summer Break: Weeks Six and Seven

Since we were gone for weeks four and five of summer break, I'm picking up here with the next two weeks of our summer break. It's been one of our busiest summers yet, but it's also been really good. The kids are so big and independent and we've really been enjoying the slower pace of the summer months.

Here's a peek at what we did over the last two weeks: 

Our schedules were all off-kilter when we returned from Scotland, so the boys were up well before dawn and were helping me make muffins in the dark on our first couple of days back. 

We were also up and at the Houston Arboretum at 7am one morning. The new Woodway entrance is gorgeous!

The basketflowers are in bloom everywhere!

 

We also found an enormous spider eating a fly that it had caught in its web.

Library visits are a staple of our summers. We regularly visit multiple libraries in one week (sometimes we visit two in one day!).

My mentor's library is in Alvin ISD and the boys and I have been helping out each Tuesday all summer. Playing with Rubik's cubes was a highlight!

Food is another staple. Henry was so excited about his breakfast of a fried egg over farro that he asked me to take a photo of it!

I needed to renew my driver's license this summer, so the boys and I went down to Rosenberg to take care of that. Afterward, we visited the Rosenberg Railroad Museum, which was interesting.

Soda fountain lunch at Another Time Soda Fountain & Cafe.

Last week, Will was in a coding camp at Rice University, so Henry and I did some exploring on our own. He chose to go to the zoo one day. It was really hot, so we didn't stay too long.

On another day, we visited the MFAH to see the Joris Laarman Lab: Design in the Digital Age exhibit. 

These three tables were made by a robotic arm using different sized metal blocks (voxels) to create the table. Each table is comprised of different sized blocks, and the effect is that as the blocks get smaller, the tables look less blocky or "pixelated," just as the images of Super Mario (on the wall) have become less pixelated and more realistic over time. This whole exhibit on design in the digital age was absolutely fascinating.  

On Friday afternoon, Henry and I got to attend Will's award ceremony and project display for his ID Tech coding camp. He made a Pi Top computer and designed a slot machine program, which was actually really fun. 

Will loved his camp so much that he's back doing another one this week, and Henry decided to join in the fun. The camp runs 9-5 daily, which is a really long day, but they both absolutely love it.

Finally, after years of searching, the boys have found a summer camp they enjoy! 

Scotland 2018: Days 9 and 10

Our big outing in Inverness was to visit Loch Ness. Gene booked a boat tour that took us across the loch to Urquhart Castle.  

We looked for Nessie, but all we found was a statue!

Getting ready for the ride

The boat was really crowded, but we managed to find seats and enjoyed the quick 30-minute ride over to Urquhart. 

 

The ruins of Urquhart Castle date from the 13th to 16th centuries, though there were fortifications on the site much earlier than that.  

It was really crowded when we visited, but the castle ruins were beautiful.

 

 Playing by the loch

Lunch overlooking Loch Ness

In the afternoon, we headed east of Inverness to the Culloden Battlefield, where the 1745 Jacobite uprising ended when the Jacobite forces supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie were defeated on April 16, 1746. 

Burial site of the Clan Maclean

The battlefield is beautiful, but the exhibits bring the battle to life and you can imagine the horrors that took place here. 

After a full day of sightseeing, we were all happy to return to our AirBnb for a simple homemade dinner and a good night's rest before our last full day of vacation. 

On our last day in Scotland, we made our way from Inverness back down to Edinburgh. We said goodbye to our lovely Inverness AirBnb, which was tiny but cozy. (The boys made elaborate plans to buy the place and move in!)

On our way to Edinburgh, we headed straight through Cairngorms National Park, so our first stop was the visitor's center at Aviemore. The guide directed us to Glenmore Forest Park, which had numerous short trails, and also suggested that we pick up a picnic lunch at the grocery store across the street. This turned out to be excellent advice all the way around, and we enjoyed a lovely morning hiking the Pine Knoll Trail.  

Picnic time

Back in the car, we drove on to the quaint town of Dunkeld. 

We picked up a map and headed to Birnam Wood, which is featured in Macbeth. 

"Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him." -- the witches' prophecy, Act IV, Scene 1, Macbeth

Today, the Birnam Oak is the oldest tree in the woods. 

Unfortunately, Henry was bitten by a black fly while standing in the tree, and the bite swelled up and made a huge, painful blister on his skin. Poor kiddo!

On the River Tay

To continue our literary adventure, we visited the Beatrix Potter Garden in Birnam. As a youth, Potter spent summers here, and this area inspired her to write her Peter Rabbit stories.   

And with that, we headed back to Edinburgh, checked in to our hotel at the airport, returned the rental car, and got ready to head back home. We enjoyed one last dinner in Scotland, topped off with a sticky toffee pudding. 

All of our vacations are wonderful and memorable, but Scotland definitely tops the list of one of our all-time best trips. The boys would have eagerly stayed another two weeks if we'd let them -- or just purchased one of the AirBnb homes we stayed in and moved there permanently!