Birding at High Island

Birding at High Island is hands-down one of my favorite things to do in Houston.  My favorite time to go is April, when the birds at the rookery are building their nests and babies are hatching.  There are so many birds and it is an absolute highlight of my year.  

This year, Will had a birthday party that conflicted with birding, so we left him with Nana and Pop and we picked up Gramma and Grampa and headed east to High Island.  We took along cousin Ella's Flat Stanley so we could help with her school project.  

We checked in at Boy Scout Woods, walked the new raised trail,

and found beautiful wisteria!

Next, we headed to the Methodist church for a barbeque lunch.  The church sells lunch every Saturday in April and it is delicious.  

The rookery is located at the Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary and it is absolutely the best. 

Yellow-crested night heron

Snowy egrets 

Mama and babies -- there were only a few this year, and they were tiny!

Roseate spoonbills 

Snowy egret

Red-eared slider

 Thistle 

After a few delightful hours at High Island, we headed back home to Houston, stopping along the way at Buc-ee's.  Grandma and Grandpa had never been before, so we introduced them to the best gas station in the world.  We got cups of coffee to fuel us on the way home as well as a couple of packages of beaver nuggets.  Behind Buc-ee's was a field of cows, because we're in Texas after all!

Birding makes my heart happy, even if we're all amateurs.  We cannot wait til next year when we can head back!

March Recap

March was busy with spring break and birthdays, but we also fit in time for books, cooking, and, of course, lots of school activities.  Here's a peek at some of what we did in March:  

Will wanted to read nonfiction so we went to Barnes and Noble.  Henry found the newest Stuart Gibbs novel,

and Will picked out this giant tome about World War I from the adult section. He has been diligently reading it, loving it, and learning so much.  

At school, our first and second graders were treated to an author visit by the amazing Christian Robinson. His new book, Another, came out the day he visited West U.  It's an incredible wordless picture book that I bet will win at least a Caldecott Honor next year.  

Name That Book wrapped up right before spring break, and we celebrated our kids' hard work with cookies and bingo. Henry won the first round of bingo and selected The Cardboard Kingdom as his prize.  

Will and I worked on decorating birthday signs for the Kinkaid 7th grade fundraiser.

Henry and I bought packages of new underwear for West U's last service project, which benefited Undies for Everyone.  

And Will participated in the Ethics Bowl competition at Kinkaid. Ethics Bowl is a little like debate, and the Kinkaid team did really well, bringing home the civility award.  

Henry is my weekly buddy at the farmers market and we love our new rolling cart.  It holds so much and makes it easy to transport our fresh food back to the car.  

Dinner prep with Dad -- wine roast was on the menu.

I promised Henry ice cream after his 11-year-old shots.   

We also made it to the science museum for a members' night and got to see the new exhibit, "The Art of the Hunt." 

 March, as always, was a fun, full month! 

Spring Break 2019

Spring break this year was a staycation, as Gene returned from Singapore the day before spring break began.  Despite not traveling, we had a lovely break! 

Spring break started with Henry's acceptance letter from Kinkaid.  We all had hoped he would be accepted and were absolutely thrilled and so proud of our boy when we clicked over to the Kinkaid website at 4pm to read the "congratulations!" letter.  We decided to celebrate, and Henry chose dinner at The Melting Pot. We had the best dinner and Henry grinned the entire time. 

Nana and Pop joined us for the celebration.  

Spring break was fairly quiet, but Gene did take a couple days off work. On Monday, we headed west to Bellville to visit Newman's Castle. It was absolutely delightful, but nothing like visiting a castle in Europe. Still, if you can't make it to Europe over spring break, this place is a lot of fun.  

The boys made friends with an Irish wolfhound.  

We also stopped to snap a picture with the giant bust of Stephen F. Austin in Bellville before visiting the Bellville Meat Market.  Bellville is a cute little town!

On Pi Day, Will opted to stay home with Gene, but Henry and I visited the science museum in Sugar Land for some Pi Day fun.  

Henry can recite Pi to 41 places.  

We also came home with a bunch of gifts.  

On our way out, we found a couple making giant bubbles for the kids.  

 

At the very end of spring break, we went hiking at Sheldon Lake State Park.  It was a cool day but we did manage to spot a snake on the boardwalk.  

Having a staycation after a busy beginning to the spring semester was exactly what our family needed.