Summer Break: Week Four

Summer break is speeding along.  Here's a peek at some of what we were up to at the end of June:  

Father's Day this year was all about brewing beer and playing baseball in the backyard.  

It was a quiet, though busy, day at home -- all the grandparents were traveling and Will was still in France, so it was just the three of us for Father's Day.

Henry discovered the TimeRiders series this summer.  Most were not available at our library, so we ended up purchasing the entire set.  He was ecstatic when they came in!

This spring, our piano teacher retired suddenly and we switched to Vivaldi Music Academy in May.  We didn't think Henry would be able to play in their spring recital, but his new teacher added him to the schedule at the last minute and he played two songs.  He performed flawlessly and we were so proud of him!

Will decided to organize our graphic novel and manga collection one morning. I am always up for an organizing project and decided this was the perfect time to go through all the books on their five bookcases.  We ended up with 7 boxes of books to donate to Books Between Kids and more room on their shelves for the (many) books they actually want to read.  

We also took a trip up to the Art Car Museum.  It never takes long to run through the museum, but it's fun to see what they have on display.

Afterward, we headed to Melange Creperie in the Heights for lunch.  We discovered this restaurant at the farmers market, but now they have their very own space on Heights Boulevard. Delicious!

Finally, we had tickets to see The Three Musketeers at the Alley Theatre.  

What a fun performance!

Summer Break: Week Two

Since we didn't get out and about a ton during our first week of summer break, we made an effort to do more on week 2. Beyond our usual library outings, here's a peek at some of what we did:

We finally visited Eveyln's Park in Bellaire to check out the new Alice in Wonderland sculpture by Bridgette Mongeon. It is huge and so fun!

Next, we visited the Water Wall, Designed in 1985, this 64-foot water wall spills water down both front and back sides. We'd never taken the time to visit before, but it was well worth a trip!

Henry's face says it all!

 

We also decided to finally visit our own local candy factory. Kegg's Candies has been making chocolate candies right here in Houston since 1946! The candy is actually really delicious.  

Kegg's candies offers a glimpse into their factory whenever they are open, but it turns out that the summer months are slow and there was no candy-making happening on the day we showed up. We were able to go back two days later to tag along on a group tour and actually see how the chocolates are made. 

 

Samples were a bonus!

The tour price included their homemade ice cream or Italian ice. 

The boys also took three days of cooking classes at Central Market during the week. They learned so much and got to eat everything they created. 

Henry has also been busy this summer with two art classes at a local art school. He is continuing with the Drawing Fundatmentals class he started in March and has added a Comic Creation class. Below is the beginning of his title page for his comic.  

On Friday night, my wonderful book club met at my house. We were supposed to meet at another friend's house, but her a/c was out, so everyone came over here instead. We've been meeting for a little over two years and I am so lucky to have found such a wonderful group of friends who love to talk about books just as much as I do! (We are actually a group of 10 but a lot of us were traveling this month.)

While book club was happening at our house, Gene was on a plane coming home from his 12-day trip to Singapore and Australia, so the boys were spending the evening at Nana and Pop's house. Nana and Pop snapped a few breakfast pictures to share with us.  

Gene made it back from his trip in time for Father's Day! We were all so excited to see him!

We spent the afternoon of Father's Day with Nana and Pop and all the cousins. What fun!

And finally, I'll leave you with a couple of photos of Ruby. Her monthly Bark Box came and it makes her so happy! 

This is Ruby's spot -- where she waits patiently for us to take her for a walk or give her pets. 

Now I'm off to see if we still have any of that Kegg's candy left or it the boys ate it all!

Summer Break: Week Three

After a mild start to summer, the heat has arrived in Houston and we are doing our best to keep cool. Here's a peek at some of what we did during our third week of summer break: 

Circus 1903 show at Jones Hall -- the performers were incredible!

Water gun battle with Ruby in the backyard 

The boys took a cooking class at Central Market! They made spanakopita, chicken with pita and tzatziki, and almond cookies. They had so much fun and the food was delicious!

We went to the dollar movies one morning; we saw Trolls, which none of us recommend. 

Much better than Trolls was the production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at A.D. Theater.

Cub Scout Annual Water Squirt Melee

On Sunday, we spent Father's Day at Nana and Pop's house, celebrating two of our favorite dads. 

What have you been up to this summer?