The Weekend: Hermann Park, Bingo and Two Carnivals

We spent much of the weekend outside, enjoying fall in Houston! We kicked off the weekend Friday night with a members' preview party at the new McGovern Centennial Gardens in Hermann Park.

We have been watching the progress on these gardens for the past year and were so excited to finally get a sneak peak. The gardens aren't quite finished just yet due to rain delays, but it was fun to get inside and explore a bit. What we saw was spectacular!  

This is "The Mount," a 30-foot tall hill with a spiral walkway to the top

and a cascading water feature.

View of Miller Outdoor Theater from the top of the Mount.

View of Centennial Green from the top of the Mount.

We enjoyed St. Arnold's beer, tasty nibbles and some Michael's Cookie Jar cookies for dessert.

And then explored more! 

There are winding trails in the Woodland Garden

and on the Tudor Family Pine Hill Walk.

The pagoda was moved to a corner in the park near the new rose garden.

The new Centennial Gardens in Hermann Park are beautiful and we cannot wait to go back again and check it out once all the work is completed!

Saturday was our school's annual Boo Bash Carnival. I worked two shifts and the boys played games, ate cotton candy and explored with Gene. I caught with them in time for lunch and a round of jousting!

In the afternoon, the boys went off in search of Halloween costumes and we ended the evening with a few rounds of Bingo at church! We've never been to Bingo before, but it takes place (along with a fajita dinner) the night before the annual Fun Fest carnival. We didn't win anything but we sure had fun! 

Our church's Fun Fest carnival is always the same weekend as the school carnival, so we've never done both (mostly because I am carnival-ed out by the time Sunday afternoon arrives!). This year, everyone was up for Fun Fest at church, so we spent some time exploring and playing games. 

All three of my boys tried their hands at the strongman high striker game. Gene rang the bell on his very first try!

Our weekend ended with a few more hours outside, roasting beer can chicken on the grill and finally setting up our outside Halloween decor. Happy fall, y'all!

Boo Bash and a Birthday Party

Saturday was busy! We spent the morning at the Boo Bash carnival at the boys' school. I worked two booths while Gene took the boys around to all the bounce houses and activities.

They got their hair painted

and tattoos on both hands!

Green hair + Kona ices + bounce houses and confetti eggs = the best day ever (according to Henry!)

I snapped a few more pictures of Henry's crazy hair and tattoos at home too.

After the carnival, Henry and I headed off to a friend's pirate party.

There was a show from quite a talented pirate!

Henry was the only one brave enough to let the pirate chop of his hand.

Magically healed!

Henry really did proclaim it the best day ever!

All Smiles

We are having the best weekend so far!  There is lots to smile about, starting with the new bulletin board outside Henry's classroom

and his cute multi-colored hen.

Henry and I do lots of things together on his free afternoons, but Fridays are our special days when he knows that we'll have lunch together and explore. This week, we chose to grab a bite from the food truck at the art museum and eat in the sculpture garden. It was a beautiful day to eat outside!

We always smile when it's time for a Friday night soccer game!

The Soccer Wizards are such a fun team. The boys get along so well and they are actually playing really well lately! They have come so far since last year.

We joke that Gene's Notre Dame chair is a throne. It is massive!

BOO! Yesterday was the Boo Bash at Will's school. Nana and Pop joined us for a fun morning of carnival games, bounce houses, and lots of food.

The boys got confetti eggs this year. If you look closely, their hair is full of confetti. Now that's definitely worth smiling about!

Now for some serious business. I worked the Chillin' Crossbow Darts booth for Will's class. It was very popular with my boys and lots of others!

Wouldn't this cute little pie pumpkin make anyone smile? It came in our CSA box and Henry was so anxious to turn it into a pumpkin pie!

We baked it next to a sweet potato, pureed them both, and made a delicious pumpkin pie filling.  Henry was so thrilled.

He helped me make the crust and while the pie baked, we tossed the pumpkin seeds in a little oil and salt and roasted them too. Then we read some of our favorite pumpkin and Halloween books. Pumpkins always make me smile!

We have a super fun, jam-packed day ahead and I am looking forward to many more smiles from my two favorite boys.