Winter Break (Part Two)

The first part of winter break was full of family celebrations and a couple of us feeling under-the-weather, but the second week of winter break was all about getting out and enjoying our time away from work and school. On New Year's Day, Gene took the boys to Nana and Pop's to play D&D with Uncle Mike and the cousins. Ruby and I stayed at home.

Thursday was a rainy, dreary day, so we went to the MFAH to see their current exhibitions.  The two impressionism exhibits, From Monet to Picasso: A Very Private Collection and Berthe Morisot: Impressionist Original were both very good. The Norman Rockwell American Freedom exhibit was absolutely spectacular and I'm so glad we made the time to visit the museum.  

Friday was a beautiful day in Houston, and we had planned to visit Galveston, but two of the attractions we wanted to see are currently closed for renovations. So we improvised and took ourselves down to the 1940 Air Terminal Museum by Hobby Airport.  This Art Deco building was the original airport terminal in Houston and looks at the history of air travel in our city.  It had been on my list of things to do for years and I'm glad we finally made it!

We were there on the last day of the Space Age Christmas Trees exhibit on the second floor of the terminal.  

A volunteer took us outside to see the 1930 Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar.  

We even got to go inside! This plane was used as a training plane during World War II, and then was flown commercially in South America before being purchased by two Houston oilmen and then finally donated to the museum in 2002.  

Henry purchased a small toy plane and flew it around on his way to check out this colorful aircraft. 

After visiting the museum, we decided to head to Armand Bayou Nature Center for some hiking. We haven't been in years (mostly because pets aren't allowed) and we were so glad to get out there for a short hike.  

The farm (including sugar cane and a sugar press)

What a beautiful day to be outside!

Since Armand Bayou is close to Kemah and Will had been looking forward to a seafood dinner in Galveston, we decided to head to the boardwalk for an early dinner.  

We arrived a bit after 4pm and played some games before heading to the Flying Dutchman for dinner.  

 

This boy is obsessed with rubber ducks!

Local Gulf oysters on the half shell for Gene and Will 

On Saturday, Henry and I went to the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft to see two exhibits. We really enjoyed Nahtalie Miebach: The Water Line, which uses sculpture and weaving to explore the relationship between art and weather, especially with regard to flooding and hurricanes in Houston. The installations were quite engaging!

The artist used tweets in her work to highlight the emotional impact of weather events.  

This morning, on our last day of break, we headed to the Houston Arboretum with Gramma and Grampa.  We visit quite often but they hadn't been to see the new and improved trails. It was the perfect January day to get outside!

 

I was excited to see the new great horned owl mural by Anat Ronen on the Ravine Trail.  It is just beautiful.  

Our winter break was really lovely, full of time with family. What a perfect way to begin 2020.   

November 2019 Recap

November was another full month for our family. Here's a peek at what we did this month:

We were lucky to have more beautiful weekend weather, so we took advantage of gorgeous days by getting out and hiking at the Arboretum. It's always our favorite place to go when we are short on time but want to get outside.  

The Kinkaid book fair was also in November.  We found the sweet spot when the fair was empty -- 45 minutes after school let out but an hour before family night started.  

Continuing with books, my school was lucky to host Shannon Messenger, author of the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. 

Shannon was in discussion with local author Katharine McGee.  

We had a huge crowd for this evening event!

Henry's fall art show was during November as well. He had four works on display!

Best of all, Gramma and Grampa were in town and able to come see Henry's work.  

Henry also took up violin this fall as part of the fine arts rotation at Kinkaid. After his disastrous experience with violin in kindergarten, we were all surprised to discover that he absolutely adores playing the violin now!

The best part of November was spending time with family. We were so lucky this year to have Amber, Tom and the kids come to Houston for a week.  Their trip overlapped with our annual Thanksgiving vacation, but we still had plenty of time together.  Here are some family photos from Thanksgiving day.  

Two days after Thanksgiving, we went to Gene and Nancy's for our second family celebration. 

Cousins 

Family

We have so many things to be thankful for this year, but spending time with our families is at the top of the list.