Weekend Adventures with Henry

While Gene and Will were off camping with Boy Scouts over the weekend, Henry and I cooked up our own brand of fun here at home. Henry is always up for an adventure, so we had a pretty packed weekend, but, boy, was it fun! 

Henry and I had a little sidekick along for the ride.  Meet Texas Flat Stanley! My kids never had to do a Flat Stanley project, but they are pretty common in elementary schools and last week, a letter arrived from my nephew Leo. He sent a Shelburne, Vermont Flat Stanley and a blank cut-out for us to decorate and take on adventures. Texas Flat Stanley picked a good time to visit because we were out and about a lot!

Henry's fun started with a playdate with one of his best friends after school on Friday. After saying goodbye to his buddy and to Gene and Will, Henry and walked Ruby and then headed out, with Texas Flat Stanley, to Local Foods for dinner.

After dinner, we popped into Brazos Bookstore to pick up a couple of books for the boys for spring break. Fablehaven fans: the sequel to this middle-grade fantasy series by Brandon Mull is now out!  

On Saturday morning, we made blueberry muffins. We rarely make them at home because Will doesn't love blueberries, but my family has been making this recipe for years and years and it was a childhood favorite of mine.

Farmers market visit (always)

And then we went to Levy Park. Have you been yet? This park was originally built in 1941 and is located just across Richmond from the farmers market. We've driven by for years -- after seeing a huge green park space on the map, we had to check it out -- but there was not much there. Renovations started a couple of years ago and the park officially opened on February 25. It is a destination park similar to Discovery Green and Hermann Park. Go visit! I promise it's worth it.

When we parked, we found reading carts full of books and magazines for all ages, an art cart full of art supplies, and a games cart full of board games. There are ping pong and foosball tables. 

Henry really wanted to explore the playground, and it is awesome! Check out the many pictures below:

This green walkway winds through the oak tree canopy in the playground.

Levy Park also has a rain garden, a community garden and a dog park.

The grassy area had huge building blocks for kids to play with and a boot camp was set up nearby. Even at 8:30 in the morning, the park was busy!

We found mini putt-putt and cornhole. 

Levy sign by Houston graffiti artist Gonzo247.

We spent an hour exploring the park, but we could have stayed much longer. There's a stage for concerts and a restaurant coming soon. What a fantastic green space for our city!

Later that morning, Henry and I headed to MATCH in mid-town to see Main Street Theater's performance of How I Became a Pirate.

Check out this mural at MATCH! We donated to MATCH and our names are on the wall of the men's restroom! Graffiti art by Gonzo247.

Henry with some of the cast -- his favorite was the pirate Swill.

Gramma and Grampa had invited us over for lunch after the play, so we enjoyed chili and cornbread with them. And Gramma always makes a little something sweet for dessert. And then we all headed to Houston Center for Contemporary Craft because they were having a craft day with all sorts of artisans -- weavers, woodworkers, sculptors and much more!

Whew! We were pooped after our busy day, so we enjoyed downtime at home before heading out to Vietopia for dinner. Pho for Henry, vermicelli bowl for me. 

We came home, found our second wind, and made a batch of strawberry jam (using some of the 10 pounds of strawberries we purchased at the farmers market!).

On Sunday morning, Gene called at 8am to let us know they broke camp early when there was a break in the rain and were heading back to Houston. Henry really wanted to go to the zoo, but it was pouring rain! Crazy people that we are, he and I donned our raincoats, grabbed our umbrellas and explored the zoo in the rain. There are plenty of indoor spots and Henry even made his first trades at the Swap Shop. The best thing about the zoo in the rain is zero crowds!

My smiling boy at the zoo 

The two of us had a really fantastic weekend together, but we were happy to be reunited with Gene and Will and spend the rest of a rainy Sunday inside, watching movies and making pizza.  

Lately: Hats, Good Food, and a Wiggle

My camera is staying quiet these days with my boys in school all day every day. Occasionally I grab a few pictures of Will and Henry, though.  Here's some of our fun from this week.

Henry has been really into hats lately. He grabbed one of Gene's caps last weekend and wore it constantly.

Yesterday, Henry came downstairs in his pirate hat and wore it the whole time he was getting ready for school. In fact, we got in the car and he said, "Oh, I am still wearing my pirate hat!" 

The clock behind Henry says 7:14. He wanted to make sure everyone knew he was completely ready to go a full 6 minutes before we had to leave! Hooray for routines!

We had some good friends over for Labor Day. Henry and Daddy whipped up a quick batch of brownies (the Ghiradelli mix has been my go-to for years!).

I went to Central Market yesterday to look for apples (they have the best selection in town and we eat apples like crazy around here) and as soon as I walked in, I saw these Cotton Candy grapes. According to the signage, this is a new hybrid variety developed in California (by hand pollination) over eight years. The amazing thing is that the grapes actually do taste like cotton candy. The boys love them!

Back to apples: Henry's class has been working on an apple unit all week. They read books, learned the parts of the apples, graphed the class's favorite color of apples, and used apples in math to work on patterns and counting. The teacher in me loves to extend classroom learning at home, so I checked out a few apple books at the library and stocked up on a bunch of different apple varieties at Central Market so we can do some taste-testing. I was looking for unusual apple varieties and found Zestar, Eve, Paula Red and Hidden Rose. 

Yesterday afternoon the boys helped me make an apple cake. We are huge fans of trying out recipes in story books, so we were thrilled to find a recipe for apple cake at the back of Apple Cake: A Recipe for Love by Julie Paschkis. Yum! The cake was delicious. We used two large Zestar apples and reduced the amount of sugar in the recipe, but otherwise followed it exactly. It was the perfect dessert for my apple-loving boys and a fun way to cap Henry's apple unit at school.

And finally, Will has his first loose tooth! His teeth have been hanging on for dear life, but I noticed that his bottom teeth looked crooked yesterday evening. He did not even realize it! There is a whole lot of this going on now:

I'm thinking Will might need a big juicy apple to bite into to help wiggle out that loose tooth!

Highlights of the Week: Family, Scrabble and Baby

After a busy Thanksgiving holiday, it has taken me most of the week to recover and get back to being halfway organized. I just downloaded some pictures off my camera, and these are what I found.

Pirate Redbeard came to visit over Thanksgiving.  Have you missed him as much as the boys had?  It had been months since he last stopped by!

My parents found these awesome Scrabble Cheez-Its. Will loves to make words and is probably ready for a round of real non-edible Scrabble.

While Henry certainly can make words if he wants to, he is still happiest making letters. See his H below?

We tried desperately to get a picture of all four grandchildren for my mother-in-law over Thanksgiving. It's like herding cats.

And did you hear that Notre Dame had an undefeated regular season?  These three guys were absolutely giddy with the win over USC last Saturday night.

And last but not least, have you noticed that Baby is rarely around anymore? Most of the time he is shoved into a corner or tucked into a toy bin as Henry relies on him less and less.

But Baby has been the center of attention because Baby has a whole new look, thanks to Aunt Jess. She made him this beautiful sweater and it arrived in yesterday's mail.

Henry is just about as happy with Baby's new sweater as the big boys were with Notre Dame's win.

Welcome back, Baby. We missed you!

Henry's Pirate Party

Henry's pirate party was last Saturday. It was an awesome party all because of the very talented Pirate Redbeard, who once again delivered the performance of a lifetime... people keep asking if they can hire him for their pirate party!

Guests started trickling in and I started taking pictures.

Will and Chloe

Ainsley colored outside.

Henry and Kalino played soccer.

Will and his buddy Luke found a snail.

And finally Pirate Redbeard arrived!

Pirate Redbeard is always misplacing his treasure, but he did have one starting clue and a band of helpful pirates to help him find his missing booty.
Eagerly listening to the next clue.
They finally found the loot in the small playhouse out back. Pirate Redbeard divvied up the treasure.
And then it was cake time! Henry examined the cake with Kalino.

My birthday boy

Best friends

Eating cake

Pirate Will with his eyepatch on upside down

Presents!

And family.

Henry's pirate party was a huge success. And though you may think you've seen the last of Pirate Redbeard, I have no doubt he'll be back, probably sooner than you'd even imagine.