Wrapping Up: Winter Break

We are back in the swing of things around here and it is time to wrap up my winter break blog posts. We always love winter break because Gene is off from work for a whole week! This year, we did a tremendous amount of cleaning out and have sent out piles and piles of donated goods, recyclables and trash! Here's a peek at what we did when we weren't in clean-out mode:

Science experiments!

Stop-motion animation

A visit to the trains at Second Baptist Church

 

Time with the cousins!

Our annual NYE celebration with dear friends

Here's to 2017! I can't wait to see what the new year has in store for our family.

Lately: Back to School and Labor Day Weekend

School has been back in session for two weeks, so our days are jam-packed. I think we're all missing the slower pace of summer break!

Here's a peek into some of what we've been up to lately:

Ice cream with my big boy after his well-visit check-up

Jess gave us monarch chrysalises again.

College Colors Day at school

Look who's home from training (aka manners camp)

Ruby is so much better behaved now!

It's only early September and it still feels like summer here, but the retailers are convinced fall is coming. We could barely drag the boys out of the Halloween candy display at Randall's.

We spent Saturday in Galveston, playing at the beach and hanging out with some of our favorite friends, Jonathan and Julie.

We love our visits with them at the beach. Gene and Jonathan grill and swim and Julie and I talk books, while the boys run and play. We are so thankful for these friends!

We were out and about on Sunday and took a quick photo at the Lawndale Art Center in front of Russell Etchen's About ____ Rocks mural.

Henry has to present a science project to his class in the next few weeks, so we tried out a few at home. This "Bubble Inside a Bubble" experiment was a hit -- sugar in the bubble solution makes the bubbles sturdier!

We spent Labor Day at home and it was so nice not to have to be anywhere. Gene smoked a brisket all day; Ruby was his trusty sidekick.

 It was SO good and tender! Mmmmm.

Brisket, homemade pretzel rolls, roasted squash and raw carrots, and the Hefeweizen Gene brewed with his friend Jim back in June -- the perfect Labor Day feast! 

I hope your long weekend was spent enjoying good food with family and friends too!

Summer Break: Week Two

Summer is here in full force! After a very wet spring that kept temperatures mild, summer and the typical Houston humidity are here. We are spending our days trying to keep cool, so here's a quick peek at some of what we were up to during our second week of summer break.

On Monday, we visited the science museum. I snapped a picture of Henry with this huge archelon (ancient sea turtle). The highlight of our visit was seeing the Galapagos 3D movie at the IMAX theater. It was fascinating and definitely a place we'd like to visit one day.

Wednesday morning was errand day, but we did take some time to stop at Donovan Park in the Heights to run, climb and explore.

We treated ourselves to some Fat Cat Creamery ice cream after lunch. 

On Thursday, we headed to Hermann Park to see "James and the Giant Peach." We got there early, but not early enough, and all the seats were taken with only spots available on the sunny hill. It was too hot for us, so we explored the McGovern Centennial Gardens instead. 

The family garden is always a favorite as it is full of fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Corn!

We visited the MFAH on Friday for a members' sneak peek of the new exhibit, Kusama: At the End of the Universe. Contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama creates infinity rooms, which visitors enter and experience in small groups. 

Love is Calling is a mirrored room full of soft polka-dotted sculptures that poke up from the floor and hang down from the ceiling.

You enter the second infinity room, Aftermath of Obliternation of Eternity, and are instructed to stand on a small walkway that is surrounded by water. The lights dim and then slowly flicker back on, filling the space with a soft golden glow. It's a beautiful exhibit.

One of Kusama's pumpkin sculptures

When we're not out exploring, we also spend lots of time playing and building,

making science experiments,

and cooking in the kitchen. 

Henry especially loves to help plan and cook meals. Chop Chop magazine is a kids' cooking magazine and he loves flipping through the pages to find new recipes. Last week, we made fattoush salad and paired it with oven-baked falafel for a simple and delicious summer supper.

Despite the heat, we're looking forward to this week's summer adventures!

Summer Break: Week Two

Summer is our favorite time of year! The busy-ness of the school year, with the long school days, homework and after-school activities give way to lazy summer days, sleeping in and getting to do whatever we want.

With our California vacation taking up the first week of summer, I am documenting summer 2015 beginning with week two. We try to get out of the house every day for some activity but we enjoy plenty of downtime to read, play and create elaborate imaginary worlds too!

Sunday: Henry and I explored the new East End farmers market right after our trip to California. It's a small market but we came away with bags of fresh veggies to add to every meal. We're enjoying digging through our recipes to find old favorites as well as new ones, like this caprese mac and cheese.

Henry loves playing football with Gene in the backyard. After Sunday's playtime, Henry wrote Gene the sweetest note about their time together.  

Monday: We visited the library and picked up our annual pool pass at the rec center and were at the pool as soon as they opened. It was our first visit of the season. The boys are such good swimmers now!

We also started a couple of science experiments. Can you see the stalactite/stalagmite? We created this out of baking soda, water and string!

Tuesday:  We went to a Super Science Summer members event at the Health Museum. The boys decorated flower pots and planted dill seeds. We also explored the new Eat Well, Play Well exhibit.  

We finished our morning with a picnic lunch at Gramma and Grampa's and the boys played happily with my childhood toys.

Wednesday: We love summer dollar movies. This week we watched Nut Job.

Thursday: We spent the whole day at home but had a fun evening outing planned. It was the annual Water Squirt Melee for Cub Scouts. It was good to catch up with our Scout friends after not seeing them for an entire month!

Friday: We headed to two museums on Friday. First up, the science museum, where we searched the paleontology wing for prehistoric sea turtles. We found quite a few fossils!

After two hours at the museum, we decided to visit the MFAH for lunch and to check out the new exhibits. We stumbled upon Gyula Kosice's The Hydrospatial City, which is an amazing room-sized exhibit of a floating utopia. It reminded me of Tomorrowland and the boys and I were wowed. We walked between the floating structures, examining them and searching for little people inside. I didn't snap any pictures, but this is one exhibit that we'll revisit again and again this summer. It has already sparked many drawings and new games for the boys. A must-see exhibit, especially for kids!

We then visited Shadow Monsters, a new installation by artist Philip Worthington. It's a participatory exhibit that uses technology to transform your shadows. The boys had so much fun with this exhibit!

Saturday: Here are a few pictures from another one of our experiments. We soaked one egg in vinegar all week and another in water. After five days, the shell had dissolved from the vinegar egg and all that was left was the egg's inner membrane. When you drop the egg, it bounces just like a ball.

My favorite boys!

The summer months are a needed break from the routines of the school year and so far, our summer is shaping up to be a fantastic one!