Spring seems to have sprung early this year but I am refusing to believe that the winter rain is over until we hit April 1st. In the mean time I will try to enjoy the beautiful sunny days even though I know what they mean- the possibility of severe drought. Our plans to redo our lawns are being put off in an effort to save water and our plans for a veggie garden are in question for the same reason. I guess the time to teach the boys about water conservation is here.
It has been hard to get back into schoolwork since our trip plus babysitting but we have figured out a schedule for those days. Basically our days are switched- morning work (which is easy to do with a baby on my lap) in the afternoon and afternoon work in the morning before he arrives. This actually works so well I may make it the usual schedule.
Snuggle Puppy is coming along with his colors and numbers. He is finally more interested in reading the books that I choose and is happy to practice his colors in that way and count. He can count to three and then goes back to one. So very cute. I think in the fall he will certainly be ready for "real" school. Hopefully he will be excited about doing school with his brothers. He does love to sit with them and so his "workbooks"- cheap workbooks from the dollar section at Target that he colors in.
Our evening schedule has been changing a bit. Our Monday has co-op, swim practice, baseball practice and Cub Scouts. One right after the other with only enough time to drive to the various places around town and to grab a very quick dinner between swimming and baseball. Thankfully the only overlaps are between baseball and Scouts so Rookie misses an hour of practice but it isn't a big deal, his coach understands. On Wednesday there is also swimming and baseball so Rookie and whoever takes him to practice has about 20 minutes to eat before heading out. We haven't quite figured out what to eat those two days aside from sandwiches but I'm sure we will think of something. Our Saturday afternoons are also going to be taken up with baseball, Rookie has practice from 4pm until it is too dark to see the ball. The coach is harder than the tball coach and poor Rookie's legs were sore from all the running- Coach Luca makes the kids run when they don't listen. I like this in a coach, it will only help Rookie improve. He has so much potential, he just needs someone to hone it (and I'm not just saying that because I'm his Mommy, he does have a certain amount of natural athletic ability).
Another new thing- Babalu is having braces put on this Wednesday! He is very excited even though he knows it will hurt. This is just phase 1- 8 brackets for 15 months. Then of course retainers until it is time for phase 2. I can't wait until it is over and he has straight teeth (he has never had straight teeth, his baby teeth were crooked).
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Trip to Texas Part 3 & 4- Visit With Bubbe and The Drive Home
We had a wonderful visit with my Mom. The big boys stayed with her every night for a sleepover and loved it. That was what they had been so looking forward to about visiting her. They were so well behaved and didn't bug anyone (Bubbe lives with Auntie C and Uncle D). Snuggle Puppy, Big Daddy and I stayed at a local hotel each night which was nice and quiet. Snuggle Puppy has discovered the joy of pushing the button on the elevator. He was so cute.
We did many fun things during our trip to the Houston area. In one day we squeezed in the Children's Museum of Houston and the Downtown Aquarium (where E and her sons Big B and Little B joined us). Both places were amazing. The aquarium has a train that drives through a shark tunnel. So cool.
The next day we went to the Johnson Space Center and it was amazing. For me this is a Bucket List item so for me this was the best part of the trip. We took a tram tour and saw one of the mission control rooms which was empty because they were not using it, they don't allow tours to see the mission control being used. They did have a video feed of another control room that was being used but there were only a few people in it because it was a weekend. Babalu and Rookie asked very good questions and the docent was very patient. We also learned about the Orion Project, NASA's mission to send people to Mars. MARS!!!!! OMG MARS!!!!! So excited to be able to follow this project. They will begin testing the vehicle this fall and in about 10 or so years actually reach Mars. It will be a 6 month trip to get there, about a year actually spend at Mars and 6 months back. That is a long mission. We also saw one of the Saturn V rockets. You can't imagine how amazing it is. It is huge and awe inspiring. Even Snuggle Puppy was fascinated with it... many minutes hearing "Look Mommy, rocket!". There were also other pretty neat things to see at the Space Center- films, galleries, demonstrations. It was great. I spent way too much on souvenirs but I was determined to buy the boys NASA tshirts and little toys (they choose small space shuttles... 2 Enterprise and 1 Atlantis) as well as 2 small birthday presents. Plus a freaking cool magnet. If we are ever in East Texas again we will go back to the Space Center (or maybe go out there just to go back, it was awesome).
We also visited the Houston Museum of Natural Science. I was pretty neat. They had a giant gallery full of fossils and models of dinosaur skeletons. It was pretty neat. All the boys loved that part. They also had exhibits of Ancient Egypt and Native Americans, African animals, Texas animal and jewels. There was a hands-on area in the basement that they boys enjoyed.
If you're wondering how we afforded to go to all of these things I'll tell you- we bought 5 of the Houston City Passes. We bought 3 adult passes (we bought one for my Mom so she could join us) and 2 kids (because Snuggle Puppy wasn't old enough for his own pass so we had to pay out of pocket for him at a couple of places). These saved us so much money.
Our drive home was fantastic. We managed to miss most of the traffic in Houston by using the HOV lane. We were able to spend about 4 hours visiting with my Uncle R in San Antonio which was great, he has never met the boys and had only met Michael once and that was more than 10 years ago. We also met our friend at a McDonald's. He was driving to Pensacola Florida for Navy stuff and we couldn't resist meeting up . We didn't have much time but it was still nice. Plus it gave the kids a change to stretch their legs. Overall the kids were so good on the way home and on the entire trip.
It feels so good to be home, 2 weeks is a long time. I have to go grocery shopping after breakfast (which I will make when I finish this post) because we don't have much food in the house. Tomorrow our normal routine starts again. Or maybe one more day off, it really was a long trip.
We did many fun things during our trip to the Houston area. In one day we squeezed in the Children's Museum of Houston and the Downtown Aquarium (where E and her sons Big B and Little B joined us). Both places were amazing. The aquarium has a train that drives through a shark tunnel. So cool.
The next day we went to the Johnson Space Center and it was amazing. For me this is a Bucket List item so for me this was the best part of the trip. We took a tram tour and saw one of the mission control rooms which was empty because they were not using it, they don't allow tours to see the mission control being used. They did have a video feed of another control room that was being used but there were only a few people in it because it was a weekend. Babalu and Rookie asked very good questions and the docent was very patient. We also learned about the Orion Project, NASA's mission to send people to Mars. MARS!!!!! OMG MARS!!!!! So excited to be able to follow this project. They will begin testing the vehicle this fall and in about 10 or so years actually reach Mars. It will be a 6 month trip to get there, about a year actually spend at Mars and 6 months back. That is a long mission. We also saw one of the Saturn V rockets. You can't imagine how amazing it is. It is huge and awe inspiring. Even Snuggle Puppy was fascinated with it... many minutes hearing "Look Mommy, rocket!". There were also other pretty neat things to see at the Space Center- films, galleries, demonstrations. It was great. I spent way too much on souvenirs but I was determined to buy the boys NASA tshirts and little toys (they choose small space shuttles... 2 Enterprise and 1 Atlantis) as well as 2 small birthday presents. Plus a freaking cool magnet. If we are ever in East Texas again we will go back to the Space Center (or maybe go out there just to go back, it was awesome).
We also visited the Houston Museum of Natural Science. I was pretty neat. They had a giant gallery full of fossils and models of dinosaur skeletons. It was pretty neat. All the boys loved that part. They also had exhibits of Ancient Egypt and Native Americans, African animals, Texas animal and jewels. There was a hands-on area in the basement that they boys enjoyed.
If you're wondering how we afforded to go to all of these things I'll tell you- we bought 5 of the Houston City Passes. We bought 3 adult passes (we bought one for my Mom so she could join us) and 2 kids (because Snuggle Puppy wasn't old enough for his own pass so we had to pay out of pocket for him at a couple of places). These saved us so much money.
Our drive home was fantastic. We managed to miss most of the traffic in Houston by using the HOV lane. We were able to spend about 4 hours visiting with my Uncle R in San Antonio which was great, he has never met the boys and had only met Michael once and that was more than 10 years ago. We also met our friend at a McDonald's. He was driving to Pensacola Florida for Navy stuff and we couldn't resist meeting up . We didn't have much time but it was still nice. Plus it gave the kids a change to stretch their legs. Overall the kids were so good on the way home and on the entire trip.
It feels so good to be home, 2 weeks is a long time. I have to go grocery shopping after breakfast (which I will make when I finish this post) because we don't have much food in the house. Tomorrow our normal routine starts again. Or maybe one more day off, it really was a long trip.
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