And then it was museum time! Only the dinosaurs were picture-worthy.
Oh wait! It's a non-dinosaur picture!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
HMNS
And then it was museum time! Only the dinosaurs were picture-worthy.
Oh wait! It's a non-dinosaur picture!
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Brazos Bend
It wouldn't be Christmas without alligators. Brandon heard through the grapevine that Brazos Bend was the place to go around Houston if you wanted to see some gator action. So once Brandon had a day off of work, off we went.
It was lovely and warm the week before Christmas, but the weather turned cold (in the 50s!) the week Brandon was off work. If you know anything about alligators (wait, you don't? well, let me tell you!) then you know they like warm temperatures (you're welcome!). So we weren't really expecting to see any alligators, but were going to enjoy the hiking nonetheless. Plus, it was fun to see the Spanish moss, cypress knees, and anhinga birds that we had gotten to know so well from last year's Christmas in the Everglades.
However, thanks to Brandon's super gator vision, we spotted three alligators during our visit to Brazo's Bend. We even got to pet a baby alligator at the visitors' center (although we don't have any pictures to prove it). Christmas success!
It was lovely and warm the week before Christmas, but the weather turned cold (in the 50s!) the week Brandon was off work. If you know anything about alligators (wait, you don't? well, let me tell you!) then you know they like warm temperatures (you're welcome!). So we weren't really expecting to see any alligators, but were going to enjoy the hiking nonetheless. Plus, it was fun to see the Spanish moss, cypress knees, and anhinga birds that we had gotten to know so well from last year's Christmas in the Everglades.
However, thanks to Brandon's super gator vision, we spotted three alligators during our visit to Brazo's Bend. We even got to pet a baby alligator at the visitors' center (although we don't have any pictures to prove it). Christmas success!
Monday, December 23, 2013
German Christmas Market in Texas
I can't tell you how excited I was when I found out that a nearby town has an annual German Christmas Market. We loved visiting them so much when we lived in Germany, that this was the one activity I demanded we do this year.
Despite the fact that there were some very un-German things about it, the festival was a lot of fun. We enjoyed the various musical performances, some favorites being the plethora of yodeling, a rendition of the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" sung in German, and "Hit the Road Jack" performed on a Swiss alphorn. We ate very good "currywurst," (although it didn't look or taste anything like actual currywurst) and Kiddo loved driving the bumper cars with Brandon. Since we won't be going back to a real Christmas Market any time soon, the festival is definitely going to be a yearly tradition.
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Despite the fact that there were some very un-German things about it, the festival was a lot of fun. We enjoyed the various musical performances, some favorites being the plethora of yodeling, a rendition of the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" sung in German, and "Hit the Road Jack" performed on a Swiss alphorn. We ate very good "currywurst," (although it didn't look or taste anything like actual currywurst) and Kiddo loved driving the bumper cars with Brandon. Since we won't be going back to a real Christmas Market any time soon, the festival is definitely going to be a yearly tradition.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
OKC
Our nephew was getting baptized, so we used it as an excuse to visit Brandon's brother and his family in Oklahoma City. We had to get up at 3 am to avoid the ice storm that was coming, but we beat the weather and made it without any problems. (It did take 8 hours to get back home 3 days late, however, because the roads were still not cleared, but
Brian and Emilie's twins got some stomach bug, and it was ridiculously cold, but we really had a great time hanging out with family! The kids were thrilled to play with so many cousins and it was great to see Brian, Emilie, Mom and Dad.
One of the highlights was when we all drove to Pop's for lunch. It's a great little diner/convenience store/gas station that has an enormous selection of sodas. The flavors ranged from the familiar to the disturbing--like ranch dressing soda. We were disappointed that their "international" section didn't have any Cockta, but that didn't stop us from each picking out a few sodas to share. We ended up with grapefruit soda, guava soda, sour apple soda, apple beer, root beer, vanilla creme soda, sarsaparilla, and Leninade.
The baptism was wonderful and our visit was much too short, but it's great to have family just one state away. We're already looking forward to our next trip!
Brian and Emilie's twins got some stomach bug, and it was ridiculously cold, but we really had a great time hanging out with family! The kids were thrilled to play with so many cousins and it was great to see Brian, Emilie, Mom and Dad.
One of the highlights was when we all drove to Pop's for lunch. It's a great little diner/convenience store/gas station that has an enormous selection of sodas. The flavors ranged from the familiar to the disturbing--like ranch dressing soda. We were disappointed that their "international" section didn't have any Cockta, but that didn't stop us from each picking out a few sodas to share. We ended up with grapefruit soda, guava soda, sour apple soda, apple beer, root beer, vanilla creme soda, sarsaparilla, and Leninade.
The baptism was wonderful and our visit was much too short, but it's great to have family just one state away. We're already looking forward to our next trip!
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Trapezoid
Kiddo was wandering around the house, singing the word "trapezoid" over and over again.
Me: Trapezoid?
Kiddo: Yeah. I'm gonna be one when I grow up.
Me: A trapezoid is a shape.
Kiddo: It is? I thought it was a robot from Star Wars.
Me: Trapezoid?
Kiddo: Yeah. I'm gonna be one when I grow up.
Me: A trapezoid is a shape.
Kiddo: It is? I thought it was a robot from Star Wars.
Thursday, December 05, 2013
Thanksgiving Break
Kiddo got an entire week off of school for Thanksgiving! I had made a bunch of really fun plans--we were going to go to the library and do crafts and visit gourmet food stores to get free samples and feed bread to the ducks at the park!--but the kids were both fighting colds, so instead we spent a few days watching movies at home so they could recoup in time for Thanksgiving. Plus, Brandon took a couple of days off of work, so there was no way we were going to sit around at home when he was available to play! Luckily the kids were feeling pretty healthy by the time Wednesday rolled around.
We had already been to the Houston's children's museum (while visiting Texas for the first time), which was pretty amazing, so we decided to check out the Woodlands children's museum. It was a glorified playground. Brandon and I were bored, but the kids loved it so I can't complain too much.
Thanksgiving itself was just as it should be: full of friends and food. Rob and Christa invited us over; we contributed a few side dishes (and some Blue Bell Spiced Pumpkin Pecan! New favorite ice cream!) and thoroughly enjoyed the food made by everyone else. We had a great time eating and playing that Norwegian game that Rob taught us that does not involve knives, and that other one that involves gambling (but not with real money so it's ok).
Brandon says Black Friday shopping is against his religion, and I hate shopping in such high-pressure situations ("It's on sale! But is it on sale enough? What if I find a better deal somewhere else? What if they mark it down even more right before Christmas? Someone else is looking at it! But I really wanted it in a different color. Do I even need this? Oh look! A snuggie!" I make really bad purchasing choices when I see a sale and I'm in a hurry.) We had to find activities that would not interact with any shoppers or anyone on their way to or from shopping.
As a result, we broke our firm "no Christmas decorating before December 1st" rule and pulled out our tree and all our decorations. Of course, we don't really own decorations, and an hour or so later, we decided we needed to get out of the house. Luckily, Friday was perfect weather, so we went to the Spring Creek Greenway and wandered around the trails, throwing sticks in the water, and exploring the nature center.
I'd been looking forward to Friday Night Pies, which our friends host every year, ever since they'd told us about it when we moved to Houston. It was totally worth the 45 minute drive to have our fill of such a wide variety of pies and spend an evening with Bob and Erin.
To finish up our weekend, we went to the Houston zoo. We are zoo lovers, and it was fun to explore a new one with animals the kids hadn't seen before. Btw--All of BG's knock-knock jokes now involve a baby elephant.
....Which pretty much sums up our week! It was a much different Thanksgiving than last year, but we have so much to be thankful for and were glad to spend the week together!
We had already been to the Houston's children's museum (while visiting Texas for the first time), which was pretty amazing, so we decided to check out the Woodlands children's museum. It was a glorified playground. Brandon and I were bored, but the kids loved it so I can't complain too much.
Thanksgiving itself was just as it should be: full of friends and food. Rob and Christa invited us over; we contributed a few side dishes (and some Blue Bell Spiced Pumpkin Pecan! New favorite ice cream!) and thoroughly enjoyed the food made by everyone else. We had a great time eating and playing that Norwegian game that Rob taught us that does not involve knives, and that other one that involves gambling (but not with real money so it's ok).
Look at the Thanksgiving gingers!
Brandon says Black Friday shopping is against his religion, and I hate shopping in such high-pressure situations ("It's on sale! But is it on sale enough? What if I find a better deal somewhere else? What if they mark it down even more right before Christmas? Someone else is looking at it! But I really wanted it in a different color. Do I even need this? Oh look! A snuggie!" I make really bad purchasing choices when I see a sale and I'm in a hurry.) We had to find activities that would not interact with any shoppers or anyone on their way to or from shopping.
As a result, we broke our firm "no Christmas decorating before December 1st" rule and pulled out our tree and all our decorations. Of course, we don't really own decorations, and an hour or so later, we decided we needed to get out of the house. Luckily, Friday was perfect weather, so we went to the Spring Creek Greenway and wandered around the trails, throwing sticks in the water, and exploring the nature center.
I'd been looking forward to Friday Night Pies, which our friends host every year, ever since they'd told us about it when we moved to Houston. It was totally worth the 45 minute drive to have our fill of such a wide variety of pies and spend an evening with Bob and Erin.
To finish up our weekend, we went to the Houston zoo. We are zoo lovers, and it was fun to explore a new one with animals the kids hadn't seen before. Btw--All of BG's knock-knock jokes now involve a baby elephant.
....Which pretty much sums up our week! It was a much different Thanksgiving than last year, but we have so much to be thankful for and were glad to spend the week together!
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