Recent Adventures

The past few weeks have been busy here in Houston and we've told Jack a lot when he is going somewhere new that it is an adventure. He likes that.


Mike took Jack to his first major league baseball game at Minute Maid Stadium to watch the Astros. All he talked about for the next few days was soda and popcorn and the guy who hit the ball.

Daddy Date.

Our next adventure was Austin Texas where we tagged along with dad for a work trip. We loved the vibe in Austin and the food scene reminded us of Portland. He ate at the carts that were strangely situated behind old "Hawthorn" like houses along the downtown scene. Jack's first cart experience was a success.

We showed up on Congress St. after a long walk to experience a huge classic car parade. It could not have been better timing. Home Slice pizza was delicious and cheap and the mexican joint across the street had great margaritas.

Our view from Mike's bro's new pad was great for us, a little scary for the kids. We were reminded why traveling with kids can be so challenging (small spaces + breakables + no toys = no fun for kids or parents. Thankfully, we took lots of walks instead of vegging.

Rural Texas is charming and the drive between Austin and Houston is one to be enjoyed. Nothing but small 1 horse towns, tons of wild flowers and wide open space. 

EASTER

I am late on posting photos from Easter Sunday but better late than never? Easter afternoon with the cousins.

Hunting for Easter Eggs

We had to point out the eggs to Amelie at first but once she caught on she was on a roll.

Decorating Easter Eggs.

The GTO

 Mike has a new ride, the GTO. We needed another car and instead of getting what you might think of a typical commuter car he wanted something more fun. Mike's philosophy on life is that it is short and should be enjoyed as much as possible. He has a 30 minute commute and instead and just dragging through it, he would rather feel like Brad Pitt cruising down the road in a classic convertible. (SMILE)

Jack loves the GTO. He always hears it coming and wants to jump inside for a little exploration of the dials. Mike got seat belts installed so he could safely take Jack with his carseat.

Jack likes to say "Bye Mommy" as if to say "Come on Daddy, it's time to go".

Some ask, so now you have 2 classic cars? And we say, yep. (Although the Mini has not been running for months, tear…) Prayers lifted up for the Mini which should be back in business any day now. And we do have 2 classics, but at least the GTO runs well and is tons of "cruisen" fun in the Houston Sun.

 Bye Mommy…here we go!

Holiday Happenings

This might look more like fall than winter but we are just now getting fall - a cold one and it has turned the trees with the capacity to turn, some pretty nice colors for Texas. I have gotten back into running and this is one of my favorite trails. Running has always been something that challenges me, gets me out on my own and now gets me inspirited.
Last weekend I ran the RunGirl 1/2 marathon with my new friend Jenni. Now we did it relay style so each ran a 10K but after the race we felt so great that we said we will train to run the whole 1/2 marathon in April at the Houston Space Center. I am psyched. 

When the race started it was only about 40 degrees and really chilly. We were bundled up and ready for a cold run. I was committed to running the whole 6.7 miles and did! At my best time, no less. 

Mike and the bundled up kiddos met me at the end.

By 10am it was 60 degrees and sunny. I am so blessed to have found a sweet new friend here.

Christmas Traditions 

Now in Houston, there is no going out to cut down your own Christmas tree. In Oregon (ironically) we always had a fake tree but this year we decided to go get a fresh pine smelling (ironically Oregon grown) tree. No one wanted to help pick out to ONE except Amelie.

Even she wasn't really into it. It was raining and a little cold.

Mike and Jack were too busy exploring the tree farms many tropical trees. If they had there choice we would have come home with a palm tree. Wouldn't that have been funny.

Look Mommy, a big wired pine cone looking thing.

Tromping around in the water.

I had to go really kid friendly with the ornaments this year because of Amelie but also Jack too. I had some pretty glass "Dr. Seuss" style glass ornaments which somehow were the only ones that made it through the move to Houston. So I got some plastic kid friend ones to match for the bottom 1/2 of the tree. Amelie pretended to help me decorate the tree.

As you may notice, there are no ornaments below the silver fluffy thing. They are all in the basket below the tree because after Amee pulling them off and be putting them back on for the dozenth time, I just gave up and said, you can play with them. :) 

The days are rainy and sometimes cold so Jack loves to read and drink his hot chocolate. He says on a regular basis, "Mommy, can I have some hot chocolate, and make it HOT Mommy, PLeaSE".

Walking around the neighbor to look at lights at night is one of Mommy's favorite things. And the kids loved it with the cousins.

The only 2 of the 4 who would pose for the picture. Merry Christmas to ALL!

Jack loves to take pictures. He is a rascal about it. I had to post this one since I have finally gotten my computer back after the kids broke the screen watching a movie. Lesson learned the expensive way. ;( Oh well, I am back online!

There's something special about animals

 

Since being in Houston we have visited the Downtown Aquarium and the Zoo. Exploring the city and getting out of the house has been fun! What pleasure we see if Jack when he is around his favorite things: animals. Seriously this kid is crazy about everything relating to animals. He has his favorites, the tiger, lion, dinosaur, horse and zebra. But of course he loves Nemo too.

The Aquarium was not just about fish, but the fish were really cool. This was the nemo tank with all the live characters from FInding Nemo.

Amelie is getting to be such a big girl. If you are not on the look out for her, she will dart away without care of who is watching her. Thankfully we know this about her and watch her like a hawk.

Something about the hand rails just make kids want to swing.

Such cute cousins.

Now there wasn't just fish at the aquarium but also white tigers. By the time we got to the tigers Jack wanted to touch them, sit with them, show them his "…roar".

There were also rides which were fun.

The merry-go-round

Cute cousins

Jack "i'm not tall enough" ?? I don't understand.

Ferries wheel with the Houston skye line.

By 7pm we were getting eaten by misquotes which is a CON of living in Texas. It was really buggy.

The Zoo

Lydia has turned out to be a great nanny. She loves getting out with the kids and has lots of creative ideas. She introduced them to lots of animals at the Houston Zoo.

I am not gonna lie, moving to a new place has been tough. From the first week of the kids both being sick two weekends in a row and deciding to take them out of the mothers day out program and hiring a nanny. Whew, you go with your gut an make tough decisions as parents. But it is feeling great to see the kids throughout the day at home and know they are very happy. We eat lunch together and I take breaks to play and snuggle.

Working from home full time is also a transition. Getting my office set up, listening in on conference calls instead of seeing the faces. But I love it. I get tons done without the distractions of the office but again I miss the interactions with my team. So far, so good.

We are excited for Halloween weekend with some fun activities planned for the kids and us. We miss all our friends in Portland and honestly are a little lonely down here in Texas but it is really bonding us as a family unit and thankfully we have the counsins Mattie and Megan which both our kids LOVE.