San Jacinto Monument & Battleship Texas

The first Saturday in November, Andy got up and decided we needed go somewhere. He suggested the San Jacinto Monument and the Battleship Texas. He had some yard work to do, so he got going with that. We called the Mackay family to see if they wanted to join us and they were game. We packed a picnic lunch and headed out. Our first stop was the monument. I was quite impressed! It's located in the Houston Ship Channel. So, all the traffic in the channel sees it. It's also a bit taller than the Washington Monument. I thought this was a funny little piece of information, because Texas just has to be bigger and better than anyone else. :) Even though the sun was shining, it was a windy day. Here are some pictures of the monument and us:

I tried to get them to look at the camera at the same time - no luck!

In front of the monument there were some park rangers showing off a bit of Texas history.  There were various items from bayonets to dolls. Luckily the girls were most interested in the dolls:

About ready to head inside the monument:

We wandered around a museum a bit once we got inside. Then we had to wait for our turn to go up the elevator. The little boys enjoyed climbing on the benches while we waited:

Up at the top!

A few pictures of the view from the top:

The girls after our little tour of the monument:

We then drove a bit through the park and found a place to enjoy our picnic lunch. After eating lunch we headed over to the battleship. Andy had to remind me that the Battleship Texas was one of the ships that was part of the Normandy invasion. So, we've seen one of the places this battleship was put to use. Before touring the battleship we tried to grab a few pictures of the kids:

Our sailors:

We lucked out by overhearing a conversation about a groupon being available. So, I pulled up my groupon app and we all enjoyed a great deal to get in and explore.

Ian was determined to open this thing up:

Checking out the weapons:

We spent quite a bit of time exploring below deck. It was like a mini town. There was a barber shop, doctor's office, places to eat, laundry, a little store, etc... The kids really enjoyed exploring.

We then headed back up on deck and explored some more:

Love this picture of my busy boy:

We enjoyed our little Saturday adventure. We used to do stuff like this all the time when we lived in Europe and we miss it. We were especially grateful the Mackays joined us, because we had a bit of car trouble. The guys had to jump our car twice, once at the monument and another time at our picnic location:

For some reason after touring the battleship, the van started okay. So, we headed home figuring we need to go to AutoZone and find out what was going on. Luckily it was just the battery. So, we made AutoZone jump us again after having them test the battery and we headed to Costco to get a new battery. And the story continues. It's kind of a funny one.... But Andy made the comment that his car had been acting funny. So, Sunday after church he decided to try and start it. Well, of course it didn't start. Dead battery as well... He went to Costco to get one, so he could get to work the next day. Well, Costco didn't have the type of battery he needed. Luckily Walmart came through for us. Both batteries were just over 3 years old, but of course old enough to not be covered under warranty anymore. Kind of discouraging that the dealerships put such cheap batteries in. A battery should last more than 3 years... Anyhow, it made for an adventurous weekend. And thank heavens we were able to get the car started each time and didn't have to mess with a tow. As always, things could have been worse...

Halloween 2013

The schools down here in Texas don't celebrate Halloween. Kind of a bummer!!! I remember it was always fun dressing up and having a party on Halloween. Doesn't happen here. Although the preschools celebrate Halloween, so my girls have always had fun with that. And Rachel's school tries to please us by having "Career Day" on Halloween. So, Rachel dressed up as a dentist for school that day, which she's done the past couple of years. Audrey, however, got to wear her Halloween costume to school and she was Winx the Fairy. I don't know if she had ever heard of this particular fairy, but she loved the costume when she saw it, so that's what she chose.

In the car pool line at school:

 

Winx in her school parade (It was raining that morning, so the parade was inside. Luckily the rain had cleared out by the evening.):

After dinner that evening we set out do some trick or treating. Rachel was Rapunzel and Ian was Super Man. Here are some pictures before we headed out:

 Rapunzel:

Winx:

 

 The Mackay family joined us:

Ian wasn't very cooperative for pictures before trick or treating, so we snapped a few after we got home and he was happily enjoying some skittles:

 

Our neighborhood is kind of spotty when it comes to trick or treating. You're lucky if 1 out of 5 houses is participating. So, it makes for a lot of walking. But the kids have fun. Ian started really enjoying it once he realized people would give him candy. He enjoyed getting out of the stroller and heading up to the doors, just like everyone else. It was fun to have the Mackays with us. And even though there weren't many  houses participating, the kids still got plenty of candy. As a matter of fact, we still have some Halloween candy up in the cupboard. It may be time to just toss it...

Carving Pumpkins

We didn't get around to carving our pumpkins until October 30th. The month just slipped by! I got the kids started on cleaning out their pumpkins and then had to go to mutual. So, Andy took over and did a great job. He's much more creative than I am, so it worked out well. I was sad to miss this tradition, but Andy was good about taking pictures and I enjoyed them once I got home later that evening. Here are some pictures of the kids busy at work and definitely having a good time:

Silly girls!

 

Gotta save the seeds!

Ian was quite into carving his pumpkin and helped quite a bit:

The finished jack-o'-lanterns:

Scary faces:

Love the poses:

CHEESE!!!

Cutest 3 kids I know:

The kids were asleep by the time I got home, but they had left their pumpkins out for me to see. They were very excited and proud to show me what they had done the next morning.

Moments in Time

As I was getting my act together this morning I looked out my bedroom window and saw this:

I had to grab the camera and take some pictures through the window without them noticing. The girls have already been busy this Saturday morning. They're both in dress-ups. And Ian's in his pajamas, which he loves and would keep on all day if we let him. :)

After watching them for awhile, I knocked on the window and got their attention:

I'm so blessed to have these 3...