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:
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.
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 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...
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