Houston Zoo

Because we live in the Walkersville Zoo, I'm always hesitant to take the kids to an actual zoo.

Not knowing my way around Houston, I'm a little hesitant to stray very far off the beaten path.

The Zoo seemed to be a safe bet, though - especially since we could take a shuttle bus and didn't have to deal with traffic.   

So we set off this morning to see what we could see.

The Houston Zoo is great. 

Very kid friendly with lots to see and do.

It was especially nice after 1pm or so when all the school groups left.  

The kids all had their favorite things and turns out they picked up lots of things from watching Wild Kratts so much.

Ummm....you talkin' to me? 

It's Texas.  They make everything into stars.  Even trash.  

The cheetahs were the hands down favorite animals we saw.  

The aquarium section of the zoo was great.  We went back a second time to make sure we saw everything before we left.

Mama Lion at Nap Time.  She is a smart lady.  

There was a Petting Zoo as well.  While the boys chased chickens, Caroline calmly brushed the goats.  They looked like they enjoyed it.  

This chimp was making hand signals to the boys and got right up to the glass when they were standing there.  

Picture courtesy of Benjamin

As usual, we can't go far without running into Herkimer Diamonds.
The Houston Zoo was no exception.
10,000 points at the Swap Shop, even!

I would be remiss not mentioning how well the kids behaved.
And if I didn't say "Thank You" to the designers of the Zoo for putting in so much stinking cool stuff that the kids were entertained enough to walk around for more than six hours.

Benjamin started to complain he was tired about lunch time (read: NAP-time).  Thankfully, we kept walking by really cool stuff and the kids were able to last until four o'clock with very minimal whining.  

The poor kid then fell asleep on the floor by 6pm and is still out like a light eleven hours later.

Amen, I say.  Amen.  

Houston

We spent our first couple days in TX sticking close to the hotel.
We rested, played Legos, read, ate (free breakfasts are awesome),

basked in the sun

and swam in the pool.

In reality, the kids jumped in and out of the pool as quickly as they could and then spent hours swimming in the hot tub.
Because nobody else was crazy enough to be in it.
In Houston, 70 degrees is considered to be freezing.

Works for us.

The Big Adventure

Since Jim has been working in TX so much and we had Spring Break on a week he was to be down there, I suggested we tag along for the week. Good idea in principle, but after spending the better part of last week tending to 4 sick kids, cleaning the house and packing I began to think otherwise.  It's a challenge to keep our small army running efficiently in the confines of Walkersville, without trying to cart it 9 states away.
But I pulled up my big girl pants, got things together and we set off yesterday morning about 5:30.
Herkimer was upset about all the hub-bub and camped out on Nate's car seat in protest.  
They look excited, don't they?

We had our first "are we in Texas yet?" Before we hit the Virginia border, but considering even that, the kids did great.
We stopped in Knoxville TX to see cousins, which was wonderful,  and made it all the way too the south side of Birmingham AL.
I can say with all certainty, after experiencing a 25 hour days, I am very glad there I don't have to do that often. We didn't pull out gadgets for the kids until hitting Gadsden AL, so HUGE victory there.
We hit Mass on Sunday morning in Bessemer, AL.  People were extremely friendly.  The priest had studied at The Mount, so he knew exactly where we were from. For a Universal Church, it's still a pretty small world.  The Priest also started Mass late because he was teaching people how to make crosses out of the palms.  We made it through Mass, providing our usual entertainment to those lucky enough to sit behind us and got on the road.  
Our trip down took more than 25 hours because Interstate 10 was closed over the Sabine River because of significant flooding.
Because of our detour, we sang Johnny Cash songs though Jackson, MS and I relented on having my first visit to Vicksburg be on July 4th and spent some time there.

Turns out that flooding blocked our alternate route as well, and we ended up meandering on back roads to Houston from the Louisiana-Texas border. 
And 25 hours of driving later, this is what it looks like in our room.

Here's to a Week of Adventure!

St Patrick's Day

Here are the pictures from the 11th annual installment of our St Patrick's Day pictures.
The kids were not thrilled about having to sit in the proximity of each other, but once the mustaches came out, they were all in...

Friends

God has surrounded us with the greatest people. 
Seeing the last blog post as a poorly veiled cry for help, friends are showing up at my doorstep. 
It has been wonderful.
We've all been struggling with Jim on the road so much. 
I didn't realize it, I think, because I was trying so hard to keep up. 
Being able to sit and talk to Kindred Spirits has been the highlight of the past few months.
I am grateful.

No one has been sleeping this week.  Caroline said to me this morning, after I opened her door and it conked her on the head because she was sleeping on the floor in front of it, "I just don't sleep good when Daddy isn't here."
Ain't it the truth.
Tuesday morning Caroline greeted me at 4AM, saying she couldn't sleep.  I got up with her, ran on the treadmill and got her to use the time as a head start on her flute practicing.
Wednesday morning, Nate greeted me at 3:30 after a nightmare involving M&Ms trying to eat him.  Wild Kratts kept him entertained while I ran that day. 
Thursday morning it was both Nate and Ben who woke up at 4.  At that point, I let them play legos and pound the tar out of each other so I could get a run in. 
This morning I was so stinking tired that I when I looked at the treadmill, in spite of there being no one in the house awake, shook and head and said, "Nope.  I need coffee."
I can count the number of times that has happened in the past three years on one hand.
Guess I just needed an off morning.  
After Jim arrived I was able to get out of adulting for an hour and run 5 miles. 
Not only is it good to see him, it's good to have some time alone. 
It will also be good to be able to justify dessert tonight.
Chocolate helps everything. 

Caroline was able to go to the Kennedy Center to see La Sylphide this past weekend.
The was enthralled.
Every time I look at her, I'm surprised by how darned beautiful and grown up she is.
Sigh.

The boys and I are keeping on with our bread making.
Next up is making yogurt.
We go through about 16 cups of yogurt a week.  I don't see that number going down any time soon.
Herkimer supervises all our baking.
Even the cat can't escape Nate's bunny ears.  

After the past months, we're all worn out.
This was Nate after school one afternoon.

We're getting by with a little a LOT of help from our friends.
Thank you.