Holiday Break

Soon after O's birthday, school takes a two-week winter break. With the ongoing pandemic, we opted for just a stay-cation this year. It was nice and relaxed, but we did enjoy planning out some potential future excursions (I'm looking at you, Midwest states) to fill out the rest of this map (an awesome Christmas gift for me!):

My alumni group had a fundraiser with Rudolph's Light Show, so we made the drive and enjoyed the show! It was hard to get good pictures in the dark, through the car windows, but I still tried. I think the videos show it best. Even Hadley liked it.

We also drove through some other neighborhoods for lights on the way home, just to really douse those desires to see light displays. It seemed like a lot of people went all out on holiday lights this year!

The other classic holiday tradition is the baking and eating of sweets, so we obliged there as well, with gingerbread houses, chocolate dipped pretzels, Saltine toffees, and sugar cookies. 

And despite our house being full of sweets, we treated ourselves to some Over the Top ice cream and waffle concoctions one day. Interesting idea (deluxe ice cream, decorated with cookies and candies, and served in warm, soft Belgian waffle cones), but we probably won't go back unless they put a location closer to home.

We also got in a trip to the ranch. Because there were guns around (see below), I asked the kids to stay close to the house while I was busy inside. They ended up digging a pretty deep hole (literally!) to entertain themselves. I guess when in Rome...

I gambled with my life by letting the kids drive the Mule around the pasture. Just kidding! They were both pretty good drivers; we just had to watch out for gopher holes and cow patties. Hadley does need some practice for smooth pedal work, and Owen looked a little too comfortable behind the wheel already!

While there, the kids got to "re-meet" their cousin, Kyle (in the middle), who was there sighting rifles with Uncle Michael. The last time we'd seen him was at the 50th anniversary party almost 6 years ago, so it was understandable that the kids did not recall meeting him the first time.

Finally, it was Christmas!! Our "miracle" tree started to crumble as we put it together this year, and more and more lights went dark, so it made its last year memorable by trying to make striped dark/light trees a trend. It didn't work. But I'm happy to report that Santa found us anyway! It was kind of a low-key Christmas to go with the rest of the year, but there were still a few surprises under the tree.

Despite the furballs, hisses, and messes, even the cat got a gift under the tree. This is no ordinary cat bed - it has an astronaut blanket layer that is supposed to reflect the cat's heat back to them, like a warm lap. Tibbs is ridiculously obsessed with warm laps during quarantine, plus she has rejected quite a few other cat beds, so we were pleasantly surprised when she took to this bed fairly readily and slept in it for hours on Christmas Day.

Then there was a sunny Boxing Day with the cousins, who broke out their summer bouncy slide, sans water. Many laps were made on the slide circuit by kids of all sizes. It was a beautiful afternoon for swinging in the hammock, playing in the park, and chilling in the yard. Aunt Jenn's holiday biscotti collection even went well with some local craft brews.

Once Christmas passed, we had a glorious week left. This is how much of the time was spent:

But occasionally, we step outside the mold and try to have an adventure. Owen asked about ice skating, which we hadn't done since leaving Idaho. I told them that in Houston, you get to skate at the mall! Ha! I was wondering about the crowds, but it wasn't too bad post-Christmas, so we had ourselves a skate day at Memorial City Mall, kind of like old times.

After a few cautious laps, it was like riding a bike for Owen. 

I asked Hadley if she remembered anything from her lessons, and she told me she never had skating lessons! I swear she did, but I went back through the blog and couldn't find any evidence, except of Owen's lessons. Yikes! Maybe it didn't happen. Anyway, she braved the rink without a guide this time, despite looking like she was walking on a field of banana peels! She clung close the side, but in true Hadley fashion, she did not want any tips on how to skate from me. A couple hours later, she was doing much better, and we kept going even after Owen was done.

After we returned our skates, we strolled around the mall. The kids haven't really been to a big city mall yet, and certainly hadn't been anywhere like it during quarantine, so it was fun to take a spin and see what life was like "before." It wasn't too crowded, but it was certainly the most people we had seen in one place in quite a while! Hadley's one request was to go to the skybridge, so here we are!

One of our other favorite holiday traditions is collecting and displaying the Christmas cards we receive from friends and family. It was especially nice to see familiar faces this holiday season. We miss you all!

Mr. 11

Between major holidays and during the end-of-the-year rush, Owen has the last of 6 family birthdays that span less than a month. Finally, his day was here! It's the big 11 for him this year, but no big party because COVID is still around. He opted against a parade, since it was a school day, and just requested opening presents and eating food. We're in the homestretch before middle school, saying so long to each elementary "last", previewing pre-teenness, and savoring seniority on campus. To start the small celebrations, we met up with cousins at the park for some fresh air on a beautiful afternoon. 

Legos plus Mandalorian = yes please! 1000+ pieces were not a problem; Owen knocked it out before brunch the next day. It might be a collector's item now that the Razor Crest ship was obliterated on the show the day before.

In keeping with tradition, the birthday boy requested sushi for dinner and an ice cream cake for dessert. Nothing like cold food on a cold day. We went with a "cookie chaos" cake from Marble Slab; it had both cookies and cream and cookie dough ice creams. To be honest, I don't understand the ice cream cake because my taste buds turn off at cold temps, so it never tastes like much to me. But I am in the minority at my house! 

You'll have to use your imagination a little bit, but we signed him up for the school's digital billboard birthday announcement this year. The refresh rate on the sign apparently doesn't work well with cell phone cameras, so it looked a lot better in person. Happy birthday, buddy! 

Museum District Scavenger Hunt

After Thanksgiving, we figured it was time to get out the Christmas decorations. We usually have a December 1st house rule, but 2020 deserves a couple extra days of Christmas cheer. We have a little different set-up this year, and the only spot for the tree seemed to be upstairs. This might be the last year for the miracle tree, since more lights didn't come on and some branches crumbled in our hands while we assembled it.

I recently stumbled across a Christmas present from last year that we never used - a family scavenger hunt for downtown Houston, which seemed like a great thing to do now that the weather has become more pleasant. We chose to do the hunt in the museum district and had a great time discovering little gems in and around Hermann Park. The hunt is conducted through an app on your phone, which gives you clues and asks you questions for points. When you find a landmark that they've directed you to, you can submit a picture of yourself there to get even more points. As a result, I have a lot of pictures from our hunt. Let's get started!

We weren't sure where the hunt would start, so we parked in the big lots by the zoo, which was pretty far away from where we needed to be. At least the weather was nice, and we had park scenery to enjoy on our way to the first stop: the Sam Houston statue. Note: our selfie game needs some work, especially for four faces into the sun.

From there, it was an easy walk to the reflecting pool and the Pioneer Memorial Obelisk at the end. The beautiful weather brought out lots of families and photo sessions, but we were able to keep our distance or mask up, as needed. 

Next up were the Japanese gardens, very serene and photogenic.

We did a few bonus challenges while we enjoyed the Japanese garden: descending heights, heart hands, animal pics, etc. Side note: Hermann Park has the largest squirrels I've ever seen. They must be living the good life with park goer's scraps and large, protected trees.

The hunt continued to Miller Outdoor Theatre and Centennial Gardens, where we found a bust of Cabeza de Vaca. Sadly, some things were closed, like the theatre grounds and the spiral path up to the top of the hill, I guess due to COVID concerns. So we often had to take a roundabout way to places.

By this point, the grass looked pretty good to the kids. It was a lot of walking. (We clocked about 17k steps that day!)

Alas, we weren't done! There were more fountains and colonnades to see. Plus a few more bonus points to get from acting out scenes and counting columns.

Finally, the scavenger hunt finished up at the MFA and a sculpture garden. I did not know that Houston had its own mini-bean, a la Chicago. It just goes to show that we have a lot more to learn about our new (and old) home.

Watching Paint Dry

Literally. That's what we did in the days just before Thanksgiving, when we had our house painted! It had been on our to do list, probably since move-in day, and it felt so good to finally check it off! The house looked like it hadn't been painted since it was built; the paint was very faded and peeling in several places, not to mention covered in mildew. Plus, we found a good painting crew that also did minor trim repairs, power washed and treated the mildew, and caulked the whole thing back together. To the before and afters:

The mister and I did agree on a color, which we thought was a slight miracle. Because the cream color tends to show dirt and mildew easily, we thought a darker color might be better. We borrowed some paint samples from a neighbor and found a few medium grays that played to the darker bricks in our red house. We tried them out in a few different places and picked one, but when the painters put it up in large scale, we second guessed our choice!

It looks much greener on a large wall, when our little sample looked mostly gray, so we were a little concerned it would look like a Christmas house. But the second coat helped a lot. In some light, it even leans brown. Either way, it will be good to disguise mildew and dirt! I think it's still growing on us, but it's definitely an improvement and feels like the house is at least in better condition than it was.

We also replaced a dead tree in the front yard. It was a red oak that just didn't seem to grow much, and we put another in its place with an improved watering system, so hopefully this one will be happier than its predecessor.

We had a mini-Thanksgiving on Tuesday at the ranch, in between unpacking boxes and assembling lamps for Granna and Grandad. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures, but I borrowed this one from my SIL. I was in charge of the meal, while everyone else was working, and it was a little exciting to be the first to use the oven, microwave, stove, utensils, and bakeware in a brand new kitchen. We were so glad to be there to help them "break in" their new house. The only snag was the brown water coming out of the tap... It seems there's always something.

However, on Thursday, we had our first Thanksgiving by ourselves in our own house, and it was delicious! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Despite this insane year, we have much to be grateful for.