Spring Break in Houston/Galveston

Kendall, Judson, Avery and I on the Khema boardwalk

Scott went on a mission trip to Honduras over Spring Break this year, so the kids and I went with my parents on a little trip to Houston and Galveston.  We traveled down there on a Sunday and arrived with just enough time to realx and swim for awhile before going out to dinner.  Monday morning we went to the NASA Space Center there in Houston.  We rode in the shuttle simulator, explored the inside of a shuttle, and checked out several exhibits before our hunger and poor night of sleep caught up with us.  But after naps/relaxing everyone was refreshed and ready to go back and check out Rocket Park with the Saturn V rocket on display.  It's size was very impressive and there were quite a few displays detailing each of the Apollo missions.  After that we headed out to the bay (Khema) for dinner at Landry's and some fun on the boardwalk.  Since my Dad takes lots of business clients there to Landry's, he was able to get the manager to reserve a table for us right by the full length windows overlooking the water.  The food and the view were wonderful.  My mom and the kids and I rode the carousel and the ferris wheel there at the boardwalk, then we finished off the night with some ice cream at Marble Slab.  After sleeping in and a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel Tuesday morning, we drove out to Galveston to go to the beach.  The forecast had been showing rain, but it ended up sunny and clear.  A little chilly for swimming (I think it was in the mid-high 60's), but nice enough to build sand castles, collect seashells, and fly kites on the beach.  It's always fun to watch the kids play in the sand and water.  Since all the seafood restaurants were super-crowded, we ended up eating dinner at a pizza place, and then we went and bought some t-shirts and souvenirs for the kids at a neat little store.  We spent Tuesday night there in Galveston with an ocean view from our hotel rooms and then headed back home Wednesday morning.  It was a wonderful little getaway and truly a nice break from our everyday routine.

swimming at the hotel

checking out some freeze dried astronaut food inside a shuttle at NASA

Wish I remembered exactly what this thing was, but it looked cool!

Judson pretending to fly the space shuttle

They had some rover robots downstairs in the kids' area that you controlled upstairs from this room.

Judson the astronaut!

Kendall the astronaut!

And Avery the astronaut!

This was a simulator for the kids where they laid down flat on their backs and watched a video showing a shuttle launching.

Avery was really interested in all the exhibits.  I wish we could have spent more time letting her explore and watch some of the movie presentations.

This screen showed an ariel view of the Earth from outer space. 

The Saturn V at Rocket Park.  It is 32 stories tall!

posing with some of the Apollo astronauts

and silly posing with astronauts

The kids and I at Rocket park

yet another picture with astronauts

Dinner at Landry's over looking the water. We ate at this same restaurant when I was about Avery's age and we had gone to Houston for a gymnastics meet.  There was a big storm that evening and the waves were crashing up against the glass and we saw lots of boats coming in.

Silly Judson!

The guys

Kendall and I riding the carousel

Mimi and Jud on the carousel.  He wanted to ride on the dragon that Avery got on, but he settled for a zebra.

Avery on her colorful dragon.

Kendall kept talking about how pretty this horse was.

Giddyup!

Jud and I on the ferris wheel.

Judson showing off and being silly at the beach

There's nothing quite like the majesty of the ocean.

Judson mostly just played in the sand, but he did get his feet wet a few times.  He loves the water and swimming, but he has a healthy fear of the ocean waves.

Running out to play in the water.

Guess they're all mesmerized by the waves.

sisters at the beach

Judson kept wanting us to dig holes for him to sit in.

All smiles!

Kendall's jump for joy- just wish you could see her face!

 Avery's Toyota jump

Queen of the Ocean!

Judson and I playing in the sand.

I love this picture of Kendall.  It is just so HER!

The kids and I with our sandcastle.

sibling love

Mimi and Poppi with their grandbabies

Kendall's "Frozen" party

Kendall- 6 years old!

Not long after the movie "Frozen" came out, Kendall decided that she wanted to have a "Frozen" themed birthday party.  I had a lot of fun getting ideas off Pinterest and putting together the decorations, goodie bags, and other things for the party.  We had the party at ASI gymnastics, which is always such a fun party for the kids and very hands-off for the parents.  It ended up being a little stressful though because Judson had thrown up twice the night before and Kendall had an infection around one of her 6 yr molars that was giving her a fever and making her feel bad.  Initially we thought her cheek was swollen from getting hit with a dodgeball at a birthday party the day before, but after the swelling got worse and she was feeling so bad we finally discovered the true culprit.  I felt so bad that Kendall couldn't enjoy herself fully at her own birthday party!  The coaches were great though about keeping the games a little more low-key and they really did make her feel special.  She got to be in the middle of the parachute, got to ring the bell, and they gave her a t-shirt, a knapsack, and a medal.  She had several friends from school, as well as some from church and the neighborhood to help her celebrate.  She loved all the sparkly decorations, her beautiful "Frozen" cake, and the frozen blue punch I made.  She received a giant white teddy bear from us, beautiful Anna and Elsa dolls from Mimi and Poppi, the "Frozen" soundtrack, a palace pet, lots of notebooks, pens, etc for drawing and writing, a Barbie, a lego set, and some jewelry, money and gift cards.  It was special birthday party for a special 6 year old!

trampoline fun

Practicing her split jumps. She is really good at these and straddle jumps.

sisters jumping

watching all her guest hop over to her in a silly way

Coach Anthony was very silly and great with the kids.  They thought he was hilarious!

more silliness

getting ready to do the parachute

Kendall enjoyed being in the middle and getting some special attention.

I had to help Judson with his little piece of the parachute.

Peek-a-boo!

Pit time!  Avery's going in!

Kendall built herself a castle.

Judson had a ball jumping, swinging, and doing all the things he watches the girls do at gymnastics.

Waiting for a special birthday surprise. . .

Her very own ASI medal!

She also got an ASI t-shirt and knapsack.

The party table. I wish i would have had a little more time for set up so I could have added some more of the sparkly blue fabric and bunched it up across the table.  Oh well!

Kendall's beautiful "Frozen" cake made by one of Mimi's coworkers.  Mimi also made the personalized plates with a picture of Anna and Elsa and they say, "Happy 6th Birthday Kendall."  The "Frozen" plates and napkins were on back order at every store until March, so we improvised with these plates and some napkin rings I found online with the characters on them.

Listening to her "Happy Birthday" song.

Make a wish!

Everyone, including adults, loved the blue frozen party punch. 

Time for presents!

I love how she is sitting with her legs crossed here.

Opening her Anna and Elsa dolls from Mimi and Poppi.

We had dinner with Memaw and Dedaw and Mimi and Poppi at Dickey's after the party.  You can tell that Kendall was worn out and not feeling good at all by this point.  How stinky to be sick on the day of your birthday party!