Vacation Roadtrip 2014 Days 6

On the 6th day of our vacation we headed into Downtown Houston to check out the Aquarium. Growing up going to the Vancouver Aquarium and having many friends and family members that frequented the Seattle Aquarium my expectations were high. Several people warned us that it wasn't that great, but since it was part of our City Pass we went and checked it out.

Biggest tank at the Aquarium

Everyone was right it was a bit disappointing. We were able to walk slowly through the main aquarium in less than an hour. Most of the fish were your average aquarium fish. The highlights of the main part for my kids were the boa constrictor and the white bangled tiger. 

Elli and the Boa

Our City Pass didn't include entrance to the carnival rides outside the aquarium or the train that drove through a tunnel on the shark exhibit. So that was  another disappointment for the kids.

The Tiger

We did however get into the sting ray exhibit and I had just enough cash to buy the food to feed the rays. To feed them you have to hold a little minnow fish between your knuckles, put your had under the water and wait for them to come up and suck the fish out of your hand. It was equally cool and disgusting at the same time.

The Sting Ray Cove definitely redeemed the day!

After we finished at the Aquarium we drove over to the Museum District and checked out the Children's Museum. It was pretty good, for a children's museum.  Lots of stuff for kids to climb and play on. Lots of scientific stuff for the kids to learn from. It was Elli's favorite part of the trip, but the boys were less impressed with it.

Building Rockets

Our favorite part of this museum was the hands on area in the basement. They had little stations set up where you could make paper airplanes, rockets and parachutes. Then you could test out your creation in their launch cage or wind tunnels. My mechanically minded kids (and husband) could have spent all day there. They also had a Lego vehicle building station and a couple test tracks to race the vehicles on.

All in all, it was a fun day. Next post... NASA!!!!

Vacation Roadtrip 2014 Days 4 &5

Day 4 of our vacation was rather uneventful and I didn't take a single picture. We had Egg & I for breakfast and went to Walmart and bought Zaccheaus new swim shorts, since he packed his old ones from last summer. Then we went to visit Josh's mom at her apartment and made plans for taking her out with us the next day. 

Waiting for Breakfast

We had breakfast at Kelley's Country Cooking, a local chain restaurant. The portions were gigantic and no one could eat all their food. We left with 3 boxes of left overs. After breakfast we headed over to the Museum District of Houston and checked out the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences. 

Mock up a refinery made out of neon lights

There was a whole area dedicated to the local mega industry of oil refining. The kids really enjoyed this because it helped them further understand what happens at Josh's work. 

Learning about the oil industry

 Next we checked out the fossils on display at the museum. This was by far the biggest display of dinosaur bones and fossils I had ever seen. They had several different dinosaurs, mammoths, giant turtles and other creatures. There was even a skeleton of a giant sloth, that I am not entirely sure was real.

They're having fun, really they are

The kids liked seeing the real skeletons of creatures from all the different movies they've seen. I kept hearing that one's from Ice Age, that's the T-Rex from Land Before time. Joshua carefully documented the whole area with pictures on his DS.

Tree samplings of petrified wood

The gallery of petrified wood slices was so cool. The slices of trees would make the most beautiful artwork to hang up at home. Too bad it would cost a fortune to get some. Several of the samples were from Washington State!

Seeing how much each metal weighs

In the basement of the museum was a science lab with a big interactive periodic table (I wish LeapFrog or some other company would make something like that) and lots of interactive exhibits for kids to learn about matter, the solar system, the weather and elements.

In the weather lab

 After the basement we went up to the second floor, where they had exhibits on sea shells/ sea life and a huge exhibit on rocks and gems. The older two have always been interested in Geology so this exhibit was really neat for them. Unfortunately this exhibit was so dark I didn't get a single good picture.

Elli wanted her picture taken by the Zebra, but she refused to pose. LOL

Across the hall from the rock and gem exhibit was the African Animal exhibit. We didn't spend a whole lot of time here as it was just stuffed African animals. The kids have all been to zoos with live versions that were more entertaining than the stuffed version. ;-)

Checking out the Egyptian artifacts

On the third floor there was an Egyptian exhibit full of many different artifacts from different time periods. There was several mummy's on display and when we came up on one Elli would say "Great another dead guy". She was a little creeped out by them.

 Also on the third floor was a exhibit of the Americas that included displays on the Inca, Mayan, Native American and Inuit cultures. After seeing all the mummy's Elli thought the Eskimo mannequin was another "dead guy" and got really freaked out for a second because that one was standing up.

If you ever come to Houston the HMNS is a must see. We learned later in the week that Thursdays from 2-5 was free, but we didn't mind since our tickets were part of our City Pass that Josh bought through his work. You can walk through it fast in about 3 hours or slow down and spend all day there. Either way it is fun. I had my pedometer on and we walked 5 miles that day!

More post coming soon!

Vacation Roadtrip 2014 Days 1,2 & 3

 I finally feel recovered enough from our drive that I can share about it. Man that was a long drive!

The route we took

 We left at 4am on Friday and began our trek to Josh's dad's house near Houston. As soon as we were into Eastern Washington Elli began asking if we were in Texas yet. She was not happy when we explained she had a day and a half to go.

Eastern Washington

We seemed to be traveling ahead of some storm system. Just as we were leaving each region we would get a weather warning on our phones for that area. We experienced nearly every type of weather possible. Rain, hail, lightning, thunder, sunshine, SNOW, fog and high winds were some we drove through.

I love wind turbines! These are in Eastern Oregon. Pay no attention to the crack in my windshield.  

Josh and I took turns driving and basically changed seats at each fill up. Although I think he did more night driving than I did. I don't do well at night. 

Wyoming

 When we crossed through the mountains (around 10pm PST) of Wyoming I was trying to sleep and for some reason I woke up really nauseous, so we ditched the plans of trying to make it to Denver and got a room for the night in Rawlins, WY. I am so thankful we did that. We got one room and all squeezed in. Everyone slept well, we got a large free breakfast and we were back on the road by 11am PST.

Elli playing the game she got in her Chick-Fil-A meal

 Anyone who really knows me knows I do not eat fast food, but on a road trip it's hard to stop and eat at a good restaurant. There are 2 fast food places I will make an exception for. At home it's Taco Time and I only get the salad. On this trip, it's been Chick-Fil-A! On day 1 we stopped for lunch there just outside Boise. Day 2 found us eating a late lunch there in Denver. Josh really loves their food and I find it doesn't make me sick like some other fast food places, so we'll be eating there a lot on this trip.

Josh crashed as soon as we got to his dad's

We pushed through on the second day/ night and got into Houston around 9am EST on the third day. Needless to say we were pretty tired and took our turns taking naps throughout the day.

The Tasty Kake Fairy Visited Josh while he slept!

While Josh was napping, Elli and I ran to the store and found some of Josh's favorite treats that we can't get in Washington. He used to get these all the time when he lived in Pennsylvania as a kid and I used to buy them for him online, but when I tried last time they didn't sell them online anymore. He was so excited to hear they had them in Texas. I think we may be taking a few boxes home with us when we leave. 

Kids in the pool

Josh's dad's house has a pool out back, so once we were rested a bit we let the kids play until it was time for dinner. The kids are loving it here! I'm having fun, but can't wait to get back to my home. I feel so out of place down here. I'm pretty sure the locals can sense that I am not from here. LOL

I'll share the rest of our adventures soon...Stay tuned....

Surprise!!!

This past Tuesday (May 29th) we all loaded up in the Durango and headed off for a drive. I had already packed for everyone and had it loaded up. The kids had no idea where we were going. They came to consensus that we must be going to Auntie Trish's and Uncle Ben's because we never go anywhere else. After we past the Auburn area, they decided we must be going to visit my sister Shandi.
Shandi lives right down the road from our destination, so I let them keep on thinking that until we surprised them with the real destination in the video below!

I love how Gabe is pretending to not be excited... LOL!

Here are some pictures of our fun time!

Joshua... He's getting all grown up & stuff... He needs to stop that!

Zaccheaus warming up in the kiddy pool

Elli getting sprayed at the Fort McKenzie part of the waterpark

She loved spraying everyone at the jet skis

Having fun at the kiddy slides

Shandi, Seaira, Sariah and Shanel(pictured above) came to play (a little fuzzy I know, but it was the best I got of her)

We watched the clocktower show each night we were there... The rhythm of nature song is now emblazoned into my memory and that's not a good thing. the show was filled with "lovely" lines like "trust the great wolfs howl" and "there's nothing to be scared of here, trust in Mother Nature"... Um, ya given the chance that great wolf would eat you and last time I checked nature cannot be trusted! ;-)

The story time afterwards was good though and the younger two enjoyed meeting the animal characters. On the first night Zaccheaus got all dressed up in his outfit just like the character Oliver, only to find out they just bring out one character each night and that night was Wiley's turn to be out for story time. The story reader lady noticed him all decked out in his Oliver garb, so she brought Oliver out for story time the second night we were there.

Zaccheaus and Oliver

Now Oliver being the mischievous raccoon that he is, sometimes is known to steal things... Like the story teller's book or a kids hat. Well, this evening Oliver was so excited that Zaccheaus dressed up just like him, he tried stealing Zaccheaus! He started walking off with him & Zaccheaus went right along with him... Of course they didn't go far and Oliver quickly returned my boy to me. 

Gabe joined us for story time on the second night and Oliver gave him nooggies to get him to smile for the camera. 

We all had a great time and the kids are all already ready to go back again!

Skating Fun

Josh's new work had their annual Christmas party last night at the Bellingham Sportsplex. There was free pizza and drinks and ice skating was free too! It was everyone else's first time at ice skating and it's been over 10 years since I last tried skating. Josh did OK, since they didn't even have skates in his size (he had to squeeze into some size 14s). Joshua was a little slow, but got it figured out. Gabriel and Zaccheaus did good as well, but loved the little walker things that gave them extra stability. Here's some pics of them playing around....

Gabe (green) colliding with friend Zoe

Cheaus (red) and Gabe (green)  racing 

Cheaus, Gabe and Zoe

I did get one pic of Joshua, but it was of him trying to get up after falling and he made me promise not to post it anywhere. Elizabeth looked so cute with her little figure skater skates on with one of her tutu outfits, but sadly I didn't take a single picture of her. 

I wore my skates for a bit getting acclimated to them, stepped out on the ice, moved about 10 feet  along the wall and called it quits and went back to being a spectator. My nearly 30 year old body can't do what it once did and I was really feeling each bump of the ice in my heel that has plantar fasciitis  (Little tip... don't walk long distances in Converse!). 

Hopefully next year we'll be a little better at skating, but probably not. LOL

Kung Fu Panda Birthday

Like I said in my last post, today is Gabriel's 8th birthday and with us moving in just a few days we decided to keep things simple and not do a huge party. He got to have a lunch and shopping date with gramma and as usual she spoiled him like crazy!

Then after Josh got home we headed off to watch Kung Fu Panda in theaters. Today was opening day and there was hardly anyone in there. Maybe because we chose to watch it in 2D, I bet there were more people in watching the 3D version. Anyhoo, here are some more photos of our day...

Po was finding his inner peace on the dinner table along with some take out boxes from the Dollar Tree.

We had Chineese food at home for dinner, I wanted to go to either Panda Express or Panda Palace in the Sunset area, but haven't heard anything good/bad about either. We decided not to risk it and just picked up a couple different kinds of Chineese food from Haggens to share.

I couldn't find any party supplies for Kung Fu Panda 2 in the stores, so I used a lot of printables from the movies website. In addition to the Po 3D thing above we had activity placemats that looked just like ones from Chinese restaurants, paper airplanes that look like some of the characters, a dragon warrior scroll for his bday card and these little cupcake picks I made.

Not my best work, but all my scrapbook/crafting stuff is packed. So these are the best we were getting today. The only snack I could find for the treat bags, with the characters on it were fruit roll ups. Seriously, I could have anything I wanted with Cars 2 on it, but Kung Fu Panda 2 stuff was no where to be found. =(

Gabe had a fun day and the movie was very enjoyable, you should go see it!



Awana Grand Prix

This last week we participated in the Awanas Grad Prix that our Awana club puts on each year. A great time was had by all and the boys are already thinking up ideas for next year LOL!

Showing off his ribbon

Gabriel's Humvee placed in 2nd in both it's races, but he didn't make it to the finals. He did, however, receive the best design award. Good Job Gabe!

Mr Serious

Joshua's formula 1 race car placed in 1st & 2nd in it's first two races and took 3rd place in the finals. Way to go Joshua!!

Zaccheaus' car did well too, but didn't place in the finals. He was too busy playing to pose for a photo, LOL!

Christmas

We had a pretty low key Christmas day here. After hosting Josh's family for Christmas Eve, we wanted to keep everything else pretty simple. On Christmas Eve Ben, Trish & the girls came up and brought Jacob with them. My parents came over too. But, I don't have any pictures because I was too busy cooking. We had Salmon, Meatballs, Lamb, Mussels & Clams, mini quiches, mini egg rolls, stuffed mushrooms, veggies & dip, deviled eggs, potato bites, and a bunch of sugary treats too. All but the "mini" foods were homemade and I think next year that might change. ;-D I enjoyed that it was all fresh and not full of additives and preservatives, but I'll have to make some shortcuts next year. I was literally in the kitchen ALL DAY! But we had a blast, so I suppose it was worth it. 

Eli opening her "Baby Princess" book.

Back to Christmas morning, I was thankful Josh had picked up muffins on his last Costco run and was able to give the kids that special treat for breakfast before opening presents. Each kid just got a toy, book and some clothes and it's total chaos during the opening process, so that's the best picture I got, LOL.

The boys got their usual Legos from us and my grandparents got them some too. We all sat around for a few hours getting them all built.

Zaccheaus' favorite new toy! The Buzz Lightyear ROBOT! It walks...It talks... and it has a "Spanish" mode that makes me giggle every time I hear it. I don't know what it is about a little spaceman toy doing a little mariachi dance, but I find it hilarious. I even laugh at it in the TS3 movie and Josh just doesn't get it. 

This wasn't really a Christmas present, but it's too cute not to blog about. My mom and I did some after Christmas shopping and Eli flipped over this Princess Snow White baby doll. We had to get it! Seriously, she has a princess problem and I can tell you I didn't instill it in her...It is all her! Pink and frilly and girly.... And I have to say I'm actually enjoying it! ;-D

A Boy and His Allergies

Many of you may remember when Gabriel always had broken out cheeks, like in the above photo. We found out his had severe allergies when he was an infant and battled them, trying to figure out what all he was allergic to for about a year. After getting in with Dr. Elkyham in Bellingham, we began a round of food eliminations and allergy testing. Turned out he was allergic to peanuts, cats, dust and pollens and had sensitivities to milk proteins and cottonseed oils. We removed all those foods from his diet and began seeing improvements in his outbreaks (like the photo above).

Fast forward to this week and Gabriel has outgrown all his food allergies, because we were able to avoid them completely. We went to Dr. Elkyham's office this week and met with Lisa Drinkwater PAC and finished his food tests. We already knew he outgrew the cottonseed and milk allergies all that was left was the peanut test.

First they did another poke test to confirm that he is no longer showing signs of allergic reaction. The bump on the right is supposed to look like that, it's a histamine to show his level of reaction to allergens. The blotch on the left is the antihistamine and in the middle was a poke of peanut butter and as you can see there is no reaction. Praise God!  So they fed him a small amount of peanut butter. He said it was so yummy!

Then we waited and every 20 minutes he had to do a blow test to check his peak flows and make sure he wasn't having an anaphalactic (sp?) reaction to the peanut butter.

More waiting... We were there from 9:30 am until almost 4pm. Some of the staff came in after us and worked their whole shifts and went home before we did. LOL!

Doing the peak flow test.

He passed the tests and we were allowed to go home without finishing the final round of testing. With each test they doubled the amount of peanut butter and by the 9th round he was eating 3 Tbsp of it without reacting, so it's safe to say he's completely outgrown his allergy. It's so great for him to be able to eat whatever he wants. Now we just need to get his brother and sister to outgrow their allergies and we'll be golden! His big brother Joshua even bought him a giant Reece's snowman for Christmas. I know he's going to enjoy every bite of it! ;-D

All I want for Christmas is....

...my two front teeth! Why is so much more fun to report the loss of teeth, when you get to use that little song? I love it! Gabriel has had little wiggly teeth for a while now and they have finally fallen out! What a handsome little man!