blueberry picking

We drove up Conroe to pick blueberries! It was so much more enjoyable than picking strawberries...for several reasons. First, there was little bending down. Blueberry bushes are tall! In fact, I was on my tippy-toes much of the time while Bella was perfectly content gathering berries on her level. Second, there was shade. It would have been better if we went earlier than 10 am, but it wasn't bad. Third, the place was really laid back. "Here's a bucket, go pick where the flags are." We could also bring Bella's car (stroller) and we could have even brought Penny if we wanted to. Last, it was cheap! $2 a pound...and a pound is a lot of berries! We recommend Moorhead's Blueberry Farm!

Ship Channel Tour

The Port of Houston Ship Channel Tour was fun and far more interesting than Bella's facial expressions made it out to be. The best part was that it was free with complimentary coffee and soda! (...I didn't have any, but I thought it was nice for everyone else.) It was a 1 hour+ tour of the Houston Ship Channel.

Not every ship has a boring name or is named after someone's wife or girlfriend, perhaps this name brings good luck.

We had a special assignment this week: to show Sandy's "Flat Stanley" all around Houston. Since we were spending the weekend with Kathy and Patrick doing a few touristy things, this was also a great opportunity to show "Flat Stanley" around as well. Kathy and Patrick, our friends who moved from Houston to Kansas City, joined us. It was on their bucket list...and now, about 9 months after leaving Houston, they got to cross it off. ...and so did we!

In case you're wondering, here's our bucket list:

• Ship Channel Tour - done!

• Hunting - done!

• Sailing - done!

• Big Bend

• visit Aunt Jackie at least 3 times - one done! ...two more to go

If you have other interesting things to do in Texas, please let us know so we can add them to the list!

Going, Going...Gone!

Matt flew to Baltimore to sell his sailboat. Much to our relief, he sold it! He sold it to the nicest man and the boat is in such good hands. The new boat owner is a retiring shipyard mechanic. We couldn't have asked for a better outcome!...except if we sold it 4 years ago thus saving thousands of dollars in slip fees! Matt enjoyed spending some good quality time with the boat tidying it up (not that it needed much) and replacing the shaft in the beautiful cool weather.

We'll never forget...

...Dutchess. Matt still talks a lot about her a lot (did I say a lot twice? well, he talks about her that much!). It's almost been a year since her depart to Doggie Heaven. Bella still remembers her and talks about her leash and dog tags much to daddy's delight.

static

Bella's aunt sent this fancy picture using an app on her iphone. It looks so cool! Bella slid down a plastic slide and her hair became electric! Now you can see, her hair is s.l.o.w.l.y growing.

Meet at Joe’s

You've seen the t-shirts, right? "Eat at Joe's [Crabshack]" Well, we meet at Joe's... and drink...because there is a great playground. We've met twice on a spur-of-the-moment and had a great time! The kids get along so well! These happy boys watch over Bella on the playground, carefully following her around and entertaining her.

While attending the oldest's first birthday party 5 years ago, I never thought that we would all be enjoying ourselves while our kids (mine included) played together.

Mother's Day

We had a relaxing day celebrating Mother's Day. Matt made fancy French toast then we went on a walk to the sculpture garden. We weren't very into observing & interpreting the sculptures; mostly we just wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather!

Across the street was a small fountain so we had to go check it out. Bella and Penny thoroughly enjoyed dipping in.

Bella and Daddy smooching.

Lake Jacksonville

Over the hill and through the woods...to the lake house she goes! We visited Dan & Sandy in Lake Jacksonville this weekend. We all piled up in the car (the 3 of us + the 3 of them + Lucy (the 90 pound dog!). It was a fun road trip!
They don't call East Texas the Piney Woods for nothin'. The lake house is surrounded by beautiful pine, oak and dogwood trees.
A funny, licky shot
After much eying, Dan finally indulged the kids by playing the guitar. Bella thorougly enjoyed 'playing' along as Dan sang.
Later that night, Bella and Matt knocked 10 times on the dock to call the carp and catfish. They threw out tortillas to further entice the fish. Bella hollered for them too. "Fishies!"

Uncle John took us on a ride around the lake. Bella enjoyed sitting on the bow of the boat, feeling the wind through her hair (which is finally growing...sorta. we also got rid of the cradle cap...which we called "cradle crap").
Bella was a topsy-turvy driver, but that was ok. There wasn't much to hit in the middle of the lake!

Thank you to Dan & Sandy for making the weekend so relaxing. We enjoyed great food, great conversation and had great fun!