Exploring Houston

 Raised in Austin I feel like I know every little spot in the city, but once I moved to Houston I was a little lost with where to start! But we quickly found our home here and we are always trying to find new things to explore. One afternoon we stumbled upon a really fun little park in Bellaire, and saw lots of bird watchers and off in the distance an old two story house. I had wondered what the house was but it wasn't until my girlfriend Nicole messaged me about the Nature Discovery Center, that it finally connected, that was the little house I had always seen!

So while the heat was up to 106 + on Sunday we decided to go visit the Nature Discovery house at 7112 Newcastle. The home was built in 1925 by Earl Edwards, President of Sealy Mattress Company. Frank Henshaw then purchased it and was Bellaire Mayor from 1935-37. The Estate was purchased in the summer of 1983 by the Friends of Bellaire Parks and is now maintained as a nature preserve with help from generous donations of the late Ginzbarg Family.

Up the stairs we go to explore....

 They have about 40 different explorer boxes, we choose to crush lavender which we got to take home and sprinkle in the bath!

 

It's quite old and isn't in the best of shape, but it's a place to discover ...

and it was fun as were were the only people there!Oh and its free!

morning sunshine!

 Its still hot.. so the best way to play is inside...and it's always more interesting when you play with someone elses toys! We went over to Davids house with Wes and had a morning play date with the boys! 

Jack was worn out and went down for a nap right at noon, so I worked on our homework to create an about me chart for his class... we were given the poster and I created a picture collage of family!

Pedal & Helmet

 We are two for two! Successful at putting on the helmet and using the feet to push the pedals on his trike! Our loving toddler has been refusing to do both ever since we got this tricycle for his birthday. 

However the other day his best friend, Wes from next door, joined us on a bike ride and he was wearing a helmet and using his pedals...monkey see monkey do! 

 He was soooo interested in our neighbors building supplies being delivered via fork lift (aka tractor), boys love to watch these things. As new houses replace the old ranch homes (sad) it does provide for some great free entertainment for the toddler boys on our street!

We can hardly contain the excitement in our house, ha!!  

The things you get excited about when you have kids makes me smile!

Here is a video of Jack using his feet to pedal his trike!

Mickey Tshirts

 I had Mickey Mouse tshirts made for us... one set for the airport arriving in Orlando and the other set for our day at Disney World. Not sure what set will be worn for what day, but I think they turned out really cute. I picked out the shirts and fabric myself and couldn't be happier! One more thing checked off the list!

staying organized

 Our September is going to be crazy! Mommy and Daddy both have long week trips for work (at different times). But first up we leave for Disney World and I'm trying to stay on top of the planning without driving myself batty! So I have been filling my new planner with tons of reminders!

Today on the list was going to the Giant $ store off Hwy 59 & Bissonet to get rain ponchos. As much as I don't skimp on vacations I also like to buy things that give me gratification. Purchasing $15 rain ponchos from Disney (there is usually an afternoon rain shower in FL) for 5 people isn't really fun to me. So I read on a blog to go find $1 ponchos that you can just toss after the rain stops. Maybe we will get lucky and have no rain, but I do remember our last trip pre baby to Disney it for sure rained for a little while in the afternoon. Look the model even has her hand on her hip, totally Jessica :)

While I was there I also picked up about $30 worth of random plastic toys. I did this on our last trip to Montana and it was the best plan ever. You take out a new toy every so often and they love it, because its brand new! Totally makes the time go by on a plane ride and keeps them busy! If you loose a toy its not the end of the world and if you get back and they all fall apart the first week (which they do and end up in the trash), no problem, it was only a buck!

Next on the list is to get a walkie/talkie set so that if we want to break up at Disney we can easily find each other! I'm already borrowing our neighbors easy fold up Maclaren stroller and our other neighbors Go Go Travel cart for our car seat. So we lucked out there!

We are soooooo excited and I talk to Jackson every day about going see Grandpa and Mickeys house!!

Super Heroes

 These two loves were on a mission this afternoon!

We went to hang with Wes and he had his super hero outfit on,

so we quickly ran home to get ours and joined in the action!  

 

 Running around to make our capes fly and climbing up towers, these super heroes were in full action!