5 of 100 Things to do in Houston

I have to start this list back up again! OK- on to the 5th thing you should do while here in Houston. Who doesn't love seeing a good Monet-

 Or my favorite Degas (I saw his whole showcase in Paris...delightful).

But seeing as many of us don't have the cash to fly to Paris to see these beauties, you can go to the MFAH (Museum of Fine Arts Houston) AND on Thursdays it is free. During the summer every week they have a kids program where they teach some aspect of art to the kiddos- when we went the kids had complete freedom to make the art exactly how they wanted. You can also check out "kid packs" at the front desk. The kids packs include puzzles, games, art hide'n'seek...and lots of other fun options.I highly recommend checking it out- it was well worth the visit! (Can't beat free!!)

 

Chicago-

I went to Chicago this past weekend...with no kids AND had a girlie weekend~ We had so much fun...too much fun I think. 
We flew in very late Friday night, and woke up first thing Saturday morning...or around 10am Saturday morning and started the morning off right by shopping. We hit the new Marilyn statue, the Magnificent Mile (lots and lots of shops), and of course Nordstroms semi-annual sale. 

 After shopping all day- we then went and caught the late night Beauty and the Beast musical. It was so wonderful- even though it was not my first time to see it I thought it was done so well I would go back and see it again! We didn't get the best seats in the theatre but thought that after intermission we would move up. We were wrong. They had security walking around making sure that everyone was in their seat that they bought. Making people move, kicking them out- AND if you took a picture your camera was immediately taken away from you! They were very serious about their jobs!

 Sunday morning we enjoyed a nice brunch at Yolk- it was so delicious~! We even got really lucky and had no wait because our hotel has a deal with them-

 After filling our tummies- did I mention that BOTH of us on the trip were pregnant? Yep... so we ate a lot, and walked kinda slow... I think most of that was because we were SO SORE from the day before (old ladies). Anyway- we went and hit up the Pier, it was kind of fun walking around (until it got blasted hot). The clouds came out and cooled down so we thought it would be the perfect time to enjoy a architecture tour of Chicago via boat. It got real hot real fast on that boat- phew! But it was interesting learning all about Chicago's history!

 After the boat tour we decided we were in need of some deep dish pizza- chicago style. We went to Giordano's (sp?) and had THE best pizza EVER! Another benefit- our pizza took 45 minutes to cook, but no biggie because we didn't have any kids with us!

 After stuffing our faces, because we hadn't walked enough (sarcasm) we went over and saw Millenium park and all the other fun things around that area. We took pictures in "the bean" (what is that thing anyway??)

And then headed back to the hotel because we were dieing... who knew that a couple months ago we were in such great shape we actually did a triathlon. Monday morning we enjoyed breakfast- walked around the city some more and then said goodbye! It was such a fun weekend, next time though I think we will bring the hubbies along for the fun! (Kids can still stay home )

Sometimes life just bites.

Is it o.k. to post that? Maybe it is too late at night to be writing- but seeing as my husband is gone for week 3 of his travels staying up late is what I do (helps me sleep better). This whole traveling thing is another post in an of itself- what I really wanted to talk about is that fact that sometimes change sucks. Excuse my language- if you know me then you know that I dislike that word...alot. But that is my chosen wordage for now. 
We have moved a lot in our marriage- to be exact 9 times in the 7-1/2 years we have been married. (wowzers) seriously?? WHO MOVES THAT MUCH? We aren't even in the army! The interesting thing about that number is that we lived in Vegas for over 2 years...and that is the longest place we lived. Moving here I knew would be different- we still own our home in Vegas (kinda have to) but know that renting it out would be our only option. So to me, Vegas still kind of feels like home. We have made our home here seem like home- no boxes out, staying put for awhile- but how do you really do that when you know you are paying someone else to live where you are. You know that you will eventually move out of the place you reside in because who really wants to pay someone else's mortgage for the rest of their life? Yeah, not me.
And let us approach another item of business- making friends. How much fun can it really be to walk into a new area- approach women and say "Hi, my name is Samye- i am really cool and I can promise you that you will want to be my friend"...like 3rd grade all over again. Except now you have baggage, baggage in the form of a husband and three adoring children. De-light-ful. Wouldn't it be nice if we as women didn't have "cliques" if we could just stay true to who we want to be, be nice to everyone, and treat all equal? If we were more than willing and open to make friends with everyone? (I have found a couple women here like that...which has been nice.)
Really I have no reason to complain- we live in a great area, Halle went to a fantastic school this past year, I have made a ton of great friends that have been more nice and love the baggage that I come with, we live within a 4 hour drive of family, and my husband loves his job. Life has been good to us, we have been truly blessed. 
Maybe I just complain because sometimes it is  nice to hear something said that you want to say but haven't been able to voice (I share this with you)- and also maybe because my husband has been traversing the globe for the past three weeks while I tend to my baggage at home? Either way - change isn't always fun, but sometimes it must happen. You learn to live with it, let it teach you and to help you grow into a stronger human being. 
p.s.- How in the world do these women whom I know survive when their husbands are gone for months at a time? No flippin Idea- but let me tell you- are my hero for doing so. 

Little Brother Love

My little brother just left, he spent the entire week with me and the kids. All I have to say is he is going to be the best husband one day- he is so in tune with what needs to be done, loves getting on the floor and playing with the kids...all around great guy. 
He even babysat for me one night...what guy would ever do that with three children?? 
It was so much fun having him here- we spent great time together as he is getting ready to leave for Argentina this next month. He has been working so hard at getting prepared for this next step in his life and I am so proud of him! 
**of course I don't have any pictures as D took the camera to D.C.  with him

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's day to all the wonderful men out there. Specifically to the men in my life. 
Happy Father's day to the man whom I love more than anything else in the whole wide world, he truly is a great man who works very hard for me and the kiddos. He will do anything for me, even drive downtown to a farmer's market to get fresh produce only to find it closed last week. 
Happy Father's day to a dad who taught me all I know and helped me become who I am today.
Happy Father's day to a dad that raised my husband- taught him to listen to the music found within his soul.
and a Happy Future Father's day to my two little men...they are gonna make killer husbands and fathers one day. (As soon as they learn to wipe themselves, and many other things)! 

Fighting the battle...alone.

The hubby is in New York this week, he is having a blast...(as much as you can without me :)  ) 
While he has been gone I just wanted to share some of the things that have happened-
1. Mr. Miles poured an entire bottle of syrup into my glade plug in
2. He also found a marker and got the fridge, dishwasher, and part of the wall before I found him.
3. Refused to put on floaties when we went swimming, fell into the water AT LEAST 5 times. Goes under, I grab him, and he comes up grinning from ear to ear. 
4. Dumped the entire container of kitty food on the carpet.
At least the other two are being good helpers!! 

4 of 100 Things to do in Houston

We went to the Houston Aquarium this past week. Not only is this an aquarium, but they also have rides! We had the privilege of having Poppa with us too! 

We rode the carousel first thing (it was starting to warm up pretty fast).

We enjoyed a couple of their other rides, then headed inside to check out the fish.

And pet some sharks!

My review? Surprisingly enough I would not recommend checking it out. It was nice, and it was fun- but for the whopping price we paid I would be just as happy taking my kids over to Bass Pro to look at the fish. (Speaking of, do you know that Las Vegas has one of the biggest Bass Pro's in the world....it is worth stopping and walking around if you ever go). The carnival rides were fun, but seeing that they opened at 10am (of course we were there at that time, right when they opened) and none of the workers were even out running rides until 10:30...not happy little camper kiddos! 

3 of 100 things to do in Houston

We went to Rice's Annual Faculty and Staff Easter egg hunt this morning. It was SO MUCH FUN!! The kids had a blast, and it was great to meet some of the staff that work at Rice!

1 of 100 Things to do in Houston

We decided we are going to start a list of 100 things to do in Houston and start knocking them off of our list!

We took the kids strawberry picking early Saturday morning, and they had a BLAST! The strawberry farm is right down the street from Halle's school so I have been wanting to check it out for some time. The kids had a blast- Bennett HAD to hold the bucket the whole time and loved finding the biggest strawberries.
Halle loved being able to "tell" Bennett where the best berries were to be found. And Miles, well he just couldn't wait to get them off the bush...and sometimes didn't wait.

2 of 100 Things to do

We went and rode the Galveston ferry...it was a 20 minute trip each way. Sadly we only rode it twice (there and back) Bennett wanted to ride it all day long. We had so much fun on this little family outing- the kids were bummed we weren't going to the beach but once they saw all the seagulls they could feed, and the dolphins they were happy campers. Who knew that this was only 40 minutes from our home?