More Staycation

Aaron also had this last week off and we have truly enjoyed our family time and having a quieter pace of life.

On Monday we took the kids to a place called Little Beakers with some friends. It is a place where the kids can do science experiments. I still have very fond memories of 8th grade science class where we got to do science experiments. The kids loved it. They got to do the coke and mentor experiment, make snow, make a monster (gooey stuff in a balloon with mesh over it so when you squeeze it, it bubbles out the mesh), and make an alkeselser rocket. Then we went home and made pizzas.

Here they made goo and put it into a ballon with mesh around it. When you squeeze the balloon then it squishes around the mesh.

Here they made blue snow

 Here they did alkaselser  rockets.

On Tuesday we recovered the house from Christmas. It was sad to take everything down but nice to reclaim one third of our living room.

On Wednesday we met some friends for lunch at the Hobbit Cafe. They enjoy science fiction stuff and I enjoy healthy food. It is a bit of a granola place but they also have ridiculous stuff like a burger that is too tall to fit in your mouth because it is loaded with everything delicious and unhealthy. Aaron and Wes split the burger. Then we went to the zoo. We didn't see much in the way of animals because it was a cold day and the zoo here tends toward warm climate animals (no polar bears in Houston) and all the animals went inside if they could or were huddled doing nothing. We were able to feed the giraffes. Giraffes are Emma's favorite animal so she loved it. John did as well and I confess I have always wanted to feed them every time we have been to the zoo so it was a dream come true. We went to the children's portion of the zoo which has a playground and a petting zoo and stuff to climb on. The kids loved it! The adults however, were less enchanted because we kept loosing a kid down some alley. There were no enclosed spaces and the kids kept running everywhere. We decided to head for home when our nerves where shot and the kids were getting tired from running and playing. The traffic was bad so we decided to get dinner and wait for traffic to die down. We ate mediterranean food and I loved it.

On Thursday we had friends over for waffles and ice cream for dinner. The kids were in love. The dads enjoyed it as well. The moms were another story. Hopefully they will still be friends with me. The kids are on my side at least. The adults played a game and the kids kind of watched a movie and played. Overall it was a great evening and the kids in bed by 8:30. Waffles and ice cream comes from Aaron's family tradition. Technically they did chimichangas for dinner and waffles and ice cream at midnight but since we aren't midnight people, and I don't fry stuff, we had waffles for dinner. Believe it or not, I am ok with waffles and ice cream for dinner once a year. The next morning John was beyond sad that he couldn't repeat dinner for breakfast.

On Friday we played with some friends and got stuff done around the house. On Saturday we moved into preparation mode for returning to normal life. We have had a great time the past two weeks playing together and working on projects. I am definitely not quite ready for life as usual.

Geography Lessons

John: Surpatana!
Aaron: What is Surpatana?
John: A state in Mexico.
Aaron: Oh.

He also informed us that there is a state in Mexico called Blanca. Aaron and I are a little smarter after tonight on Mexican geography.

Christmas Staycation

The kids finally recovered from their illnesses enough for us to rejoin society. On Saturday we went to take pictures with Scuba Santa. At the place where John takes swim lessons, Santa comes to take underwater pictures with the kids. Emma was excited, and John was unsure. He finally warmed up as long as Emma was there with him.

On Sunday we all got to go to church! This was a big deal for me since it had been a while and it was the Christmas program. We also were able to deliver treat plates as a family and that is always fun.

On Monday we were invited to a friends house for pizza and a movie night. We watched the newer Miracle on 34th Street. Emma was disturbed by the fact that Santa was arrested. John was mostly interested in eating. The kids loved it though.

On Tuesday we went to the Children's Museum and met our friends the Schmutz-Parentes there. It was fun to play with the kids and friends. Then we went out to Sweet Tomatoes to eat for lunch and then to the library to play on the computer  and read books. Emma is now old enough to get her own library card. She was super excited to have her own card. Then we went to a park to play.

On Wednesday we went to Target so the kids could pick out gifts for each other from the dollar aisle. Then we took cinnamon rolls to the fire station. The kids got to climb on the truck and look at stuff. Then we went to the park to play.

On Thursday (Christmas Eve) we acted out the nativity scene. Later in the afternoon we went to the Science Museum. It was free from 3pm-6pm so we decided to go. It appeared that the vast majority of the people there do not celebrate Christmas. They have done a lot with the museum since I had been there last. They have a vast weather, chemistry, dinosaur, Texas wild life and Ancient Egypt exhibits. I was very impressed. Emma just wanted to squish a penny in one of those machines that imprints a picture on it. Afterwards we went out for Greek food.

On Friday (Christmas) we woke up and waited for the kids to get up. Once we came downstairs, the kids were excited for their presents. It is interesting to watch Emma's and John's approach to opening gifts. Emma tears through things and then plays with them. John plays with them as he goes and isn't in a hurry to find out what at the rest of his gifts are. Emma spent hours drawing pictures with her new pens. John spent hours with his new Legos. It was a nice relaxing day and fun to play with the kids and their toys.

We went for a walk and scooter ride so John could test out his new scooter and umbrella and Emma her new "tie shoes". The kids also played with their walkie-talkies. Emma stood at the top of the playground and John at the bottom and they talked with each other. John would scream, "Can you hear me? Because you are so far away!" This is a picture of them doing it.

On Saturday I took Emma downtown to shop for Christmas ornaments for next year. After one store she asked to go home. I may have overestimated her ability to handle post-holiday shopping. She was a trooper though as long as she could watch Elmo podcasts while I shopped. On the way home she was able to text family member so I think that made up for the trauma of shopping. Later that day we went back down to downtown to get supplies from Ikea for a Lego table. It became very apparent that something needs to be done quickly about Lego storage. We went out to eat while we were down town.

This Christmas season I have been thinking about the story of Christ's birth and some of the hard parts of the story that are mentioned but people quickly move past them because of the wonderful things that are the result of His birth. If any woman told a group of women that they rode on a donkey for days while 9 months pregnant, that would elicit gasps from the crowd and a great deal of horror. Add to it that you give birth in a barn with animals and the horror would continue. But those things don't get much attention because of how wonderful life and the world is because of Christ. The blessings overshadow the trauma. It is the same with His death. It was awful but because of Him there is good in the world and endless happiness in the world to come. There is peace, there is joy, there is hope, and there is love. I have been thinking about how Christ can do that for our lives as well. There will be trauma but it can be overshadowed by richer blessings than we thought possible. I have experienced that and am profoundly grateful that a Savior was born.