Our Trip to Houston (one last update)

Two weekends ago, the boys and I went to Houston to see my sister and her family. Ross was so excited because we went on a plane. It was his 3rd plane trip, but the first he could remember. It was Owen's first plane ride too, and likely to be his last for quite some time!
We had a great time in Houston with Herkerma and Co and we love their new house!

Here is Ross waiting at the airport and our plane.

I was really surprised that the airport had such a great play area for kids.

Owen thought this was the vacation.

Ross hamming it up.

Flying at last! Ross was particularly impressed by the in-flight soda and peanuts.

Owen was very good on the plane ride to Houston, he slept through the whole thing.

The view from Ross' window.

Ross' picture of me.
We waited for Herkerma to pick us up in the most amazing little lobby with this beautiful wall mosaic. I couldn't resist taking pictures. There were also metal fish and other critters embedded in the floor to match the wall. I think it is a shame that so few people will ever see it and even less will really look at it.








As much as Ross loved the flight, the descent was a little bumpy and stomach twisting. I really thought Ross was going to lose his in-flight snack. I introduced him to the airsick bag. Here he is waiting for his stomach to calm down.

Our first day in Houston, we hung out at Herkerma's house, ate spaghetti and walked to the park around the corner. Here are some random pictures of the kids and the house.
I love the big back porch!






On Friday, we went swimming and had dinner at the swim club. Here are Mary P. and the boys.


Here are the kids goofing off on the play ground, what a bunch of hams!






P.S. Owen learned to go up and down a slide all by himself, even the big twisted ones. Sigh...like I wasn't already wondering how I was going to keep the little daredevil alive.
Friday night, Herkerma took us to see the Theater Under the Stars (TUTS) production of Disney's When You Wish. It was an amazing collection of Disney songs grouped into a series of themes. The props and costumes were very simple but very cool. We had the best time. A big thanks to Mary P. for staying home with the babies.
On Saturday, Herkerma and I took our motley crew to the big park (the one with the zoo) to ride the little train and play on the big hill. I will confess that mostly I wanted to ride the train, I love it and could ride it over and over again. Perhaps I am a closet mini-train enthusiast, but I loved it.


This was Weezy and Owen's first times on the little train.

What a beautiful family, especially Herkerma, sigh, she is always so pretty even without trying.
Here is my little family.

Ross chillin' on the train, he has done this before.

Some pictures of the train and the park:



This is the open air theater where we watched the show Friday night.


After the train ride, we decided to take the kids to the fountain to picnic and play. They loved it!










Ross insisted we take a picture of this duck, because he had never seen a red-headed duck before. :)

After the park, we had a fun Saturday afternoon hanging around the house. Sunday was just playing at home with the kids too, until all too soon, we had to pack up and go back to the airport.
We nearly missed our flight because the plane was parked at a gate way, way out in the middle of no where! But we made it.
I didn't take pictures because Owen was a total wiggly terror on the plane. He was awake the whole trip, but tired and wired up and not happy to be sitting in my lap. He amused himself for a while by looking out the window and pulling down the shade.

Needless to say, I was very glad to get back to Mobile and be in my own home again. We had fun with Herkerma and miss her, but home is good too.
We are looking forward to our next visit with Aunt Herkermatastic and Co. Thank you Herkerma!

P.S. My sister reminded me that I failed to mention Vietnamese Judy. There is this woman who does nails at the nail shop by my sister's house who looks very, very much like our mother, only asian. It is more than a little wierd. Also, her name is Ann. I couldn't get a picture without being a stalker. But still, very strange, Judy is everywhere!