Love at First Bite

Like a frozen Almond Joy. 

Made with Coconut milk, but no coconut flavor.                                 Chocolaty Coconuty. 

 A Taste Sensation!!!

A Day at the Opera

Jon and I were so excited for this day! A few years ago at our annual Moab trip with my family, the movie of Phantom of the Opera was on TV and Collin loved it. We got home and dug out our CD and it has been a favorite ever since. At my sisters trip to NYC we went to see it on Broadway (for me it was in honor of Collin). So, when we found out it was coming to Houston we HAD to go! We got there early and walked around a bit and had to have a picture by this sculpture that reminded me of Moab - birthplace of our love of "Phantom". 

A rare photo of all of us . . . (please no comments on my hair!)

We didn't tell the kids what we were doing so they were really surprised and excited when we told them. Although since we were out in public, they couldn't show it, of course. 

Midgie Moodles waiting for the boys . . . 

After the show. What a great Saturday!!

Field Trip Day

We had such a great day yesterday at the Houston Museum of Natural Science with our homeschool group. We were able to go see the Terra Cotta Warriors from China and it was amazing!

I couldn't take pictures and I got dragged through there at high speed by a 10 year old boy who wanted to see the swords and the mural of them chopping heads off, so I didn't get a lot of the history and interesting facts, but you can go here to read about them. The things we thought were so interesting is that: 1. they know where the Emperor is buried and that there are thousands more pits underground (they have only dug up a handful of the pits that are around the tomb) and yet they have been left alone for over 2 thousand years! 2. every single warrior is different - their faces are all unique. And 3. Each warrior takes over a year to put back together. It was fascinating. The thing the kids liked most though (other than the swords and gore) was the "real warrior" as Grace calls him or "the scaring man" as Collin calls him. This guy is part of the exhibit and travels with it. Talk about a fun job - he stands on his platform like a statue and waits for curious patrons to take a closer look and then frightens them by moving. The kids could have watched it all day. 

He walks around after and walks like he is made of clay. Amazing. Xie xie for the good time Mr. Warrior!

The New Midge

Before . . . 

After . . . 

Too busy running around twirling her new 'do to let me get a better picture now that it's dry. I'm sure more will come . . . 

Tennis = Dangerous Fun

The kids have started Tennis lessons and are loving it, for most part. A lot of their friends are there too, so they've had a good time. . . and the best part is, they're free!

Collin was very excited to learn that the girl he thinks is pretty divine signed up too. He is definitely Jon Bybee Jr. - 10 going on 17. When he's not hitting the ball, he's chattin' with the ladies. The blond girl in blue, Addison, is the girl-of-interest.  Also, an action shot. 

You've heard of Tennis elbow, but Grace has Tennis ear after she got hit with a racket. It looks so much worse in person. Poor Midge!!

These are a few . . .

Of my favorite things 

Sunscreen = the smell of fun in a bottle. You know if you're going to be using it, you're going to be having fun. (Especially the kind that smells coconuty - the BEST!)

Mmmm . . . Pineapple . . . sunshine for your mouth. 

The sound of waves makes my soul happy. 

Bigger and Better in Texas

Happy 4th of July!!! It is my second favorite holiday of the year and in my opinion, the best place to enjoy it is in Provo starting the day with the parade and ending it with fireworks with family bbq's in between. Unfortunately, we weren't in Provo, we couldn't find a parade to go to, there are always fire bans in Harris County and we have no family to have bbq's with,  but we DID go see the fireworks!

(Watching a pre-fireworks volleyball championship)

 It is usually so wet and muggy on the 4th that we've just watched them on TV, which is NOT the same. It's been so dry here, which also translates to less humid, so it was great. And since Houston is the 4th largest city in the U.S. I was always afraid of the crowds, but they were fine!

(waiting for the show to begin and looking so cheerful)

Houston has the largest "land-based" fireworks show in the nation (FYI) and without meaning to turn my back on my roots, it lived up to it's name!! It was only about 20 minutes long, but it was like a finale the whole time. It was so amazing, I didn't even think to take pictures!

The actual finale was so intense you could feel it down to your hair roots. There were quite a few that we had never even seen or heard. It. Was. Great. The kids said it was worth the 3 hour wait and hearing the ice cream truck next to us play the same song about 324 times. We've decided that if we can't get to Provo for the 4th next year, Houston just might be a great alternative!