Houston Oddities

We have been braving the record breaking heat to get out and see some the sites around town and getting us some culture. The first place we went is called the Beer Can House and we stumbled upon it when we took a wrong turn on our way to our favorite gelato place. We thought it was extremely cool. . . 

The guy who lived here, John Milkovisch, had lived here for 20 years when he decided to repave his driveway and put some marbles in it for decoration. He liked it so much he decided he'd do his whole yard like that and then he wouldn't have to mow his lawn any more. 

When John got that done, he decided to make use of the apparently many cans of beer that he drank, so he started cutting them up and using them for siding. He figured he'd never have to paint his house again. After he got that done (his wife told him the INside of the house was OFF limits) he decided to do a little decorating around the yard. . . 

Much to Johns surprise, after they had covered their house up, their electrical bill went down! Who knew? And no part of the can went to waste. He put the tops and pull tabs in chains hanging from the roof and it makes the prettiest sound in the wind. 

We decided to head to another Houston Landmark called the Orange Show next. Across the street there is a tall pillar with plaster cars all around it that the kids could have spent MUCH more time looking at if it hadn't been 105 degrees (thankfully it's not very humid because we have had NO rain). 

This place was interesting, but in a . . . Psycho sort of way. The guy that built this was obviously "out there" and had a peculiar love of oranges. You might even say he was obsessed with oranges and thought that if he built an amusement "park"/shrine for oranges that it would eclipse Disneyland in entertainment value. He was so sure that millions would come, that a month after it opened, and only a handful of people had come, he basically died of grief. 

It's got a Fun House maze-type feel . . . 

And there are mosaic sayings on all the walls having to do with oranges. So in the words of good ol' Jeff:

Life . . .

is interesting. These past few weeks have had some good news and some sad news: One friend finds out she's pregnant after years of infertility, another has a miscarriage halfway through her pregnancy, a brother of a friend (who is waiting for a heart transplant!) gets killed etc. I know all these things are for our good and experience but sometimes, it's just really hard and sad. Thank goodness there is some smooth road in between the bumps. 

Scout Day Camp '09

Well, we survived another year of Cub Scout Day Camp, I think. (I feel like I aged 15 or so years since last June. I don't remember being so tired at the end of Day Camp last year!!) We had a great time, did lot's of fun activities, learned new things and made new friends. Collin was a first year Webelo so he got to do a lot more this year than last. I went as a Webelos session leader, teaching and instructing them in some of their projects and belt loops and Grace got to go as a Sibling again and have fun all day.  Let's get on with the pictures . . . 

Collin making Mount Guacamole, based on Balanced Rock in Moab, but with much more foliage around it . . . 

Grace hogging the "trike" in the Siblings group. (I kept hearing, "Grace it's someone else's turn now!)

See Collin in the middle of the picture? The one in the black hat? (You can click on it to blow it up) This is his reaction when they pulled out the 5 foot rocket at the end of rocket launching. The kid loves explosives!

One of the leatherwork projects he did - a keychain. 

He loves archery, but doesn't have a great aim, so he gets frustrated. His new best friend Sean is next to him. They were inseparable! We found out at the end that he is LDS too. 

BB guns is Collins favorite part of day camp. He got the 2009 Jr. USA Shooting Team Patch by getting 45 points out of 50 on his target. 

We can't wait till next year!!

Getting old?

Would you label this a 50's Greaser? A Flock of Seagulls wannabe? A mullet in training? Who knows . . .  I just know that my baby boy is getting older every day!

Grace has given us some great quotes lately. She was telling Jon that he "isn't old man old, but he's gone through a lot of numbers." Then someone sent me an email with what the cast of The Sound of Music look like 40 years later. Grace couldn't get over how much different the youngest, Gretel, looked. So we were talking about what we would be like in 40 years. I said, "In 40 years I'll be . . . "(figuring out how old I'll be in my head) and Grace pipes up, "DEAD!" Thanks Grace!

Spicy Grilled Shrimp

3 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1/4 c. tomato sauce

2 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil (or about 1 Tbsp. dried)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you want it)

2 lbs shrimp peeled and deveined (I only used about 1 lb.)

skewers

Put all ingredients in a bowl or ziploc and marinate in fridge for at least one hour (I ended up doing it over night). 

Lightly oil grill. Thread shrimp on skewers and grill for 2-3 minutes on each side. 

The original recipe says to discard the marinade, but I cooked it while the shrimp were cooking and we had it over rice. SO tasty! So, I suggest doubling the sauce.  We also used this for tilapia fillets but used lemon juice instead of the vinegar.  This recipe is really easy and one of our new favs. GO TRY IT!!

Two Years and Counting

Two years ago this weekend we came rolling into Houston, so I guess you could say we celebrated by enjoying this beautiful place! And we kept saying that we should go camping when there is a 60% chance of rain from now on because the weather was so great. The 15 minutes of rain we did get was at night and was a light sprinkle. After being in such lush foliage all weekend, when we drove back into town, it seemed so . . . lacking. Sorry about the splattered bugs on the windsheild, but here we are getting to the campsite. 

This will be known as the Pie Iron trip. What is a pie iron you ask? It's like a little metal enclosed dutch oven I guess. We made all sorts of good things on them. 

We canoed again and Collin got to try his hand at rowing. It was so pretty!

I thought I would be camped out after so much time in a tent but it was actually nice to have time to do all the activities that we wanted to do and also have some time to kick back. . . 

Here's the little fisherwoman again lounging in luxury.  She is always first to catch a fish. We, okay, they caught enough for Jon to eat a plate full. The next day we saw a sign that said the fish here had high levels of mercury, so if Jon starts growing a horn or two, we'll know why. 

Happy Friday

One of the many reasons I love homeschooling is that we can wake up in the morning and say, "Hey! Let's go to the beach today!". It only takes an hour from our front door to the sand which is so great because WE LOVE THE BEACH!!  The beach in Galveston stays shallow for a long time so you can go really far out without it being too deep, which is nice with kids. The water might not be very clear, but it is so warm*. What's so great about clear water if you can't play in it?? And play we must. Collin had his skim board and body surfed (a fish jumped out and scraped his stomach which he thought was so cool), Grace and I wave jumped and played in the sand. It is also so nice to have older kids now because they can go play and I can read under our beach umbrella if I want. 

*Yesterday I was talking to my Tahitian sister-in-law who lives in Hawaii and she said that she doesn't like going to the beach because the water is too cold. SEE! It's not just me being a wimp! It really is cold! (I would wear my wet suit every time I got in the water in Hawaii if I could!)

Anyway, have a GREAT long weekend. We are going camping. Yes, again! And there is a 50% chance of rain, so it's going to be interesting. I can already tell. 

Revelation

The other day Grace asked to sit on my lap and then immediately wanted to get off because my legs felt like "needles". And why not?? Who has time to shave their legs after showering? I am exhausted after a 10 minute shower! Let me explain. I have come to the realization that I like to have choices. 

I have 5 different shampoo/conditioner options. So, how do I figure out which to use today? What will I be doing today - will I have to go out in public or will I mostly be at home? How much work do I really want to put into my hair today? Do I go curly or straight today? How is the humidity today? Sultry, or just muggy? Shampoo 2 or 3? Does my hair even have a chance of staying straight if I decide to go that route even after using the "straight" shampoo AND my anti-humidity serum? Shampoo 4 or 5? Ok, do I want to use up the stuff I used to like (5), or use my new fav (4)? Whew!!! 1 down, 3 to go. 

Next comes face cleanser options. Most important criteria: How's the zit situation today? (my body is still producing hormones like I am pregnant! When will it stop?!) Is it under control for the moment? If so, do I use my zingy peppermint soap or my yummy cloud berry soap from Finland? OR do I need some of the medicated soap today? Which did I use yesterday? Option 3, 4, or 5? I can't remember!

Finally to body soap. I only have 4 options right now, so I can narrow it down to the most important criteria - smell. Again, do I want to use up the stuff that smelled good in the store (after smelling about 10 other products) but now smells like yucky chemicals even though it is called "citrus leaf"? Or go to my new fav, Dove Grapefruit and Lemongrass. If I go with this option that means the gross stuff will be around longer, but the Grapefruit is "energizing", which I definitely need . . .

I need a nap. Wait, that will ruin my hair . . . but was I going to go curly today or straight? If it was straight, then the nap won't matter because I'll be blowing my hair dry but if it was curly . . . 

One guess . . .

As to what we did this weekend! Camping, of course!! The Houston summer is almost here, so we are trying to get in a few last trips before it starts steaming any more that it already is. We went to the closest state park to us on this trip. Huntsville. We went there when Collin was a toddler and have always wanted to go back. It was just as pretty as we remembered. 

You know when you read those southern books like Eudora Welty about the nights "coming alive" with sounds? THIS was one of those nights. It was a serious "symphony of nature". Birds calling, insects buzzing, bullfrogs croaking, baby 'gators chirping, leaves rustling in the wind. . It was so pretty and . . . Southern, laying in a tent with all of that going on . . . and then the native redneck souped-up pick-up thundering in at 3am right next to us (of course!) and it's occupants "hackin' n' yackin'", "smokin' n' jokin'" and strumming on a "gitar" till the crack of dawn. 

We woke up and headed on a walk to get the lay of the land. . . 

And inspect the local insect species.

Then we got down to the "bidness" of fishin'. It was so funny to hear these people (the nicest people you'd ever meet, by the way!) talking in the accent and saying things that we joke about Texans saying! Notice the alligator warning on the dock . . . 

The little fisherwoman with her little pole and her little catch. She kept giggling like I have never heard before. 

Collin said about 50 times that what he was MOST looking forward to on this trip was the fishin'. He was up at the crack of dawn asking when we were going. The poor guy was watching everyone else pulling them in and he wasn't. This lady who "done caught 30 already", her husband told us, even took him to her "honey hole" as she called it and put a new leader?, bobber? something to help him and the fish stopped biting. Finally after 2 hours, he got one and it was a big 'un and well worth it. After that, he reeled in one after the other. 

We brought them home, about 16, we had a fish fry and each got about 3 bites each. And no, I didn't fish. I loved fishing until I grew up had to bait the hook and take it off the line and felt like a murderer. But just to prove that I used to:

Mother Bear vs. wimpy girl

                 

These last few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster for me. Without boring you to tears with ALL the details, although I have vented some (ok, a LOT) to most of the 3 readers of this blog, I'll share a couple of incidences. Yay for you!!! 

First, in case you remember from last year, the highlight of the summer was Scout Day Camp. We have been counting down the days since it ended last June for this years camp. About a month ago I asked when it was since I knew it was getting close. Our Pack Master (for those of you who don't know scout lingo - and it is seriously it's own language - he/she is the person over dens) said, "we're not going". I thought I had heard him wrong (remember, this is the Readers Digest version of this story) so I asked about it again and he said, "we're not going because we don't have the man power." I could feel the fur starting to stand up on my back and my teeth getting pointy. After talking about it some more with him, I was in full Mother Bear mode. MY BOY has been looking forward to this ALL year and you're telling me no???!!!!  I DON'T THINK SO!!! So, I did what any MB would do and went over his head to the Primary Pres. and said, What do I need to do to get my boy to Day Camp? Long story short, Day Camp is in a few weeks, and yes, we're going - all of us. 

This incident made me feel like I was finally getting some back bone after 35 years! I have never liked confrontation (and never will) and usually just give up the fight and concede defeat. But never again!! Victory!!! 

A few weeks later . . .  Our neighbor (another Readers Digest version of long story), whom we've only seen once and that was right after Ike, sent us a nasty note saying that she's going to turn us in to the city for having a rabbit within 100 feet of a residence and berated us for leaving a pile of "infested branches" on the curb. They were put out on Saturday, she gave us the note on Sunday and the garbage comes on Friday. . . so they were out there for less than a week. Now I feel eyes watching us every time I go outside. My fur and pointy teeth have gone away, my pony tails are coming out and I feel a tear coming on. Great. Here comes wimpy girl again. . . 

The moral of this story is . . . anyone want a cute, spotty, FREE rabbit??? Please?