Houston Surprise!!!

A couple weeks after the birthday and conference I decided that the family should take a trip to town south to get some clothes for Jason and Lydia.  We had run out of everything given to us for Jason and I was squeezing the poor boy to fit in his 6 month clothes.  My favorite kids clothes are Carters and so I figured since we would be spending money on clothes anyway, I will be buying the best quality I could.  I had a coupon and so we packed up the family and headed south for the hour drive.  Thinking about it later, all the money I would save with my coupons was spent on gas, but we didn't have anything planned for that weekend so it was a great excuse to get the family out.  What started as a shopping trip, turned into one of the BEST weekends we have had.  When we had been on the road for about 30 min, Gregory thought he would call his dad who was working in Houston at the time if he was free for lunch.  Since we were going to be down that way it was only another 45 min to get to where he was.  Luckily his dad was available and so we made our stop at the Carters store, got some cute clothes for a great price and then loaded up again to meet his dad. 

I was a little worried about the Lydia when we decided to meet up for lunch because she was acting very fussy in the car.  I knew at one point that she was sick and going to throw up.  So I quickly grabbed a bad that was supposed to be for dirty diapers and folded it down and put it under her chin just in time.  Thank goodness too!!!  So there was no mess to clean up and she started to turn around really quick in the store when she saw lego to play with. 

We pulled into the mall that was being build in a town just out of Houston when Gregory's dad was building a Starbuck's.  When Lydia saw him when we pulled up next to him loading things in a truck, she freaked out!!!  "PAPA!  PAPA! THAT'S MY PAPA!!!"  She screamed it until we could get her out of the seat and she went running to him.  It made his day!  She was so excited to see him.  We waited for a few minutes while he finished loading some more things and then went to Cheddars for lunch.  They had a huge fish tank and of course Lydia wanted to do nothing but look at the fishes the whole time but we were seated in the back where you couldn't see it.   We decided at lunch that it might be fun to go to the beach in Galveston which was only another 45 min away.  Kelvin had a few things left to wrap up for the day at work but said he should be able to meet up with us in an hour or two.  I then suggested that since NASA was so close that we could go hang out there for a while until he was done.  Kelvin and Gregory both thought that it was great idea.  So Kelvin headed back for work and we headed to NASA.

NASA was pretty cool.  There were a lot of things to do, but after paying $75 to get in, we didn't want to pay extra for any rides.  So we looked for other stuff.  We went on a real space ship that was retired and placed there for public viewing.  It was massive!  We saw the international space station and it's current position in space by a big monitor.  You could actually see it moving and then a guy came by and told us that it circles the earth 16 times in a day.  That's pretty dang fast!!! 

We went on a tram tour of the campus and got to see mission control.  It was so awesome to see the room where a lot of the flights were coordinated from.  Obviously it made me think of the movie Apollo 13 and the room is exactly the same.  History right before our eyes!  We also got to see some other ships that had been retired and when we saw the entire thing together, I could barely comprehend that something could be that big.  It was amazing! 

They had a massive playground for kids with some fun things to do including a 2 story high enclosed slide.  We let Lydia loose for a while to get some energy out and she was having a lot of fun putting balls in a machine and then pushing a button for them all to fall on top of her again.  She tried to get to the slide but kept getting lost.  I guess there are a few floors and some things to play with on the floors so it's easy for a 2 year old to get confused about which way to go.  Everytime she would try we woudl have her follow a group of kids but they were a litle too fast for her.  When I saw that a girl about 4 was taking her brother who was about 2 up to the slide, I got Lydia's attention and had her go with the girl.  Only problem was the girl had just taken her brother on his last ride and wanted to play with the ball machines.  When I saw that after I had told her to follow the little girl, the mom of the girl asked her daughter to show Lydia how to get to the slide.  The girl was so sweet and came out fo the other play area and took Lydia down the slide 4 times.  Lydia was in heaven and I thanked that mom over and over for her daughter being so nice. 

The craft itself is a replica, but it is still true to size I believe.

Climbing the stairs to the entrance of the ship.  I was pretty excited to see the inside.

Um....I'm pretty sure I know now why they are called rocket scientists now.  Look at all those controls.

The monitor that showed the position of the international space station.

Tram ride.  Lydia kept calling it a train.

 

So excited to be riding the "train".

Cuddles for mommy.  Poor kid was exhausted.

The back end of another ship.  You have to see it to believe how big it is.

Love for his daddy!

She makes friends so easily.

The slide was her favorite part I think.

It was about 4pm when we left and called Gregory's dad to see where he was on work.  It was perfect timing because he had just finished his project so we met him at his hotel and we headed for the beach. 

Can I just say that the beach is so peaceful and healing!  There is something about listening to the waves hit the shore and the fizzing of the water being pulled back.  Standing in the water feeling it and the sand mixing, tasting the salt on your lips, feeling the gentle breeze on your face, and staring at the endless horizon was just what both Gregory and I needed.  My dad grew up in California and still has family there so I grew up visiting California and the beach.  I've always loved it.  It felt really good being back in the water again.  Plus there is a lot of upside to being in the warm Atlantic ocean compared with the freezing water of the Pacific.  The kids had the time of their lives!  Both Lydia and Jason couldn't get enough.  As parents it is so much fun rediscovering things through your childrens eyes.  I think we will definitly be making another trip to the beach sometime soon. 

We were not prepared for the beach because that was not on the list of plans for the day.  As things happened, my plans of only getting our feet wet from wading turned into almost full on swimming.  We all got wet and sandy, but it was worth every minute.  We thought about heading back home right after but decided to stop at Kelvin's hotel first and shower.  It was a good thing we did because the sand would have been horribly uncomfortable on the 3 hour drive home.  Thankfully, I am usually a very prepared person.  I had a extra set of clothes packed for Jason (not to mention I had packed enough bottles for the day) and some pants and underwear for Lydia.  I thought about bringing a shirt for her too but didn't for some reason.  I really need to start trusting my instincts more.  We stopped at Walmart and I got some towels and some pants for me.  Gregory had used a pair of his dad's shorts so his pants were fine.  We showered and ate some dinner and then headed home about 8pm.  It was a much better drive for the kids and us not being all itchy with sand.

So our morning shopping trip turned into such a fun and unforgettable adventure.  I love when things like this happen.  It was a much needed break from the world for us.  We both felt re-energized and uplifted ready to take on our lives again.  The Lord is very kind.