Texas State Parks

As the weather began cooling down a little in October we started talking about pandemic friendly activities we could do together as a family that weren't necessarily water related. After exploring the Texas State Park website we decided to purchase an annual state parks pass. It was such a good decision. In the three months we've owned the pass we've been to Mustang Island (three times for me), Enchanted Rock, Mother Neff, Garner, and Buescher State Parks. We've hiked, enjoyed the coast, enjoyed each other, enjoyed nature, and had a lot of fun. Our plan is to continue visiting Texas State Parks as often as we can.

Christmastiming

House decorating - Ainsley Texas-ing - Cookie baking - Gingerbread house making - Bunny snuggling - Santa Clause coming - Day tripping - Talent showing - Early birthday-ing - Family time abounding

Purple

August 31, 2008: Two year old Landon was asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" He quickly responded, "Purple".

December 18, 2020: Landon's dream became his reality. Ainsley put her hair dying skills to work, and we now have a purple headed boy. I actually love the way it turned out. So fun.

The Month of Halloween

Halloween looked a bit different this year. No parties, no get togethers. We weren't sure if we would have any trick or treaters but purchased a little bit of candy just in case. All month long we watched old Universal Monster movies (Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Phantom of the Opera, Creature From the Black Lagoon) and decided our final theme night (at least for now) would be Universal Monsters. Most nights we had story time and read one of the many Halloween books we've collected over the years. We decorated the house and listened to Halloween music. We did a bunny/pumpkin photo shoot. We were festive even if Covid wasn't.

On Halloween morning we carved pumpkins with the help of Alice the bunny. She is a little nervous about the out of doors but seems to be getting more brave with her exploring.

In the evening we ate pizza, dressed up in our costumes, learned the gender of John and Anita's baby (It's a girl!), played a new game called Throw Throw Burrito (hilarious), actually passed out candy (we had quite a few trick or treaters), and watched a Halloween (ish) movie. Happy Halloween from the Universal Classic Monsters!

Themed Dinners Part II

Part II of our themed dinners began with a pirate night. We dressed up like pirates (some of us were traditional, some of us went a different route) and ate trout with crusty bread, apples, and a salad (had to include a veggie). Our entertainment for the evening was the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie with chocolate gold nuggets and Swedish Fish for dessert. We also had some Reese's peanut butter cups and some sort of sour gummy candy just because.

Next up was Napoleon Dynamite. We dressed up as Deb, Trisha, Pedro, and the guy trying to break the Tupperware. Dinner was steak and tots with corn on the cob and watermelon on the side, and Chris and Kaylee made a delicious Pedro hearts Summer cake for dessert. Of course Napoleon Dynamite was our entertainment that evening. 

Then came Studio Ghibli. Kaylee was Howl (Howl's Moving Castle), I was Sheeta (Castle in the Sky), Chris was Turnip Head (Howl's Moving Castle), and Landon was Jiji (Kiki's Delivery Service). We had eggs and bacon for dinner (Howl's Moving Castle) and pound cake (it was actually supposed to be sponge cake, haha) with strawberries and cream for dessert (Spirited Away). After dinner, we watched Ponyo.

Next up was Willy Wonka. We were Veruca Salt, Grandpa George (not Grandpa Joe), a random golden ticket winner (I'm pretty sure his golden ticket says Billy Bonka's), and Violet Beauregarde. We had TV dinners in honor of Mike Teavee and ate way too much candy while we watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. 

We skipped a week because of a super busy first week of school but started up again with a Phineas and Ferb night the following Friday. From left to right, we had Stacy, Phineas, Vanessa, and Sherman. We ate hot dogs for dinner and chocolate pie for dessert while we watched the new Phineas and Ferb movie.

 

 

With school having started (aka-busyness setting in) and running out of theme ideas, our themed dinners sadly came to a halt. But, our grand finale is happening on this Halloween night. Stay tuned!