hurricane harvey 2017

Last Thursday (has it really been almost a week?!), we received emails at work alerting us to the tropical storm known as Harvey.  We knew we were looking at a possible hurricane, and major rain, and we all took our laptops home, thinking we might be able to make it into work on Friday.  But the rains came in early, and everyone hunkered down to wait out the storm.  The hubs went and got canned food and bottled water, our main concern at that time being the loss of power.  

As the storm moved in over the weekend, we kept one eye on the television coverage and one eye on the water levels.  It just never stopped raining.  On Monday night the water got over the sidewalk, but luckily never made it into the house.  Yesterday, the storm moved out and the sun came out, and everyone in the neighborhood came out to celebrate!  

But at the same time, water levels were rising in the south part of the neighborhood, and they weren't celebrating yet.  You see, we live a couple of miles from a reservoir, and because of the massive amounts of rainwater, the reservoir had to be released.  The reservoir is still being released (two reservoirs, actually), and both are causing even more flooding.  

The neighborhood to the south of us had a mandatory evacuation and Britton and I rode our bikes to check out the water levels.  The residents were being rescued by boat!

This air boat was going into the neighborhoods to the south and east of us, bringing out families.  There were also rescue helicopters flying overhead all afternoon and night, plucking people off of their roofs.  While we are not flooded now, the reservoir has reached its limit, and it could either overflow or breach - we are still waiting out the next few days to ensure we aren't affected.  We aren't out of the woods yet.

Yes, our neighbor was kayaking down the street!

The boil advisory was finally lifted (we lost water for a while, but never power), and we ventured out yesterday for some Sonic burgers.  We weren't the only ones who had cabin fever, and the roads got pretty packed.  Of course, some of that traffic was due to the multiple road closures, as so much of our surrounding area is still flooded.  It will no doubt be weeks before the water subsides, months and possibly years before all the houses are fixed and life gets back to normal for Houston (and every town from the coast to here).

We were so lucky. I know that, I can see the thousands of people on television who weren't, and I know that I will remember the never-ending fear and stress, then relief, my entire life.  

britton starts 3rd grade

Last week Britton geared up for days without snuggling Nella, splashing in the pool, and generally not getting dressed until lunchtime.......yes, time to return to school!

Britton is still young enough to LOVE school.  I hope she always does.  I remember the anticipation of a new school year - a new teacher, new classmates, a new schedule and new schoolwork.  Britton had the same excitement, and was ready for school to begin - she was up very early on Wednesday morning!

Every year, a teacher moves up with her same class to the next grade.  Last year, Britton was added to the class that moved up from first to second grade with Mrs. Hamilton.  This year, she's in Mrs. R's class, and Mrs. R moved up from second grade to third grade with her class!  So again, Britton is being added to a class that was together last year.  Luckily, last year the second grade did many activities together, so she knows the kids in her class.

Britton actually has three teachers!  They rotate classes for reading, writing, and math, which helps get the kids moving and awake. She loves her new gym teacher, who told them she has visited all 50 states, so Britton has a new life goal!

They eased into third grade last week, and I expect next week brings the reality of homework!  

barrett's 1st day of pre-K

This week, the kiddos are back to school.  I will miss the ease of summer - no real schedule, and by the time I'd get home from work everyday they were all brimming over with stories to tell about their day's adventures.  Back to school means back to routine, back to late-night I-forgot-to-make-lunches-and-pack-backpacks preparation, back to remembering to sign forms and volunteer for class parties.  

Nobody could have been less excited about school starting back up than Barrett!  We went to "Meet the Teacher" on Saturday morning and Barrett was feeling quite shy.  But he warmed up to the toys and new playground and art supplies, so I figured he'd get back in the swing of things in no time.

Not feeling my chalkboard sign

Probably got told to smile

Other than being terrified of love bugs, Barrett had a good day!  My friend's daughter was in this pre-K class last year, and she loved the teachers.  Plus, she found that her daughter was prepared for Kindergarten, which is ultimately the goal.  We want Barrett ready for Kindergarten, but also to enjoy school - the teachers, the classmates, and the activities.

Over this photo shoot

Going in the high school graduation slide show, for sure

Britton's birthday party!

It's Pusheen Party Time!  Last year, we celebrated Britton's birthday by going to the aquarium.  We didn't know the neighbors yet, she hadn't yet attended her new school, so we couldn't do a party.  This year, Britton wanted to do a Pusheen-themed pool party, and we agreed that she was long overdue for  a party!

Pusheen is a little Japanese cartoon cat, and while widely popular amongst children, Pusheen hasn't broken through on birthday accessories yet (at least not in the US).  So I improvised and decorated in Pusheen colors - pink, aqua, yellow, and purple.  

Then I added the stuffed Pusheen to the table, along with some Pusheen printed pictures.  In each picture, Pusheen is eating a different food, which we served at the party - Cheetos, pizza, donuts, ice cream (rainbow sherbet punch).

Pusheen loves little pink-iced sprinkle donuts, so I had the bakery make a blue cake with pink border, then I added the Donettes myself.  I bought some pre-made icing in hot pink, melted it in the microwave, then dipped the Donettes into the icing, and added sprinkles.   Then I printed the birthday Pusheen picture onto cardstock, cut it out, and taped it to a straw, which I put into the cake.  

We decorated the night before the party, and when Britton saw it Saturday morning she was excited! She went to gymnastics and picked up the pizza while I put together the food, and then at noon the guests started arriving.  And so did a major storm!  Not two minutes after sitting down to eat, the rain came down and the thunder and lightning was every few seconds.  I had no Plan B, so we dragged our feet on eating, then had Britton open presents, then did a couple of rounds of Musical Chairs.  

Finally, about an hour into the party, with the hubs watching the radar, we did cake and hoped the storm would pass soon! No sooner had the last bite been eaten did the skies clear up and we sent those kids out to the pool!

We filled the pool with floats, beach balls, and noodles, and the kids splashed around for the remaining party time.  I told Britton that every birthday will be a pool party - the entertainment is in our backyard, and it's too hot in August in Texas to do anything else!

hi ho hi ho it's off to Disney for some birthday shananigans we go!

We arrived at Disney on PawPaw's birthday ready to hang out and enjoy our time together!  We've been in Houston for a year now, and it's been a tough transition to not have Memaw and PawPaw near home.  So when we can get together for a couple of days in one of our favorite places (celebrating two birthdays), we're a happy bunch.

We spent our first night at Fort Wilderness, a first for us.  The cabins are fantastic - completely stand-alone, and we had a golf cart for whizzing all over the property.

We attended the BBQ, a fun interactive buffet.  Unfortunately, the kids had been up since 4:00 am, and quickly tired of the loud singing and dancing.  We called it a night early and headed back to the cabin!

On Sunday we had our Harry Potter adventure, then met up with Memaw, PawPaw, and Barrett at Boma in Animal Kingdom Lodge.  This buffet is one of our favorite restaurants.

The birthday girl and boy!

We hit up Animal Kingdom Monday morning.  This was our first time spending an entire day at Animal Kingdom.  Usually we do the safari then head out, but the kids are older now and can do more rides.  Plus, they just opened the Avatar Pandora part of the park, which we wanted to check out.  

We did the train ride, safari, and the rapids (the hubs and Britton were soaked!), then headed to Pandora!

Animal Kingdom was running late hours for Pandora, so after the kids hit the hay, the hubs and I went back to check out the Flight of Passage ride - like Soarin, but virtual reality making you feel like you're riding on a banshee.  We waited longer than any ride ever - 2.5 hours! - but the ride was worth the wait.  Amazing!

And we did the Expedition Everest roller coaster - a teenager in front of us didn't know that the ride stops, then goes backward and he lost his mind!

Our final full day was, of course, Magic Kingdom!

We had lunch at Crystal Palace, and Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore stopped by to take some pictures.  Plus, Memaw and PawPaw surprised Britton with a birthday cake! 

We took Britton on Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad for her first time ever!  She is turning into a little daredevil, and enjoyed the rides.  The hubs and I pretended to be sleeping for the Splash Mountain photo because we're cheesy like that!

We took a break swimming in the hotel swimming pool, then back to the park for the new firework show, "Happily Ever After." We met a family from Manchester, UK, helping each other hold onto a good show-watching corner of Main Street - they were a hoot!  

A magical (I see what you did there) vacation, and the perfect celebration of birthdays, young and old(er)!  

wizardly world visit

When we found out that there were no plans to hit Disney World until Monday but that we'd be arriving on Saturday, the hubs and I knew Sunday was wide open.  And with Britton's birthday coming up, we thought that a stop at Harry Potter's Wizardly World of Witchcraft and Wizardry (probably not the official name) would be a great surprise birthday gift!   Britton has never seen the movies because I wanted her to imagine the people and places on her own while we read the books, without the input and interpretation of the movie.  These parks deliver on the book descriptions!

We told her Saturday night, and Britton was up at dawn on Sunday to hit up Universal Studios!  None of us had ever been there before, so we consulted the map and ran to Islands of Adventure.  There are two Harry Potter parts in two different parks, so we went ahead and got park hopper tickets so we could hit up both (which is required if you want to ride Hogwarts Express, and yes, you want to ride Hogwarts Express).

First stop - Hogsmeade!  This is the town where Hogwarts is located, and when we came upon this adorable snow-capped village, I'm pretty sure I squealed and clapped my hands.  

The details were amazing!  Every building corresponded to the books, like the "Owl Post Office" below, which was actually a wand shop.  

Speaking of wands, Britton got the interactive Hermione Granger wand!  We all tried it out and could sometimes get it to work (if a Harry Potter employee was nearby and could lead me through the wand motions).  But when I could get the hang of it, wow - a chance to do magic!

We tried the butter beer and it was good!  It tasted like ginger ale, and had a creamy top.  

We hit up Honeydukes, the candy shop!  We bought some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and a giant lollipop.

The one ride was did - inside Hogwarts!  Check out that castle.

Then we got lunch (fish and chips, of course) at the Three Broomsticks.

Then we boarded the Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley!

We stepped off and found the Knight Bus.  I looked around and could not find the actual park.  Where was Harry Potter stuff?  I spotted a brick wall that looked suspicious, then remembered that the way to enter Diagon Alley is through a brick.  

We turned the corner and bam - Diagon Alley!

Looking back at the brick wall where you enter

This is the wizarding area where Harry Potter and friends went to buy their school supplies.  

Of course, we went into every store - they were just as entertaining as the villages.  Here are Crookshanks and Pigwigeon!

On the way back to the train, you enter 9 3/4 through the wall - just like the books!  People watching see you go magically through a brick wall.  Britton was stunned by this photo.

We said good bye to the castle, then headed on our way.  The rain was getting pretty hard and wasn't clearing, so we wandered back through the park to the exit.  A fun adventure to celebrate Britton's birthday!