Picnic

We decided to have a Saturday picnic at Huntsville state park. All did not go according to plan. 1st - I was planning on doing a lake swim, however there was lake scum (yuck), and the swimming area was way to small to do anything. Swimming was a no-go! Oh yeah, did I mention I went in my trisuit (to give it a try... yeah that was a bad joke), and I looked absolutely silly. 2nd - We wanted to rent a boat and take the boys out for a ride, oops, it was 10am and already 100 degrees and the thought of paddling around for an hour - not fun. Boat was a no-go! 3rd - Make a campfire and roast hotdogs and marshmallows. Well, we failed to bring firewood, that's okay, we'll just collect it (nope, no collecting firewood), Fire was a no-go!

Luckily someone had the foresight to think to bring the Coleman grill (yep that was me, I know, I'm shocked too!) Instead of making it a wasted trip we decided that we would just have an early (very early) lunch. We still tried to make it campfire style (with the weapons, er, hotdog roasters). In the end we just put the dogs on the grill, but we had fun trying to roast them.

                                                     Sharp pointy objects & boys... sigh!

                             Wasn't it a pretty day! And despite the heat, the shade was really nice. 

So all didn't go acording to plan, but it was still a good day!

Crazy Fun

Galveston State Park with the Murphies!  We kayaked in the ocean, it was great, and unlike those San Diego beaches it was nice and warm (okay hot)!

The Houston Children’s Museum. The kids had a blast, I was so tired. Let's just say there were one too many of other people's kids! Matt really enjoyed making molecules out of these molecule building sets. He was making all sorts of fancy ones, to impress me, and it worked. He hogged the station forever. He could tell you what he built, but I can't remember. We're now in the market for a molecule building kit.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science! Ohh, I was in Terri Heaven- Fossils, Minerals, Energy oh my! Next time we'll just fork out the dough and pay to see it on a non-free day. Yikes, it was all just kids touching all the things it made me crazy. Ian loved seeing the Quetzalcoatlus (a pterodactyloid) as you may know his favorite stuffed animal is his "dactyl"

Blueberry Picking! Yum, we hauled the kids out for a fun day of migrant worker labor. The blueberries were so good, but even better when I turned them into blueberry sauce for ice cream and pancakes. Recipe below.




We also did things I don't even have pictures for, like going to Toy Story 3! Having fun at Chuck  E. Cheese's. Plus some memorable moments like Ian sitting at the table and asking "Why did Jesus make black holes?"

Matt officially started work and we're trying to get back to our summer schedule. We're missing having Matt at home but we are so grateful that Matt has a job.


Blueberry Sauce
Ingredients

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup water
1 cup orange juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cold water
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions
1.In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries, 1/4 cup of water, orange juice, and sugar. Stir gently, and bring to a boil.
2.In a cup or small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water. Gently stir the cornstarch mixture into the blueberries so as not to mash the berries. Simmer gently until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, 3 to 4 minutes.