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.

Natural Bridge Caverns

So we are taking full advantage of Matt's current unemployed status and doing all the fun family things that we've wanted to do but have never had the time for. So naturally what I want to do wins! Let me preface this post by saying, I really really really love caves! Karst topography (sinkholes and caves) were always my favorite thing to study in geology. Growing up we made a number of visits to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, so I've loved caves from an early age. Carlsbad is great because it is huge, but it's not "alive" like Natural Bridge Caverns is. During our time in Utah we visited Timp cave, it was small and relatively dull compared to this one. I think the boys had a good time too(but who really cares, the trip was for me!). We even forked out the dough to get one of those touristy photos because we all look okay (which is a big deal for our family).

Here are a few of my favorite cavern pictures.

Jason and Ian on top of the dinosaur (what do dinosaurs have to do with caves?) NOTHING!

Here were some really cool stalagmites, they are unusually skinny for stalagmites of their size.

Some curtians and soda straws, you can see them dripping, we got quite a few drips during our tour.

Crystal clear cave water, it was so beautiful.

It's hard to imagine the scale of this room, but it was huge, you can see some of the most fantastic colloumns.

I really enjoyed this cave, I can't wait to go back and do some other tours.  It's amazing to me what limestone, water, and calcium carbonate can do. 

San Diego & 40 Years

Matt's Parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, so the whole 'Cannon Clan' gathered in San Diego to celebrate! We took so many pictures, here are a few of my favorite ones.

We rented a fabulous beach house, all the kids had too much fun time hanging out with their cousins and aunts and uncles.

The beach was beautiful, it was COLD but the kids didn't seem to care.  We played in the water, made the most fantastic sand castles, boogie boarded, relaxed and explored.  Ian and Bapa had a special game that Ian called the rock game, Bapa had endless patcience with him.  I loved the little caves and I also had a blast boogie boarding. The boys had so much fun at the beach that we already have a trip planned this weekend... but in TX, not CA (at least we'll have sun!)

SeaWorld was fun, however my memory of it is a little tainted since I LOST my kids in the play area!  They claim that they weren't lost but somehow that doesn't make me feel that much better.  When they were "reunited" (found) Matt was ready to buy them ponies and I was ready to lock them up for the rest of their lives.  

Next day... Legoland. We had a smaller group: Becky & James and their boys, and our Family.  It was a good day... I didn't lose my kids! Yeah!  The kids were crazy about Legoland.  I think we turned them into rollercoaster junkies, they had their first hit and now they NEED more.   There was so much we didn't get to do. One day at Legoland is just not enough.  The models were amazing, but you have to see it in person to appreciate it.  I did post a picture of my favorite: the Lego dragon... WOW. 

All the boys loved driving the lego cars, it may have been my favorite part of the day too!

Another full day... The San Diego Zoo.  One of my favoite things about the zoo was the vegetation, all the trails were so beautiful.  Lots of the animals were putting on a show for us too.  My favorite animals were the little kids in the red shirts.

Overall it was a fantastic trip. There are about 500 more pictures that I want to post... but I'll spare you.  It was so much fun visiting with family, getting to visit wonderful places and celebrating 40 years of marriage.  On a side note... I'm greatful for my bed, warm houston weather, and airplanes.  And if you made it to the end of this post, good for you.

Famous... well sort of, but not really.

Everyone knows the "For Dummies" books (and a few of you may even have some).  Take a look at the technical editor, you might know him.  I know I do.  The editor was looking for a technical editor to review the physics for errors.  Matt was recommended and asked to do it.  I know he's not really famous, but I think it's kind of cool.  How many people do you know who are in a book as the technical editor, how many of you read books that need technical editors?

The Long and Short of it

Long and Short:

Visit with Grandparents: Too Short

Graduation:  Long! Very Long!

Matt's Moment to shine: Short!

More Grandparents: Short :(

Time in College: Long!

Rainy Weather : Was a little too long!

Time spent in Graduation Get-up:  (You'll have to ask Matt, but I'm thinking it was) too Long.

Graduation Party: Long (but not in a bad way)

Preparation for Party:  Long

Party Guest List: Too Short!

Our house was a little to short too!

It's weird how when I look back on this weekend it feels so long and yet so short, but overall it was fantastic. I am so happy to be able to celebrate Matt's awesome achievements, and to have a chance to visit with our friends and family.