#Houston Day 7: Chillin' Out in the Rain and the Spongebob Movie

Saturday was for sure just a hanging out day, which everyone needs from time to time!

Joel and Callie doing some morning hot tub chillin' followed by the kids swimming in the rain with hotel friends

I supervised from my perch under a poolside patio.

Checking out my potential office in my current outdoor office in Houston ;-) This is a house in Paola we fell in love with but it's too expensive, sadly. But otherwise PERFECT for us! We shall see if it is still available when we get back and if the price has come down any!

Rain rain rain. Chillin' kids. Lots of TV.

Laying in bed with Sam watching Spongebob while Daddy napped. This was after Joel and I ran to the HEB for groceries for dinner (burritos) in the pouring rain and got soaked.

We tried to head down to Galveston because we were bored but it was rain rain rain so I hopped on the handy iPhone and got us Spongebob 3D movie tickets, which the kids were dying to see. I have to admit I am a huge Spongebob fan myself. I think you have to be kinda juvenile to appreciate that show, and I certainly am that.

All of these photos were taken with the iPhone using its filters or Instagram's filters. If I look young or skinny, it is only to the credit of the iPhone 6. I should get a kickback for this.

Click here for Day 8.

#TheKerrieShow in #Houston Day 6: Johnson Space Center, Annie & Rude People

We started the day by ... doing a lot of hanging out. Some homeschooling and then I did the final proofing of my ebook to turn it into a print book and off it went.

We hit the Taco Cabana on the way for some lunch!

Then it was time for .... DUN DUN DUN ... drumroll, please .... The Johnson Space Center
(see post there by clicking on the words). I balked at spending $107 for the 6 of us to go but my mom said we had to go because it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing and it's RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD! They have long hours and it turns out it was the BEST THING EVER. We were there about 3-7 p.m.

There was a big play area for kids with a slide. We watched a cool short movie montage thing about our space program from the beginning and I freaking teared up when the Challenger blew up. I geeked out over a 3D magnet and a keychain with little charms of Texas, Houston, a rocketship an astronaut and the NASA sign and we got a T-shirt for Aron/Daddy/Mr. Kerrie. And what is it with kids always wanting to buy ROCKS at gift shops? Yeah, I was the same when I was a kid!

I'm going to have you go over HERE for all the pictures because there are a lot.

Also, please see yourself HERE for my piece asking if we even need a space program. Opinions needed and welcome.

The rest of the evening was spent with me trying to track down the movie Annie at a Redbox that DID NOT EXIST (it was a field!), getting dinner at Subway and then tracking down another Redbox down the road, driving through traffic slow as molasses anytime of day or night. Post on traffic to come. Found a Redbox at a CVS, thanks to the iPhone, and turned too soon, so I went in the WRONG WAY to a bagel place (closed, thank you) and parked in the outgoing drive-thru spot to run over and get my danged Redbox.

So check this out.

I get back to the hotel to feed my peeps after hunting dinner. On the way to the pool I see the movie room is occupado and I ask if they want to watch Annie with us, could we come in in a bit and do so? And I knew they could say no because it's first come first served. Got it. But they said OKAY.

So we got back later to watch Annie and it's like 8:45 and we are going to watch the movie and go to bed at our normal, traveling-with-Daddy EARLYish time.

That little family sat there watching something on ABCFamily that they could have watched snuggled up in their bed all comfy. They sat there until 10 p.m., knowing we had Annie and saying they wanted to finish MATILDA.

Rude. Don't tell me YES then do what you want anyway. I'd rather hear NO honestly and then watch Annie another time.

We tried to watch the movie in our room but the living rooms here are too small and we could not all even fit. So at 10 p.m., when we normally are going to bed, we went down to the movie room as the Rudes were leaving and so we got to bed at like midnight.

See ya back here for Day 7 ... Saturday ... Daddy will be off work so we'll see what we are up to!

Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas Field Trip

The Johnson Space Center was, in one word, AMAZEBALLS.

Here are some pics! We saw a little educational movie, toured all sorts of neat artifacts, mock-ups and more and went on a 1.5-hour tour of the facility. There were 2 other, different tours, and someday I want to go back with Mr. Kerrie and do them all because the kids totally were just putting up with me geeking out over this place. I mean, they had fun (Ripley's Believe it or Not area was a hit) but I should have shown them the movie The Right Stuff BEFORE going to the space center. Dangit. I have been lacking in my homeschool teaching of space, that's for sure. (also, head here to read Why Do We Need a Space Program? and I look forward to your arguments)

We made it at 3 p.m. but they did not close until 7 so we were a go for launch.

After a cool little movie, the doors opened to a dark room like a museum and it was super cool. Sorry, but my special writer words fail me about a place like this. I was astounded by the whole place.

This is made of toast. No joke.

This is made of computer keyboard keys. Again, no joke.

International Space Station mock-up and practice area. This we got to see on the tram tour where we got out and walked around this building.

I'm in this one partially because my dad was asking for pics of me since all I send him is pics of the kids! Why does it look like the flag is over my left shoulder when it was over my right? I don't get how photos work at all.

My boys spacing out.

Another old rocket.

I was in awe when we entered this building. This photo doesn't even show the entire rocket. On the walls there was info about all the astronauts and space programs.

DISH Network Hates Children and Loves Men

Yeah, you like that title? It's true.

Not one appropriate thing was on last night in the movie room at the hotel, where they subscribe to DISH Network, something I will personally never purchase for my own home, even if it is the only option and I live out in the sticks, which I plan to do soon.

The only "family-friendly" show that was on at 8:30 was Full House, which gets so old when it is all that is on in your hotel room at night too. At 9 we got The Fresh Prince of Bel-air, and the first thing we hear is Will Smith talking about getting a girl into his bed. What happened to cartoons? Disney, Cartoon Network, Sprout?

There were a lot of things you could ORDER for $5.99, like current kid movies, but we can't do that at the hotel and I would rather go to the RedBox up the road for one-third of that price anyway. They must cater to country folk with no RedBox and no Netflix streaming or something.

Appropriate cartoons (yeah, not like Archer) 24 hours a day is not a lot to ask when kids go to bed at all different times and wake up at all different times and wake in the middle of the night.

However, there were about NINE THOUSAND hockey and other sports channels.

Therefore, I come to the well-thought-out conclusion here in my dissertation that DISH Network must hate children or is run by someone who is totally clueless about family.

Prove me wrong. Tell me there is a better kid package and that I need to be taking my gripe up with the hotel where I'm staying.

#Houston Day 5: Cinderella and Nassau Bay and HEB

This lovely day started with my eyes popping open at 6 a.m. Ran down the stairs to grab some coffee and started working while Mr. Kerrie got ready for work. Listened to vintage Real Housewives of NYC (Bethenny!) while I got some stuff done online. Joel got up and got his Texas-shaped waffle (a daily ritual) and today's meal offering was ham, gravy, cheesey eggs and hash browns ... and chocolate muffins. After yesterday's WW weigh-in, I had to snub those freaking muffins and instead got some Activia because I'm 43 and probably need it. Moving on ...

We went to see the movie Cinderella after my daily ritual of getting lost on some off ramp or frontage road.

'Cuz, really, ya gotta take your Spongebob bat to see Cinderella in case anyone gets rowdy.

Hung out in traffic. My mom loves this part.

Went back to the room to hang out until I couldn't stand it anymore and said I had to see the dang water somehow.

So we went to Nassau Bay/Clear Lake Park. I used to be a Mac hater for some reason, but I have to tell you the pictures the iPhone 6 takes and the different effects you can put on a photo and how quickly they load to the blog ... astounding.

I am telling you right now my mom is going to LOVE THIS ONE! I took this for you, Mom!

That's concrete, not sand.

My new camera from Mr. Kerrie also is AMAZING and doesn't take blurry pictures like our old one.

On the way home we stopped at HEB grocery store off El Camino Real ... for fresh tortilla's my friend Jennifer told me about. They were yum! We got packages of wheat, flour and butter versions.

The Tortilla Model.

Buddy Bucks ... they put it in a machine and it spins a wheel and they get a sticker with points and then cash those in for stuff.

Came back to the room so the kids could swim in the freezing cold pool FOREVAH ... back and forth from pool to hot tub,  having a blast.

Dinner was fried chicken and mashed potatoes and green beans. Perfection.

I was able to get some time in on the treadmill before our ...

... movie attempt (see my post on DISH Network here and how that did not work out).

Brush teeth, pray, Mr. Kerrie reads to the kids. The usual disgustingly easy and happy family evening.  Rinse and repeat and I am in love with this life.

Click here to see Day Six.