Tour de Hood

While watching Texas Country Reporter last night, we came across a great program taking place not too very far from us. It is called Tour de Hood . Dr. Veon McReynolds has in effect started an inner city cycling club. This cycling group is for all ages and abilities. He has collected an array of bicycles and allows folks to come out on Saturday mornings for a ride. The ride is at an easy pace for everyone to enjoy. At the halfway point, there is a break for fruit and water. Helmets, bikes, snacks, and even t shirts to wear are all provide to participants at no cost. All are invited to join. You can bring your own bike if you prefer. And if you have a bike that is not working, you are invited to come on Fridays and they will help you fix it! Dr. McReynolds is also wanting to get a few three wheeled bikes so that senior citizens who don't feel comfortable on a bicycle will still be able to join in the fun of each week's ride.

Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum Family Days

The jack-up rig "Ocean Star" now serving as a museum and educational facility offers Family Days every second Saturday of each month. Each month a different theme is presented with information presented at the student's level. Word games, coloring and crafts are used to present the information as well as the museum exhibits. Children 18 and under are admitted free on Family Day with a paying adult. This month's theme is "Types of Rigs". Bring your family and learn about these vehicles at sea. You can even make your own piece of offshore artwork!

Kids Night on Broadway

There is an excellent opportunity coming up to introduce your kids to the theater. According to a recent Theater Under the Stars eBlast:


"TUTS encourages you to expose your children to the arts by making a
family trip easy and affordable through the Kids Night on Broadway
program at South Pacific and Little House on the Prairie. With the
purchase of one adult ticket to the first Wednesday evening performance
of the run (Wed. March 10 for South Pacific and Wed. April 28 for Little
House On The Prairie), TUTS offers you one free ticket for a child under
the age of 18. Your Kids Night experience includes interactive games
for the children in the grand lobby, a souvenir Playbill and other fun
treats. For tickets visit TUTS.com and use promo code KNOB."

I wish we could take advantage of this really great deal. This would be a really grand family night out!

picnic in the park

A picnic in the park can often be a nice change of pace for the entire family! It can be a simple affair, or you can order out. Just spending time together outdoors is often all that is needed to get the kids going and mom and dad too! Keeping the picnic simple allows for an easy time in transporting the food as well as in the cleanup. Be sure to enjoy your time in the park as well!

time capsule

At the turn of the new century, well, in the year 2000, my kids put together a time capsule. They were 3 and 6 at the time and the time capsules ended up being plastic shoe boxes. This past January 1, it was fun to watch my 13 and 16 year old open them up. There were photos, newspapers, drawings, lists of friends and even Star Wars action figures! My kids added a couple of things on this go 'round and then closed them up for another ten years. This is a great family project and fun to look back on!

ceramics

We got a great family gift this Christmas! We were given a huge block of clay! Some family members work ceramics and even have their own kiln. Since they need to fire many pieces at once, they wanted us to join in! So after opening our gifts, we dug into the clay! We have several pieces drying, waiting to be fired then painted. This is a wonderful way to spend many family nights together!

low key holidays

As everyone around us hustles and bustles around in preparation for the holidays, our family kept a low profile yesterday. Our family gathered yesterday to celebrate being together. It is our first Christmas without Granny and we did not want to give up getting together, but did not want to make a big ordeal out of it either. We ate sandwiches and chips, played games and only the youngest kids were given gifts. All in all it was a good day and the stress level was kept to a minimum, reminding us all what is really important.