Little Man's First Trip to the Driving Range

Kristen is out of town for a few days. I wanted to hit golf balls, but have Gilbert tethered to me. Solution! Take him to the driving range!

Little Man has not been overly interested in golf, but he loves an 'urban adventure' so it was worth a shot. He was fantastic. Incredibly well behaved he watched me hit balls and then finally piped up it was his turn. What fun!

His golf swing resembles more of a hockey slap, but it is a start! Seeing his face light up with a smile when he hit the ball was incredibly gratifying for me!

Bowling!

Got to love Groupon! I purchased a bowling Groupon awhile back and it was time to introduce Gilbert to rolling the rock.

We had a blast! Gilbert was enamored with the ball return machine, but also liked to throw the ball. For one hour we spent a whopping $10 with shoes and the lane. We had a great time!

Houston Trip - At The Pool

With Gilbert's cousin, the two had a great time at the pool. All they wanted to do was swim and jump. Each day at the pool Gilbert progressed dramatically and by the end of the week, he was diving off the side of the pool without assistance (from me or his arm floats) and swimming a good 10-15 feet under water to either me or Kristen.

Now back home, our goal is to keep it going!

Houston Day 1 - Houston Children's Museum

Arriving mid-morning and on the other side of the city, we stopped by the Houston Children's Museum (got to love the all access membership!). The museum was fantastic. I love the Chicago Children's Museum, but I have to give the nod to Houston's. Maybe it is because there is more space, but I liked it better as there was more active exhibits. Some of the 'thinking' exhibits were engaging as well! I found myself wanting to do the work!

There was the mechanical section with a cross-section of a car so you could see all of the engine along with the parts in a door to understand how the locks and door handle work. Gilbert, of course, just wanted to drive.

Then the was an exhibit which was a small city run by the kids. Each child receives an ATM card and earns money doing work. They can then spend money at the grocery store or restaurant. I found myself playing a sugar market futures game where you received information and then bought or sold sugar futures. It was awesome!

Gilbert enjoyed the grocery store the best. The place was awesome. Fully stocked with pretend goods, the place was organized and looked like a real grocery store. Little Man immediately headed for the checkout counter to ring up Kristen's purchases. The computer screen was a real checkout register and with a touch screen an actual total and amount could be tallied. Very cool!

I mentioned active exhibits. The rock wall was in the basement and to get down to the bottom, Gilbert had to descend a series of connected platforms in a wire lattice. Looked like something out of Alice in Wonderland as each platform was convex and looked like an oversized mushroom top. We had to pry Gilbert out of there! And at the bottom was also an obstacle course. A bit hesitant at first, I completed the obstacles with him, but after that he would not come out. Loved jumping over to the fire pool for the slide down!

A bit too much for Gilbert at this age, but the science exhibit was incredibly engaging. You took molecules to make chemical compounds. I could have built molecules all day! Held G's attention for only a few minutes as it was off to the next exhibit!

Water Park

Still stuck in time, we took a trip to the Pulaski Park to partake in the splash park and get Gilbert reacclimated to the pool before heading down to Houston for an extended time in the pool.

Little Man had a blast working the splash pad, but particularly enjoyed going into the 'big guy' pool!

Back From Vacation

Back from vacation, the posts will be flowing. We started off with a 4th of July party with friends. They had a bounce house and Little Man lived in it the entire evening. Was able to catch this quick video. Makes me laugh every time!

Happy Independence Day

From our family to yours, have a wonderful 4th of July!