No photos but lots of fun!

This has been a very busy week for us.  Despite the fact that orchestra, writing class, vision therapy, and baseball are over, we are still finding ourselves constantly on the go. For one thing, Avery started composition classes this week. She has been wanting this kind of instruction for a while, so she's really glad to finally get going. Also, she had extra rehearsals with her chamber music group for her upcoming violin recital.

Another music-related deviation from our schedule took up our whole day on Thursday.  A friend of mine from baseball emailed offering up free tickets to a taping of the X-Factor.  Never one to turn down a new adventure, I jumped on the chance!  (Well, that's after quickly googling to find out what the heck the X-Factor is!)  So Avery, her friend Justice, and I spent Thursday listening to really loud aspiring pop stars and staring at the back of Britney Spears' and Simon Cowell's heads.  We got really close seats and the whole experience was really surreal.  My ears are still slightly ringing.

We'd been given a list of rules of what we can't do and wear (no high heels, dress nicely, no white clothing, and NO cell phones), which of course we followed.  Apparently we were the only fools that bothered to listen.  People were not only dressed in whatever they wanted, but EVERYBODY brought in their cell phones!  And they were actually encouraged to take photos to tweet and post to Facebook and drum up more buzz for the show!  So, all this to say that my only picture from the day is this quick one I took in the parking garage on the way to the show:

But I poached a couple more from the internet:

The set.

The judges: Simon Cowell, Britney Spears, Demi Levato, and L.A. Reid.

After the craziness of Thurday, our Friday seemed really out of place.  We spent the day at another place with the no photos rule: the Hindu temple Radha Madhav Dham.  Griffin's history co-op studied Indian religions this week, so the group jumped at the opportunity to visit the temple. It was quiet, peaceful, beautiful...everything that Thursday wasn't!  We took a tour of the grounds, ate a picnic lunch, and took a yoga class.  Unfortunately I don't have pictures of all the cute 6 and 7 year olds doing yoga inside the temple, but here is an internet picture to give you an idea of the site:

Wildflowers

This spring has been spectacular for wildflowers.  After the hideous summer we had last year, with record breaking high temperatures and the extreme drought, we have been so thrilled to have lots of rain and countless beautiful days. The kids and I spent one gorgeous afternoon collecting, identifying, and pressing flowers.

Bun Run!

A few months ago, the kids and their friends got a wild hair and decided to do the Couch to 5K running program.  They made their goal the Schlotzsky's Bun Run at the end of April.  All the kids stuck to the program and did an awesome job in the race.  And as much as Avery dreaded it, she left the race saying that she can't wait to do another!

The runners *before* the race.  (I was a last minute addition. Bill was supposed to run, but he conveniently threw out his back a couple of days before the race....)

Our cheering section.

Rhys and Benja nearing the finish line.

Avery and Maya finishing up.

Houston

A few weeks ago, the kids and I spent a couple of days in Houston to join a homeschool group for a field trip to the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  HMNS had several interesting exhibits going on, but as they're rather proud of their museum and charge exorbitant prices for each exhibit, we chose to only see the permanent exhibits and the special Titanic travelling exhibit.

It was a neat museum, but it definitely wouldn't have been worth going for non-field trip prices.  After spending the afternoon seeing the exhibits and watching an IMAX movie, we headed to our hotel.  We chose a hotel with an indoor pool, so the kids had a fabulous evening swimming.

In the morning, we hit NASA.  It had been several years since we'd been (since Griffin was a baby!), so we were due for a visit.  Since school is still in session, we had the place to ourselves.  We spent the whole day there enjoying all the movies, shows, and exhibits.

While the kids had fun, I was completely geeked up to see the actual Mission Control room!  

"Houston, we have a problem."

And this? Is the *actual* flag that was *actually* on the moon!!  

Ok, so I might still be a little geeked up.  Apparently my childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut didn't die with the realization that math and science may not be my strengths.

Anyway, after seeing all the awesomeness that NASA offers, we finished up with a little time at the Space Center's playscape, then headed for home.