Happy 2017!

Finally getting to a recap of our HOU trip… Y’s car was taken to the shop — he had gotten sideswiped (on E’s side) by a dude that jumped three lanes. Thankfully, with a SUV, nobody was seriously hurt but the vehicle was not in good shape. They gave us a rental car so we thought a road trip would be a good getaway.

We headed out in the afternoon around E’s nap and drove straight to Chinatown for Singaporean food.

Banana Leaf! The place was pretty cramped but Y thought it was fairly legit.

Then, dessert! This one ate MOST of that bowl. Well, we paid for it by him tossing and turning ’til like 2AM! He informed us the next day, “I think so I had too much sugar.” :D

Daddy HAD to bring this durian smoothie back to the hotel. :P

We woke E up minutes before the breakfast closed down. Knew he would want his waffle — Texas-sized and shaped here. :)

Then, off to the Houston Children’s Museum. Another complimentary entry score…

This play structure was intense and extremely challenging, especially for adults. Daddy didn’t even dare try cuz his legs would’ve gotten stuck.

Of course, the stop at the LEGO build area was a long one…

Mommy made E a purse while waiting.

There was seriously so much to do there. Every time we thought we had just about seen everything, we’d stumble on another room or space.

Happy to see an old fave, discovered in SD. He was at this table for quite awhile, just throwing out rings.

More outside! It was literally in the 80’s and sticky as Houston can be…

Vegetarian place + the smooooooothest dou hwa for lunch.

Nap and Taiwanese food for dinner. Yes, it was also a culinary trip of sorts. ;-)

The next day, we went to NASA. It was a whole lot different than what we remembered it to be when we went as kiddies long ago.

We pre-scheduled a tram tour online. Good thing because for drop-ins, it was a crazy line.

We chose to tour the astronaut training facility which was massive.

Proud that he can wink and Mommy cannot.

Then they took us to another building to see some space shuttles.

Marveling at all the tiny pieces and electronics that go into the making.

After the tram tour, we took a short lunch break (with goodies bought from Chinatown the night before), and then went for our other pre-booked tour of shuttle replica Independence, which is actually mounted on top of an airplane!

Yes, son, we know you can wink. ;-)

We got to go inside the aircraft as well.

Then we went back inside for more exhibits and demonstrations.

Infrared boy. :)

We stayed ’til late in the afternoon and E was wiped out!

Before sunset, we made it to Kemah Boardwalk along the Gulf Coast.

Some sting ray petting went down after enjoying a walk by the water. :)

They are slippery and velvety.

E totally zonked out in the car while we drove to Sugar Land to eat at a particular Singapore Cafe…

Reunited with the Lion City Uncle! Hehe. So we knew he had moved here to be closer to his family but later found out he decided to open a resto here. The food tasted a tad different but Daddy was happy to see his go-to dishes.

We had planned to drive out to Galveston the next day but the weather was showing really strong winds at like 40mph+ so we decided to skip it this time. The 3D short film we tried to see at the natural science museum was sold out but we found a show at the planetarium for a slightly later time. We leisurely strolled through Hermann Park while waiting. The winds had actually cooled down the weather so it was actually nice outside.

After a spiral climb to the top of the mount, it gave us good views of the Centennial Gardens and beyond.

Then it was a race down!

First planetarium show. He enjoyed the 3D flick at Perot more as this one might’ve been a bit too dry and scientific for his age.

After the show, we walked around some more to explore the rest of the park.

He found a playground… and did not want to leave! But we wanted to pick up a few more things at Chinatown before hitting the road home. After running into some friends there (loitering a tad too long) and coming up on some traffic as a result, we made it back to the Big D safely.

Clinging all the more to the Christ in CHRISTmas what with deaths, mishaps, accidents, surgeries happening to those close to us.

Nothing is taken for granted… So we drink in the moments and the breaths that He chooses to give us.

The holidays seen through the eyes of a child is magical — the awe, wonder and anticipation. :)

Sat on Santa’s lap quite a few times this year. No fear but got a tad shy or tongue-tied upon close encounter. ;P

Elf (with glowing red finger?) sighting!

Shootin’ amongst the Christmas trees.

The time we went to packet pick-up for Mommy’s big December race and got a flat tire… Testing out race swag while waiting for Daddy to rescue us. :) Bumps in the road don’t phase this one.

Post-race sweaty smiles. 3 Olympians and an elite. Which one of these does not belong? ;P Humbled and honored to get to train regularly with two of them!

Auntie Glo invited us to join them for her “Special Friends” dinner at Prestonwood. We were inspired to hear Marlana Vanhoose, a blind singer, perform.

Missed Uncles Jong and Dan — both out of the country.

Play dates never go on break. :)

Cool community coloring board at Blue House Too gallery.

Clowns are okay in your book now?

Pretty much alternated between a Santa and elf shirt all month long to get maximum wear time. Won’t fit next year for sure!

Mommy, KYLO REN!!! So? :D

School part-ay!

Christmas Eve service at WM Dallas. Missed you!

Eve dinner at Ah-Gong and Ah-Ma’s. Saw cousin Micah and was actually able to play with him this time…

First gingerbread house.

The Christmas Day {whole lotta Batman} loot! What a blessed kid.

Off to Houston for a little road trip.

From our family to yours:

Shoutout to photog Jessica Delynn. What a fun session with you and your hubs – thank you for putting up with our silliness!

More faves:

Went to the Frisco Heritage Museum for their monthly open house and turkey pardon in November.

We also toured some of the historic structures.

Mr. Turkey came with some furry friends.

Err, spiky?

Blacksmith demonstration.

Friends were in town for Thanksgiving.

Bots, bots and more bots!

We built this using a WeDo kit.

… And then zero pics on food coma day … It was nice to eat, drink and enjoy time with some family this year — it’s been awhile.

The day after, we got as far away from Black Friday madness as possible and took a day trip to Glen Rose. It’s apparently “dinosaur capital” of Texas and first stop was Dinosaur World.

Map in hand, this adventurer was ready to discover some dinosaurs!

Koi made Y think of his Mama’s pond at home. Tres Merrells. Y won a contest once by sending in a photo of his shoes dangling off Half Dome so he may enter this one. :)

His fave: T-Rex!

Child tickets came with a fossil dig and he totally dug it!

You get to choose 4 fossils to keep. He selected 4 different shark fins.

They had some animatronics and other interesting exhibit cases inside the museum.

We lunched on packed leftovers outside and played HOURS on their playground.

We left pretty much when the park closed. There was just a bit of daylight left for us to check out Dinosaur Valley State Park across the street.

Real dinosaur tracks apparently were left in this area but a pretty formidable creek stood between us and the other side. Daddy carried E across. A dad with four kids took off all their shoes and got 3 of the 4 over on separate trips. The water was chilly!

The tracks were worth seeing.

Deep heart-to-heart with daddy.

A rare introspective moment! (Actually, way past nap time, hehe. He crashed hard in the car while we drove back home).

Mommy’s friends’ gals. Token bachelor of the day. Haha.

Back to da boyz. :)