Astros Game

Shane was able to get tickets to an Astros game, which is always fun.  We took Adam to his first baseball game, which he enjoyed for a while, but then was bored so he played on Joseph's i-phone the rest of the time.  It's okay, we all had a good time, and the Astros won!

Daddy and Adam at the game

Pretty good seats!

Me and Mom

Playing on Joseph's phone

Shane and Amanda

Space Center Houston

Adam has been really interested in space and astronauts lately, so we decided to take him to NASA in Houston. I hadn't been since I was a kid in elementary school, so I didn't know what it would be like. There was a lot for kids to do and see and Adam of course had a great time exploring. The only thing we didn't get to do that we wanted was take the tram tour around the Space Center. There is always next year if he is still interested. We did get his halloween costume there, though....one of the orange jumpsuits worn by the American astronauts!

Listening to the astronauts

Playing with a mission control panel and checking out his reflection in the mirrors

In the cramped Apollo capsule with Daddy and a family pic at NASA

photo op with C-3PO at the George Lucas exhibit

Hurricanes, cancelled flights, and evacuation routes

As Hurricane Ike approached the Texas coast, it became apparent that our flight scheduled for Saturday, September 13, was going to be cancelled.  I called Continental Airlines Thursday morning, and changed our flight to that afternoon.   It was a good thing that we did - they ended up closing down the airport that evening and are not supposed to open it up fully until Tuesday.  With the packers coming on the 20th, we need all the time we can get to prepare.  

By the time we left Liberty for the airport, the local officials were already closing roads and diverting traffic to the established evacuation routes.  We got out of Liberty okay, but once we got to Dayton, we noticed that Highway 90 to Houston was closed, Highway 146 to Baytown was closed, and all the traffic was being sent up Highway 321 towards Cleveland.  I managed to head toward Atascosita on FM 1960, but not without a struggle.  The rest of the journey was fine until we were almost at the airport and found that cones were being set up along the road we were on.  Fortunately, it was in-progress, so we just went around.  My Nini took us to the airport, and made it back to Liberty without too much trouble.  She encountered a bunch of traffic once she got back to Dayton, but managed through it to get back home.   

I was only able to change our Continental flight to London, not the Qatar airways flight to Doha.  That meant that we were forced to stay a few nights in London until our flight home.  I know, poor us.  We just felt so lucky to get out when we did!  Upon arriving at our hotel, there was a couple that was trying to get to Houston, and that is when we learned that the airport closed shortly after our departure.  Phew!

Common sights around Houston

One thing we noticed when we got home was how much the news media has gone crazy over these hurricanes!  I don't remember there being this much fuss over them before.  I think they are really trying to scare the you-know-what out of everyone.  I was never scared of them when we lived here, but after watching a few hours of Gustav coverage, I was terrified that it would come to Houston.  

Message displayed on the Amber Alert signs throughout Houston...another message displayed:  "Keep your gas tanks full"

I couldn't resist taking this thing's picture.  I bet the Qataris would love to drive one of these!

The disgusting creatures on the bumper of our rental car are called Love Bugs.  Why?  I know it's not because people love them.  They seemed to be especially bad this year, worse than I remember.  It almost felt like they were attacking you when you walked - getting in your hair, mouth, clothes...Yuck!  

Gustav's effects on Houston

Hurrican Gustav didn't end up hitting Houston, but we got a lot of clouds from it.  We were driving into Houston on Labor Day to have dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Pappasitos.  Along the way I got several shots as the sun was setting.