May 31 - Newsies, Party of 15

This year, the Girl Scouts offered an incredible group discount rate for Disney's Newsies at the Hobby Center, Theater Under the Stars. We had a great turnout. I bought Jillian, Julia and Ava (it was Ava's first Broadway show) and all the girls from Jillian's troop came except one. Everyone in Adelyn and Guinevere's families came too. We were a huge group, totally 15! The show was awesome and I was really surprised by the fantastic choreography! What a night to remember. I hope they offer this discount every year because we will definitely be there. 

A Night to Remember!

May 15 - All About Orcas

Orcas week 1 is in the books! We had a lot of rain the week before practice so the water was pretty chilly but minimal complaints from the kids. I'm excited for another season of summer swim! This is Julia's 10th year (1st year as a paid coach), Luke's 7th year and Jillian's 3rd year. It's great to be a PineBrookwood Orca!

London, Scarlett & Jillian (all 1st grade friends in the same class)

Leah, Jillian & Adelyn

Orcas in Action!

 

May 11 - NJHS Westbrook

Luke was inducted into NJHS (National Junior Honor Society) last week. In order to be considered, students have to have a min average of 92 in every class over the last 2 years and show good character (i.e. no ISS or conduct marks). Luke applied and was accepted, great job Luke! Julia's NJHS ceremony took place during COVID so it was a truncated ceremony. This one was much more elaborate. Every NJHS officer gave a short speech about the tenants of NJHS and lit candles on stage. After the names were announced and awards were handed out, the orchestra played while parents took pictures. It was a nice event. Great job Luke!

Proud of our little man!

Luke & his good friend Shawn

May 9 - I Had a Lovely Time

Last week was crazy busy for Luke. He had the field trip downtown on Wednesday, another field trip on Friday to Pleasure Pier (outdoor boardwalk with rides), school dance Friday evening, and then he was back at school at 5am on Saturday for ANOTHER field trip to Six Flags in San Antonio with band (getting back at midnight on Saturday night). What a week!

To our utter shock, about a week and a half ago, Luke announced at dinner that he asked a girl to the dance. Her name is Riley and she said yes. After asking him repeatedly to try on what he was planning to wear to the dance, the night before the dance he came downstairs in what I can only describe as skin-tight capri jeggings. His jeans were so tight and short it took him 5min+ to squeeze into them. After a quick trip to Kohl's he was all set for the dance. 

Julia's friend Kendall is taking a floral design class at school and recently passed her florist certification. She made a small bouquet for Luke to give to Riley. Luke met Riley at the dance and they had fun. He told her at the end of the night that he had a lovely time. It's official, my little man is growing up! 

My Ralph Lauren model lol

May 4 - Architecture Field Trip

Luke is taking an architecture class this spring and they had a field trip last week to downtown Houston. I was able to chaperone and it was so fun. I drove downtown and met up with the class and the other chaperones. We hopped on the light rail, which was an interesting experience. We bought tickets at the train station but no one takes your ticket nor do you even scan it, it's completely an honor system. We rode the train for a few stops and then walked over to AIA Houston (American Institute of Architects) and met our tour guide Rusty, the executive director of AIA. Rusty gave us a tour of their office and explained how the building they were in was finishing it's initial renovation when Harvey hit. Then they had to redo the whole space. Interestingly, their building has zero rebar and no drywall. After that, Rusty took us on a 2H walking tour around downtown where we learned about the history of many buildings, influential architects in the downtown area, building styles (many art deco buildings) and how Houston is trying to change downtown into a place where people live (very few people actually live in downtown Houston, it's mostly office buildings).

It was really interesting! Also interesting was that as we were walking around we saw very few people on the streets. 

After our walking tour, we headed 20' underground into the Houston tunnels. Now, we've lived here for 14 years and while I've heard about the Houston tunnels, I had never been to them. There are 6 tunnels connected underground, totaling 6 miles long and comprising 95 city blocks. There are shops, restaurants, bars and even medical offices. It was really cool! And this is where the people where. They avoid the Houston heat but using the tunnels to get around the city. We had lunch down there and then used to tunnel system to get back to the light rail. What a cool experience. I also really loved all the murals around the downtown area. 

Love the Murals

Beautiful flowers in the park

Would you swim in this pool? 40th floor of the Market Square Tower

Cool ceiling and window