Space Center Houston

We have an annual pass to Space Center Houston so today we went to hang out for a little while. We try to go once a month or so Raymond can play. Today we saw an IMAX movie about becoming an astronaut. Raymond seemed to enjoy it.

Houston Astros

Tonight we went to an Astros game, which by the way, they won! They have not done really well lately, so it was nice to see them win. It was Chick-fil-a night, so Raymond got a stuffed cow, and got his picture taken with the cow.

Raymond home from camp

We picked Raymond up at 5pm last night. He had a great time, so much in fact, that he wants to go back this next week! He rode go-karts, shot a bb gun, rowed a canoe, played lots of games, swam in a lake, and made some new friends.

He took some pictures on his disposable camera, and we will get it developed later today.

Raymond to Camp

We dropped Raymond off at camp today. This will be the first time he will be away without either Ray or myself for more than a few days. We pick him up on Friday. The camp looks like fun, they have go-karts, a lake, canoes, a zip line, two pools, and they will be learning archery and how to shoot a bb gun. I wanna go! He played basketball with a group of boys while we were there, and he seemed to be having fun.
Will post pics when Raymond gets home. We gave him a disposable camera, hopefully he remembers to take some.

Football Camp

Raymond attended football camp at Clear Lake High School the last three days. The school is just a mile away, so he rode his bike there and back. It was the first time he has ridden his bike outside of the neighborhood, so I was a little nervous, but he did fine.

Camp was good for him. There were a couple of kids he knew from school and at least one who will be on his team in the fall. The camp was put on by the head coach there at Clear Lake, who was one of Ray's coaches when he went there many years ago! Raymond learned how to stand on the line, how to take off running from a crouched position and how to tackle. There was other "stuff" but he can't remember. There is another camp in July, but that one is at another school further away, so not sure we will be able to get him there and back between 830-12pm. The there isn't bad, it's the picking up at noon. We will see.

Armand Bayou Nature Preserve

To celebrate school being out, I took the day off to spend with Raymond. His choice was to go to the Armand Bayou Nature Preserve, which is just a few miles from our house. After finishing our errands, which included check-up at the orthodontist for Raymond, and a physical for me at the doctor's, we ate lunch at the Charleston Tea Room in Friendswood. We then headed to Armand Bayou. It was HOT, but fun to walk the boardwalk, and look at the animals. We saw a number of golden orb spiders, several alligator snapping turtles, at least one red-eared slider and an armadillo. Raymond knows a lot about animals, so he kept busy telling me about each thing we saw. There is also a farm house, where they do demonstrations of old farm equipment on Saturdays, but we were able to walk through and look at things. In the reptile house, were aquariums with fish, toads, and of course snakes. I walked past those without looking! The last thing we did was look for the bison. The lady at the entrance told us we may not be able to see them, as they generally hide in the trees when it is this hot, but we were lucky enough to find them walking out in the open.

In all, it was a fun place to visit, and Raymond had a really good time. It was fairly cheap ($4 total for the two of us), so I'm sure we will go back again soon. Next time I will remember to take the camera.

School is OUT!

The last day of school was Thursday, June 5th, and Raymond is really looking forward to summer. 4th grade was not his best year, and he is glad it is over! Report card was so-so, but he did do really well on the TAKS, getting commended scores on all three tests (math, writing and reading). He got a certificate for that at the awards ceremony on Wednesday.

12 weeks til school starts!

Raymond learns to mow the yard

Today Raymond learned to mow the yard. I had originally said he would have to be 12 before I would let him use the mower, but after doing the backyard, I was exhausted, so I told him he could do the front. He was not too happy about it, as he has not wanted to learn, but once he got going, he was pretty excited. He needs to work on mowing in a straight line, but he did okay.