Party Over Here

This past weekend I took my son to a birthday party at Minute Maid Park. Houston's baseball stadium and home to the Houston Astros. I didn't even know you could have birthday parties at the stadium! But leave it to my friend to find the most awesome places for her children's parties.
The party was really NICE! So nice in fact, that most of the adults were saying they were going to have their birthday parties there! We met outside the stadium and our party was escorted by a hostess to one of the box suites with the most incredible view of the field. Once the children finished their personal pan pizzas, drinks and gourmet cookies we headed down to the field.

The kids got to walk around the diamond with strict rules NOT to touch the perfectly manicured turf. They also got to sit in the actual dugout and take pictures and then it was on to the play zone appropriately named Squeeze Play. A two story enclosed play area with slides and things to climb on and run across. There was also as spot where the kids could hit balls of water that came up over a mock version of home plate. My son's favorite thing was racing against this cardboard cut out of one of the players.

I highly recommend Minute Maid Park for a unique party experience even if your child isn't a fan of baseball they are sure to love this place!

Things I Would Grab in a Hurricane

You know every since Hurricane Katrina and her sister, Hurricane Rita tore through the Gulf of Mexico people in Texas are always a little on edge when it comes to hurricanes because we have been thisclose to experiencing the devastation that our cousins in Louisiana and Mississippi experienced 3 short years ago. Whenever there is a disturbance in the Gulf we make sure our tanks are full of gas (after taking out a loan!!) and that we have our contingency plans mapped out in case we have to haul ass out of State (it would take you six months to get out of the State so, we all just head as far North Texas as we can)!

Well, the last time we vacated for Rita’s impending arrival I was at a loss when it came to deciding what priceless mementos I should cram into the trunk of my car. Let me stop here and say I am a total nostalgia geek! I have saved everything from ceramics that my late maternal grandmother made me in 1986, my 8th grade memory book, volleyball trophies (and I wasn’t even a starter on the team) photo’s GALORE, and even locks of my son’s hair from his first haircut.

Now I should clarify and say that because I am such a neat freak all of these items are neatly stored away and if you were to come to my house its cozy and somewhat minimalist appearance might shock you. . .there are no photo’s nailed up on the walls or stacks of old newspapers turning yellow in the corner. But there are certain things I just can’t seem to part with just yet.

Anyhoo. . .back to the topic at hand. I’ve thought about it and if I only had time to grab a few things (with the idea that everything else would be loss and this doesn’t include my husband and son) I would snatch up the following items:

1. My purse- contains the plastic loot, my drivers license and my phone
2. My passport- I might need to leave the country and grieve over the loss of my material possessions (might as well grab my son's while I'm at it)
3. Three photo albums (childhood pictures, some travel and my wedding) - the photo’s weren’t digital so this is all that exists
4. My laptop- all of my digital photo’s and some important documents are on my hard drive
5. My Chi flat iron- If nothing else I might be able to PAWN it if times get hard
6. The Power Strangers- the only way I'll have some peace

7. Underwear- we might be stranded somewhere for a minute

Amazing, that’s all I could really think of that I would be lost without. My priorities aren’t as screwed up as I thought. Since Hurricane Ike is hovering in the Gulf like he’s looking for Tina, I might need to start packing tonight!

100th Post/First Baseball Game

Woohoo, this is my 100th post! I've had two other blogs and this is the first one I've posted to consistently! I'm enjoying myself if even no one else is. . .this blog has become an outlet as well as a means of creative expression and I'm going to try and hang in there for the remainder of 2008! It's really helping me to focus and move forward with other goals that I've set for myself. Yay for me!!

Moving right along. . .my husband and I took my son to his first baseball game. The thing that sucked more than the Astros was my son getting sick and totally not being that into the game. He had an earache and the chills. We hung in there (watching the home team get slaughtered by the Pirates) until the start of the 7th inning then we headed home.

Once he got a dose of Motrin and some Similasan drops he was a brand new kid! It was bed time but he got his second wind and was having a full blown conversation with himself in bed at 10:00! I guess that power nap he took in the car got him all refreshed.

I myself am NOT a fan of baseball so, the "make up game" will have to be just him and his father. I would much rather soak in a hot tub, give myself a facial or curl up with a good book! I know, I am such a girl!

(I took that picture from my phone, we had decent seats in the area over the Astros dugout.)

H-Town Review: The Woodlands

The Woodlands is a suburb/city North of Houston. Many of the residents of this 55,000+ populated city have no reason to leave their hometown unless they are unfortunate enough to work outside the city limits.

The Woodlands has a plethora of retail shops (Wal-Mart to Pottery Barn to Anthropologie), restaurants (McDonald's to Grotto), a two story mall (with a Children's Museum inside), Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (which showcases concerts featuring some of the hottest acts in the country), a waterway (you can hop a water taxi for a scenic view of the area), a hospital, hotels (designed especially for conferences), and top corporations like Anadarko, Hughes Christensen, & Hewitt Associates.

We spent Sunday afternoon in The Woodlands and let my son run through the water fountains at Market Square after having lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Our trip to the Woodlands was about 50 minutes one-way but a great way to spend the afternoon. I highly recommend this excursion for visitors and hometown residents as well.

H-Town Reviews: Discovery Green

There is a new park in Houston. This park is not your typical run of the mill park with slides and swings- in fact there are no swings but there are a few slides. The park is somewhat "upscale" (if a park can be described as such) and nestled in the heart of downtown across from the George R. Brown convention center and surrounded by Minute Maid Park, The Hilton Americas hotel, a plethora of high rise luxury buildings, and the Toyota Center.

The park has a jungle gym play area, manicured lawns, splash pad, dog runs, concert stage, grassy knoll, mini lake to run (and rent) remote controlled boats, and two restaurants. One restaurant is just for snacks- burgers and fries but the other "The Grove" is tres chic. Very upscale atmosphere. We took our son to play in the park yesterday and joined friends for dinner last night. I recommend the salmon and chile-lime corn. The only draw back is that the restaurant closes at 11:00pm. While we were sitting at the bar last night a fireworks show erupted. It was really nice.

Not many people know about this gem since it just opened in April. I really hope it stays nice, clean and classy. Because it's a free park that's centrally located anyone has access and we witnessed people allowing their kids to run up the slide and block the water holes (there was a BIG sign that said NOT to do this). You know some folks just don't care about keeping things nice but hopefully Discovery Green will continue to shine.

March of Dimes

Today was the March of Dimes "March for Babies" in the Houston area (previously known as Walkamerica). The walk raises money to help the March of Dimes improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

Unfortunately I did not participate in the walk today but all month long I have supported the organization through various initiatives at my job including helping my department construct three themed baskets that we raffled off.

It is such a worthy cause and one close to my heart because I was a premature baby. Please contact the March of Dimes and make a donation today!

H-Town Reviews

Rocket City Fun Station- Katy, TX

Although this was 44 miles from my house one way (!)- what can I say, I only have one nephew- this was cool little party spot. If you live in or around the Katy area I highly recommend having your next children's party at this location.

You get a private "pod" for you and your guests to eat and sing Happy Birthday, birthday cake, balloons, goodie bags and each guest gets a $5.00 gaming card. For your entertainment pleasure they have a Tot Zone, bumper cars, air hockey, video games, bowling and ticket redemption. The play/game area is actually quite small in comparison to Incredible Pizza but the thing that would make me go back is the BUFFET! We're not talking just pizza, salad and dessert. Get ready for this. . .

They had four types of salad greens, eight types of salad dressing, potato salad, pasta salad, fried green beans, mozzarella sticks, fried corn, chicken tenders, broccoli bites, pizza (10 varieties), nacho (with ground meat), four kinds of pasta, marinara and Alfredo sauces, lasagna, bread sticks, Salisbury steak, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, grilled chicken, fried chicken, CHEESECAKE, gourmet cookies, applesauce, four types of pudding, fresh fruit, cherry cobbler and peach cobbler (with the most delicious CRUST I've ever tasted!). Not to mention all the soda, lemonade or tea you can drink. Whew! I feel stuffed just talking about it.

Now, I must admit I am NOT a big fan of buffets but the plethora of choices they have and the great quality of the food makes it more than worth the $15 PER person! Did I mention you can eat at the buffet as long as you are in the building?!

Rocket City Fun Station
406 West Grand Parkway South
Katy, Texas 77494