Castles are cool. And, that we have one in our backyard is extra awesome. From Houston, you can arrive at the drawbridge of Newman’s Castle, in Bellville, Texas, in just over an hour. We took our scout pack and hit the road. The castle is just outside of Bellville heading north on Highway 36. You turn off onto the unassuming Old Highway 36. The road is definitely old. It is rutted with asphalt repairs and peppered with potholes. Finally, you turn off the paved road and head into the forest. The signage is few but the maps are well marked. About a quarter mile theRead More →

Moody Gardens Ice Land

Moody Gardens Ice Land: Pole to Pole is happening right now!? We just visited as part of our Homeschool Day and it is really great. One of the holiday events that is absolutely worth your time and money. Although, if you go during regular events I would definitely suggest a combo ticket and see the lights too! Upon entering the Moody Gardens Ice Land: Pole to Pole tent you are treated to a seven-minute film about the construction. A lot of that ice comes from just up the road in Bryan as they are one of the few places that still make the big blocks.Read More →

Moody Gardens Homeschool Day

Five times per year our triple pyramided friends to the south put on homeschool programs – and the Moody Gardens Home School Day is awesome!  Each program day has a different theme and allows entrance into different areas of the Moody Gardens campus. We attended the December outing which was themed Aquarium & Ice Land: Pole to  Pole.  It was a great program, appropriate for the entire family, and really affordable at $15 per person, including adults (members only pay $5).  Our ticket included parking, access to the Aquarium Pyramid (which hosted talks through out the day at various exhibits), access to Ice Land: PoleRead More →

Pit Stop San Antonio! If you are driving to San Antonio from Houston and you happen to have children, you will probably stop. Here’s something different – the Pioneer Flight Museum. It’s a small museum with a neat collection that goes back to when the era of flight began to early WWII. You can definitely see some unique planes here! I know! It’s only a 3-hour drive. But, ‘ya know, kids, bladders, yadda, yadda, yadda. I feel confident in saying most people automatically think: Buckee’s, Luling!  It’s just far enough away to warrant a stop and still far enough from San Antonio that you can’t reallyRead More →

Road Trip, We’re Heading Even More South!!! One of my favorite places to head out of town is to Galveston. It’s close, it’s easy, and there are tons of options for a day trip. So, no need to try to do it all in one day! We’ve been hitting our southern sister city pretty regularly lately, so we took this trip really easy. We let everyone sleep in, eat breakfast (all that fun stuff), and then walked out the door around 11 am. Even though, it was a weekday it was a Monday between Sunday and a holiday (July 4th), so we were expecting lighterRead More →