RODEO

We went to our first Rodeo this weekend!! We didn't get to the glitzy one in Houston and I found out about one at a County Fair about an hour out of Houston. Anyway we went exploring for the day, then to the fair and then finished off with the Rodeo.

The kids were up first (not Nait and Sharni, although more than old enough for some of the kids events). My favourite kids event was 'Mutton Bustin'. Seriously. As the name might or might not suggest, they put sheep in pens (just like the bulls with the adults), kids with helmets on top of them, then let them go and see how long these little tackers can hold on. I was torn between fits of laughter and wondering what parent would do that? To round up the sheep they seriously tie one up in the middle of the arena, once the sheep has thrown the kid off, it runs over to the one in the middle and just stands there! It was hysterical. They had horse racing, ie the old wooden type ones that we used to make out of brooms (the name escapes me at the moment) for the little cowboys and cowgirls. Very cute.

After the little ones had their turn it was time for the serious stuff. We had to stand for the Pledge to the Flag. Nait was over it by this time and wouldn't stop still..... And it is taken very, very seriously. Everyone caps off, right hand over the heart reciting the pledge. Then the National Anthem. Finally followed by the REAL cowboys. Big buckles, hats, boots and all. These men are crazy. Oh I almost forgot their was also the bit where teenagers had to chase down calves, tie them and drag them over the finish line. Those who where successful got to keep the calf. Very upsetting for the ones who missed out.

Back to the cowboys, these guys are nuts. I mean who would want to ride a bloody huge bull, who is obviously very pissed off. Anyway one guy obviously blissed it compared to the others. There was all different types of competitions involving men and women, horses, rope and livestock. (No nothing like that, all good, clean, country, family fun)

There was also the country attire to admire. A lot were in traditional cowboy and cowgirl wear. Hats, boots, big buckles with denim or leather jackets. This outfit was closely followed by camouflage wear, ie like army wear. In particular large Winchester Jackets. I swear Dad you were a Texan in your last life he he. I will say though, everyone was/is extremely friendly and helpful and willing to chat.

The weekend before we went to the Bayou Wildlife Park. Nice to go once but I would rush back. I just found out on Friday that Sharni is going there for a field trip next week. She is very excited as they are going on a School Bus. Like the movies kind of school bus. And 'The Magic School Bus' type bus. I had told her that only high school kids go on them, for some reason I can not remember why I told this little fib at the time. Anyway she is so excited about her 'Field Trip'

Our adventure there was interesting and one of the funniest moments of our time so far. The animals are extremely friendly and used to being feed by people. The ostriches are not intimidated by anyone, nor should they be, they are a big bird. They make emus looks small. They had emus with them so I know this for a fact. (Not sure how I am back to birds?????) Anyway this one Ostrich wanted Dene's food, the kids packed themselves, I jumped and Dene.... well Dene jumped higher than all of us. Admittedly he did have bucket of food this animal wanted. He quickly regained himself, and I couldn't stop laughing. Unfortunately I missed this moment on camera but I will forever remember it.

The Ostrich culprit!!

Getting back to the animals. Speaking of which we are all animaled out, and we haven't been to the zoo. Perhaps later in the year. There were lots of animals I had never seen before such as buffalo and many different species of deer, and a TEXAS LONGHORN, man those horns are big. I got a photo of 'Thunder' however the pic doesn't really show you how big he is.

'Thunder'

Now that is an alligator

I met my Obstetrician this week and all is well. Going for my 20 week scan in about 2-3weeks. Will let you know how it goes.

All cars have arrived this week!! Yipee we no longer have to drive Dene to and from work. ~2.5 hours per day. Dene bought an Infiniti. So we are both happy campers. And for some reason we didn't take 'The Beast' on our little road trip yesterday when we so obviously should have. It would have fitted in better than Dene's car. Here is 'The Beast.'

The Beast

The BEAST has arrived. The huge, fuel guzzling, family truck arrived today! No not a Hummer, but just as big I am sure, a Ford Expedition. Probably about the size of a Toyota Landcruiser back home. I actually haven't taken it for a spin yet, but I will add photos and details about that later.

On other beasts of Texas, we went to Brazos Bend. A national park where alligators hang out! Well they must be a lot and I mean a lot, more docile than their Salt Water Croc cousins in Australia because apparently on a warm day, they are everywhere and people picnic right there. Well of course as you do and not really thinking before we went, the day was bloody cold and not an alligator to be seen. Friends went the weekend before and have pics with heaps of the dinosaur relatives in the background. Actually we did see 5 by the end of the day.

Anyway it was a nice drive out of Houston. We all got to pat baby alligators, surprisingly very soft. Would make a nice purse........... only joking of course! Sharni, Nait and Dene got to pat a snake. I am not upset I missed that. There were warnings about dangerous animals in the area, I mean apart from the Alligators, such as snakes and spiders.... I secretly had to laugh. I felt a bit like Crocodile Dundee, 'That's not a dangerous animal, how about we tell you about some dangerous animals". But fear of sounding like an American of course prevented me from saying anything. Well except to Dene. Their dangerous snakes and spiders certainly have nothing on ours. I don't think people DIE from being bitten from their dangerous animals. Except the alligator! Anyway if you read this Darby, I have a website of videos and pictures of the alligators in action. Perhaps you and your Dad could compare them to the big Crocs up there.

It really was a nice place to visit. There were a lot of bird watchers out and about. No Dad not THAT kind of bird watching. I can honestly say there is something very kooky about birdwatchers. We meet a volunteer in the afternoon and he was quite informative about the Alligators and told us to come back when the weather was a little warmer and early in the morning. Mating season is about start and they are quite active between 8 and 10 in the morning. hhhhhhmmmmmm not too sure about that.

Sharni is on 'Spring Break'. (Everything, even school holidays sounds to me like the movies, oh well small things amuse). So we have had a couple of play dates, one to a nature reserve close by where grannies run the activities and then..... BIRD WATCHING!! Oh my god, I seem to be haunted by them at the moment. It was hilarious as one of them came up to me and another mum, who I had just met and seriously asked us if we knew what it was? We looked at one another as if to say 'What, what is?' and replied 'no sorry.' She was asking us if we knew what bird was making a noise? Oh the effort it took to keep a straight face. I felt like saying that unless it was a kookaburra (which until recently I thought was a native Australian bird! Thanks Dad for sorting out that little misunderstanding.) I didn't have a hope in hell of identifying anything with wings, well perhaps a penguin I could distinguish from a peacock. But I still wouldn't know what noise either of them made. Anyway the kids had a good time, oblivious to the glares a few of us mothers were receiving from the old ducks. Surprisingly the kids got bored. Hell I was bored with what they were saying so you could only imagine Nait trying to sit still.

Another event in our week was St Patrick's Day!! Well now days instead of going out and getting drunk, we go to lunch parties with other Mum's who all secretly wish we were at the pub. Amy had activities for the kids, we dressed in green and we ate green food. And all those who are not knocked up, had an Irish Beer. There are some photos linked on my facebook profile page of the kids in action.

Dene is currently out car hunting for himself. We are about to head to the pool for a dip. Well the kids anyway and tomorrow or Sunday we are going to go for a country drive in 'The Beast' which is what is shall now be know as. Don't know where but somewhere in Texas!

2 Weeks In

Well 2 1/2 weeks have flown by.

Dene has started work in his office and is getting things sorted, like a phone number!

Sharni has started school and seems to be enjoying it. It is a small school and there is only 12 kids in her class. The couple of the Mum's I have meet are friendly and everyone is very helpful. I haven't meet everyone as the kids start and finish at different times. This school like many, have a before & after school care. Sharni starts at 8.30 and finishes at 2.30. Some of the kids finish at 12 and some stay for after school care. She had her first full day yesterday and fell asleep!

Nait is devastated every time we drop her off and carries on. He drops his lip (as he does) and women for miles come running to goo over him. And he loves it!

I think the last month caught up with me and earlier this week I went down and out with a headache and generally feeling unwell. A couple of days on the lounge and I am good to go again. A little like when I used to finish exams at uni.

We went to Galvastine on the weekend. A nice place but nothing great. Although the beach in summer might be lovely. Still a lot of damage to be cleaned up. Still boats lying on their sides, on the side of the road. There were still plenty of people out and about.

I think Dene has decided on a car for himself. An Inifiniti! Whatever that may be. A car that goes pretty fast and is about the size of a mid size sedan. Quite nice. Now he just needs to pick one.

I cracked myself up (laughed to myself, for the non Australians who may read this). Dene mentioned that a large SUV (4WD) had been approved for us to lease, being we need 3 car seats and all. Now the slight greenie in me is a little opposed to the idea, but the little Texan in me, not to mention how cheap fuel is here, says go for it. While in Rome....

Anyway getting back to why I had myself in fits of laughter. When Dene told me this, I immediately had visions of me and the kids in a PIMPED UP, YELLOW, HUMMER, cruising the streets of Houston. Much to Dene's bewilderment I kept giggling to myself about it. And it still brings a smile to my face....... Anyway Hummer's are apparently extremely uncomfortable I seriously don't want a Hummer (I know crazy Kent). It appears that every Mum here drives a Minivan, and I had promised myself I wouldn't do it..... But they are surprisingly comfy, spacious, easy to strap kids in etc, etc. I will keep you posted on that one.

We are off to the Alligator swamp on the weekend. About an hour drive away and you can picnic at the swamp with Alligators all around. Sharni will have a ball thinking she is Bindi Irwin. I think I will be constantly panicking that one will be hungry!

The weather has been beautiful, about high 20's every day. A cold front has come through and the highest temp today will be about 12!! with rain. I guess it is only just out of winter.

A few things that are different in Houston:
Everything has a drive through, coffee, fast food, banks, chemists!

There are a lot of TV channels but nothing on!! At least I guess with having the TV channels at home we obviously only get the best shows. All other channels are constant infomercials, or reruns and more reruns. Needless to say I haven't been watching much (apart from my couple of days on the lounge!) And I seem to miss the shows I want to watch. We are getting some box thingy that records the shows you want automatically. So that will be handy.

You can turn right on a red light. That obviously took a little getting used to! A little like our slip roads to the left at some intersections. They just don't have slip roads and providing you are giving way to oncoming traffic you can just go!

The traffic lights just hang from wires above the intersection. They all look like a temporary thing that someone is coming back to fix. But no one is coming. There is a few on poles like home, but the rest just sway in the breeze! And if you have the sun visor down you can't actually see them. Both Dene and I have almost gone through sets of lights for this reason.

They do say ' Howdy' 'Ya'll' and the kids say 'Mama' it's not just in the movies!

No problems to speak of

Well I thought I might give blogging a go..... hhhmmmm not sure if that is a good idea or not. My reasoning was so that family and friends, particularly those not on Facebook yet (and there is quite a few) could hear about our adventures without me having to send bulk emails. So we will see how it pans out.

Well we have settled into Houston. Lots of things to see and do. Lots of people to meet. We have been inundated with play dates for the kids, so that has been great. I have meet a few girls in the same complex we live in. They have made me feel very welcome and I have already been on a girls night out! Yep I move fast.

The kids are enjoying themselves. Although Sharni is missing her friends and is eager to start school to find some girls her own age. A girl Shantell taught last year is here in Houston and we caught up with her this week for a play. I think Sharni really enjoyed it. There are a lot of kids where we live but seem to be Nait's age or older than Sharni. Plus anyone over the age of 2 seems to be in some kind of day/school care so the playground here is pretty deserted during the day.

We have been school searching for Sharni this week. She is old enough for Pre-K. Which is like our kindy, but 5 days instead of 2. Because it isn't compulsory everywhere is full with long waiting lists. So we are going to go private for the rest of the year. Which is only about 2 1/2 to 3 months. We will see how that goes. Then they have 3 months off for the summer and the new school year starts at the end of August! (just in time for the baby)

Nait doesn't seem to worried about the whole thing. I think as long as we are around he is fine. Although we will see how he goes once Sharni starts going to school..... He might be a little lost for a while.

Dene has been on a course for the past 2 weeks and he starts in the office on Monday. I think he has enjoyed being on a course for a change. As he hasn't done many before now. (always too busy). We only have the one car at the moment so we have been dropping him off and picking him up every day. Which I would rather, so I have a car for the day. But I can't deny I wont be happy when we get a second one.

Some of the things we have done already, apart from proudly driving on the other side of the road, on chaotic freeways, where cars like our Toyota Landcruisers look small.

We visited the Children's Museum of Houston. Which we all enjoyed. We are eagerly waiting for the whole new section to be open as a lot of the museum was closed for maintenance.

We went to the Rodeo and livestock show yesterday. Which is a little like our Perth Royal Show. Only it goes for 20 days and is as you would expect a little larger...... (Hey it is Texas, you have to expect these things) We didn't actually get to the Rodeo as it is on at night time and we were exhausted. We are seriously thinking of heading there one week night just to see it. I mean to come to Texas have the rodeo in town and not go, seems like going all the way to Alice Springs and not going the extra miles (yep I said miles) to see Uluru. Anyway I am getting side tracked. The kids loved it and they had excellent activities for the kids. One we all enjoyed was a made up farm where the kids collected fake produce, like milking a fake cow, collecting eggs and planting seeds, while observing real ones. They then rode little tractors, to take their produce to the market, sold it, received fake money and then used it to buy a juice at the shop on the way out. Very clever I thought.

Tomorrow we are planning a drive out to Galveston, or what is left of it after Hurricane Ike last year. So that should be interesting.

Anyway I think that is enough for one blog.....