So this is the Tree of Enchantment!

My mom, Anna and I went to Abner Jackson Plantation. I've known about it for several years but have never been. It's pretty much where Lake Jackson was started as far as I know. Then it got trashed by a storm in 1900 and Dow Chemical came along in the 40's. Why anyone would want to establish a sugar mill or anything for that matter, and purposely live on swamp land in plantation times, with that type of clothing and no a/c, I'll never know! Cheap land, I guess? We chose to live here but we have a/c and can wear shorts and sleeveless shirts! :)

It was a hot hour or so and the mosquitoes were in full force. Thank God for the invention of mosquito repellent! That seems to be my perfume of choice these days. We managed to walk the whole plantation which is more like a strip of land with only ruins left and story boards to tell about what was once there.

We saw the Tree of Enchanment! I say that with some sarcasm... This is the tree where the Lake Jackson, rather the City of Enchanment, logo came from. I never knew that the tree in the logo had a specific origin. Now I know. We affectionately call the City of Enchanment where we live "The City of Entrapment". :) Tommy and I were mostly brought up in this area so it's home and will always be our family home even though it is really not a place of grandeur at all.

At the end of our tour, there were some guys reinacting and telling stories about life "back in the day". Then we saw this crazy big, ugly bug!! It looked like a giant mosquito. Imagine how much Benadryl one would need after getting a bite from that thing! I think it was actually a mosquito moth or something like that.

All in all, it was worth visiting - once. And I'm glad I got to experience it with my mom and daughter.

Here are some pics. I particularly like the bird poop and the bullet hole on the sign in that 2nd pic. My mom thought it was bad that it was there. I did too but I also thought it was funny. You can click on the story board pics to make them larger if you want to read about it.

Children's Museum - Houston

Anna reminded me that I never posted about our trip to the Children's Museum in Houston. The kids and I went a couple of weeks ago and I posted the pictures on my facebook and then sort of forgot about it. We did have a great time because after all, whether we're 41, 18, 16 or 10, we're still children!! The newly remodeled museum is incredible! We spent way too much time on the "educational" stuff and then we discovered the massive and incredible play area and wish we'd had more time. Seriously, though, when you go, don't go to the play area first because you'll never leave and you'll end up not even going to the educational stuff. And it's all good! Either plan more time overall or enjoy the educational stuff quickly and leave more time at the end for play. :)

We went on a Thursday and we timed it just right. Homeschooling and college hours afford us a flexible schedule so I wanted to arrive when all of the regular school field trips were leaving and before the free hours began at 5pm. (It's free after 5 on Thursday's and it's insane!) We got there around 1:30 and stayed until 4:30. It was not crowded at all because the school kids were gone and the other crazy people were all waiting until 5 to get in free. Definitely not worth fighting that crowd! It's only $7/person anyway and it was worth every penny!

Space Center Houston

We had a super fun time at Space Center yesterday. Anna, Jenny, Jackson and I spent the day wandering, watching, playing, touching everything germy, shopping, eating and visiting. I remember going there several years ago when Anna was little. And I watched parents with all of these little kids trying to keep track of them and keep them happy. They could have spent much less money and gone to Chicfila or McDonald's for the play area and the kid wouldn't have known the difference. I treasure those years but I don't miss that craziness. Parents with little kids in Space Center can get rather cranky.

Here are a few snapshots of the day. Jenny has some good ones on her blog. I've included a couple of video clips too of the dive show. Not sure what the diving has to do with Space Center but it was enjoyable. I took my new little camera and I guess I didn't realize that you couldn't video sideways. Death defying dives and gravity defying as well as it would appear.

Anna in the flight simulator. She and Jackson had fun crashing their planes on purpose. Hope they never become real pilots.

Jackson took this one of Anna. Not bad!

"hmmm... no matter that I'm responsible for the people who are in orbit. i wonder what i should have for lunch?"

Watching the dive show.

I think the sideways video's are funny.