Houston, We have a problem....

So, we don't really have a problem.

Except that I wanted to blog while we were in Houston....and I couldn't because our hotel charged $12.95 {per 24 hour period!} for wireless internet access. Call me crazy, but I am used to getting internet services for free when we stay in hotels.....especially a nice hotel like the Marriott! I just couldn't see paying that much just so I could blog about our trip.

The boys and I tagged along on Jason's work trip to Houston this week. He actually only had to work on Tuesday, but because of the long drive he was going to be off work on Monday and Wednesday. So we decided to leave early on Sunday and spend Monday together at NASA. Then Tuesday while Jason was at work, I would take the boys to a children's museum and we would head home on Wednesday.

Sounds like an okay plan, huh?

Three kids in one car for eight hours times two is NO FUN!

Actually, the ride to Houston wasn't that bad. Henry and Grant played their Vsmile game or watched a movie for the first two hours, and Eli slept until we got all the way to the Texas/Louisiana state line. They all slept for a least a little while, which made for happier kids when we finally got to the hotel in Houston.

The hotel we stayed at {a very nice Marriott} was not in the best part of town. Kind of in the industrial part of South Houston.....which means lots of factories and buildings, but not many nice neighborhoods, shopping spots, or restaurants. We made our way Walmart that night to pick up some water for Eli and were a little concerned about the area that we were in! It is kind of scary to be driving around in a town you don't know....especially when it is dark and rainy outside. And I have to say that, while probably very effective at minimizing traffic, the roads in Houston are SUPER confusing!!! We made it back safely to our hotel {with the help of the GPS} and settled in for the night {after fighting with the boys to go to sleep for about two hours}!

We got up the next morning and headed across the street {which entailed going down the service road to an underpass, going under the interstate, and going back in the direction that we had just come from.....see, I told you SUPER confusing} to get some donuts at Shipley's for breakfast. Then we headed to Space Center Houston, the visitors center for NASA's Johnson Space Center. It was a really neat place for the kids, though a lot of the stuff was over the boys' heads....they still had a great time looking at all of the space themed stuff. {Jason did point out how coincidental it was that they had gotten "Planet Hero" toys for Christmas!!}

There were some fun age appropriate things for the boys to do, like the Kids Space Place and Martian Matrix, which is basically a huge indoor playground with rockets and planet stuff to climb on and play with. We also watched a few short films about astronauts and went on a Tram Tour of the Johnson Space Center facilities where the real astronauts train! I don't know if Henry and Grant really learned anything, but we had a good time anyway {and Eli got a good nap during the films and the Tram Tour}!

Tomorrow.....The Children's Museum of Houston.