Sam Houston Park & Historical Society

When we were waiting for the Astros game, we stopped by this park in the middle of Houston.  The trees were absolutely incredible!!  God's artistry at its best!

A cute little church in the middle of the park

As you can see, it is located right down town Houston city center

The view from inside. . .

. . .this gazebo

A little log cabin

And those trees again!!

Astros Baseball in Minute Maid Stadium

Part of Emily's visit was surrounding crossing off another 

stadium on her list to visit! 

 

The Astros were playing the A's

And our church happened to purchase a chunk of tickets to enjoy the game together.
Em was a happy camper!

I forgot about the 7th inning stretch, where the crowd gets up and "stretches", usually involving some dancing and singing.  This one was "Deep in the Heart of Texas".  I just happened to catch these classy looking fans on the big-screen with the words!

I also got to witness this player hit two home runs!! 

Here he is rounding 3rd base on the 2nd one

It also was cool to see my company

and their support for the Astros.

 And a great time was had by all!!

Texas Battleship with Emily

My dear friend, Emily, came to visit for a couple days this week from VA.  Since the Battleship is my favorite "historical site" to see here so far,

 we decided to visit again.

Very cool bell that I missed on the last visit

I also missed going into this VERY tight turret, where I found out these guys would sit for hours during a battle loading the big cannons, which had a distance of 12 miles per shot!!

No wonder this ship was named after Texas--they like their guns!

I discovered the canteen. . .

. . .and soda fountain on this trip, too

The ship model was still there, and just as beautiful as I remembered

I didn't remember these pictures of the guys all on the ship

Or sitting inside the big gun

She's so photogenic!

Mandatory stop by the monument, too, since it's so close

Landscaping???!!

Ok, so one thing I admit right from the start--I do NOT have a green thumb!!  But I do enjoy being surrounded by pretty plants and flowers.  This past weekend I saw our local garden greenhouse was having a 1/2 off sale, and I've seen this tree, a crepe myrtle, blooming EVERYWHERE this summer.  So, I knew it could withstand the Texas heat.  So, I bought one.  As you can see, the side of my house needs some TLC, so I took out the rosebush that I don't know what to do with, and transplanted that to the back yard.  Then I prepared to plant the new tree

 What I didn't realize was that on the other side of the same wall, I also had ANOTHER CREPE MYRTLE TREE!!!!  I just didn't know what it was until I saw it's blossoms.  Now, this tree can bloom in at least 6 colors. . .

 . . .and the fact that I just happened to pick a tree (not knowing I had one) THE EXACT SAME COLOR was just a fun God-thing!  So, now I have two!

 Hopefully it will survive the shock of being replanted and live for many years to come.

I also bought this hibiscus earlier this spring and put it in a pot near my mailbox.  I haven't killed it yet!!  In fact, it's very happy and keeps blooming almost every day.  Beautiful!