One Decade of Alex

Alexander. Our sweet, sensitive, middle child, who does everything in his own time, in his own way, and if you can follow his stories you'll understand he has his own way of seeing the world. He is deliberate and kind, aloof and silly and he has no time for handwriting or stopping what he's doing to have lunch. He admires his sister, tolerates his brother, and while he can explain in painstaking detail every character in every video game he has ever played, but yet he "has no idea" what he did in school today.  

Alex wanted to have his birthday party at The Game Preserve, a great little spot in Spring. For a flat rate price per person, you can play any game you want for the whole day. Pinball, retro games, and every video game you can think of all in one place. Add in a party room and BYO food and drink and a party is made! The owner keeps his Delorean parked out front complete with an OutATime California license plate.

We opened presents at home on his actual birthday, and he was thrilled to add more sweatshirts to his collection. A new Nintendo Switch game and some soft short sleeved shirts made for a happy ten year old!

Birthday lunch with my big guy!

It's been a full decade of this sweet boy stealing our hearts. Happy Birthday Alex!!

Bonjour, Montreal!

 This year's adventure with my VT ladies was an international affair! Montreal could not have come at a better time - September marks my official "can't handle this anymore" status for Houston's eternal summer. We escaped to a location that has reasonable fall temperatures, where I could pack a sweater and closed-toed shoes and actually expect to use them. 

We stayed at an adorable walk up Air BnB condo right in the heart of the city, we could walk most of the city from our front door. We got lucky with the weather and had a lovely morning for the Fitz & Follwell bike tour that we had reserved months ahead of time. 

If I hadn't taken this photo I would think it was from Savannah, or Charleston, or somewhere in the US southeast. But no, it's Canada baby. Plateau Mont Royal to be exact, the Painted Ladies were painted bright colors back in the early 1900s to spruce up a red light district in the area. 

Montreal has a robust street art scene and we got to see some of the popular works. 

And ended the tour at the Marche Jean-Talon, a sensory overload of fruits, vegetables, chocolates, cheeses and baked goods. We tasted a few, bought some others and came home with the perfect pre-dinner snack.

Charcuterie on the porch - c'est la vie!

We took a rest, got cleaned up and left for another one of Meghan's well-researched dinner reservations.

Doing my best to look professional

The next morning we enjoyed brunch at L'Avenue, which was bumpin on a Sunday morning. 

Then took one last stroll around the city before we all headed to the airport, where only two of us would get to leave. With Humkey luck, Kristen got stuck abroad for another night, even though she had the shortest flight. Luckily, there was an airport bar and our gates were next to each other so we had maximum hangout time before I left for home and she went to watch The Office in an airport hotel room. I'm certain she would agree it was worth it for a trip with friends, I sure do!