If you want to fill vast amounts of time, baseball is always a good option. Pete is a member of the Astros' "Buddies Club" which gives us four free tickets to a game. Because of a clerical error they sent us eight, so I extended a branch to fellow parent Carolina who brought Pete's best friend Elena and various nephews and nieces along. We lasted until almost the fifth innings before boredom triumphed (the Astros went on to triumph themselves in the tenth).
I quickly exhausted our memberships to all our regular haunts, so had to dig a little deeper. Turns out the police and fire brigade both have free museums of their own! Although they're mostly dedicated to officers who died in the line of duty, which led to some interesting conversations with Pete. We went to reclaim our balance at El Gato Coffeehouse, whose unique selling point is that rescued cats wander among the patrons. All cats are available for adoption, which was a tactical blunder when Pete fell in love with Juno. Yes, I was the father dragging his crying child away from the cat adoption centre, but at least we remain pet free.
Some desperate googling led me to discover that Apple Stores run free classes for kids. By "free" I mean they get to advertise to small children for an hour or two and then set them loose to pester their parents. Not having learned my lesson from the cat episode, we went along with Elena and her Dad to a session about programming a small robot to roll around a maze. Pete and Elena, the youngest there, were commended on how well they did, although some competitive parents may have been involved with the iPads.
Scratching around for the next cost-less entertainment, it occurred to me that volunteering never costs anything! And Houston Food Bank is always looking for volunteers! Hence I got four free hours of childcare and all I had to do was take packets out of one box, wipe them, and place them in another. Our crew managed to pack a whopping 9000lbs of food onto pallets in the time, and I filled my pockets with enough for dinner! Bonus.
After all that hard work it was time for a reward: frozen yoghurt and a trip to a bowling alley. Pete's new thing is to loudly tell everyone he's not British, he's American, and his love of bowling and baseball backs this up. I remain totally English myself, in that a six-week school holiday might be the reason I move back before next summer.
Feeling relaxed?
Astros' new signings.
The police museum!
The fire museum!
The cat cafe!
Me, viciously attacked by a wild animal.
Not allergic to cats then.
Advertising doesn't work. But now I desperately want a $150 robot ball (and a $500 iPad).
The tutor is impressed by our "teamwork".
I was surprised when the food bank put Pete on forklift duty.
Hunting for the goodies.
If only he were as helpful at home.
Reward.
Excellent form, and...
...strike! Well, almost.
