In Case You Forgot

For those of you who may have forgotten what we look like because of either distance or just too much going on, here's recent picture of all four of us together.  It's a rare thing for ALL of us to be in a photo at the same time, so we're going to overlook the fact that Austin has road rash* on his nose, that Brenna's gum is almost hanging out of her mouth, that I'm getting a chicken neck, and that Brent's sunglasses are on his head.  But, hey, we're all smiling, so it's a keeper.

*Road Rash - Austin took a dive getting off his Lightning McQueen scooter the weekend before we took this picture.  The nose was all that was injured... well, that and his pride.

Going to the Zoo

Oh dear, the entire month of May has come and gone and I have so many blogs to catch up on. I'll start with our trip to the Houston Zoo.

It started with Meerkats in the morning light.
I think the one on the left should lay off the kibble.
Maybe we caught him on the end of a big sigh.

Then we were off to meet the baby elephant.
So very cute.

Here kitty, kitty, kitty.
I would not want to change his litter box.

Just hanging out monkeying around.

Stretching out to say, "Hi"

Oh yeah, we took the kids with us!

As Austin cried his way through the exhibit, Brenna kept saying to herself,
"Just go to your happy place and everything will be okay."

Drumming up some fun.

I'm pretty sure the cows are that way.
They have cows at the zoo, right?

Manual dexterity in progress.

All those cool animals around and this is what
holds his attention!

Look who popped up in Prairie Dog Town.

Our beautiful swan princess.

Peeking over the fence.

Just his size.

Baby buffalo busting. Is that legal?

Hopped Right to It

The Easter Bunny Gang ready for the hunt.

And away they went.

They searched high...

...and they searched low.

Austin was "all in" this year. No bush was too scary.

I can't believe these girls missed these eggs.
They're right here on the ground.
What? They fell out of my basket?
Darn small kids basket.
Next year I want the gigantor basket.

Her basket over-floweth.

Hey, I'm pretty sure I had more eggs in this thing.

Yep, according to my tally, I'm 3.5 eggs short.
MENNAAAAAAA!
(Menna is how he says Brenna)

Don't look at me.
I can't help it if he can't hold onto his eggs.
If they're on the ground, they're fair game.

Spoils of the hunt.

Quarry Work

On our Spring Break trip to Arlington/Haslet, we spent a few days with my parents (Fred and Margaret AKA Granddad and Nana). One day when Austin was napping, Granddad took Kassadie and Brenna outside to the massive backyard that sports a playground, work shop and lots of, get this, rocks. It just happens that every mailbox on the street has a lovely brick or stone enclosure, and theirs is just a plain old mailbox on a post. When Granddad discovered all the natural rock in the yard, he decided he would put it to good use. It was just convenient that some cheap labor came along to aid in the endeavor. Yes, Granddad put the girls to work digging up rocks for his decorative mailbox enclosure. It went a little something like this:

Gather the "proper" tools

Then start digging

And dig some more

Rope your little brother/cousin into putting
the rocks you dig up in a bucket

Once the bucket is full, take it to the tractor trailer

and dump it out. Repeat this process for about 3 hours,
or until Granddad says you can stop.

Try to take the tractor for a joy ride when

Granddad isn't looking.
Keep an eye on the trailer at all times.
There are rock rustlers in these parts.
Load up the help and head to the collection pile.
Practice the art of chucking rocks off the trailer.
Be careful not to hit the person next to you with a rock.
We wouldn't want OSHA to show up.
Reward the help with a well deserved tractor
ride around the yard.

So if you find yourself invited to Fred and Margaret's, be advised. There's plenty of work to be done!

All Smiles

Glad I captured this moment, because these days, they can be fleeting.

Future Lady Charmer - I'm just sayin'

Can I Get a "Yee-haw"?

Today is "Go Texan" day in the greater Houston area. It all has to do with the Rodeo Houston coming to town. The Trail Rides start today, so you have to watch out for horses and cows meandering down the streets of Houston and then watch where you step if you walk behind them. It also means Bar-B-Que, the World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest to be exact. Three days of smokin', saucin', finger lickin' fun. There's also concerts ranging from country music all the way to get this, KISS and Janet Jackson, though not together on one stage. That would be too much to handle even for the greater Houston area. Auntie Amie and I are taking the girls to see Selena Gomez. Who you say? What do you mean you've never heard of her? Don't you watch the Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place? Don't you listen to Radio Disney in your car every chance you get? Well, if you don't, clearly you're not living the high life like we are.

The local schools proclaimed this an official dress code release day which puts joy in the hearts of every child and fear in the minds of every parent. Suddenly there is pressure to come up with the right clothes to fit the occasion. I felt increased pressure, because I forgot the last dress code release day, Valentine's Day. Brenna went off to school in boring, regular old school clothes that day, so yesterday the hunt was on for "western" clothes. It couldn't be just any western clothes, no sir-ee. It had to be GIRL western clothes, because she didn't want to dress like a boy. Fortunately, the local merchants are all on board with this western wear thing, and I easily located a western dress and some western-ish boots. I got the last pair of brown western-ish boots in her size, YES!

"Do the hoe down (throw down)! Throw it all together that's how we roll."
The hat didn't make it to school. I think she was too embarrassed to be THAT western.

Ready for a rodeo. Delicious Chapstick and all.
He did go to school in his boots, but his tennies went with him for back up.

Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

Winterfest 2011

For the past couple of weeks, we've seen banners, posters and ads for "Winterfest" here in Pearland. Among the rides and attractions, they boasted having 250,000 lbs of snow for snowball fights and tubing hills. With temperatures forecast in the upper 60's and low 70's, we couldn't miss the opportunity to see man-made snow melt. We haven't seen snow since last winter in Utah, and I for one miss it. So we headed out in short sleeves and shorts (yes, of course, Brent was in shorts) to see what adventures awaited us at Winterfest.

First up was a ride on a mechanical bull. Brenna said she was going to "take that bull down". According to the video I shot, she stayed on a good 20 seconds. Not bad for a city girl.

Austin decided to stay in his stroller and work his way into the action.

Next up was a little rock wall climbing followed by a tube ride down a very challenging man-made hill.

Austin, meanwhile, still preferred to hang out in the stroller and feast on graham cracker Goldfish.

Brenna took a spin on the Wiggle Wurm. I can't believe she picked the pink bird. Can you?
(No, that was not a typo above. I can't help it if the Carnies can't spell.)

All that watching Brenna go around in circles only made Austin thirsty.

Brenna and Daddy had some fun in the fun house.

And, we FINALLY found a ride that Austin liked!

Thanks Pearland Winterfest! That was the best $17 dollars we've spent on entertainment in a long time. That's right folks, one admission fee and all the rides you can stand. None of this buy tickets and then tell your kids you're out of money after the 2nd or 3rd ride stuff. Local "small town" festivals rule!