Texas Day 1

We're off to Texas!  Todd has some work meetings, and Reese, Emmy, Grandma, Grandpa, and I are tagging along for a little vacation. 

This is Emmy's first flight, and she did great!  She said "wheeeee" as the plane took off, Grandpa entertained her with some new toys he bought, then she quickly fell asleep.  Perfect!

Reese did great on the flight, too.  This was her 4th flight, but the first she will really remember.  She told us, "I have never been on a plane before."  When we reminded her that she has been on a few trips, she quickly corrected herself by saying, "Oh yeah.  I've been to China...." (Ha!  I must have missed that trip to China!)  As we took off, Reese yelled things like "We're zooming!" , "Wow, we are up high!" and "Are we going to bonk the sky?"

 

Finally, Houston, we have landed.

 

That evening we searched for a water wall (which become much more complicated than planned since our Garmin stopped working and we kept accidentally taking u-turns off the highway).  We persevered and finally found the water wall.  They were working on the sewer system near the wall and Reese yelled things like, "Yuck! Daddy did you toot?  Daddy, you tooted!!!" Then the water wall shut off at 9pm -- exactly 1 minute after we arrived.  (We hoped this wasn't an indication of how the rest of our vacation would go.)  Nonetheless, the girls enjoyed the water wall and running around in the grass.  They were just giddy with excitement to be running around outside after our LONG winter.

 

 

 

 

Shaving Cream

Reese had fun drawing and writing letters in shaving cream.

We thought it was a good idea to let Emmy participate too -- until she ate some cream (just a little bit because I yelled so loudly and scared her) and rubbed it all over her clothes and the floor.  Off to the bath!

Haircut

Reese has been growing her hair out, "to look like Ellie".  Unfortunately she won't let me do anything with it -- no barette, no ponytail, no pigtails, sometimes not even a comb.  So, while Reese has gorgeous hair, she's just not ready for it to be long yet.  It was finally time for a haircut.

Reese was less than thrilled to have her hair cut, but adding a pink extension helped.   She looks adorable!

Walkathon

We attended the "walkathon" fundraiser at Reese's school today.  It was a great time, and the school raised over $38k.  Wow!

Friends with Kids

We had fun hanging out with the Lorenzes and Hedtkes again tonight.  It's fun to have good friends with kids... and to let the kids get wild!  Click here for a video of the madness!

 

Ugh! We could not get the cork out of the wine bottle.  Desparate times called for desparate measures.  Nice innovative strainer, Mechelle!

Baby Snowman

What do you do when the snow STILL has not melted on April 13th?  Put on your snowsuit (hopefully for the LAST time), go outside, and make a baby snowman.

 

Then you go for a car ride (with the top down) with your neighbor Bode.  I wonder if we'll take a photo like this in 16 years on their way to prom?

 

Snowstorm in April

What do you do when you get over 6 inches of snow on April 11th? 

You go swimming at the community center.   Shhhhhhh... don't tell Reese we went swimming while she was at preschool.

Emmy LOVED driving the car and was VERY upset when it stopped moving.  Let's just say she's not an easy-going child.  She knows exactly what she wants all. the. time.

On our way out of the community center Emmy spotted some balloons from an event that was just wrapping up.  Of course they could not deny this adorable face and let us take ALL the balloons home.  (I love how the ladies are oogling over Emmy in the background of this picture.)

Reese wasn't bothered by the snow at all.  She enjoyed playing outside and building a snowman.  She told me, "It's ok Mom.  Maybe it will snow, then rain, then it will be Spring." 

Baseball Birthday

Happy 41st birthday to Daddy!  Reese, Emmy, and Grandma Cipra made him a baseball birthday cake.

Click here for a video of Reese singing "Happy Birthday" and both girls "poofing" out the candle.

Hot Tub

It is above freezing outside, so time for our first hot tub of the season.  Just Reese and Daddy planned to go in the hot tub, but once she saw it, Emmy would not accept that she was not invited .  Oh, and of course Reese decided to skinny dip.  Silly.

Easter #2

Some people don't enjoy celebrating holidays two days in a row.  I, on the other hand, love it -- especially because I rarely have to do any of the preparations.  This year we provided the "place" for the Cipra Easter gathering, but Grandma Cipra still did all prep and cooking.  I know, I'm spoiled.

Here's a variety of group shots, because it is impossible to get a good shot of all 4 kids at once.

The best of Lauren & Reese...

The best of Jack...

 

Emmy didn't smile in any of the group pictures, but I thought Reese's expression was funny here...

And then it was time for another egg hunt.

Grandpa gave Reese the clue to look in the pool table.  She scored lots of eggs there.

After 38 years of giving the rest of us baskets, Grandma and Grandpa finally received Easter baskets of their own!  Reese was happy for them.

Then it was time to open the eggs and enjoy what they found inside.

Just like yesterday, Emmy found egg hunting to be exhausting.

And just like yesterday, we ate chicks.  This time in the form of cupcakes.