Houston Rodeo, St. Patrick's Day Parade, et al.

Whew!  We had a fun spring break this year!  It was really laid back with a few notable outings.  First we had a classmate play date at a local park.  I remembered seconds after arriving why I never take the girls to that park - it's one HUGE sand pit!  Sand and glitter are in the same boat for me - I DETEST IT.  It gets everywhere, spreads like wildfire and takes DAYS to get it all out of their hair and clothes.  But I was proud of myself: while there, I embraced it and let them get dirty.  Don't get me wrong, I was (quietly) cursing up a storm the second we set foot back in the house and I was in clean-up-mode to the max.  All's well that ends well.  The important thing is that they had fun!

We were able to take the girls to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo this past Friday.  Lilly is finally old enough to enjoy the experience and Abby hadn't been since she was Lilly's age!  Luckily we caught the weather on a good day.  We were able to hit all the highlights.  The only thing that really bummed me out was that we didn't get to go into the petting zoo.  I remember Abby really enjoyed that but this year, Lilly decided to have her first public melt down right outside the line.  In her defense, it was well past her nap time and she had already wore herself out from earlier in the day.  If only she'd fall asleep in a stroller or car like a normal baby!  Abby got to get a pony ride and ride the huge ferris wheel with me.  Lately she's been obsessed with taking pictures on her camera and she took some great pictures while at the Rodeo!

The last thing we did was attend the St. Patrick's Day Parade in our neighborhood.  It was really windy and cold outside but Abby still had fun hanging with all her friends while catching beads and candy from the floats.  :)  Poor Lilly was touch-and-go because the parade was during her usual nap time but turns out if you let your kid eat copious amounts of Cheetos, she'll stay put and not cry long enough for her big sister to have some fun.  Ah, the life of a younger sibling!  On to the pictures!  There are some random pictures from the week mixed in there too.  Enjoy!

Us at the park play date.

I had to work hard to look away and let this go.  All signs indicate "get her out!" but I let her be and she had the time of her life in that sand.

Abby and her camera.  My ever calm, sweet Abby does this while all the other kids run wild around her.  

Lilly really loved jumping on this bridge!

Abby accompanied me to my eye doctor appointment and really wanted to take a picture of all these pretty flowers just outside.  So I took a picture of her taking a picture.  :)

You can tell by Bryce's body language that he was not excited about waiting in line for the shuttle to take us across 610.  We ended up walking it.  So much faster and not that bad of walk (just like I remembered it).

Abby is so great at keeping Mei Mei distracted when there's down time (aka in line for corndogs).  Their favorite thing to do is play patty-cake or just give each other Eskimo kisses!

What kid doesn't ♥ corndogs???

Lilly is wearing exactly what Abby wore to the Rodeo 3 years ago.

Was it an accident?  Heck no!  Identical down to the shoes!

Photographer Abby, Lilly and chicken.

Lilly's favorite doll is her stuffed baby chick who she calls Cheep Cheep so she had SO much fun looking at real Cheep Cheeps!

Picture of picture of egg.  :)

This year Abby was old enough for the pony ride and she had SO much fun!

Look at those HORNS!

I've become one of those mom's that makes their kid pose in front of statues.  :)

The one and only thing she HAD to do before leaving - get her face painted.

Abby and me up on the ferris wheel ride.

I love this little girl of mine!

Great backdrop of the Astrodome and other carnival rides.

This is a picture mid-giggle from the very top of the ferris wheel!  Wheeee!!!

This picture is not centered because I took it blindly while walking ahead and pushing Lilly in the stroller but again, you can tell from Bryce's face that he was DONE.

And apparently so was Xiao Xiao.

But that darn Lilly - wide awake the whole drive back.  Silly girl!

Apparently we brought the Rodeo back home.  Abby's on a trail ride!

This is from the St. Patrick's Day Parade.  We're still really into doodle bugs!

Abby and her best friends from across the street!

Three girls staring at horses.....ooohh...aahhh....

And lastly, can you find Lilly?  She did a great job hanging back with Daddy and eating to her hearts content.

Random Update

Thank goodness for nice weather!  The girls love being outside and I love it too.  Cabin fever starts to set in otherwise.  Abby is on spring break this week so we've been enjoying our relaxed schedule.  I love day light savings since it's brighter in the evenings.  And the girls have been sleeping in in the mornings since it's still dark outside.  My two girls continue to be sweet sisters.  They are always together or else looking for one another if they aren't close.  I must say our entire family (well, not Bryce) is neck deep in all things FROZEN related.  It's so cute to hear Lilly sing along as well.  Lilly has made even more progress with her ABCs since I discovered she knew all but 3 letters already.  We've been working on it more (like I did with Abby) and I just love when they learn new things.  You can see the excitement and joy in their own faces when they do something new.  Abby will be 5 years old in 1.5 months and Lilly is at a super fun age of constant new discoveries.  I must say I'm thoroughly relishing, cherishing and enjoying this stage for both of them.

Both girls love this super soft blanket (thanks Amee masi!).  But that's not why I posted this picture.  I posted because one of my favorite features of Lilly is her super cute butt!  You can see she has quite a caboose and I love it!!  I call it her squishy tooshie!

Playing well together!  ♥

Abby found her camera recently and it's been attached to her hip for a week now.  Lilly loves watching Abby play games on it.  What she doesn't love is her sister chasing her around telling her to stand still and smile!

The safest place to be.  ♥

Mei Mei got all her favorite dolls and was "feeding" them her Cheerios.  She's so good about sharing!

Her first over night pull-up.  That's all.

Considering Abby didn't learn to jump until a week before she turned 4, it's needless to say that we still find it strange that Lilly can climb up on furniture and climb/jump back down safely.  I always heard other mom's say their kid jumped off the coffee table or something but I could never empathize.  Lilly's not quite doing that but even this small gesture is so new to us.  She's got a great sense of balance too.

Brewing with Daddy

The girls had sooo much fun playing outside while Bryce was brewing this morning/afternoon.  I took some great pictures of them outside.  Lilly only came inside because it was her nap time but Abby was out there for over 8 hours!

Kirk, Ruby and I have enjoyed looking back at our old baby pictures and I've always loved the ones of us when we were small and in front of the house we grew up in in Pasadena.  And I love when there happened to be a picture of one of the old cars my parents used to drive.  Because in the future, those seemingly boring background shots become vintage and very noteworthy as an adult.  So I can't say that I have always intentionally taken pictures of the kids in front of the house or a car but today I did just because the cars happen to be parked outside so that Bryce could brew in the garage and our yard actually looks nice since we recently raked the roof and the yard was just mowed.  :)  So here we go.

Abby has seen doodle bugs before but really got into playing with them today.  She let them crawl all over her hands and arms.  We now have a small doodle bug habitat (in a plastic container) on our kitchen counter.

I like taking pictures of the girls when their Daddy is brewing.  It's something they hopefully will enjoy looking back on when they are older.  They've both grown up with it their whole lives.  

Lilly insisted on smelling the hops.  She asked so she received.  She really liked the smell and said "OoooOooohhh!!!"  :D

Lilly loves anything her big sister loves.  ♥

This picture reminds me of my nephew Elliott.  Always the belly button picker.  :)

 

Kids in front yard.

Everyone got into doodle bugs today!

Abby was so sweet and collecting extra doodle bugs for her little sister.

Look at the shear excitement!  I got a great video of her screaming with delight too!

I just love this picture because her mouth looks cute.  She makes this face fairly frequently and I just love it.  Makes me want to kiss her 'til she smiles.  :)

We have a picture of Abby doing this exact same thing when she was Lilly's age.  They love the help out in any way they can. 

Except for Abby - today she was all about the doodle bugs...still.

I'm so glad I got this chair.  They absolutely love it and they refuse to sit alone.  They both call out for the other to sit together.  So darn sweet.

Aww....sweet Lilly baby.  ♥

"What's going on Daddy?"

I was lucky to get this picture at the right millisecond.  Lilly is always brushing her hair out of her face and I got this mid-swipe.  For some reason she won't keep her pony tails (aka pony hair) in when she needs it most.

 Can you tell it was getting close to nap time?  But she was a trooper.

Abby's STILL messing with the doodle bugs.

They both LOVE picnics in the garage or just eating outside in general.  I think all kids do.