Mardi Gras!

While we certainly had our share of fun at Mardi Gras in college, we've never taken the girls to any of the celebrations before. Galveston actually does a decent job of celebrating Mardi Gras (its no New Orleans, but its pretty good for being so close!), and our friends the Rupps invited us to go to a parade with them, so we decided it would be a good year to introduce the girls to this fun tradition!

And, a tradition for us I think it will definitely become! We had SO much fun!! The parade was great, and the girls thought all of the beads were just fantastic.

Anna was able to catch a string of beads or two....or seventy-three...

Bubbles

Truthfully, is there anything more fun than bubbles?

George Ranch

Have I mentioned that I love field trips? I mean LOVE them! This one was one of my absolute favorites. I may have said that before, but this one I really mean. We went to the George Ranch, which is a 23,000 acre working ranch, and also a historical park that continues to operate portions of the ranch just like ranches were run in the late 1800/early 1900s. Amazing. Above, Anna met her first "real" cowboy.

And, her first wooden Indian...

The whole thing was really interesting but educational at the same time. This cowboy talked to the kids for a while, and then took them on a tour of his "home", which was a dog-run cabin. He actually lives in it for portions of the year.

Learning about pigs...

These chickens seemed pretty "domesticated" from having visitors all the time, and got quite a kick out of chasing the kids around. Anna thought it was pretty hysterical too....

Another real cowboy taught the kids (and parents!) how to rope a calf...the right way to hold the lasso, how to throw it, etc.

That's right! My girl got it on the first try!! She might be being raised as a little surburbanite, but she's got country roots....

The authentic cowboy chef, "Cookie", was one of the highlights of the trip! There had been some confusion with the field trip last year and the kids hadn't gotten the meal they were supposed to, so he made it up to us this year and made a FEAST! Some of the best smoked brisket and sausage I've had! And, peach cobbler to die for...

Anna's whole gang. Have I mentioned that I'm going to miss these kiddos when they all go their separate ways to kindergarten next fall?? What a great trip...

Valentine's cookies

What sweeter Valentine's activity is there than making cutout cookies? And, with a new chocolate cutout cookie recipe too--you can't go wrong!

Anna loved watching Kate decorate hers--I think Anna gets even more joy than we do from watching Kate "grow up" and being able to do more and more of the things that Anna does.

But, her attention to Kate didn't last long--she had to dig in to the decorating herself!

One spoonful for the cookie, one spoonful for me...

If you didn't get icing in your armpits, you obviously didn't enjoy cookie decorating enough...

And, the final products! Its so fun to see how much Anna is growing up and wants to actually "design" her cookies instead of just dumping as much icing and sprinkles on them as possible.

Konnichiwa

Have I mentioned how much I love field trips?? This was one of my all-time favorites--Anna's trip to the Japanese Consulate in downtown Houston. Here, they're doing traditional Japanese morning stretches...

Posing for a pic with her buddy Andrew...

She's pretty fierce...

How cute is this?? Ok, you know she's petite when even the Japanese clothes are too big for her...

So, after going around helping some of her classmates try on costumes and taking pics of the class, I go back to find this. Anna laying on a chair, with her little "buddy" Aiden rubbing her feet. WHAT?!? If he weren't such a sweet little kid, I'd have to be a little concerned.

My angel and me...

The whole Room 9 gang, with the wonderful folks at the Consulate...

And, as if the Consulate weren't cool enough, we also had lunch in the downtown tunnels. The kids thought it was amazing that we were eating lunch underground, and I think the business people enjoyed a little levity in their day by seeing a gaggle of school kids (once they got over that we were taking up most of their tables...sorry!). Overall, another wonderful field trip...

New Years with the fam

We had a wonderful Christmas/New Year's celebration with Clint's family! (Yes, I realize I'm posting New Years pictures in May. Get over it. :-))

The kiddos of course were showered with gifts from their sweet Nana and aunt/uncle/cousins...the holiday giftapalooza continued...

Having a yummy lunch poolside on New Years Day. There are some real upsides to living in Houston...

Anna and Finn decided it would be a good idea to golf "near" the pool. We think it was just a ploy to accidentally fall in...

Did I mention the upsides to living in Houston?? We decided to heat the pool this year, and take a little dip. I think this may become our new New Years Day tradition...I can't think of a better way to start the year!

Anna spent some serious time one of the mornings reading the comics. We didn't have the heart to tell her that we cancelled our subscription to the paper starting in 2011!

And, we can't let Clint's family visit without a trip for some fabulous Mexican food. While Pappasito's tends to be the restaurant of choice for this gang, we decided branch out to Chuy's this time. I don't think there were any complaints. (And, I would like to make note of this historic photograph...ALL SEVEN of us are looking at the camera. Really?!?)

Bedtime with their cousin Finn. What a fantastically fun trip--thank you guys so much for coming to visit us!!