Zoobilee

I took the boys to Zoobilee (members' party at the Houston Zoo) on Friday night.  It was crazy crowded, of course, and we waited in lots and lots of lines, but fortunately, there was entertainment while we waited.  Ballerinas dressed up as zoo animals were everywhere.  The giraffes were the coolest, though!

The boys got Zoobilee passports and we managed to make it to all five stations to get all the stamps on our passports.  And thank goodness Henry remembered that we needed the wagon.  I almost left without it!

Best part of Zoobilee?  The dinosaurs are back and there are more than ever!  

The boys had a blast at Zoobilee and can't wait to visit the zoo's dinosaurs again soon!

Mr. Pants Head

Mr. Pants Head

strikes again!

Our Outdoor Weekend

This weekend was the perfect spring weekend to spend outside.  Gene described it as "happy-to-be-alive" weather (lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s, in April, in Houston).  Glorious.

Gene took Will to his soccer game Saturday morning.  Our team is pretty dismal this season, but they generally have fun.  Gene sent me this pic from his phone; snack time at the end is always the best part of the game for our little Monkeys.

While Will was at soccer, Henry and I were at Tadpole Troopers nature class at the Arboretum. The class was all about butterflies, so the kids all got butterfly wings to wear.

We hunted for butterflies on our nature walk, but it was too chilly for them to be out.  We did find lots and lots of caterpillars though!  This one is a Texas fritillary.

Inside Henry decorated a butterfly

 and a chrysalis.

Will had a birthday party Saturday afternoon, so Gene took Henry out for frozen yogurt at a new neighborhood spot.  Yum-o.

And when we got home from the party, Henry was hard at work scrubbing Gene's car.

Will had to join the car-washing party, and they did my car too!  They had it looking like new in time for dinner out with really good friends.

Sunday morning started off with Daddy explaining football to the boys.

They soon moved outside for a rousing game in the backyard.

 Running around Daddy

for a touchdown in the roses!

Happy football player!

The boys also took a long bike ride Sunday morning.  They had to stop along the way for a pick-me-up snack of crackers.

And after lunch, we headed out to Minute Maid Park to cheer on our Astros!

Some friends of ours, Dodgers fans, were heading to the game and invited us to tag along.  It was a perfect day for baseball.

And even more perfect because the Astros played really well!  Two home runs, including a grand slam in the second inning (which means that everyone at the game won Grand Slam breakfasts at Denny's!).

Peanuts helped us get through the final 2 innings.

Henry rolled his eyes when Daddy put on a rally cap for the poor Dodgers in the last inning.  It didn't help them because our Astros won 12-0!  I love baseball, and that was one amazing game. Unless, of course, you were rooting for the Dodgers.

We got home in time to throw some fish and veggies on the grill and let the little boys don swim trunks and play in the slip 'n slide.

It was the perfect weekend to spend outside.  Happy-to-be-alive weather indeed!

Under the Sea

For over a month, we have been hearing about the BIG Ocean program at Will's school.  All the Kindergartners have been working so hard to learn the words and moves to 6 songs (5 group pieces plus one class piece).  They have had practice after practice after practice and it all culminated this week with three performances and a party afterwards to celebrate.

Parents and grandparents were invited to the 6pm performance on Thursday evening.  With friends and family of over 200 Kindergarten students in attendance, the cafeteria was jam-packed!  Nana and Pop joined us and we all ended up sitting way at the back, so this was our view.

Will was one of the lobsters in the very first row, so he was hard to see, but he did a great job belting out the songs and dancing along.

So proud of my cute lobster!

Yesterday morning, after their last performance, all the kids had their pictures taken for the yearbook.  I managed to snap a picture of Will's class (he's in the bottom row on the very left).

Then the PTO threw a huge party for the kiddos.  I was helping out and it was so cute!  They had pizza, apple slices, carrots, and goldfish. Dessert was blue jello with Swedish fish stuck inside.

The decor was perfect too: green seaweed and animal cut-outs on the table, leis for each student, and pinata centerpieces depicting the class's ocean animal (lobsters, sharks, octopi, dolphins and jellyfish).

Our lobster wouldn't stand up straight so we wedged him between the two tables.

 A picture of my big boy and me.

I can't tell you how proud I am of Will. This program required a lot of hard work, practice and stamina and he did an awesome job!

Coach's Kindergarten Boys Party

The PTO at Will's school hosts sociables all year long. A sociable is just a party you pay to attend. They are hosted by parents in order to raise money for the PTO, and there are parties for everyone, from golf for the dads and book exchanges for the moms to father-daughter bowling and cookie decorating with Minnie Mouse. We hadn't done a sociable yet when Will heard about Coach's Kindergarten Boys Party and asked to go. It turns out the sociable was on his early dismissal day yesterday, so of course I signed him up.

Most of the boys in Will's class were at the party, and he ran into friends from soccer and other boys he knows from school. They gorged themselves on pizza, snacks, cookies, and juice and then played lots of outdoor games led by everyone's favorite PE coach. Yesterday was a perfect day to be outside. The boys were playing a rousing game of flag football when I arrived to pick Will up.

The party favor was a softball cookie!
To say that Will had fun would be a complete understatement. Next year, I'm definitely jumping on the sociable bandwagon before mid-April.

The Weekend

Our spring weekends have been jam-packed! This weekend, we had a soccer game, a robot party, Gene's 20th high school reunion, and a carnival at Henry's school. We were pretty much in nonstop motion the entire time!

Will's soccer team this season is the Monkeys.

Making a goal during pre-game practice.

My soccer player.

Little brother is such a good sport to tag along to all of Will's games.

He is also a very good cheerleader, when he's not being a complete goofball!

Later that day, Will went to a robot party.

They played a game of catch-the-flag, but instead of stealing flags, you had to steal the opponents' power buttons. Will was on the "nuts" team.
Then they had to race down the driveway
and build a robot according to the plan.
Robot tin to take home party favors in. Such a fun, creative party!
Gene's 20th high school reunion was at a house about 5 minutes away from ours. Seniors 1992!

Apparently a quilt was made that year for an auction and all the seniors had to make a square.

This is Gene's. Love it.

And yesterday, after church, grocery shopping, soccer team pictures and a long bike ride, we made it to the carnival at Henry's school. Everything was inside because of threatening storms that never materialized.

Fishing booth

Cookie monster booth: give the cookie monster a ticket, get two cookies!

My very own cookie monster

Basketball toss

The boys' favorite game was the cake walk. Will won this cake, which is so fitting because he just finished reading Junie B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake which is all about Junie B.'s experiences at her school carnival. At the end, Junie B. wins a cake at the cake walk but she chooses a fruitcake, not understanding how awful they are.

Whew! It was a busy weekend, but at least it ended on a sweet note.