Lily and Santa

While we were in Branson for Thanksgiving, we visited a Christmas store to look for some ornaments.  Santa Claus was standing outside the store, and this was the first time Lily had seen him in 2011.  Needless to say, she was not shy!
 

 

 

 

Dylan

Dylan in November 2011, running around outside the lodge where we stayed in Branson, Missouri for Thanksgiving with the Corning and Hays crew.
 

Daddy's First Trip to the Zoo

It's hard to believe, but Daddy had never ever visited the Houston Zoo before!  So one day in November 2011 (yes, I know, I'm extremely behind on blog posts!), we took him along with us.  We had so much fun!

Rodeo Houston 2012

It was a rainy day in Houston today, so we were nervous about missing out on some fun at the rodeo. It all worked out great, though - we arrived just in time for the rodeo and concert, and by that time the rain had cleared off but left things just wet enough to keep some of the weekend crowd at home. What that meant for us was no lines at the carnival! We had so much fun... The kids both love the rodeo. Dylan liked all the events, but Lily was worried about the calves being hurt in all the roping and steer wrestling events. Chris Young put on a pretty good concert after the rodeo, complete with Rodeo Houston fireworks, to the kids' delight. After the concert, we headed for a pony ride that Lily had been asking for. Earlier in the week I asked if she wanted to try mutton bustin at the rodeo this year, and she quickly told me no, she doesn't want to fall down; she would rather ride a pony. Dylan really wanted to ride a sheep, though. Too bad he's not big enough yet so he had to settle for a pony ride. Then it was on to the carnival, where we all had a chance to ride plenty of rides. There was a sweet moment on the tugboat ride, which Lily and Dylan rode together without Mommy or Daddy. It went a little fast for a ride that didn't require an adult to accompany the 36" kids, and Dylan got a little scared. Lily put her arm around him and held him close for the rest of the ride, and by the end of it Dylan wanted to ride that one again. Lily did such a great job of taking care of her little brother; we were very proud of her. The kids each got to play a couple of games, and Dylan even won a prize! The mini bumper cars were the most hilarious little kid carnival ride I've ever seen lily did a great job driving her car and had a blast. Dylan also had lots of fun, but his driving consisted of stretching his little leg as far as it could possibly reach, while bracing his back against the seat so he would have enough force to actually push the gas pedal. He did not steer at all; no steering whatsoever. He just wasn't big enough to reach the gas and the steering wheel at the same time! So he had the pedal to the metal and ONLY went straight ahead. It was so funny, we laughed until our bellies ached. Vroom, crash, vroooom, crash! He didn't even have his hands ON the steering wheel, let alone turn it. Toward the end of the night, the kids went through an obstacle course ride twice in a row; they both liked that a lot. Lily and Dylan both fell asleep in the stroller on the way back to the car. All in all, the rainy day turned out to be a perfect rodeo day!

Lily Riding Her Bicycle

We went outside to enjoy the beautiful spring weather this weekend, and Lily practiced riding her two-wheeler bicycle! Lily likes to practice for a little bit at a time and then switch back to her smaller, purple bike with training wheels so she can ride further and faster. The video is from March 3, 2012.

Testing...

Trying out a Blogger app. Here's a picture of Lily on our way home from her birthday party at Jumpin Jack's.

Pledge of Allegiance