Rodeo Time

More fun on the farm this year!  Ella really got into it this year, again, animal obsessed and livestock show are a great mix.  And Addy is like an old pro at this point, she remembers the exhibits and was kind of showing Ella around.  Very cute!

 Ella planting her pepper "seed" at Fun on the Farm.  She wasn't real sure about things at first, but ended up getting into it.  

These cut out things just make me laugh, both girls love getting up and posing for the camera!

Sheep are a very close runner up to kittens when it comes to Ella's favorite animals.  All sheep are "black sheep" thanks to the Baa Baa Black Sheep song.  Ella is waving to the sheep in this pic, she was really quite giddy to see real ones.  The best was on the way home from the livestock show when she was making up her on mash-up of Baa Baa Black Sheep and Old McDonald Had A Farm. 

They won't sit in the tractor but I semi got them to take a pic together in front of it.  

Ella and the cows

Addy and the cow that matches her skirt!

Addy was all about sitting on the tractors inside the livestock show.  I'm pretty sure that the tractors in this exhibit were there for real farm folk who were looking at the latest models.   But pretty sure there were more kids climbing on them than adults. 

Addy is already guaranteed a trip back next Sunday.  She decided she wanted to ride carnival rides after 1/2 of Houston had settled into the complex after lunch and the lines were crazy long.  In lieu of standing in the long lines, Addy and Michael are going back next Sunday and riding everything 1st thing in the morning when there is no one there.  Ella won't be going.  We did ride one ride, the carousel, and Ella cried the whole time.  She's been on the carousel at the zoo and was fine, was super interested when we were at the zoo on Friday, but I had no cash so we didn't ride.  Thought nothing of it, but we get on the carousel today and she won't sit by herself and cried the whole ride even tough she was on my lap.  O'well, guessing it will be a different story next year! 

Be sure to check out my livestock show post from last year (Livestock Show 2011) to see how much the girls have changed!!
 

Quick Bathroom Update

Bathroom remodel that is...demo is done and the rubble has been hauled away!  Between a trip to the beach and rodeo cook-off, we haven't made quite as much progress as we'd like, but we are rollin' again now! 

Monster heavy tub that wouldn't come out in 1 piece was the last to go.  Nothing a little sledge hammer couldn't handle.  

Addy and Ella set up their chairs to watch the guys load all the debris into the truck that was headed to the dump.  It was as good as watching TV! 

Ella's Trip To The Zoo

I've realized that I have not been very good about taking Ella to the zoo and children's museum and all the places that I frequented with Addy when she was this age.  So, this past Friday the weather was great so we took a trip to the zoo.  We 1st stopped at Petsmart to get Star some bones and that was as good as a trip to the zoo - between the "kittens" in the adoption center, the fish and the pictures of "puppies" everywhere, Ella was in heaven.  One of the "kittens" (it was a grown cat, but they are all kittens to Ella) even got a kiss through the glass when we had to leave.  Pretty sure she could have spent a good hour there.  But off to the big animals...

Ella is animal crazy, so the zoo is the perfect place for her to visit right now.  She had a blast.  Waved to every animal we looked at.  Especially liked the elephants and was maybe more excited about the dog that was hanging out with the elephants. 

 This was the only time I could get her to look at the camera!  Ella is currently obsessed with Dora and when she saw the pics for this show at the zoo, she was SO excited - we didn't go see the show, just the posters made her day.  She walked around the zoo saying "Dora", "backpack", "Diego"

 Ella couldn't take her eyes off the carousel that was next to this giraffe.  Not that she ever looks a the camera anyway, but this was extra distracting.   

I think that Ella and Granddad need to go to the zoo together so they can spend the whole time browsing the bird section.  As a kid I remember mom and dad spending tons of time looking at all the bird exhibits when we went to zoos.  Needless to say, it was not the highlight of the trip for me.  Ella loves birds.  She also loves climbing on the wooden railing.  I have about 4 other pictures at different parts of the zoo where she is in the same pose, just different animals in the background. 

Pony Rides!!

In celebration of Go Texan Day (actually it was the Monday after, but close enough!) the girls' school had pony rides.  It wasn't Ella's normal day to go to school, but fortunately her class was scheduled to ride at the same time I drop Addy off, so it worked great.

Well, was great for a second.  I put Ella on the pony and she was all smiles.  I step away to take a picture and she starts crying and reaching for me.  It was funny because I was watching the other kids in her class do the same exact thing.  Guess almost 2 year olds aren't pony riding fans yet.  Think she would have been fine if I'd stood by her the whole time, but once I walked away it was over.  At least we know to not pay for her to ride the ponies at the Livestock Show this year!

 The pic I got of Ella on the pony shows her reaching out for me to get her.  I thought that this one was much funnier. 

I wasn't there when Addy rode, but based on her recap, she had a great time.  She got to ride the biggest pony and his name was Patrick.