2nd Annual Easter Beach Weekend

I certainly see there being more of these...we had a great Easter weekend at the beach.  SO relaxing and the weather was amazing.

 Addy got straight to digging a hole when we got down to the beach.  She can nearly dig to the water herself this year.  And of course both her and Ella had to climb in and out of the hole a thousand times.

 And Ella found it hilarious to get in and out of the bucket.  When we first got to the water, she turned around and started walking back to the house.  She has some weird issue with the water and just kept saying "no ocean".  She spent a good portion of the time in my lap but finally warmed up.  At least she is finally a bit hesitant about some things - last year it was no fear of anything which was not ideal.  We need to find a happy medium right now!

On the way back from the beach with her bucket!

 We can't thank Granny enough for letting us change the railing on the porch - we went from spending most of our visit inside to spending nearly all of it outside, now that there are no hazards on the porch.  New activity this time - "painting" the porch with water.  I think that they spent hours doing this and Michael and I just sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the great weather!

 It was a bit chilly, but after letting the water warm in the sun a bit, there was more fun on the porch in the kiddie pool.  I think that it was still a wee bit chilly, hence the chairs in the pool and not sitting directly in the water.  And Granny - Ella has finally stopped standing in the plastic chairs so we actually get to enjoy them now!!   And so grateful this pool ended up at our house after the storm - I never would have thought to have one of these otherwise. 

 Easter egg dying and everything went right as planned for Addy.  And the Easter Bunny made up for mistakes he made last year, like hiding her Easter basket and not putting candy in the eggs.  And I was most excited about remembering vinegar so we could have the bold color eggs!  What a difference a little vinegar makes. 

Somehow every holiday is a mini-Christmas it seems.  Girls got oodles of cards and some fun new toys. 

Egg hunters!  The white bunny Ella is holding may have been the highlight of the weekend.  A fake bunny that hops and makes little noises.  He has been named "Hoppy" and there is some fighting between the two girls because there is only one Hoppy, but we have our pet rabbit now and Michael and Star much prefer this option over a real one.

New swimsuits showed up again in a big egg - so fun, the girls can't wait to wear them!  Before Easter Addy gave us the run-down of where she'd found the bathing suit egg the past couple of years.  Seriously crazy memory, for a million dollars I could not have told you that two years ago the egg was hidden in the flower bed at the back of the yard at our house.  Once she mentioned it, I remembered but otherwise would have had no recollection. 

1st Field Trip

Addy went on her first field trip last month.  She went to the theater!  They got to ride a school bus to get there - big news from that was that there were no seat belts, so not only was it her first bus ride but it was the first time she rode in a moving vehicle and wasn't buckled in.  I still find the no seat belt thing a bit odd, but no biggie.  Wish I could have been there, the pics they took were too cute!

 The whole pre-k crew.  

 

Addy and her buddies on the bus.

Jewish Holidays

The spring has been full of Jewish holidays that the girls have had fun celebrating at school.

It seems like most of the celebrations they have at school fall on days I work, so I haven't been that great about going.  Now that this is Addy's last year though, I've done my best to make them all.  One Friday they had a Havdalah celebration.  What is Havdalah you ask?  According to the ultimate source Wikipedia it is "Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat and holidays, and ushers in the new week. Shabbat ends on Saturday night after the appearance of three stars in the sky. Some communities delay the Havdalah in order to prolong Shabbat."

And after the Havdalah celebration we had a craft project - decorating a pillow case.  Not sure there is any connection between pillow cases and Havdalah, but it was fun. 

Each year the Matzah Factory comes to school and the kids make their own matzo.  I think that the dough was pre-made and the kids rolled it out, put the holes in it with this snazzy gadget and then the Matzah Factory people baked it and the kids ate their creations. 

 This is completely not in chronological order, but here are some pics from Ella's Purim celebration.  Now, what is Purim you ask?  Again from Wikipedia, "is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther (Megillat Esther)."  But at preschools they run with the celebration part of the holiday, with costumes and a parade through the JCC.  Ella wears costumes for about 1 minute, so I just took the tutu for her to wear.  How they got her to keep the crown on her head, I'll never know. 

Just leaving this one in b/c she totally wouldn't even put the skirt on at home, but based on this picture she wore it for quite a while at school! 

Right now it is Passover and before the real holiday, the school hosted a mock Passover Seder and invited the parents.  Here is the festive Passover table.  Each kid decorated their own seder plate and kiddush cup.  

Here is Addy posing with her seder plate.  

I think that she actually took a bite of the parsley, but basically the boiled egg and matzo was the only stuff she'd eat.  Guess I can't blame her for not eating the horseradish though. 

It was fun going and learning about this tradition that I'd been hearing about since I was a kid and my Jewish friends were celebrating.  As with most of the traditions, there was lots of singing.  I was sitting behind Addy so I'm not sure if she knew all the Hebrew songs, but she definitely new the fun preschool songs they sang about the plagues and baby Moses.  Each year Addy gets enamored with Baby Moses at this time and the other night she sat on the couch and watched The Ten Commandments movie on tv until she fell asleep. 

While not as formal a celebration, even Ella's class had a little seder.  This picture makes me laugh because I can't tell if Ella is scared or just totally confused as to what is going on.  Ella certainly got into the Moses and frog plague song, but she wasn't really into much else.  Turns out she is not a fan of boiled eggs and was luke warm on the matzo.  

I think that we are done with holidays until the Fall.  And Addy will be at a normal school by then, so the only reason she'll know about some of these holidays is b/c her friends won't be at school! 

Tot Spot

Ella finally got to go to the Children's Museum and visit the Tot Spot and not considering the elevator ride up to the 2nd floor, she loved it.  She is apparently not a fan of elevators all of sudden, so there was momentary screaming, but we made it!  Lots of good stuff to climb on so, Ella was happy as a clam.  She even found things to climb on that were not necessarily supposed to be played in, but it worked.  Thanks to a bunch of windows and reflective surfaces, the pics weren't great, but here are a couple.

 LOVED climbing in and out of the cars and lots of buttons to push were a big plus!

Opening and closing the door and more buttons to push = fun times

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.  

Mardi Gras

I'm not sure if I have just never paid attention or what, but until last year I had no idea that Bolivar had its own Mardi Gras parade.  So this year I was on it, and we found out the date and the girls got to experience their 1st Mardi Gras parade, and probably their 1st parade ever (unless it is Mardi Gras, I'm not really one to seek out local parades!)  We had no idea what to expect, Michael figured there would be maybe 4 floats, I figured it would just be a bunch of people in backs of pickup trucks, not real floats, but we were both pleasantly surprised.  Day started off with terrible rain and thunderstorms and the parade was delayed, but once it got going it was a blast.  There were lots of floats and there were some pickups, some ATVs, some boats, but also some proper Mardi Gras style floats.  It was no Bacchus in New Orleans, but it was Bolivar style and it was perfect.  Does kind of make me want to got to New Orleans again sooner than later!

 I didn't make the girls anything for Valentines because I opted to make Mardi Gras dresses.  They turned out pretty cute, although I need to remember that the pillow case dress style does have the tendency to make it look like your kid is wearing a pillow case, so I might opt for a different style next time.  The picture of Addy below is after climbing around in the car and standing in the misting rain for the parade, so it looks a little worn, and it is.  And the pic of above is of a smiling Ella, which she is most of the time, just not when the camera is out, so I was excited we got this one!

 Thank goodness for big cars with lots of room to climb around in.  We were probably a little past the 1/2 way mark in the parade route, so we had a bit of a wait before the action started.  Lots of climbing in the car, standing in the misting rain...I was freezing, but the girls were fine and Ella didn't want to wear a jacket for the longest time.  And be sure to check out the jackets they have on, the good parents we are forgot their real jackets at home, but after a fun trip to the Big Store, they both had new Crystal Beach hoodies.  And new rain boots - I need to start sending Michael to the store, I buy way too much, not completely necessary, stuff when I go there.  But I figure I'm just supporting the local economy!  

Neither girl knew what to expect, and this was all happening during prime Ella nap time, so for a number of reasons it was a comical outing.  Addy had 1,001 questions, and Ella was just wondering what in the world we were doing.  This pic was when the parade was just about to us, and the girls are looking down at what is coming.  

 This was early in the parade, notice the progression of beads through the next few pics.  

 This pic clearly depicts Ella's general confusion and curiosity about the whole event!  I thought that she'd freak out when we started putting the beads on her, but I think that the combination of her being tired and not knowing what was happening worked in our favor this time.  Most of those we picked up and put on her, but she got into it for a while and was grabbing the beads off the ground and putting them on herself.  This is where her playing in Addy's jewelry box paid off- she knew what to do with a necklace and how to get it over her head all by herself!

 Michael and the girls at the end of the parade.  Clearly there were way more than 4 floats in order for us to get all these beads. 

 Addy and all her loot! 

 This was taken less than 5 minutes after we got back in the car - she was zonked! 

Here is Ms. A modeling ALL of the beads we got, once we got home.  Probably weigh about 1/2 as much as she does!  Fortunately Addy had the idea to take beads to her friends at school, but unless we give each kid a dozen, we are going to have a lot of beads around the house...anyone want some Mardi Gras beads??!!

Happy Valentines Day

I made the mistake of trying to take pictures after a day at school, before dinner, so the whole tired/hungry kid combo was not working in my favor when trying to take cute Valentines pics.  But here is what we got!

 Valentines was a mini-Christmas this year!  Here is Addy putting together a puzzle from Aunt Dottie and Uncle Fred - it was a huge hit.  And thanks to Granddad and Meme for the heart socks! 

 Note, Ella is happy and smiling while standing (she won't sit!) at the table eating her snack.  More importantly, check out her cute tights!

Michael brought home a flower for each of his girls!  Addy and I loved ours and Ella liked hers so much that she broke the stem, and shortly after this picture was taken she smushed the entire thing (smart daddy anticipated this and opted for the $1 carnation for the little girls!)

Goodbye Garden Bathroom

This post makes me super happy - we started demolishing our master bathroom and are looking forward to a 20th century-worthy bathroom, good-bye 1980s.  Obviously will share the end result, but here is just a sneak peek of weekend 1.

Here is the "before" picture - it was functional, but the flowers are just not our style.  And it had white tile and white grout on the floor (at least it was white at some point), I'm sorry, but whoever thought that was a good idea, clearly didn't have it installed in their own house. 

 Goodbye flowers.  Addy was the one that labeled it the garden bathroom and thought that it was silly that we were having to shower with all the flowers.   I certainly don't disagree with her!

This was at the end of day 1...we have many more days ahead, but we certainly miss having our bathroom, so we have serious motivation to keep the ball rollin'.  Fortunately we have a 3rd bath so all 4 of us aren't sharing a bathroom. Unfortunately the extra bath has the tiniest bath/shower ever and no ventilation and no windows - we may be all sharing the same bath before this is all over!

Dress Up

We've been super busy recently, just not with picture/blog-worthy activities.  But when looking through the pics in the camera this afternoon, I had a few and realized there was definitely a common theme - Ella playing dress up.  She is a bundle of entertainment these days!  One of her new words is "Barbie" and today she put on some of the dress up shoes and was walking around calling them her "Barbie shoes".  Here are some of her recent dress up adventures

 This pic is from Tyler Swann's pirate themed birthday party.  Ella had just woken up and I'm not sure she actually realized there was something on her head.  She sat there for ages.  On the other hand, Michael quickly took the stick-on beard off after the pic.  

 I guess you could say they were playing dress up in their laundry baskets.  They had a blast playing in these until Ella got stuck again.  

Another theme is Ella not ever looking at the camera, so I have a bunch of strange profile shots!

After disappearing in Addy's room for a while and being super quiet, Ella walked out decked out in nearly every bracelet we have, and a few necklaces.  Shortly after this pic, she took it all off and threw it all on the floor.  One of Ella's favorite past times is playing in Addy's jewelry box, so I can't tell you how often we pickup jewelry off the floor!