Zoo, Dog Park, Aquarium Oh My!

What a fun filled weeks it's been here in Houston!! Jeff left us on Wednesday and heading back to Salt Lake :( So we decided to head to the zoo with Aunt Lacey and our friends Jeff and John. We had such a great time eventhough it was raining the whole time!

We headed to the carousel to seek refuge from the rain. The boys had a blast riding on the animals.

The boys are really really into animals right now so it was so fun to see them light up at the sight of all the different animals. They had been talking about it for DAYS!! John and Jeff were soooooooo helpful and fun to be with!! Hopefully we can go back again soon when it's not so rainy.

At the beginning of our trip it was only a light rain so we were able to see some of the animals like the giraffes. So exciting!!

Later in the week we headed out to see my friend Natalie and her little girl Allie. What a cutie! The boys had a great time in their "swing".

Mr. Archie has grooved right in with the pack of dogs here. All of them get very excited when there are squirrels out from. Ofcourse this is cause for a three alarm barking session.

We have also been to the dog park a couple times. The boys LOVE to look at all the dogs and Mr. Archie is a fan too!! Not sure when we will go back though because Ms. Mia (white dog) got stung by been and almost died!! She was rushed to the ER Vet clinic and will be ok. It was close though. We love you mimi!!!


Today we went to the Downtown Aquarium. It was soooooooo fun!!! It has a little theme park attached to it with some fun rides and characters. (above 'Sharkey' with the boys, Anne, and Me)

The boys with "Sharkey". Lookin' cool guys.

They theme park area also had fair style games with bubbles blowing all around. It was really fun for the boys to run around through them!!

Jeff's new job here in Houston is running the railroad for the park. Just kidding. They had a little train that went through a shark tank.

All aboard!! Grant kept saying it and saying "honk honk, all aboard". We're ready to go!

Inside the shark tank. Grant and Daddy.

Reed and Grangie looking at the sharks.

Next was the ferris wheel. It wasn't my personal favorite but we still had a good time. (Reed and Grangie)

Daddy and Grant were in the other cab with Grandpa. We went really high up!

Next we did the carousel. We each got to pick out our own sea creature. It was fun for Jeff and I to ride next to the boys!

Around and around we go.

Last we went in the bounce house. The boys had a great time jumping around before we headed inside to eat lunch.

The inside had huge tanks full of fish. It was really neat to eat inside and feel like you were underwater. It was also really entertaining for the boys while we waited for our food.

The food was delicious and we can't wait to go back!!! We had such a great time. Thanks for the fun day G-papa and Grangie!!

Drive to Houston and EASTER!!

As many of you know Jeff and I were recently transfered to Houston!! We are so excited!! Before we left we got a chance to hang out with our friends from the NICU one last time!! Everytime we get together I'm always just amazed at how far all these little guys have come. It's hard to believe that not a single one of these boys started higher than 3 pounds!!!




We met at Lori's house and it was a nice day so we were able to play outside with all their fun stuff! (the playhouse was a hit)

Reed had a great time pushing his friend Whitt around the yard.

Did I mention there was a trampoline too!!!!! We slept great that night!

This is the coolest swing set too. I can't wait until we get into a new house and get one. The boys had a blast and didn't want to leave.

The view of the mountains from our house. I was walking Archie for the last time before we left on our drive down to Houston and it just hit me that this is really really pretty and I might miss it a little (a very little).

I also had a chance to visit with my good friends one last time before we left. I just love these girls!! I'm really going to miss them. Thanks for all the fun times guys. Come see me in Houston soon. (Krystal and Laurie)

In preparation for our trip I tried to get the boys to use headphones. They love the DVD players in the car and I was really hoping they would work so that I wouldn't have to hear Mickey and Cailou for 22 hours!!!!!

It worked like a charm and they got really good at it. (Reed man)

Archie rode down with us since we were driving. Archie has a bad habit of pantting when he is nervous or anxious. I was worried about this tendency of his on a 22 hour drive. Boy was I right. He got his act together later on in the drive but the first couple of hours he almost got left on the side of the road.

The boys did really well in the car and did a good job of making the most of our stops. Here they are playing in the rocks in the Mc Donalds parking lot. It was our last stop before we arrived at our stop for the night, Santa Rosa New Mexico!!

Santa Rosa had a lot to choose from. We decided to go with Denny's! The boys haven't eaten at a restaurant since they were a lot younger. They did really well and managed to keep it cool while we waited for our food.

They sat in boosters instead of high chairs (big guys) and picked their own choices off the menu!!

The next day we left just as early as we did the first (4 am) and we were in Texas before we knew it. (Grant watching Mickey)

For lunch we decided to stop at a rest stop instead of a fast food place. The weather was really nice and this way they got to run all around.

It was so nice to be able to be in SHORTS!! Especially since we literally left Salt Lake in a snow storm.

We finally made it to HOUSTON!!! It was really nice to see Grangie, G-pa-pa, aunt Lacey, and Uncle Whitney. We were also greeted with the pack of dogs. Puppy, Annie, and Mia were all hapy to see that they boys were here and that they willingly share food.

Easter Sunday came quickly after we arrived!! The Easter bunny did too.

The boys looked so cute in their Easter outfits!! Happy Easter!!!

Egg Hunt and Easter Bunny!!!

Spring is HERE! The boys and I have been able to play outside so much lately!! It's been wonderful. We had such nice weather last weekend we even got out the sand box. It's fun to see how differently they play with it compared to last year.



This year no one decided to eat the sand and no one decided it was more fun to throw it on the ground. They actually enjoyed pouring it in the funnels, digging, and filling buckets. What growth.

So Reed has become very imaginitive lately. He was watching Cailou, one of our favorite shows, and saw that Cailou had a rock collection. While we were at the park I gave him my old tic tac container to play with. He quickly filled it with small rocks and determined it to be his "rock collection". He likes to take it everywhere we go.

Today we had our annual community Easter egg hunt. (the boys with their sheep baskets)

Becasue it was at 9am it was still chilly outside and they decided to hold it indoors at the clubhouse.

My favorite part of the egg hunt is that it's only for kids 1-3 so we don't have to worry about the big kids being involved at all. (Grant)

Grant really really really got the concept down quickly and had like 20 eggs. Reed not so much. He kept picking one up and then looking at it and holding it. He didn't get the whole, pick up as many as you can, concept. I think it's Grant's tendency to horde that helped him out.

Enjoying the fruits of their labor.

Since Jeff got called out to work we had some time and decided to head over to the mall while we were dressed nicely. We thought we'd peek in on the old E.B. and see what he was up to. The boys kept asking if we were also going to see Santa while we were there. They did really well and didn't cry at all. What big boys!

St. Patrick's Day!

Spring has Sprung!! In our area atleast (for now). While I was in San Diego I got some cool hair stuff for the boys. They have such fine hair it's hard to find a product to style with. So I think I found one that works and doesn't move (hair glue). Reed looking all "cool dude" with his spikes.


We got our bikes out of storage and have been enjoying the nice spring weather. (Reed)

He's so cute because he will coach himself while riding his bike: "pedal, pedal, pedal. It's working!!" Too cute. He kept telling me he was going to ride his bike to the store to get some more treats for Archie dog. "the red ones"

My little Grant man loves his chalk. Like most things he loves, he mainly likes to hoard them. He kept putting the chalk on the back of the power wheels and driving 10 feet. Then he'd stop, rearrange, and drive another 10 feet. Alright then. Whatever keeps you happy.

Happy St. Patrick's DAY!! I love fun spring holidays. They make an ordinary March day all fun and festive!! We spent the majority of the day at our friend Krystal's house. She had to rush off to work so we went over to help out until Laurie got there with her kiddos. (Bri, Grant, and Reed) in their Irish Green.

The weather has been VERY spring like so we took all the kids outside to play in the afternoon. Laurie has twins too and they LOVED the bikes we brought over. WE got them out of storage because we are still here and it's been nice enough to use them. (Kaden LOVED this one)

Even baby Kam was cool hangin outside in his stroller. Grant helped keep a watchful eye on him.

My boys were really happy to ride their trikes and pick up rocks.

Brayton and helping his little brother with the other power wheels. We had like 6 bikes out and it was great.

Snow?

Grant has shown a real interest in potty trainning lately. He will poop on the potty if you let him watch a show while he sits and waits. I'll take it. Anything I can do to help move this process along is welcome. But he has gone several times now on the potty. REED on the other hand is still in full resistance mode. No amount of jelly beans can make him poop on the potty. Mickey underwear? NOPE. Oh well, I'll just hopefully get one done and work on the other.

So we have had this really weird winter. It's been very dry (thankfully) and the boys haven't had very many opportunities to play in it. Jeff and I think it's because we actually bought them snow gear this year and plan on moving. What other reason could there be for a lack of snow?

My point being that we get these strange dustings of like a few inches of snow. As soon as it hits we are out playing in it. They didn't even care about touching it, they just wanted to walk around and stomp in their snow boots.

They were so happy playing outside. Too cute.

It still amazes me at how little their stuff is. They have been seeming like big boys to me lately and it makes me sad (my babies are big) so just seeing their little boots on the rug made me think that even though they are getting bigger they are still (my) little guys.