Blue Bonnets & Spring

It's a Texas tradition to get pictures with the blue bonnets and this year we joined the fun. The Blue Bonnet is the state flower here and it grows everywhere! There's even a house in our neighborhood that has no visible grass during spring: just blue bonnets. Nice: no need to mow!

We went to a nearby park to get the kids to pose for us. You know what that means! 100 pictures and all with someone (or three) making a weird face or looking somewhere else.

This was the best we could do.

Afterward we walked over to the playground.

This is what we live for: fun times! High five!

Isaac has been practicing his lassoing skills. He's pretty excited about it.

The Easter bunny visited us...late--right before bed--because he was too frightened to come to a dirty house so we had to clean it first.

Later this month, we started getting out the hose and "watering the grass" with the help of the trampoline. I can't believe it's already hot. Nearly 100 degrees today. This activity is a winner around here.

Unfortunately, the first day, Ellie's mom was not keeping track of the time and let her play too long. Oh, and without sunscreen. Oops!

The Weekend of Wild West Texas

I started this post over a month ago, but the computer needed some professional help soon afterward. So, now that I have it back, I don't think it will hurt to update the old blog anyway. After all, it's been quite a while!

We took a trip out to Boerne one Saturday to experience Enchanted Springs Ranch. It's not far from San Antonio and we had a wonderful day there. It's an active movie set, a working ranch, a monument to Texas history, and a great place to entertain a young family.

First we saw Pistol Packin' Paula's show outside--guns and bullwhips are never boring.



Then we explored the "town." There were lots of things to do and learn about, including a museum dedicated to real Texas Rangers, which was interesting.



You don't need to ask if this place was perfect for our family at this stage, do you?



I don't know what Isaac thought he could do with a horseshoe in wooden cogs....



There's nothing like a blacksmith shop to make boys feel like men.

While the boys (and all the other visitors) were watching a stunt show where the bad guy gets shot of a roof by Pistol Packin' Paula, Ellie wandered into the saloon where she found some mighty nice dance music.


We also went on a wagon ride through the ranch to see their exotic animal collection. There were animals from around the world, which apparently was an "in" thing to have among early wealthy ranchers in Texas. I didn't bother taking pictures of my kids peeking out of the wagon to see them. Enjoying the moment beats photos of the back of someone's head and a blurry animal in the distance.

Everyone was allowed to have a photo-opp with the resident Longhorn right before closing time.


On our way out we discovered the Kids' Korral. Our young'uns were in heaven from beginning to end of this place!



(Don't let that face fool you. Heaven!)

On a completely different subject, look what I discovered I could do with E's hair a couple of months ago:

I can't believe it's this long, especially because it feels like she was born about a month ago.


And while Isaac's busy pretending to be a knight-ninja in running shoes at our rainy garage sale...
Noah stole his school-made cowboy hat for a quick picture. Look out, folks! They mean business in Texas, with the cowboy stuff and Tejano heritage...Fiesta Days are coming! And they sure know how to party here.

Give Me FOUR!

Noah has get four of everything now. And if you have to count to three, to get results from him, he'll ask you to count to four. Sometimes he'd like "four + four" (especially if there are chocolate chips being given). He turned four on January 9th.


First Birthday:

Two Years Old:


Can you believe this was just last year?


The Big Four-Year-Old (a.k.a. Batman)--


It was on a Monday, so we had a quick FHE message from Isaac, which he taped onto one of Noah's presents:

Then we were off to Chuck E Cheese, where we [all] had a most surprisingly wonderful time. I'm tempted to say "no more parties--we'll just go there as a family!" But I'll still let them choose, I suppose.

Noah was so happy to get a crown! After playing our hearts out, we came home for presents and cake (after PJs, of course).




Notice a theme? Batman, Superman, Captain America...the guy loves superheroes!


And here's a little taste of our evening



The Big Four-Year-Old enjoys pilates.


And here he is as Batman again: