We're going to the Dallas Zoo

At the entrance of the Dallas Zoo, there is this highly annoying, yet catchy song that plays on an endless loop.  "We're going to the Dallas Zoo..." over and over and over again.  When you do go to the Dallas Zoo, hope for no lines at the front entrance.  The Dallas Zoo has half price tickets for Houston Zoo members, but even better, admission was only $5 for penguin days.



Finley pleaded to go on the carousel and we  caved.  She actually loved it and wanted to go again right away!


Riding on a turtle outside the reptile house.


Petting a snake and visiting the albino alligator.


Penguins!


Watching the elephants and giraffes.


Feeding the giraffes. This was so much fun! Whenever we have tried to feed them at the Houston Zoo, the stand has been closed. I cannot wait to do it again.


A carousel ride on the way out.

A Giraffe Built for Two

Max is over for the day today and Finley is having the best time.  Max loves her riding giraffe and Finley found a way for them to ride it together.  Aren't they the cutest?

Finley had to color coordinate bibs to outfits for lunch time. Max wasn't so fired up about wearing a bib, but Finley forced the issue and he went along with it. The two of them ate a ton of chicken nuggets and macaroni n cheese. Max ate his apple slices, but Finley couldn't be convinced to try them. I thought some Max peer pressure would coax her, but she held strong.

Ready for Opening Day

The Houston Astros single game tickets went on sale last Friday at 9 am.  We got there a touch late, around 9:15 am, not that there was a huge crowd.  I had the option of getting Opening Day tickets the day before with a presale code, but the $1 child tickets weren't an option and the fees were almost as much as the tickets themselves.  We got a triple bonus by showing up to Minute Maid Park: there were doughnuts out for the fans, Finley got a Larry Dierker bobblehead and we got four free tickets to the College Classic in March.  Texas A&M and the University of Houston will both be playing, so it should be a fun event to go to, especially since the tickets are free.  Finley chose a pink doughnut to eat and ate it upside down, as she seems to do with a lot of food...pizza, biscuit with jelly, etc...it is always the messy side down.  When we got up to the window to get our tickets, the gentleman told us to go to window 9 after we had got our tickets, then window 14 to pick up our free tickets to the College Classic.  I was puzzled as to why we needed to go to window 9, but we headed over there.  Turns out, it has a big pass through box and he sent out a bobblehead just for Finley.  What a lucky day!

We are ready for baseball season, are you?

Trinity River Run

We visited the historic Fort Worth Stockyards yesterday so that Finley could ride the Trinity River Run train on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad.  This wasn't Finley's first visit to the Stockyards, but it was the first time she got to ride the train.  She had a great time.  She had her nose pressed to the window for most of the train ride, watching the sites go by.  The craziest thing was that she remembered riding the small carousel with Grayson~ her memory is unbelievable.  Choo choo!

Rosy Cheeks

First Rockets Game

This wasn't Finley's first basketball game, she has been to a University of Houston basketball game and the NCAA South Regional, but it was her first ever NBA game. The start time was 7:30 pm, which is past Finley's bedtime, but we decided to go ahead and try our luck.  Finley was loving it!  So many lights, sounds and fun.  Her favorite thing was the "Bear".  Clutch is the Rockets mascot and she was totally taken with him.  Clutch rode in on a red motorcycle and kept asking where his motorcycle went the entire game.  On the elevator ride to our car, a guy had a Clutch bear and Finley thought that was too cool.  Sadly, the Rockets lost to the 76ers, but Finley had a great time.  She even made it all the way to the fourth quarter.  Such a trooper!

Me and My Shadow

Finley loves Max. It is borderline obsession. Whatever Max does, she wants to do it too. If only he would teach her his crazy math skills, Max can already add numbers together. Such a smart boy!

Max was over for the morning and Finley was beyond excited. We Skyped with Grammy and Grandad while Finley opened her Valentine's present. Once we were done, I told her it was time to say bye bye. Her response "No, no. Max stay here!"



After the two of them had a big morning of playing and snacking, with Finley insisting she hold Max's hand. It was so cute.

New Ballet Outfit

Finley and her doll got matching ballet outfits from Grammy and Grandad for Valentine's day.  She wasn't too keen on sitting with her doll, but she did love her new tutu.  For the first time in weeks, she was a little clingy at the start of dance class.  Mr. Carlos worked his magic and she was off, dancing away.  After class, all the girls went out to the playground.  It was so cute seeing 4 girls in tutus on the jungle gym. And the shoes were totally at Finley's insistence. We got them at Target on Sunday and she is obsessed. Tights with an open toe shoe? Ack!

Valentine's Party

Kelly is the best party planner I know in Houston, she is an amazing wedding planner and also a fantastic kids' party planner.  She hosted a wonderful cookie decorating party for the kids yesterday, complete with trays that we could fill with cookies to decorate and take home.  She is so clever and I am totally stealing the idea.  We just had to top the trays with Glad Press n Seal and we were ready to transport our cookies home.  She made all the cookies from scratch (whoa!) and made the cutest pink popcorn for the kids.  Finley was thrilled since they had Chick-fil-a nuggets and guacamole, what more does a girl need?   I think Finley did a gorgeous job decorating her cookies. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Finley had an amazing Valentine's Day!  She started the day off with a Valentine's party at the kid care center at my gym.  Miss Stacey had cookies for the kids and Finley had so much fun.  Finley had made a beautiful Valentine for me with Miss Stacey, she was so proud of it.  After that, we headed down south for a cookie decorating party (more on that later!)  Finley ate her weight in Chick-fil-a nuggets and sprinkles.  Tonight, we headed to Pappasitos for a family Valentine's celebration.  Apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea, since there was a 15 minute wait at 5:45 pm.  After a delcious dinner, we headed home to open presents.  Finley got a cookie decorating and baking set for her oven.  She loved it!  She gave the Valentine she made for Daddy.  Then we opened our gift from Daddy, we are going to the San Diego Zoo and Disneyland for a week.  What fun!  Finley was so excited to open the big card with the pictures of a Mickey Mouse ferris wheel.  Daddy did some research, Minnie's house is alive and well in Disneyland.  Finley will be so excited.  I hope everyone had as amazing Valentine's Day as we did.

Picnic with the Penguins

The penguins make me miss Ugly Bear.  Hauling around six penguins is no easy task, especially when Finley wants to be carried up and down the stairs.  Finley set up a picnic with her penguins today.  She served them several course of food and when she was all through, she knocked them all down.  It was so cute!


Finley's newest attachment is to Little Bear.  He is about the size of the palm of my hand.  I was gone yesterday getting my hair done and visiting Shannon, when I came home, Little Bear was the new top dog in the stuffed animal world.  Clifton had taken Finley to the zoo for the afternoon and I am still unsure where she got Little Bear.  She woke up crying around 9:30 last night crying for Little Bear.  Neither of us had any clue where he was and after extensive searching, he never did turn up.  Little Bear really made me miss Ugly Bear, at least Ugly Bear is big enough to find.  Finley ended up sleeping in our bed for the first time ever last night.  After waking up every couple of hours or so looking for Little Bear, she asked to "Snuggle Mommy."  Finley is not usually a cuddly child and it was 3 am, so I scooped her up and took her to our bedroom.  She still kept waking up and asking for Little Bear, but at least I didn't have to go into her room to comfort her.  Little Bear mysteriously appeared on our couch this morning after breakfast, so all was right with the stuffed animal universe once again.  Thankfully, the penguins were back on top.  I would way rather carry around six penguins than try to hunt for one, easily hidden Little Bear.

First Bacon Sandwich

I am not a huge fan of breakfast foods.  In fact, other than crab cakes Benedict (which is more brunch than breakfast), I don't like any breakfast food that well.  I will eat pancakes, waffles and French toast if we are having them, but when it comes to bacon and eggs, no way.  So instead, I make myself a bacon sandwich.  My grandma taught me the beauty of a bacon sandwich and I am happy to pass it on to Finley.  She asked for bread for her bacon this morning to have a bacon sandwich like Mommy.  She took a few bites, but then it was straight bacon after that.  Followed by her favorite sandwich, a jelly sandwich. I guess compared to a dry bacon sandwich, a jelly sandwich is far more appetizing to a two year old.

The weather outside is frightful...

We got no snow last week, no real ice either...but the cold temperatures are back this week.  Thank goodness Auntie Heather sent Finley a warm fleece hoodie to wear for our frigid temperatures.  And the best part of it was that Finley doesn't have to wear her coat with it.  She hates wearing her coat.  I think the main issue is she gets super constrained in her carseat with it on, even when I loosen the straps.  If we lived in an area where it is often cold, I would have to look for a heated car seat.  The coat battle isn't one worth fighting, so instead the fleece works.  And she likes to pull on the hood, then pull it right off.

Pigtailed Cutie

And all ready for Valentine's Day with her hearts on. We have a cookie decorating party next week on Valentine's Day and I know Finley is excited. This girl loves her cookies! 

The pigtails had been ripped out by naptime, but they were cute while they lasted.  Plus, they are the only way to keep the curly ribbon Gymboree hairbows in her hair.

And you thought the Disneyworld posts were over...

Seeing as how we snapped over 900 pictures during our short stay in Disneyworld, I think I could probably do a Disney post ever day for a month!  Finley is still playing Disneyworld at home.  Tonight, she loaded up all her penguins into color-coordinated bowls and kept saying "close door".  Clifton and I couldn't figure out what she was doing, but then she started "tea cups, ready set go!"  She was having her penguins ride in imaginary teacups aka bowls.  She cracks me up.

The first day in the Magic Kingdom, Finley wasn't sold on riding on Dumbo.  By the last day there, she was riding the dinosaurs over and over and over again thanks to the lack of lines!






Another funny Finley story.  I was out last night with my girlfriends, so Finley was home playing with Daddy.  Max gave her a cupcake set for Christmas and she has been obsessed with it.  So much so that she took it to Grandma's house for her sleep over there this weekend.  She likes to bake the cupcakes in her play oven and then serve them to the penguins, which are this week's toy, Ugly Bear is long gone.  She gets the cupcakes out of the oven and before she serves them, she grabs her toy camera to take a picture.  They really do learn what they see!

Can I Stay and Play, Please?

When I went in to get Finley this morning out of her crib, she was singing and talking to all her animal friends.  Nearly every morning she is asking to go to Disney World.  Hopefully, the weather will be nice this weekend and we can take her to Kemah or the downtown Aquarium to ride some rides.  Every time we drive by the Ferris Wheel downtown she asks to ride it.  And says that Daddy will take her. 

I went to reach for her today and she asked to stay and play.  Normally she is super excited to get out, have breakfast and maybe catch an episode of Toodles to start the day.  So I ran downstairs to get the camera of her cuteness in the crib...