Red Flowers

Splash Pad

On Easter Sunday we took the boat out and made a stop at Kemah so Finley could play at the Kemah boardwalk splash pad. Finley had so much fun running around and seeing where the water was going to sprout from next. She ran around so much that she slipped on her bottom, which I think scared her a bit. There were no tears, but she was done with the splash pad for the day and ready to nap on Galveston Bay.

Go Rockets!

On Wednesday night we had Rockets tickets. It was Finley's first Rockets game.  These seats were quite awesome, 4th row on the floor.  Finley was most excited about seeing Clutch, same as last time.  It seems that Finley isn't the Rockets good luck charm, since they lost again.  Hopefully the Rockets will make the playoffs and we will get to see them play another game soon.  Finley made it through the entire game and did really well.  She was pretty good about following the ball, but she had to sit on our laps to see since the rise isn't very much. 

Finley's First Swim Test

Finley has really made great progress in swim class and Tuesday was her first of three swim tests. The kdis are to wear summer clothes with sneakers. They are thrown in the center of the pool and they are supposed to flip over and float. To pass the test they either have to float to the side or stay floating for five minutes, at which point the teacher will assist them by pushing water to aim them to the side. As you can tell from the length of the video, Finley passed her test. She takes her second test this coming Tuesday and that will be in fall clothes. The final test is in jeans, Finley hates jeans, so that one could be tricky.  I am so proud of our little fish.

On the Big Rock Candy Mountain

I always remember one kids' singalong video from my days as a babysitter.  It was a bunch of kids singing and acting out songs such as "Backwards Land," "I Like Trucks," and "On a Big Rock Candy Mountain."  I still get those songs stuck in my head sometimes, but I have never been able to find the video on YouTube.  We all went to Galveston this past weekend to look at a couple of houses.  Finley did great and we went to lunch at the Black Pearl afterwards.  She ate so much and was so well behaved, that I promised her she could pick out a piece of candy or get some ice cream on the Strand at La Kings Confectionery.  I thought for sure that she would opt for the ice cream, but I was wrong.  She spied the rock candy in the back and that is all she had eyes for.  Luckily, there were lollipops so it wouldn't get too messy.  Finley enjoyed her pink rock candy lollipop very much.

Easter Party

Finley's school had an Easter party last week before the Easter break.  There were all sorts of yummy snacks for the kids, but the biggest surprise was that Finley didn't want to eat her cupcake.  I wonder what got into her that she wasn't interested in sweets, they are usually her favorite part.  We took home her balloon to add to the holiday mylar balloon collection we have going, we did finally get rid of her birthday fish balloon.  Finley is back at school today, first time since last week.  I know she was really missing it.  I wonder how she will deal with the summer and no school for a few months.

Faberge Egg

On Friday, Clifton had off work and had read about the Faberge Egg that would be on display at the Museum of Natural Science for one week for Easter. We had gotten up early to drive Grammy to the airport, so after we got back we had a breakfast of crepes and homemade strawberry jam. We all walked over to the museum since the weather was so gorgeous. The egg was really beautiful, but not at all what I expected. It was a lot simpler than I thought it would be, but it was still stunning. We visited the dinosaurs, animals and energy hall. We had lunch at McDonald's in the museum and we walked back home so Finley could get a nap before we went to the Astros game.

Easter Eggs

I have an egg carton full of blown out Easter eggs from over the years. We did lose a couple eggs to accidents last year, but I still had about eight left. This year I made hardboiled eggs (by baking them!) because Clifton wanted some to eat. So we had about half a dozen hardboiled eggs and 3 blown out eggs. I used the final four dyes from our Pottery Barn Kids egg kit, I wish they still sold it, at least I have the tools to blow out eggs now and we still have some stickers left. Finley didn't spill a drop of dye and did very well coloring the eggs. She did crack one of the hardboiled eggs, but I think that is pretty good considering I cracked an egg trying to blow it out. Finley declared her pink egg to be her favorite, which I know if a huge surprise. Her basket used to seem so big, now it is so crowded with treats and Easter gifts, there was barely room for just a couple dyed eggs.  Of course, the inflatable chick had to assist.

Happy Easter

Finley had a very exciting Easter! She woke up just before 7 am to discover the Easter Bunny had visited and hidden eggs all over the house (just like last year and the year before that)  Finley was so excited to find all the eggs.  The Easter Bunny left her lots of treats, Little People, Wheelies and Cootie.  After the early morning, we headed up to Intercontinental Airport to go through our Global Entry interviews (we were all approved, phew.)  We then headed back home to pack up for an afternoon on the boat.  We headed over to Kemah so Finley could play on the splash pad for a bit, then it was out to Galveston Bay.  Finley had such a wonderful Easter!

Opening Day

The Astros aren't going to be very good their last year in the National League, but that didn't matter, we were heading to Opening Day no matter what. Finley has never missed the home opener, which is quite an accomplishment for a three year old.


First Opening Day
Second Opening Day
Third Opening Day

The size 4T dress she wore last year was still very wide on her, but it was WAY too short.  So we improvised with a Texas shirt, too big Astros cap and baseball hair clips from Aunt Joan.  Finle was so excited to go to the game and was even more excited for the fireworks after.  Finley ate most of Clifton's chili cheese dog and snacked away, but after about the 4th inning she didn't eat a thing and was still very entertained watching the game.  She loved the fireworks and can't wait to go to her next Astros game.

Grammy's in Town

We all thought Grammy and Grandad would be in their new Houston home by now, but due to some problems with their buyers in Atlanta, that hasn't happened quite yet.  Finger crossed that it all works out in the end.  In the mean time, Grammy came into town for a last minute trip to see some houses to create a back-up plan if everything doesn't work out with their original selection.  We went out to dinner at Los Cucos and Finley was so happy to have Grammy in town.  She does keep asking, "Where's Grandad?"  Hopefully he will be here soon enough.

Best Part of Bluebonnets

Dairy Queen!  We may have bribed Finley to take pictures in the bluebonnets with the promise of Dairy Queen.  We headed to Bellville for a Dairy Queen lunch, but Finley's favorite part of the meal was her Dilly Bar.  She requested it as soon as we arrived and was thrilled when we turned in the kids' meal coupon for her Dilly Bar.  Such a happy girl.  She ate the entire thing and didn't spill a drip on her dress.

Bluebonnets!

Happy Birthday, Kennadie!

Finley and Clifton headed up north to Kennadie's 4th birthday party.  Kennadie's party was held at a gymnastics gym, so Finley was right in her element.  These are the only three pictures from the party, Clifton isn't nearly the shutterbug I am.  Finley had the most fun jumping from the balance beam into the foam pit.  We might have to suggest that setup at her gym. Happy 4th birthday Kennadie!

Shasta

The University of Houston Cougars had a special event at the Houston Zoo this past Saturday.  When I started school, I noticed the Shasta cage on campus over my the Hilton School of Hotel and Restaurant Management.  There hadn't been a live cougar in there forever and it was eventually torn down.  This weekend, there officially became a live cougar mascot for the Houston Cougars, Shasta VI.  It is the first boy live cougar we have ever had and he isn't even a year old yet.  His mother was killed by a hunter when he was just 5 weeks old.  He survived on his own in the wild for nearly a week before he was rescued.  He is a gorgeous creature and will live at the Houston Zoo, but there will be a live webcam so you can see Shasta whenever you like and he can have a presence at sporting events.  Finley was excited to ride the cougar on the carousel and make a cougar tail before the ceremony.  Welcome Shasta and go Coogs!