Deep in the Heart of Texas

On Monday, we arrived back from London and we didn't stay on home base for long.  We were packed up again on Friday and on our way to Houston, Texas.  Our main event of our visit was to go see the Houston Astros play the Texas Rangers on Sunday. 

We arrived late Friday night and the kids were so excited to be staying in a hotel and I was excited because we were staying at the Four Seasons.  When we walked into the lobby and were heading to the elevator, it didn't quite click why I saw people autographing baseballs.  I didn't say anything until we were in the elevator.  Apparently, we literally walked right by some of the Texas Rangers.  Well, I never heard the end of it from Brian.  Thank goodness on Sunday the boys were all in the lobby when the players were getting ready to leave for the ballpark. 

On Saturday morning, we headed out to the Houston Aquarium which was beautiful.  We are living quite a luxurious lifestyle by utilizing the hotel's car service to help us get around town.  Our driver was so entertained by the kids that he was so excited when he saw them and was always there to help us.  We were very grateful.

There was a sting ray tank where the kids could actually touch the animals as they tried to climb up the walls.  Garrett was fascinated.

Connor loved all the exhibits...look at our scuba diver.

This was a crab tank which was more Connor's speed since they don't move quite as fast as the sting rays.

The white tigers on exhibit were gorgeous and we even saw them being fed.

This is a tornado simulator which felt like a high powered air conditioned booth which was perfect in the heat. 

When we returned to the hotel, it was straight to the pool.  Garrett being Garrett immediately made friends with a nice young couple who basically entertained him for a couple hours.  The poor young couple had their hands full with our kids constantly vying for their attention.  It was such a fun afternoon and we all loved enjoying the sun and pool. 

Emily was loving all the experiences at the hotel.  Here she was playing peek-a-boo with the bell hop.

Minute Maid ballpark.  What a fantastic experience!  We got a chance to see the train engine move when the Astros hit a home run.  Emily even made it onto the Jumbotron when she was dancing to the music...total fun!

The next day Brian took off to his conference in Austin and we enjoyed breakfast in the room.  We then headed off to the airport and returned home to the real world.  This was all Brian's idea and even though I gave him a very hard time about this trip, I have to take it all back because we had so much fun.

T-Ball: Connor

Needham believes that it is never too early to start children in sports.  Once you reach Kindergarten, little league baseball begins and all of the kids were so excited.  To kick off the spring season, the town has a parade for all of our little league teams.  Connor was a member of the Grey Wolves and his team is made up of a fantastic group of kids.

The kids are all ready for the parade. 

Garrett and Emily were ready to roll.



With team signs in hand, the boys made the team proud marching along.

Connor even got a hug from the Boston Red Sox Green Monster at the opening ceremony.

Grey Wolves 2012

Our Slugger

Connor racing to second base during a game.

The season was truly a fantastic time with coaches that cared and improvement from every single ball player.  Connor loved playing t-ball this year and can't wait for next year when the coaches start pitching. 



The Tooth Fairies First Visit

Connor lost his first tooth on April 18, 2012. His bottom left tooth finally came out and the funny thing is that his new tooth is already half in. I love looking at my little boy with the hole in his mouth.

T-Ball: Garrett

T-ball officially came into full swing with Garrett having opening day on Monday. He was a madman, running and fielding the ball and of course was a hitting powerhouse. I am so happy to see you out on the field having fun.

Happy Easter!

The boys waited patiently for Emily to wake up and then wasted no time flying down the stairs to find their Easter baskets.  It didn't take Emily long to figure out that her basket was full of fun toys and books.

Emily was so happy opening the eggs to see what was inside.  It was fascinating to watch her experience Easter morning with such a big smile on her face.

Garrett was a jumping bean around the house.  The Easter bunny did a good job picking out his presents because he was screaming for joy several times with some of his presents.  Here he is in action - jumping around.

Calm, cool and collected - Connor enjoyed all the things he found in his basket and started flipping through his new books.

The hunt was on...all three of the kids were so good about finding the eggs.  They helped Emily by leaving some low ones for her to find as she trailed behind trying to figure out exactly what was happening. 

Time to count.  The boys trying to figure out the progress they made in finding all 72 eggs.

Guess what - we did it.  We found them all!!!!

After breakfast, it was time to head off to church.  Don't they look beautiful and handsome.

I couldn't resist another photo.

The kids were spectacular in church which was a nice little test to see how they will do in London.  Then, we headed off to Bickford's for lunch - we were definitely the best dressed family and the kids were the hit of the restaurant.  It was a fun day and Happy Easter to all!

Easter Preparation

The first weekend of April was Easter and there were three very happy kids ready to prep for Easter.

Do you think 6 dozen eggs is enough?  The boys didn't but I had to explain that the Easter bunny only has so much time before he heads off to the next house. 
All of the kids loved dying the eggs.  Emily and daddy were a great team getting their eggs perfect.

They were all smiles.

Garrett was very patient while dying the eggs.  He waited until he thought the color was just perfect.
Connor loved using all the colors and made some fantastic variations.
All 72 eggs were dyed and ready for the Easter bunny.  Excitement in our household is an understatement.

A Free Friday (Good Friday)

You will notice that I didn't have much to say about March. The month flew by just doing day to day activities but the big focus of March was birthday parties. The boys attended approximately 7 birthday parties so we were always on a mission. This included soccer games, sky jumping (trampolines), ceramics and sports.



To start the first Friday of April, we headed to DeFazio park where Connor's kindergarten class did a community service project. We were at the park to help pick up trash and clean up the environment. The good news is that the park really didn't have very much trash laying around but the kids did a great job of cleaning up the park anyway. Then, they had a long play date, soccer game and even an Easter egg hunt (thanks to one of the mothers).

Then, we headed off to the zoo. It turned out to be a fantastic idea. Since the weather was pretty cool out, all of the animals cooperated and we really saw them all moving around and in action. The kangaroos were jumping around - we even saw the brand new baby kangaroo.  Then, we went to the Gorilla exhibit and saw the entire family, including the newest addition.  Much like Emily, the new gorilla had them all on their toes.

The kids actually loved seeing all of the animals including the hippo which is camouflaged in the back of this picture.

It is funny the little things in life that kids love.  I bet Bob the Builder would be happy to have all this help for his construction company.

I always love when the kids stick their heads through the animal cut outs.  First off, I think they are adorable.

Secondly, when you only see their faces you get to see how similar they all look.

Finally, I love that Emily likes to do whatever her brothers are doing and this is something she can easily do without any help.  And she loved it.  She would come around the side and check my camera to see what she looked like.  Smart girl!

Garrett (Mr. Wild Kratt himself) took charge and pretended to take the family on a safari.  He has such knowledge of animals and his imagination is unbelievable.

What a great Friday!