Day 8-Downtown and Coronado

What: Breakfast at Village Cafe, Walked to the New Children's Museum, Caught the ferry to Coronado Island, Lunch at the Village Pizzaria on Coronado Island, More Ping-Pong and Foosball with a dip in the cold pool, Mom and Dad had dinner on the USS Midway and the kids and Grandmothers went back to Edgewater Grill.

Lows: Worrying that we wouldn't make the 1:00 ferry, Not being able to use our San Diego Go Cards at the Maritime Museum, Losing Cavett's baseball hat at the Children's Museum.

Highs: Everything about the Children's Museum, Watching all the sailboats from the ferry, yummy pizza and salad for lunch, Dad having time to run by and pick up Cavett's cap before they closed,

Our beautiful mothers joining us for this adventure. 

Day 5-Balboa Park

So, I fell off the bandwagon once we got to IACA in San Diego, but I'm here to finish the blog, nonetheless. 

What:  Breakfast at McDonald's, Fleet Science Museum, Model Railroad Museum, Natural Science Museum, Snack in hotel for a late lunch, Mom and Dad went to dinner with LVI Instructors at the University of San Diego Scripps Oceanography Research Center in La Jolla, while the kids and grandmothers had dinner at the Village Cafe with Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream.

Lows:  The Organ Pavillion was closed and you couldn't see the organ.

Highs:  The massive layouts at the Railroad Museum, Travelling through the cell at the Fleet Science Museum, and Running into our BFF, Mark Alexander who was staying at our hotel. 

More Heard Museum

Tuesday we passed some time at the Heard Museum taking a 1 1/2 mile hike and I didn't carry anyone. On the trail we found a cool pond/creek, a beaver dam, a tree nawed on by the beavers, and a dandilion like weed. But the most fun was playing with our shadows.

The Big 5!

I can't believe it! Where has the past 5 years gone? Instead of a tiny baby, I have a growing boy who can read, write, play all sorts of games, dress and feed himself, and multiple other things. We celebrated Cavett's birth yesterday all day, literally. We woke up with requested blueberry pancakes and then opened a few presents--a watch and some birthday clothes.

The actual party was at the Heard Museum. We invited a small number of people. No one from his class, just family friends and actual family. Rain was a concern, so we headed out on the Dinosaur trail first. It was so much fun to see all the rain boots and the kids roaring back at the dinosaurs. They also got to pet Rosie the Rabbit and Kilo the Bearded Dragon. The dinosaur cake was a hit and wrapped it up with a visit to the kangaroo cage.

But the celebration didn't end there. Chipolte was for lunch with Memaw, DD, Mike, the Chaneys and Amber and Jonny. As the afternoon went on at home it was come and go with Grandmama, KK and Austin, Cousin Beth and Lyle and Cousin Elaine joining as well as some friends from our Sunday School class in Houston.

I'm pretty sure that Cavett had a great day and it was good to have a reason to have a mini-family reunion to see so many loved ones in one day.

From here, life changes for my baby. Kindergarden is next year. Loose teeth are just around the corner. But if you ask him, what he is looking forward to is 6 when he can chew gum and climb up Grandmama's laundry chute. I'm not really dreading it completely. He's ready and I know that I need to let him grow up, but I will still cherish each and every hug and kiss.

Happy Birthday Cavett!

The Rearview

It's back--the Rearview. I haven't blogged this week, here it is in hind sight.

Monday was MLK, so the kids were home. As a result we got to have a much needed playdate with the Davis'. Adrianne suggested Going Bonkers. I asked Cavett and his response an emphatic, definitely. I asked it timidly, since he was just there with Amber on Saturday, but that didn't matter. He loves the place! It was a bit crazy with tons of kids there--much different from the other times we have played.

That evening as I was beginning to get dinner ready, I reached under the stove for a pan. Kendrick started screaming and pulling on the cabinet doors as I was shutting them. I couldn't figure out his deal or what he was saying, but I decided to just let him play in the pots and pans. he chose one pot, pulled up a stool and wanted to help me cook! He wanted a knife and wanted to chop and put the peppers in his pot. And of course if one son does something, the other son does too. We found two dull chees knives and they got busy. I can't wait for us to really cook as a family one day. Right now, I would be happy if only everyone would eat the same thing at one meal.

Tuesday was our regular gym/grocery shopping day. The kids were very well behaved in the store and received a treat--Icees! That afternoon we hit a new park in McKinney. It is similar to a favorite in Allen, but it didn't matter. Cavett made friends with every kid there and played pretend "Star Wars." Of course, Kendrick followed him every step of the way.

Wednesday--was a school day. I got BSF and a girl's lunch in before picking the kids up. That evening we headed to Creekwood UMC for our first class in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University Class. It seems we have completed "Baby Step 3," but we haven't been able to puch beyond. Hopefully, this class will jump start us in going beyond and analyzing our budget better.

This afternoon was spectacular! From the weather to the time spent together, it was perfect. While Kendrick slept, the three of us worked in the yard pulling weeds and tidying up. Afterwards, Stephen and Cavett plopped down on the chaise lounge by the pool and took a breather. Oh, it made me anticpate the summer. It's going to be fantastic! In fact, as a lover of travel, I think I may even be able to stomach a complete summer with no major travel, if we can get the rest of the backyard finished. We turned on the hot tub and headed to our next destination after Kendrick woke up.

The past weekend in New Mexico really re-ignited the desire to get out in nature again. Stephen and I use to camp alot 10 years ago, but after moving to Houston, it was just too far to get to somewhere really beautiful. Our resolution for the spring is to take the kids camping and hiking. So, we began with going to our favorite, the Heard museum for a 1 1/2 mile hike on the Sycamore trail. As we hiked, we sang the "Zacheus" song and looked for sycamore trees. not too far into the trail there it was--the most beautiful sycamore I had ever seen. It was about 150 and had the most graceful, glowing white branches reaching up to heaven. Breath-taking. Unfortunately, the trail got flooded a little less than halfway. We still got in almost an hour of "exercise."

The hot tub was good and warm on return and the kids played while we took turns getting dinner ready. Speaking of, it was gobbled up as fast as possible and sleep was almost just as fast. I guess we wore them out.

I am really trying to cherish each of these long weekends this Spring, as Cavett will be starting Kindergarden in the fall and Stephen may expand his working hours. Sitting at the dinner table tonight was a perfect family moment. My boys are growing up and becoming more independent.

Dinosaurs Alive!!!

Tuesday afternoon we headed out to the Heard Museum, a mere 5 miles from our house. For those of you from Shreveport, this is like Walter B. Jacobs on a larger level. They were having an exhibit of animatronic dinosaurs which were placed along one of the nature trails. After viewing the indoor exhibits, we bounded down the stairs and headed for the trail. The first dinosaurs we came across were very small and didn't make any sounds. The boys crawled right on top and I caught the photo op. We continued down the trail and the boys stopped dead in their tracks. I wasn't looking at what was ahead and Kendrick started running the other way. As soon as this dinosaur roared, I jumped! It was pretty creepy. Kendrick proceeded to stay glued to my neck for the entire rest of the trail. At first Cavett had to run past the dinosaurs, but eventually he became very comfortable. Finally at the end, there was one large T-rex that was for photo ops and Kendrick finally left my neck.
























Afterwards, we found the live animal area and Kendrick was enamoured with the kangaroos. There were at least 5 smallish ones that just kept bounding back and forth--such interesting animals. Next came a mile long trail which took us through the prairie, the forest

across a road and then through the swamp. Along the way, we searched for the largest leaves they could find. Mission accomplished. They both walked the entire way. They wore themselves out.

Another Rainy Tuesday

After 11 days of rain with one day of reprieve stuck in, we needed an outing. We headed to Fair Park this morning to blow off some energy and to explore a new place--destination--the Dallas Children's Museum. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold a candle to the newly improved Houston version, but we still had fun. Both the boys loved the dinosaur dig. Kendrick's favorite was the water room and Cavett's was pretending like he was an ant in the ant mound. Good times.