Sea Center with Grandma and Pop-pop

The last week in July my parents came for a short visit. On our one exclusive day with just them, we brought them down to the Sea Center in Lake Jackson. (FYI: for those Texans this is a free marine aquarium/fish hatchery/nature exhibit open to the public) Being an Aquatic Science teacher, I love to visit the Sea Center. I love the different aquaria displays that show the different aquatic habitats of Texas. If you get a chance, it is also fun to take a tour of the fishery that supplies a lot of the red fish for fishing here in Texas. They also have a small touch tank to touch various native aquatic animals. Naomi was quite scared of the crabs and was pretty leary of putting her fingers in the water. Don't worry they actually remove one of the claws on the crabs so they don't pinch. Kaylee's favorite part was the stock ponds. She liked buying the fish pellets and feeding them to the fish. She was quite inventive when we ran out of quarters for food. She started picking up stray pellets off the deck and feeding them to the fish.

Pop-pop trying to convince Naomi to touch an anemone
Grandma showing Naomi that the animals in the tank aren't harmful

Kaylee taking pictures (man that camera was an excellent investment)

David and the girls by the statue

The girls feeding the fish in the stock pond

Bringing Big Sis to the Circus

In July, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus came to town. We love to go to the circus. When we found out Kaley had never gone to a circus, the girls and I decided to drag her along with us and have a girl day. We all had a blast. We loved going to the pre-show before hand. We got a lot of autographs from the performers, and the girls got to try on circus costumes. Kaylee loved the bouncing acts the best. At the end of the circus, Kaylee said she wants to be in the circus when she grows up.

Kaley and the girls in circus costumes
Kaylee all decked out!
Naomi looking glamorous!

Clowning Around!!What a bunch of clowns!!

4th of July 2011

Fourth of July this year was pretty low key. In the morning, we dragged Kaley with us to our ward pancake breakfast. After the breakfast, we went and cleaned my classroom for awhile (yuck!!) Later that evening, the Bounds invited us to their house for a BBQ (thanks Bounds). Afterwards, we headed to the local mall to watch fireworks.

The girls in their matching 4th of July outfits Kaylee watching fireworks with Dallin

Naomi ahhing over some fireworks

You Scream, We Scream...

We all scream for ICE CREAM!!!

The end of June we brought the girls and their big sis (Kaley) to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory in Brenham, Texas. The tour of the factory was fun. However, our favorite part by far was the free ice cream at the end of the tour. My new favorite flavor is Krazy Kookie Dough. It is a cake batter ice cream with multi-colored sugar dough cookie chunks. Yummmy!!! For those of you who have never had Blue Bell Ice Cream, ya'll are missing out.

Naomi, Kaley, and Kaylee by a display of Blue Bell ice cream flavors
All the girls by the old fashioned Ice Cream truck (ps the girls did not like wearing those hats!!)

Swim Lessons

Every summer, I tell David that we need to get the girls swim lessons. And every summer we never get around to it. This year after both girls almost drowned. We decided it was time to stop dragging our feet and get them lessons.

Ok, so now most of you after reading that both girls almost drowned would like the rest of the story. Here is the rest of the story... we were invited to Kaley's (pretty much our surrogate older daughter's) graduation party. The graduation party was a luau theme with swimming for the younger kids in their backyard pool. When I said the girls did not swim, Kaley said it would be no problem since they have a small kid section in the pool. Not really knowing what the kid section would entail, I unfortunately left the water wings at home. The girls were doing pretty well hanging on to the side of the pool or sitting in the shallow kid section. Then Naomi tried to go after a little float not realizing that she was going a little too far, and she started drinking some pool water. We were able to throw her a noodle and she got back to the safe zone. (As a side note, I was dressed up for graduation which I had to get to in a little while. And David was in khakis.) After David dropped me off at graduation, instead of heading home David went back to Kaley's house and the girls continued to play in the pool. Towards the end of graduation, I received two text messages on my phone but could not get them until after graduation ended. After the ceremony finished, I read the texts which were from Kaley. She told me that David's phone did not work because he jumped into the pool fully clothed to rescue Kaylee from drowning. Yes, this time Kaylee got a little to close to the deeper water but instead of drinking a little pool water. She bobbed under a few times. By the time, David met up with me outside the place where graduation was both David and Kaylee were still a little shaky!


Now back to the swim lessons portion of the post. I was able to find someone in our ward who gives swim lessons at another family in our ward's pool. She is only charging me $15 for a half hour lesson for both girls. The girls had their first lesson yesterday and loved it. They will start going on Saturdays. Naomi is already starting to gain confidence in the pool again. Kaylee still likes to cling like a koala to whoever has her but at least she will get in the pool. I will keep you updated throughout the summer on the girls progress with swimming. I am hoping the girls will at least be able to float by themselves by the end of the summer!!

Cheap Entertainment

Sometimes it is the cheapest things, that provide entertainment.

Spring Dance Recital

Tonight was the girls Spring Dance Recital. They both had a ballet routine and a tap routine. They both did terrific. They really enjoyed dance this year and can't wait for fall so they can dance again. One of my students actually came and recorded the recital for us. So grandparents be on the lookout of a DVD of the girls recital in the mail.

The girls in their ballet costumes
The girls in their tap costumes (if you can't tell Kaylee is a cat)

Naomi

Kaylee

The girls and Ms. Heidi

Easter 2011

Better late than never. We really enjoyed Easter as a family this year. It was even more special since David was home this year. (Last year he was still in the hospital.) The girls enjoyed dying eggs with Daddy. I think we had more pink than any other color. The girls loved their Easter baskets and had fun finding the eggs. I bought them matching dresses this year but realized that I don't have a picture of the two of them and their dresses. I will have to take one and post it later. Oh by the way, the NO SPILL egg dying kit does not work. It makes a huge mess. We learned the hard way with it. Next year we are going back to the cheap kits and using our own cups!! Another thing I learned is: Kaylee egg hunts at lightning speed, next year I need to use the flipcam instead!!

David and the girls
Naomi dying an egg

Kaylee and David attempting to dye an egg using the No Spill cup

The girls and their baskets

Naomi with her eggs

Kaylee looking for an egg

A Day Off = Trip to the Zoo

Last Friday, Naomi and I had the day off of school. Since we have a zoo membership, we headed to the zoo early Friday morning. We did not leave as soon as I would like so we had a hike from our parking spots. But we still enjoyed ourselves. The girls and I brought along Kaley (our babysitter) and Isaac (one of the boys from my church class). I don't know if it is because I have no sons or just Isaac but he has a special place in my heart. Here are few pictures of our day at the zoo:

Kaylee on carousel
Naomi on the carousel

The girls and Isaac by the giraffe

The girls and Isaac by another statue

I love the elephants especially the two babies (Baylor and Tupelo)

Kaylee always has to get a picture with this elephant statue!!

Field Trip to Galveston

Every year in April sometime, I bring my Aquatic Science classes to Galveston. This year because of increased class sizes, I went 3 times. I was short a chaperone one day so I dragged David along with me. And of course if David and I went, the girls had to come too!!! Naomi was so excited. She did everything the big kids did including filling out the field trip information and specimen records sheets. Kaylee just enjoyed all the attention from the teenagers. She also enjoyed helping find things and playing in the water. When Naomi returned to school the next day, she gave an oral report of the trip with pictures to her class. Her teacher and class LOVED it!! On a side note, her teacher did not even mark her absent! ;o) Here are the pictures that I took of the girls down there! There are plenty more on my student's cameras. My girls were definitely a hit. In fact, I had lots of babysitting offers after this!

Naomi with a marsh periwinkle snail
Kaylee with her periwinkle snail

Naomi shuffling her feet to help scare up animals into the seine net

Kaylee having a ball

Kaylee heading off on her own little adventure!!

Christmas Dance Recital

The girls started taking dance lessons an hour a week back in September from a sister in our stake in her home. Naomi goes afterschool one day a week. And Kaylee goes during the day on Friday. Both girls learn a little ballet and tap. They both really enjoy dance and love their teacher. In December, each girl had a mini-recital during their last dance class that month. I really wanted to get a video of the girls dancing since neither of our parents live close enough to come watch. So I asked my friend if I could borrow her flip camera. My plan was for me to use the flip for video and David to use the digital for pictures. The plan worked perfectly for Naomi but somehow when it was Kaylee's day the flip camera's batteries were dead. Needless to say, I had to use our old digital to take video clips of Kaylee. Therefore, the video clips are not the greatest and I have very few pictures. Lesson learned: next time bring extra batteries (check to make sure equipment is charged). Here is a picture of Naomi and short video of Kaylee. (Blogger was not being really nice to me and I couldn't upload any longer clips. ARRGH!!! I will try uploading from school some other time.)

A whole lot of sharing

When your kids are young, you always instill in them the virtue of sharing. Well, I think there should be a caveat on it. No sharing your germs (illnesses)!!! Last week, Naomi wasn't feeling good. I tried keeping her home but she wanted to go to school. However, she kept getting worse and when her eyes started crusting over. I drew the line. I brought her to the doctor last Thursday and she had pink eye in both eyes, double ear infections, and a sinus infection. Poor girl. Then Kaylee started getting sick this weekend so David brought her to the doctor yesterday. Kaylee had the start of ear infections and of course sinus issues plus a cough. I have been feeling a little under the weather myself. But of course being the adult I was trying to tough it out. Well, after staying up almost all last night because my ears hurt so bad, I stayed home and went to the doctor today. And wouldn't you know it. Yes, I have double ear infections as well as a sinus infection. My ears are so bad the doctor wants to see me again on Thursday just to make sure the antibiotics are working. So if anyone would like ear/sinus infections, please feel free to come to our house. It seems like our family likes to share them. PS: Knock on wood David does not have them yet!!!!

Christmas Pictures

While in AZ, David's mom brought the girls to Wal-Mart to get their pictures taken. Click here to see the pictures.

Cousins

Holidays are a time to be thankful and spend time with family. David and I were able to drive to AZ to visit his family. We had a nice Thanksgiving with just his folks. (I'll blog more on that later.) And then on Saturday David's parents took the girls up to Show Low to see David's sister Lecia and her family. David's sister Shawna was there with hers as well. This is the first time that all 9 cousins have been together. I am glad the girls got to spend some time with their AZ cousins.

Trunk or Treat

Our girls have never done the traditional trick or treating. Instead, we go to our church's trunk or treat activity, Zoo Boo, and occassionally Mall-o-ween if Halloween is not on a Sunday. This year was a little bit unusual in that the girls went to Trunk or Treat without us. David and I were supposed to go on a date this past Friday night but our babysitter had to cancel but she was free Saturday. So David and I went on our date Saturday night and the girls went with our babysitter to trunk or treat. We have the absolutely best babysitter. Not only did she bring the girls to trunk or treat but she took pictures of them and then brought them home limited them to 2 pieces of candy and had them in bed (asleep) before we got home. (It will be a sad day when she goes off to college next year. She has been babysitting for us since she was a Freshman.)

Ready for the fun

Trunk or Treating (I think the cat has an itch)

Kaylee's loot

Naomi's loot

Matching Jammies

My mom made all of her granddaughters matching pj's. Naomi and Kaylee love them. Here is a picture of them in their jammies with their cat ears of course!! Thanks, Mom (Grandma).

Zoo Boo 2010

From about October 12-17th, my dad came in town for a business trip. We were able to spend some time with him. One of the things that we were able to do was go to Zoo Boo with him. We love going to Zoo Boo. (Well, at least I do! I love the zoo.) The girls had an enjoyable time seeing the animals and trick or treating at the treat stations spread around the zoo. The girls also liked picking out pumpkins in the pumpkin patch and then decorating them. I let the girls choose what they wanted to be this year. Naomi wanted to be a black cat. And Kaylee wanted to be a PINK princess, of course!!

The girls all ready to go to Zoo Boo

A picture with the rhino (I am so excited to see the real ones once they open them to the public in December)

Finding the perfect pumpkin

Kaylee in the pumpkin patch

Naomi's perfect pumpkin

Cooling off at the end of a long walk around the zoo