Houston Aquarium

Today we ventured over to the Houston Aquarium. It's been on the 'to do' list for awhile now and today seemed like the perfect day to cross it off the list. Brian and I were both a bit underwhelmed, and although they did have a few nice aquarium exhibits, I guess we were just expecting a little bit more. Oh well, it was a good air-conditioned way to kill an hour or so.

We had to laugh at Madeline's reactions to the exhibits. She usually loves fish, so we were surprised when she was just 'ho-hum' about the exhibits, as evidenced by this photo:

I was able to snap at least one good photo of her showing a bit of engagement:


Brian and I also found the trip to be an insightful peek into her fears. It is funny to watch kids and the things they choose to be fearful of. There was this exhibit where you could touch stingrays; most of them were small, ranging in size from a salad plate to a dinner plate. Madeline had her hand in the water and every time one would swim by she would yank her hand out and do this little quiver in fear thing. The groupers, however, which are nearly 10-times her size were just fascinating to her. No worries there! Then, the shocker was her reaction to the tigers--she really came to life at the white tiger exhibit (yeah, we weren't really sure about what a tiger exhibit was doing at the aquarium either!) You would think that these huge animals would elicit fear in just about anyone, especially when they were jumping at the ceiling and pawing at the glass. But not Madeline....this is what she thought of the tigers.....

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I guess they were just like big kitty cats to her! She had so much fun and kept saying 'Tiger silly!" in between her giggles!

It was a good way to break-up the day, but I'm not sure we'll be returning any time soon!

Waterslides!

We have a small water park in our development. We've been meaning to check it out and this weekend provided the perfect opportunity. As expected, our little fish had a blast. She braved the small slide by herself and she and daddy logged at least 10 rides on the larger tube slide. Check out these smiles!






"I want that"

Madeline's Story Time

Madeline's independence spilled into our evening story time tonight. After her bath, she insisted on reading the books. It was so funny, we thought we would share it with you. As you can tell, Cooper did not cooperate well for story time, as he kept running away--much to the displeasure of the story teller!

Join us for Madeline's story time...

Featuring:
-- Is Your Mama a Llama also known as Mama Mama Llama
--Green Eggs and Ham better known as Sam I Am
--Goodnight Hawaiian Moon, or Moon Night according to Madeline
and for the grand finale...
--Llama Llama Misses Mama, yet another Mama Mama Llama book, but this one comes complete with a description of how the animals are crying because they miss their mommy. Never fear...she comes BACK :)

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She sprouted!

I took Madeline in for her 2 year check-up last week. Brian and I had been commenting on how she seemed to have grown so much lately. Our hunch was confirmed!

She weighed in at 26lbs6oz (45th percentile)
Her height was 36.5in (97th percentile)

They say that you can estimate a child's adult height by doubling their height at 2 years. At this rate, Madeline is set to be 6'1".

Those tall genes from her parents are finally kicking in!

Our MT Adventures

Here they are...the pictures documenting our trip to MT. We had such a great time visiting family and enjoying the cool mountain air!

Feeding the llamas with Grandpa

A day trip to Branham lakes where daddy and Grandpa caught lots of little fish

Madeline enjoyed playing in the dirt,

building snowmen,




and picking flowers.

The next day we ventured up to Helena to see the progress Unkee-T and Auntie Meg have made on their house. We combined it with a trip to the Helena Carousel.

A round of ice cream made the night complete!


Madeline, where's your belly?

We then headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's cabin for some R&R. Madeline enjoyed her first campfire and of course, no campfire is complete without the obligatory marshmallows!

Goin' fishin' with daddy


A great day to be on the lake!


Madeline loved this little bridge--just her size.

Stopping for an ice cream cone in West Yellowstone

I think Madeline missed her daily school routine a bit. She often would set all her animals in a circle and declare that it was circle time. She would then proceed to show all the animals the pictures in the book. She wouldn't let me read the book to them--so independent!

The wildflowers were gorgeous this year!

Grandma and Grandpa James came up for a visit and brought cousin Sarah along. Madeline had a lot blast being the little cousin and having a playmate

She was much more fond of S'mores the second time around!


At Mesa Falls

Stopping for a quick drink

Off to Yellowstone for a day--it was definitely a hot chocolate type of day!


She got a bit scared when Old Faithful started its show

Loving daddy's piggyback rides!

Family photo ops





Another beautiful day for a boat ride


Being a ham at Grandma and Grandpa's house

She had a blast in the tree swing!




We had such a great trip and it was so nice to be able to see family. Thanks to everyone for such a great time!