An Underwater View

With Q's love of the ocean, Mimi wanted to give him a fun aquarium feel in his new room. After spending several days of Spring Break inside with paint, brushes & a free hand, he was ecstatic with the results. These pictures do not give justice to all of the details of the creatures. She is so talented with a paintbrush! A huge thank you to Mimi -- we love it!!

massive hammerheads & sea life...

fishies swimming above his bed...

a cute diver...

surrounding his head...

sea horses...

above his bookshelf...

his favorite part -- the eel...

Bubble Mania

After a yummy Irish dinner this evening, in honor of St. Patrick, these two coerced Mimi & PaPa into having one of their super-duper bubble baths. Let me tell you, they are serious about their bubbles!

Good-Bye Spring Break

Our last few days of Spring Break bliss looked a little like this....

hanging out at the park...

and having some fun in our neighbor's heated pool...

King's Orchard

The beautiful weather led us to King's Orchard this afternoon. When I called earlier in the week to check on the strawberry status, I was told the pickings were slim from the loads of Spring Breakers. Their idea of slim pickings = the perfect amount of berries for our crew. The kids had fun running up & down the rows of fruit, trying to find the perfectly ripened ones. I can't wait to return for peach season. Yum, Yum!!

#1 berry picker...

our yummy red treasures...

in charge of the wagon...

securing the berries...

Q using his muscles...

counting her loot...

my awesome helpers...

St. Patty's Day at the Zoo

Today, the leprechauns & I headed out to the zoo for a little St. Patrick's Day fun. We enjoyed watching the baby elephant & his Mama have their morning bath, as well as the lettuce buffet offered to the giraffes. While the crowds were thick, we didn't have to stand in any lines. We were back at home in time for lunch and an afternoon trip to the dog park. Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!!

Q and the raccoon...

pretty giraffes...

R's favorite animal... Hook'em Horns?

Mama elephant having a snack...

silly animals...

Ri and the sea lion...

The Best Ice-Cream in the Country

On Tuesday, we took a little day trip over to Brenham, TX for a tour of the Blue Bell Creameries. The kids really enjoyed watching the factory workers pour the chocolate syrup into the "Chocolate Mud Pie", as well as stirring the strawberry & banana concoction into the "Banana Split" flavor. The making of the ice-cream sandwiches was pretty cool to watch, too! The best part of the tour.....sampling the product!

two cuties on an original delivery truck...

pyramid of yummy-ness...

a few important people...

more yummy-ness...

somebody loves ice-cream...

a girl and her dairy cow...

a boy and the dairy cow...

Daylight Savings Day

My sweet friend, Leigh, who I've known since my first year of teaching, offered to help me have a yard sale on Saturday. What a friend! After a long day of dealing with hagglers and standing on my feet, I needed a little time with two of my favorite people. So, bright & early today, they both requested a trip to the dog park. Do you think they were really thinking about Dakota or did they want to get their hands on another one of those yummy snow cones?!

By the way, Spring Break is officially here! We're headed to CS tomorrow to spend a few days with Grandma & Paw Paw and then back to start on the baby's room. Stay tuned.

Ramblings

Saturday proved to be a yucky day with the cold & rainy weather. Q & Dad headed out for an early morning fishing trip with Mr. Chris & Carter. No luck was had for the Schmidt boys, but the Williamson's reeled in three big ones.

Sunday turned out to be a gorgeous day! The sun brought on yummy snowcones, after a picnic & a trip to the dog park.

A big birthday celebration for UB, too! Thanks to Mimi for the wonderful dinner -- crab cakes & shrimp scampi! Yum! Happy Birthday, UB!!

Sugar Britches

My sweet girl is being treated for flu. After what we thought was a 12-hour stomach virus, she ran 102 degree fever the following evening and day. I took her in when I couldn't get the fever down with Ibuprofen and/or tepid bath water. Scans were ran of her chest, ruling out pnemonia. We were then prescribed Tamiflu, which seems to be working on the aches, pains & fever. She even ate oatmeal this morning for breakfast after three days of nothing.

I'll be glad to have my happy girl back!!!

partying it up at Jayden's birthday party on Saturday...

loving on her buddy Rees...

cutie pie party go'ers...

While Q was at his reading class, R & I went to the Rob Fleming park for the "Touch a Truck" festivities. There were trucks of all kinds -- a fire truck, an ambulance, a school bus, an 18-wheeler, a bull-dozer & other work trucks. My girl wasn't really into them or their horns, so we walked over to the nearby park. Free play is more her style.

checking out the park on Saturday morning...

a cool slide...