Sea World!

For Spring Break, we went down to San Antonio to visit Bubbie & Zayde. While we were there we had our first amusement park experience at Sea World! Ben & Kate LOVED it! (Ben has had a thing for sharks ever since we saw Finding Nemo) Since the general admission price is about the same price as a season pass, we are now proud owners of season passes and plan to go back in August to do the swim park as well!

Here we are at the entrance gate, ready for our day of fun!

Feeding the dolphins was my favorite part! Ben & Kate were not afraid at all. I loved how close we were able to get to them!

Ben & Kate loved all the shows. They munched on snacks while they watched and were very attentive.

They had a Sesame Street Beach Party show going on and that we could not miss!

They also had several play areas. I think this picture is so cute- check out Bubbie's watchful eye in the background!

Ben & Daddy at the top of one of the play areas.

We watched a Pirates in 4D movie (4D in that you get a little wet, wind blows on you, etc) In hindsight it was probably a little too scary for Ben & Kate. Hope fully no permanent damage done!

So many neat animals!

Ben loved the fish and shark tanks. Our Zayde was the engineer that designed them! I promise he was there, he was always behind the camera!

We ended going for 2 days we had so much fun and we look forward to going back soon!

Big Kid Rooms

I have been slowly working on Ben & Kate's big kid rooms and they are starting to take shape! I still have quite a bit of work to do but this is what they look like so far....

Kate's walls are the same yellow that their nursery has always been and I knew I wanted fairies so I found the perfect fairy bedspread with yellow in it so I didn't have to repaint! I coordinated it with pink polka dots and plan to throw in some white eyelet too.

I still need to take the brown shelves down. I've ordered a flower canopy that will hang and need to create a few more art pieces for the walls.

This is the dresser I bought at a thrift store for $99. I repainted it and Zayde helped add the crystal knobs. I also painted the fairy pictures- they match the fairies in the bedspread.

I had her glider recovered in a white and lavender dot print. Just need to get a lamp shade for the floor lamp! Love the shaggy pink rug from Grammy. As you can see the crib is still there, every once in a while she chooses to sleep in it, if she gets out of her bed one to many times I put her in it to sleep. She doesn't try to climb out!

This is something I think is so sweet! When I was little I had a prism that hung in my window and every morning it would make little rainbows all in my room. So my mom got one for each Ben and Kate so when we have rainbows in the morning I say "Look Grammy sent you rainbows!"

Here is Ben's room. His comforter is plaid and he has both transportation and balls sheets. I plan on changing his sheets out as he gets older for whatever he is "into". The saying above his bed is a decal from etsy.com

Ben still sleeps in his crib exclusively, by his own choice. Such a good boy- he's never tried to climb out! His big boy bed will be ready when he is- I'll just add some rails on either side. Once I move the crib out I'll add a red shelf for his toys.

 Thanks for checking out our big kid rooms! I'll be sure to update once they are complete!

Has Spring Sprung?!?

Next week Bubbie is coming to visit and will bring the pictures she took of us at Sea World last weekend so I will be sure to blog about our great trip to San Antonio then!

In the meantime....

We have been enjoying some lovely weather here the past few days. We've busted out the spray bottles and watering cans! I'm hoping Ben & Kate will help me keep our flowers alive this spring and summer by helping me remember to water them! Between Kate, Ben, Mark and our fish I have a hard time keeping anything else alive!

Here is one of my little gardeners giving the pansies a good spray.

Work, work, work!

Kate watering Kate.

To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower is to hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour. ~ William Blake

Day Out with Thomas

Yesterday we ventured over to Grapevine with some of our neighbor friends to Day Out with Thomas. I wasn't quite sure what to expect bu told Ben & Kate they were going to ride a big Thomas. Ben kept saying "I'm so excited to ride Thomas!" and I just knew Ben was going to LOVE this activity! Kate was pretty excited too even though she doesn't care too much about trains. I dressed her up in one of Ben's smaller Thomas shirts and tried to girl it up a little!

 

 Here they are on the porch before we left the house.

This is a shot of the whole crew that day. (L to R) Ben, Hadley, Kate, Sean, Shawn, & Adam

There were many stations to visit: a petting zoo, temporary tattoos, a bouce house, train exhibits and more....

Ben checking out the pink glittered pony. He wore his engineer hat all morning.

Kate & Hadley petting a bunny.

Showing off Thomas tattoos on their hands.

The highlight of the day was taking a 20 minute train ride on Thomas. A conductor came by to punch our tickets and pose for a picture!

I highly recommend this outing to other tiny Thomas fans- it was a really fun day! If Ben is still into Thomas next year I'll be glad to go again!

Do not train boys to learning by force and harshness, but lead them by what amuses them, so that they may better discover the bent of their minds.
-- Plato

Purim Carnival

Last weekend was Purim, which is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar! It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination from the evil Haman. The story is found in the book of Esther. It is usually celebrated in late February/ early March. The carnival like atmosphere of Purim gives it a Mardi Gras/ Halloween feel.

The night before we made hamentashen, which are traditional Jewish cookies, shaped like Haman's hat.

 

The next day we went to a Purim Festival, dressed as Superman & Tinkerbell! There was games, face painting, hair spraying, bounce houses and a play reenacting the story of Purim. Ben & Kate had a BLAST!

Kate got her nails painted at "Queen Esther's Nail Salon"- love it!

Ben got a baseball and basketball painted on his face. They LOVE getting their faces painted now since we've done it a few times lately!

Kate got a HUGE butterfly painted on her face and was pleased as punch with herself! She sat so still and patiently. I loved seeing her smile when she saw herself in the mirror!

 

And because I couldn't decide which picture was cuter, here are two of them together! I will treasure these pictures always....

 

"Life is a festival only to the wise." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Grammy Visits/ Superhero & Princess Playdate

Ben & Kate are lucky enough to have TWO sets of fabulous grandparents, plus a bunch of aunts, uncles, cousins and a great grandma who all love them to pieces!

We were so lucky to have Grammy come for a nice visit while Mark was traveling. We had a great time doing fun stuff (like riding a choo choo at the mall) as well as getting some house projects done (which Grammy is a pro at!) We missed Gran who was having a tooth issue but we look forward to seeing him soon.

 

  

While Grammy was here it was my turn to host our neighborhood weekly playdate. We had a Superhero & Princess theme and it was a lot of fun. The girls got their nails painted (Kate's new favorite thing ever since the Princess Party) and made princess wands. The boys put on superhero tatoos and decorated Spiderman masks. They were all a hoot in their costumes!

 

Sean as "Buzz Lightyear"

 

Princesses riding a choo choo

 

Princess Snack Break!

Super Hero snacks!

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting.  ~Author Unknown