Spring is here!

It has been such a cold spring for Houston. I started telling Gavin that we needed to move to a warmer climate or I was going to freeze. But hopefully that is over now! The flowers and trees are in full bloom and everywhere is beautiful and full of color. My friend and I went to the arboretum to enjoy the spring day and the azaleas were AMAZING! They had them EVERYWHERE. It was so beautiful. I tried to take a few pictures of Emery in front of some of them.

We left early before it got too hot so she was still in her pajamas. I'm a classy mom like that. The whole time we were there Emery kept telling us all about the baby turtle that was crying and, "come on! We have to go help the baby turtle!" And she would race off down the path. Well we didn't see any turtles by the ponds or marshy areas where they usually are but my friend spotted this guy by a bush on our way out. Emery was so excited she finally found her baby turtle. 

German Festival

The town we live in has a German Festival every year and Emery and I decided to attend this year. Gavin was on a scouting campout for the weekend so we went with a friend and her two kids. It was basically a fair with people in awesome costumes and yodeling. Emery really liked the yodeling which surprised me a little bit. She didn't take her eyes off the performers.

 Emery rode her first carousel:

As you can see she is thoroughly enjoying it. :)

We watched other kids ride big rides and I realized that Gavin and I have never ridden a rollercoaster together. That made me a little bit sad so I added that to our marriage bucket list and told him the next one that comes along we WILL ride, even if we pay a ridiculous sum of money to ride it.

We also ate the biggest corn dog I've ever eaten in my life. Emery's arms were too short to bite off the end. I tried to get a video of her attempting to eat it because it was hilarious and she was smearing ketchup all over her face, but I missed it. 

It was a really fun day. We saw and heard lots of fun things. I think we will try and go again next year!

Bubble Bath

There are jets in the tub in our master bathroom and they make for some amazing bubbles. They were so big at first that Emery was too chicken to get in! We finally coaxed her in the water and she had so much fun. 

Squeaky clean after all those bubbles! What a cute girl.

A little bit of nature

A few weeks ago my friend discovered some nature trails about 20 minutes away from us. We headed over there one day and they were beautiful. I miss the mountains (or hills if I'm in Boise) and feeling like nature is close by. I really miss the Boise river and greenbelt and try not to think about it or I get sad. Anyways (must...stop...thinking...about...greenbelt...), the walks we took through the "woods" really refreshed me. I enjoyed it so much that Emery and I took Gavin with us a few days later. And then we took John and Mary Lou when they came to visit.

Isn't this tree breathtaking? One trail led to a big clearing with nothing except a few huge oak trees in it. And they looked like this one: old and craggly yet majestic. 

 This is an old windmill that has been overgrown with trees. The pictures of this don't do it justice. It has this...I don't know, quiet feeling, where you can see Nature has patiently waited to have her space back. The trees have twisted up through the bars and sometimes you have to look twice to see what's metal and what's tree. I guess this land was once a prairie then a family came and turned it to a farm. The son that inherited it didn't want a farm so he planted acres of trees. 

Check out that twisty branch!

When my friend and I went it had been raining for a few days prior to our visit. There were these weird fungus things growing on the trail. My friend pointed out they look like pig snouts, so that's what we called them. They were pretty gross, full of flies and gnats. But I had never seen anything like them so I had to snap a picture. 

Gavin and Emery enjoying the walk. 

NASA

Gavin's parents came to Texas two weeks ago and we had a blast. Gavin took a day off work and we all went to NASA and then on to Galveston for the first day. I had never been to NASA before and was pleasantly surprised how family-friendly it was. They had a big slide and games to play and things to build, and of course shuttles and spacesuits to see.

Emery had the best seat in the house. We were waiting in line for the Tram ride that takes you to the shuttles. Luckily we got there early and didn't have to wait long. They had a NASA parody of Gangnam Style playing and while it was funny the first time, it was quickly going from funny to annoying.

Tobin, Emery and Grandma, finally seated in the Tram. 

Whitney and Maylee, excited to see the spaceships. Maylee REALLY wanted to see an astronaut.

Gavin and his Dad

This is on the tour through one of the buildings. It's a real live spacesuit! They had a lot of robotic stuff that was pretty cool, one had fingers so precise it could text on a cell phone without needing autocorrect---I can't even do that!

Standing in front of one of the rockets. 

This part of the ship fascintated me. There were thousands of wires, tubes, switches, and buttons. To me it looked like a jumbled mess, but someone knows what every one of those things does and where it goes and why it's important.  

You can't really see it but there's a moon rock in that case.

We took lots of pictures at NASA and then NONE in Galveston. Oh well. We played on the beach until the wind got too strong (Gavin even swam--brrr!), walked around the shops in downtown Galveston, and had dinner at a little diner on the way home. It was a FULL day, but it was a FUN day! 

Frozen

We finally watched Frozen. Emery wasn't quite old enough to sit through the movie in the theater yet so I've been waiting and waiting for it to come out on DVD. Over Christmas break she heard the music from my sister and her daughter and she LOVED it. She would randomly burst out in "Let it go" but those were the only words she knew so she would just repeat them over and over.

We bought the digital version...on google play or something...and watched it a week or two ago. We all loved it. Well, I actually didn't like it the first time I watched it because *****SPOILER****** I was so mad that the first guy betrayed her. They SANG a SONG together!!! You can't have a lovey dovey romantic Disney duet with a princess and a BAD GUY. Come on, Walt! Gavin tried to tell me that Hans was bad news but I just kept telling him, "No! He can't be, it's TRUE LOVE!" Apparently, I am not a love expert (Wow, I've watched this movie too many times and I'm way too invested in the story).

But after watching it once the songs get in your head and sink themselves so deeply into your brain that everything seems to trigger "Let it Goooooooo" or "For the first time in foreeeeeveeeeeerr". The music is beautiful and no one can sing like Idina. So we have watched it a few times.

Emery loves it, here she is getting ready to watch it for the first time (in foreeeevveeeerr) with Gavin and some snacks.

Gavin learned the reindeer song on the guitar and sings it to her. She can't get enough of it. I loved Disney movies growing up, still do, and it makes me happy that she gets to experience them too. 

Santa's Day Job

This past Christmas there was a school bus driver that stopped to pick up middle school kids close to our house. The bus usually comes after Emery and I are home from walking Bella to school, but we had stopped to chat with some friends on the last day before Christmas break and the bus pulled up while we were there. The door opened and I noticed the driver was an older gentleman with a white beard, red furry hat, and a red jacket. Santa Claus! I pointed it out to Emery and the other little girl with us and they were quite excited. "Santa" waved, ho-ho-ed, and wished the girls a Merry Christmas. Three months later Emery still says "Santa's in there" or just "Santa in the bus" when we see a school bus. I guess he probably could use another job for toy off-season, might as well drive a bus!