Cooper at the playday

A few months ago, Lindsey asked me if she could sign Cooper up for another playday in Magnolia. I went back and forth about it, because of swimming lessons, but decided to go for it. We practiced at her house one afternoon and that Friday, headed to Magnolia for the playday. He was very excited and I was even more excited to not miss it. Last year, both Jason and I arrived after the events were over due to traffic.

Lindsey led Cooper through the events while we watched.

They arranged it so that all 3 events were set up in the area. This helped things move pretty quickly, which is key when young kids are involved.

Lindsey had pumped Cooper up about the prizes they had this year. Last year, he was thrilled with his ribbons and medal, but knew he could win a buckle this year. All of the kids were gathered up while they made the announcements. Cooper won first in one event and second in the other two.

We knew they were actually giving out two buckles, but he did not. Needless to say, he was a little bummed. My competitive kid!

And he was completely shocked when he realized he DID win a buckle.

He was almost as excited as his Aunt Sassy.

A big thanks to the Magnolia 4-H and the people who donated for these events.

First Baseball Practice

Jason & Kyle agreed to coach Cooper & Eileen in baseball again this year. We managed to get most of the kids together from last year and were also lucky enough to be the Houston Astros. We waited until the time changed & held our first practice.

The kids started by stretching.

Evan is pretty sure he's on the team.

The whole team is ready for the first game!

Rodeo Time in Texas

The kids were pretty excited to dress up for Go Texan Day. This is Houston's way of celebrating the kick off of Rodeo season.

Getting both kids to stand still for a photo was almost impossible.

Caitlin wasn't exactly in the mood.

But Cooper fixed that.

She thinks her brother is hilarious.

I think he's pretty cool, too.

March Phone Photos

March started by baptizing a beautiful new family member.

Jason & I were honored to be witnesses for this cute baby. Cooper is excited to have a new baby cousin.

Caitlin got a few new outfits. She loves pulling the cushion out & standing in this chair...& has no fear.

This girl love wearing her boots.

Cooper did something to his forehead and I can't even remember what. But he ended up causing it to bleed again at school and got an awesome Ninja Turtle band-aid.

Cooper lost his Ninja Turtle in the Philadelphia Airport when we arrive on our trip. Sadly, we realized it in baggage claim and could not go back to look for it. By the time someone checked, it was gone. I called several times to lost and found, but it wasn't turned in. We decided to let him use some of his birthday money & earn more in chores to buy a replacement.

He was pretty pumped.

Pops & Nana took the kids to buy new boots. After the shopping trip, we all went out to dinner. The kids loved playing with the patio toys.

Cooper got to wear some cool shades at the dentist.
Caitlin came home from school one day in their clothes & dressed like she was participating in a Sweatin' to the Oldies video.

She's a sassy girl in her boots.

Cooper can't really fit into the Gator, but Caitlin insists on being driven around. She will climb in & yell "Bubba, SIT!"

Someone had to take a call:

Caitlin figured out how to drive the Gator, but Cooper has to ride in the back to give it enough weight.

Cooper & I celebrated the first day of spring at Rita's.

St. Patty's Day do-nuts!

I just love this girl when she smiles.

Days got longer and we started baseball practice.

Ms. Kelly called one day asking if Eileen & Evan could "Egg" our house for Easter. Cooper was convinced the Easter Bunny came early.

Cooper sang in church again on Palm Sunday.

And we ended the month with our first swim of the year.

Galveston Vacation

Earlier this year, my mom had a training class scheduled in Galveston. I happened to have a day off for President's Day, so Cooper and I decided to go along for the trip. Her class was held at the San Luis Resort, which has a great heated pool. Sadly, the weather forecast was pretty rotten and I didn't even pack bathing suits.

We headed down Monday morning to check in and decide what to do.

Cooper and I drove over to The Strand to take a look around. I knew Galveston had a few options he would enjoy - a rail road museum, the Tall Ship Elissa and the Offshore Drilling museum. I really thought he would go for Elissa, but he decided on the Offshore Drilling Museum first. It was pretty nasty weather - cold & raining - so touring inside was perfect.

I have to say, I found the museum pretty interesting. I work with a lot of oil & gas companies and it was nice to see what they do. I'd highly recommend it for older kids - there is a lot of reading involved and Cooper wasn't really on board with that. The museum is filled with models of drilling ships and rigs and quite a bit of old equipment.

This was probably his second favorite thing:

With this being his most favorite. He claimed that one day he wants to really ride in one of these.

Once we finished, I realized we had enough time to check out the Tall Ship Elissa as well. We headed over to the ship, where I spent most of the time trying to explain to Cooper that it MIGHT not have really been a pirate ship.

He didn't believe me.

That evening, Nana took us to a local candy shop on The Strand and we grabbed dinner at The Black Pearl Oyster Bar. It was so good!!

The next morning, Cooper and I headed to Moody Gardens to the aquarium.

Cooper loved seeing the sharks! They have a pretty good shark exhibit, complete with a set of jaws!

Later that afternoon, we made our final stop at the Children's Museum. It is located in the basement level of the Moody Mansion. Cooper was probably just the right age, though some exhibits were a little young for him. He spent over 2 hours just running around, trying everything out.

They have an awesome room where you can build tracks for wooden balls to roll down. We ended up spending most of our time there, tying new tracks out & having races. This was the perfect rainy day activity.

Cooper packed a few Lego sets with him & we built the small Millennium Falcon while we waited on Nana to finish her classes.

The next morning, the sun finally came out. I took Cooper to walk on the beach and climb out on the jetty. He loved climbing on the rocks and running around.

I really enjoyed spending time with just Cooper. He had a great trip and was so well behaved. We could have easily filled another day, checking out museums or just walking around. We came across a few great parks, but didn't get to explore them because of the weather. I can't wait to do something similar with Caitlin.