The Children's Museum

While at MD Anderson for Alan's medical appointments, we took a break to visit the Children's Museum of Houston.

Still a little woozy from the anesthesia for his scans this morning, Alan started off slow with a bead maze in the Tot Spot.



After checking himself out in the mirrored foam area, Alan decided he was ready to take a stroll.



Then Alan decided to play with the balls on the pinball wall.



Up, up...



... and away!



In the mean time, Kevin found himself some wheels.



Alan then abandoned the pinball wall for the pinwheel flowers.



Now feeling much more energized, Alan started cruising across the tot bridge...



... over the hills...



... and down the steps!



Then it was time to circle the round race track and send some cars flying.



After leaving the Tot Spot, Kevin decided to check out the Power Play feature.



It was fun climbing up and down the discs to get to the bottom floor.







Downstairs, there was a snowboard/skiing room.



Kevin and Daddy hang ten.



Kevin finishes up our visit with a hop onto a big bike!

Opening Day at Morgan's Wonderland

We've been waiting with great anticipation for opening day of Morgan's Wonderland's second season. Alan has been confined by a cast since his surgery so the accessibility of Morgan's Wonderland is just what we needed!


Beep Beep!


Music!

and more music...

An enormous xylophone


Alan notices the frame looks like an "A" while getting secured on the swing


Whee!


One advantage of being stuck in the chair, being closer to the water cannon!


Alan and Daddy shoot water


Getting onto the Off-Road Adventure Ride


From previous experience we knew we needed to give Alan extra layers and a change of clothes when playing at the water tables.

A visit from the Tooth Fairy

We noticed a few weeks ago that Kevin had two teeth coming in on the bottom. The problem was, the two baby teeth weren't budging, not even a little. The big boy teeth were coming in right behind the baby teeth and didn't push them out of the way or break down or loosen the roots of the baby teeth. Apparently this often happens with the front teeth, so the dentist's verdict was to pull them.

So this morning, Kevin had his two lower front teeth pulled. Here he is with a new less-tooth grin!



He was pretty woozy from the procedure, he spent the afternoon resting quietly with his head in Mommy's lap. The Tooth Fairy had something special for him at bedtime - a balloon with lots of ribbon to commemorate the occasion...



and...





... a Star Wars book!

Wild Life!

Today we went to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch with Grandma to enjoy a lovely, sunny day. Perfect for going on safari! After watching Madagascar 1 and 2 so many times, it was fun for the boys to see some of the animals in real life. The first thing we saw when we got there was the giraffe enclosure. The boys were excited and Alan even cried out "Melman!". Since we got there mid-morning, it wasn't too busy yet and we finished the circuit without too much waiting. Lunch, and then we saw a peacock outside the gift shop! The lemurs were laying out in the sun, probably trying to get warm after yesterday's snow. Then it was one more go around the park, much slower this time as everyone else also decided this was a perfect day to feed the critters. What a fun day and one we will be sure to repeat!


This rather cheeky zebra was quite curious


A baby zebra!


Traffic jam!


I'm coming! I know you have food!


Big bird!


Kevin gets his squished pennies


Giraffes! including baby Marigold


Kevin and Alan are enjoying the animals


Checking out Lemur Island


Where is King Julien?


More lemurs!


Hi there!


Ostrich and burro eating well as we finished off our third bag of food

[slideshow]

Snow Day

Although friends up north may laugh, today was a snow day here in South Texas. I was up with Alan at 2:30 in the morning and saw that the road was covered. Come morning it was still all over the roads, dusting the trees and bushes, but not much on the grass.

Kevin's school was closed for the day, so Grandma took him out into the back yard to check out the snow. Then we bundled up Alan and we all went on a walk around the Circle. It was fun seeing all our neighbours out enjoying the day. Lots of the kids were "tobogganing" and "sledding" on boogie boards and laundry baskets - whatever works! One of them was walking with their big, friendly, shaggy dog and Alan got all excited! Doggie says "woof"!


The backyard (full size)


The front yard (full size)


Grandma took Kevin to check out the snow out back


Up...


... and down the Circle


Alan was glad to finally get out of the house!


Kevin and Grandma

Witte boys

While Auntie Joys was in town to help out, we went to the Witte Museum. The boys had fun making music, looking at the butterfly displays and dinosaur bones, and checking out the Texas ecosystem. We had some Mexican food across the street before heading home.


Playing the flip flops on the big pipes


Drumming on the recyclables