Blake and Larissa (and the girls of course!)

So my new theory on keeping this blog current is to make shorter entries more frequently.  I would love to get to a once a week habit…especially before baby comes in August!  Yikes!

But for now, we are stuck playing catch up for the better part of the winter and spring (as it’s now April).

The big event for the New Year was our ski trip to Breckenridge.  This was our first year to take Ginny.  Couple that with being about 13 weeks pregnant and staying with four other families in a house, it made for a chaotic few days!  We all had a good time in the end, although I will say that taking a ski trip without skiing, sitting in the jacuzzi or having a glass of red wine at the end of the day, is not much fun.  😦  Plus Grace slipped getting out of the hot tub and cut her forehead and had to get 6 stitches over her right eye (the exact same place as Ginny’s cut, less than three months later).  Other than my belly-aching and Grace’s head wound trama, we had a great time visiting with friends and I think the girls really liked skiing.  Here are some pictures from the trip:

Ginny talked the ski instructor into letting her lovey ride with her during her ski lesson.  That’s “bunny” sticking out of her ski school vest.  🙂

Maddie and Grace were in the same ski school and did really well this year.  They got to ride the chair lift and do a run down the mountain this year!

Ginny learning how to do the “pizza” (to stop) and “the french fries” (to go).

The girls all bundled up (and stitched up, poor baby) ready for ski school.

Our next big adventure of the spring was the Houston Rodeo!  This year Grammy and Pops came with us (with Ava!) and we took the Metro Rail from downtown, after picking up Daddy, to Reliant.  It definitely took a while longer to get there and back, but it was worth it!  The girls loved the train and the walk from the Metro stop to the entrance was so short! It’s on the list for next year for sure.  Here are some pictures to highlight the trip:

Ginny and Ava in the petting zoo part.  They had baby goats, lambs, deer (which were super annoying and tried to eat all of our clothes), chickens and bunnies.  Ava and Ginny had a great time in there and were pretty brave considering most animals were as tall as they were!

Grace and Ginny in the Kid Zone area where they teach kids about farming and agriculture.  The rodeo does such a good job of catering to the little kids!

And no rodeo trip is complete without a pony ride or two.  Grace is an old pro at this now, as evident by her barely holding on, whereas Ginny has a death grip on the saddle horn.  🙂

The picture on the left is of Ms Moo, whom the girls loved.  The one on the right is Ginny and Grace eating their ice cream at the end of the day.  Matching pink cowgirl outfits were gifts from Grammy and Pops.  I bought the girls the boots and since this is our third rodeo to go to, I think we have pink boots in just about every size!

Next came Easter.  The girls had a great time at Grammy and Pops’ house hunting for Easter eggs.  Grace was sure this year we were going to trap the Easter Bunny in her trap that she laid out the night before (see picture below with the upside down green bucket and sign that says “Welcome to the Land of Carrots, I Love You).  She put a plate full of carrots under it to entice him.  🙂

Finally, Grace had her kindergarten field trip to the zoo a few weeks ago.  I was choosen as chaperone, but since the Mom to kid ratio was about 1 to 1, I didn’t do a lot of chaperoning.  The kids had a great time, but both Moms and kiddos were exhausted at the end of the day.  🙂

Grace and her group next to the Kimono dragon (this is the one animal that she “had to see” at the zoo… don’t ask me why).

Her teacher, Mrs. Pope, joined our group for a while before lunch.

I love this picture of the kids “reading” the map trying to decide where we were going next.

So that’s it for now.  Like I said earlier, I am aiming for smaller posts more often to stay current.  Wish me luck!