Animals with Evey

Posted on by Robert

For Christmas we got a Zoo Pass from Nana and Paw Paw.  During our holiday vacation time we decided to go to the Zoo and start using the pass.  With the pass we can also get in friends, so we invited John, Kristen and Evey to come with us.

Here’s Levi checking out some Meercats right after we arrived.

 No, that bear isn’t dead, I think it just preferred the idea of hibernating to doing anything else.

 Evey was trying to hop her way through the crowd with parental assist.

 Levi had a little fun in the play area they added in the new African Forest section at the zoo.  The African Forest by the way is way over hyped and small.  It only has like 3 animal enclosures and wastes a lot of space.  I was disappointed.

 Levi brought his wagon with him and Evey rode along.

 Here’s Levi checking out the African Forest brochure while Evey takes a drink.

 Oooh, chimpanzees.

 The carousel was a big hit.  We get half price tickets with the pass, which was cool too.

 Evey looks serious because she’s busy taking it all in.

 I think Levi was busy making noise, hence his expression.

 Levi the Lion tamer.

 A smile from Kristen and Evey.

 Taking a break after a busy morning.

 Levi was ready to get going, he was getting rowdy.

 But the train ride in Hermann park calmed him down.

 At least for a bit.

 Self portrait.

 Shot assist from the people behind us.

 The train!

 In the park you can get on the train at various spots.  I thought it was funny when this group in the front got on.  There was only one row available, so all 5 of them got on.  These were not small people.

 This last week was Evey’s 2nd birthday.  She was born almost a year after Levi exactly.  For her party there was a petting zoo and pony rides.

Levi was not afraid of the animals.  here he is with a baby goat.

 And terrorizing some bunnies.

 And riding the smaller pony, Soldier Boy.

 He did a good job and was an example for some of the other kids that were more worried.  He wasn’t so sure about the larger pony, Paul, though.  I finally told him Paul was taller and had longer legs so he could go faster.  That did it.  Never mind the fact that the handler was walking the ponies at the same speed.

 Here’s Evey, Gus and Levi watching the 3 week old goat get some milk.

It was a fun time, and everyone was tired afterward.  Another post will be coming soon.

Posted in birthdays, Evey, Levi, OMG Ponies, Zoo

End of Year Blowout

Posted on by Robert

December was a busy month for our house with lots of grandparents in town.  We started out the month by doing some decorating.  Levi got his own tree in his room this year, which he loved.  Here we are checking out the battery powered LED lights.

 And decorating the tree.

 Little plastic ornaments for him.

 We also did some baking together.  Levi loves to help and to use the mixer.  Here his is in his fancy apron and not much more.  He’s our little naked chef.  Undies only.

 Kendra’s company has a great Christmas party each year.  We get all dressed up and go out for a fancy dinner.  This year was in Galveston and was a casino theme.  It was lots of un.

Kendra’s mom works for the same company, so we took a picture together.

 Some good friends Brian and Ann-Marie also come.

 We also hosted a holiday dinner with our small group from church at our house.  Here’s Reagan playing queen of the mountain on Levi’s play set.  He’s on his way up.

 And then down the slide.

 Here’s the whole group.  Seated is Jodi, Reagan, Natalie, Will and Nathaniel.  Standing is David, Brooklyn, Levi, Myself (Robert), Kinsey and Kendra.

 Here we are cooking again.  Clothes this time.

 We went to Dickinson’s Wonderland of Lights again this year.  We went with Levi’s Nana and Paw Paw.  They got him this fancy light up spinning thing.

 He couldn’t take his eyes off it.

 Here they are together.

 And Levi with his mommy and daddy.

 And a shot we reproduce every year.

 And again with Nana and Paw Paw.

There was also an eclipse this year, so I played with the camera.  It was nice and clear to start with.

 By the end it was a bit cloudy, so the long exposures got a bit blurred by clouds that moved by.

Levi had lots of fun opening presents.  Here he is at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

 He got a cool Toy Story 3 book with his name in it that he is reading here.

 He had fun hanging out with Grandpa on the recliner.

 At our house he got a really cool book from his Uncle Larry and Aunt Sallie.  He loves the pop out dinosaur book and we read it relatively often.  Dinosaurs are an automatic win, and when they pop out they’re even better.

 Here he is checking out the front.

  We had Christmas Eve dinner at Kendra’s mom’s house.  I went to get a soda from the fridge and it slid sideways off the pile of sodas when my hand slipped on the condensation.

 Jennifer’s pie did not fair well in the ensuing impact.  It was still good.

 Later we opened presents again.  Levi liked the Scentsy stuff, he loves smelling them.

 He wanted to help everyone.

The tree was all decorated and loaded up.

 Levi got a frog you scrape to make a noise from Uncle Matt and Aunt Jennifer.

 This is a great book called The Aliens are Coming.

 This is my new awesome corndog maker.

 And Levi’s new Toy Story 3 Duplos.

 He’s excited about them.

 Later we played with Duplos in the living room.

 And took a family shot.

 Then a bit more play time after bath.

 The next day at home on Christmas our tree was ready to go.

 With all sorts of new stuff.

 Another dinosaur book.  This time with Dinosaur Train, a PBS show.

 A new Thomas the train set addition.  A crane!

 Setting it up with the set.

Later on Nana and Paw Paw came by to open presents.

 And watch videos on the phone.

 Nana also came over for dinner and Levi showed her his cool new Super Duper Computer from Super Why on PBS.

 This was taken as we wrapped up the year at the Dougherty’s house for New Years Eve.  Levi started out with us and then headed out to party with Mimi and Granddaddy.

 2011!

That wraps up 2010, so Happy New Year and I’ll catch up more coming up.

Posted in aliens, Christmas, dinosaurs, Levi, New Years Eve

Posted on by Kendra

Baby Shower!

I hosted a baby shower for my friend Ann.  Ann had a baby boy in November named William.  She is the mom to Olivia who has made frequent blog appearances. We are blessed to be able to have friends like them.  Ann and I met in prenatal yoga when we were pregnant with with Levi and Olivia.  Olivia is 6 days younger than Levi.

Handmade quilt to add Williams name to.

Viva La Cake Balls

Christina and Ann were due pretty close together.
Posted in Uncategorized

Posted on by Kendra

Birthday Party fun!

When I was in between teaching and my job now, I worked at Sylvan Learning Center as a teacher.  Looking back now, it was one of the best jobs I had because of the long time friends I made there.  These ladies are some of the most genuine, loving a caring people I have in my life.  Even though we don’t get to see each other as much as we like, it is like we never missed a beat. I am so thankful that God lead me through that stage of my life so that I could meet such awesome ladies.

I wish I had more photos to show.  This was a surprise birthday party at Perla’s house for our friend Theresa.  Theresa is such a strong woman and trusts God with all her heart.  Theresa is a breast cancer survivor and is now beating another cancer.  She is my age with a little boy who is 1 year older than Levi.  I do have to say that she is an inspiration for me.  I don’t know if I could be as strong, trusting and brave as she if I were placed in her shoes. 

I hope and pray we get to spend many more birthdays celebrating!

Lezley, Dee, Melissa, and Casey

Birthday Girl- Theresa

Posted in Uncategorized

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