Rowan and Stuff

Last week Rowan and I went to the local arboretum.
It was fun and they had a TON of flowers and plants!


Rowan got her workout in...


I got some photography in...


we found many rolly pollies...


and played pirates with some cool tree bark.
"Arg!"


***

A few days ago Rowan and I explored the trail near our house.

She rode her scooter...



blew weed seeds all over the ditch...




found new additions for her ever growing rock collection...




and we both came home with a nature collection.



I'm hoping to actually have some shots of Breck next week, since it's Spring Break!!

Presidents' Day Fun

Breck was off school yesterday and Seth's parents were still here visiting, so we went to a nature trail, out to eat and then to Town Center in The Woodlands to walk around.
...none of which had anything to do with Presidents.

Nature Trails

Town Center

 

Our Morning at Deanna Rose

Yesterday morning the kids and I headed out to Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead! 

We love going there! 

{especially since it's free}

This time we participated in many activities. 

{some of which are not free, but are still worthwhile!}

The kids love the petal tractors.
Breck was so excited, I'm surprised he didn't hurdle fences and push over babies and the elderly to get to them. 

We fished, which was a first for just me and the kids.
Unfortunately, a personal worm hooker is not part of the package, which meant I had to man-up and do it.

Below was about as close to catching a fish as we got.

I blame a faulty hook...or maybe super smart fish...because those worms were on there securely. 

Trust me.

We also fed goats!
Well, Rowan fed goats...


Breck watched from the sidelines.
He's rather scared of the pushy goats.



With looks like this guy was giving, I'm not sure I can blame him.



Turns out Breck is a good judge of character.



And since I know some of you don't travel over to my photo blog
{even though you should!}
here are some of the more artistic shots from the day...

More Fun in the Pool

Thanks for the squirt guns Aunt Amanda!

Birthday Fun

Last weekend we went to Iowa to celebrate the kids' birthdays - as well as my sister's - with my side of the family!
First we went to Grandma & Grandpa H's where the kids blew bubbles, had sword fights, water gun fights, and general fun!

Oh yeah, there was cake, pie, ice cream and of course presents too!




The next day we went to church with Grandma S. & Granddad!
After service, which was quite good by the way, we stopped at McD's for lunch then headed to the park for some playtime, more cake and more presents!
(the one advantage to having divorced grandparents is that you get double of everything!)

Summer Days are Here!

Recently we had our roof replaced, thanks to a crazy hail storm a couple months ago. And at some point during the roofing process our glass patio table top was shattered. The company definitely made things right (seems like we're on a roll with excellent customer service lately!) but for the time being we have no furniture for our deck.

And the kids are lovin' it!
Because it means that we now have room for our small blow-up pool! I don't think there could be a better spot for it - our deck gets the morning sunlight and then is shaded in the hot afternoons. Plus, we have hangers for plants attached to our house, which serve as perfect spots to hang the swim suits out to dry! ;)









And since we normally do not go swimming, we really don't have any pool toys to speak of, so the kids improvise. An air pump, for example, can easily be turned into a water gun!



...of course, plain ol' splashing is always a fine choice.






(if you also follow my photo blog you will see this exact same post over there later in the week.)

Evening at the Park

The other night the kids and I went to the park near our house...and I chronicled our walk there, playing on the equipment, and our walk home...which, in other words means this is a really long post!