baby kate waves to the elephants

Today, Katelyn and I went to the zoo.  I'm not one hundred percent sure Kate knew that she was at the zoo.  She didn't really care about any of the animals.  Except she liked the elephants.  She waved at the elephants.  At one point, a huge male lion stood up, shook his rusty colored mane and walked within five feet of the glass enclosure.  I squealed, "Look Kate!  A lion!  Roar!"  She didn't even care.  I was pretty excited about it though.

We went to the zoo with the Moms and Tots group from our ward.  It was so cold that morning but quickly warmed up and was an absolutely beautiful day for watching the animals (or not watching the animals, if you're Katelyn).

I tried to get a picture of the two of us but Kate wasn't really interested in posing for the camera.

She was too busy waving to her friends on the carousel.

 

The zoo is right next to D's work so we had a lunch date with Daddy.

Katelyn loved "helping" her dad in his office for a bit after lunch.

We had a great time walking around at the zoo.  Maybe next time, Kate will be a bit older and more interested in observing the wildlife. :)

mondays are just a walk in the park

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day.  The temperature hovered right around 70 and the sun lingered behind some light clouds to provide a winning combination of sunshine and shade.  My mom and I decided to talk Katelyn out for a walk in the park.

Katelyn sat up in the stroller with out the car seat.  I can't believe she is growing up so fast!  I remember the first time D and I took her to the park.  She was only a few weeks old and we had some major cabin fever so we put Kate in the stroller and had a picnic at the park.  She was so tiny in that little car seat and she slept the entire time.

Yesterday, Baby K spent the time drinking juice and enjoying all of the wildlife we spotted.

Walks are one of Katelyn's favorite things.  She is always happy to sit and look around or take a nap while I do the walking.

national night out

For the past week, there has been a sign on the side of the road advertising "National Night Out" at 5 p.m. in the Target parking lot.  Naturally, I needed to find out what was going down in the parking lot tonight.

My mom, Katelyn, D and I ventured out to see what was going on.  It was a fair with different community vendors and law enforcement vehicles.  People were dancing and handing out candy and it was pretty fun.

First we looked at this fire truck.  There were so many different dials and switches!

Then we checked out this giant SWAT truck.  You can't really tell from this picture but it was massive.  It was like something you would see on TV.

The Chickfila cow was out dancing and handing out free chicken sandwich coupons.

D showed up dressed in his work clothes.

 

Target was giving out free hot dogs, chips, and cupcakes decorated to look like bull's eyes.

The weather was really nice and an evening storm brought a cool breeze so my mom and I decided to walk home.

All of the vendors were handing out free stuff.  Check out all the swag we came home with!  We had a really great time. :)

baby kate goes to the bayou bucket

Today was the annual Houston Bayou Bucket, a game between UH and Rice where the winning teams gets a trophy with an ugly bucket on top.  Get it?  Like a bowl game but a bucket???  Lol.

My dad and D were already planning to go but when my mom and I heard that the game would take place in the air conditioned Reliant Stadium with seats that have backs, we decided that we were in too.  It was a good thing that the game was indoors because it rained all day long!

This was Katelyn's first football game and we weren't sure how she would hold up in such a loud and crowded environment.  She loved it!  When we first got into the stadium, we found that our seats we right next to the band.  She wasn't too sure about the band and their music at first but after a while didn't even seem to notice.
Every time the Cougars scored a touchdown (which surprisingly actually happened a few times), they would sound a cannon.  And every time, Little Kate would look at us with a concerned expression and then smile when she saw that we were happy.

One of the things my mom enjoys at football games is taking pictures.  She brings all of her high tech gear and sets up a little tri pod to take action sports shots.  At this game, she had a little assistant.

This game was especially fun because the Coogs actually won.  This was not only the first win of the season for them, it was the first time that they had ever been ahead at all.  As my dad would say, "It's a rebuilding year."

During the fourth quarter, my mom and I decided to take Katelyn for a walk around the stadium.  We walked until we reached what we thought was a dead end.  It was actually the fancy lounge area with employees guarding the doors.  We were about to turn around when one of the employees told us we could walk in.  It felt like we had walked into a cruise ship!  And there were couches!!!  My mom and I couldn't believe that we hadn't spent the game relaxing in the lounge instead of suffering on the plastic seats.

Katelyn was so good during the game and I think she had a great time but she fell asleep for the best part: the halftime show!  Every one knows that the best part of a football game is watching the marching band!!! :)

walk on by

Today my mom and I took Baby K on a walk through the neighborhood and to the gas station.  It was a really pretty day outside so we thought it would be nice to get outside.  One of Katelyn's favorite things, third to bath time and bananas, is going for a walk.

We decided to head out for our walk at three in the afternoon which is the hottest part of the day.  We thought that it would be nice on account of the beautiful weather but it was really pretty hot.  We finally made it to the gas station with dragging feet and sweaty faces.

Little Katelyn, of course, was oblivious sitting in her little stroller throne.

The gas station was wonderfully cool but even cooler than the AC was the walk in beer cooler.  It was 33 degrees and it felt amazing!  We took turns standing in the chilly room while Katelyn watched us like we were crazy.

You're crazy Grandma!

The great thing about this gas station is that they have a huge variety of drinks and 32 ounce drinks are only 68 cents.  The selection doesn't really matter that much because I always get the same but I really appreciate the options.  We stalled for as long as we could and even considered just sitting down and waiting until D got home from work so he could pick us up in the car but eventually, we gave in and realized that we would need to walk back home.

On the way back, we sat for a while under the shade of this giant tree that was covered with acorns.  

When I was young, there were two oak trees in front of our house and every year at the end of summer the yard and driveway would be covered with little acorns.  Jack and Lauren and I would spend hours outside collecting them and building great big piles of acorns.  One of the most pressing concerns we had was to find out exactly inside of an acorn.  We tried every method we could think of to crack open the little nuts and eventually, we broke into one.  We called the waxy orange insides "cheese."

our target adventure

The weather was absolutely beautiful today.  I'm ashamed to say that I was planning on net even setting foot outside of the house at all.  It was actually a stroke of luck that brought me outside.  I went into the garage to deposit a particularly fragrant diaper into the outdoor trash, when I realized,

"Hey!  It's not absolutely, terribly, horrifyingly stifling in here!!!"

When my mom came home from work, we decided to take Baby K out for a walk.  We packed up the stroller and ventured out to walk to Target.  We needed a few things and the walk to and from Target is a nice two miles almost.

Along the way, we noticed a small gathering by the side of the lake.  There was been some construction along the bank of the water but we didn't really think it was that exciting.   It turns out that Allie, the resident neighborhood alligator was sunning himself on the fountain that had been turned off.

We took some pictures and got out of there pretty quick because I'm pretty sure that Katelyn looks like a bite sized snack to an alligator.

let it rain let it rain let it rain

One of the things I missed the most about Texas was the rain.  There was occasional rain in Utah but never the kind of thunderstorms you see in Texas.  I don't remember ever hearing thunder or seeing lightning and the rain never lasted for more than fifteen minutes or so.

Today, I looked out the window to see a massive wall of storm clouds rolling in above the backyard.  The storm brought a cool breeze with it and made it bearable to be outside for a few minutes.  My family and I sat out in the back yard to watch the cloud roll by.

It was a pretty severe storm and all of the birds disappeared.  Suddenly, masses of dragonflies started flying away from the storm across our back yard.  There must have been thousands of bugs trying to escape the rain.  They just kept flying by.

I loved watching the clouds and listening to the thunder.  There was almost a calm before the storm and it was so peaceful.  Sometimes I think back on a memory or era of my life and feel a sense of nostalgia.  I wish I could go back and relive the memories for a day.

Sitting outside, holding my beautiful sleeping baby, enjoying the breezy summer afternoon with my family, I knew that this would be one of those memories.