A Playground, A Rock Wall, and an Adventure

Wow!  It's been a looooong time since I blogged.  So, here goes again!

Today it was sunny and not too hot out, so we headed for a fun playground near our subdivision, Lakewood Crossing Park at Cypresswood and Jones.  I love this playground because it has a "little" kids' playground and a "big" kids' playground.  Plus, and this is a BIG plus, the entire park is in the SHADE!

We arrived, had a snack and then hit the swings.  After some play time on the "little" kids' playground, we headed to the "big" kids' playground.  The girls even posed for pictures.

Sophie is really beginning to enjoy the monkey bars and Lydia loves the mini-rock wall.  Until she saw this...

This is a picture of (what I thought) was a giant rock wall for a 2 1/2 year old.

This is my Lydie climbing the rock wall, by herself!!!!  Ok, I told her where to put one of her feet, but I did not help physically.

Her daddy would have been so proud!  She showed no fear!

After we finished playing we headed out for a walk on the paved trail that encircles the park.

Sophie and Lydia walked together, holding hands, while I followed behind pushing a sleeping Whitney in the stroller.

Then we saw a little dirt trail....

We headed off on "the path less traveled" for a little adventure.

We didn't have to walk long when we came upon a wider trail that went along the top of a small canyon which houses Cypress Creek, I believe.

The girls didn't want their picture taken.  Oh, well.










We had a fun morning!  Only wish Whitney was old enough to participate and that Brian could have been with us too!

Here's two pictures of Whitney, since she didn't get any camera time. 

Enjoy the crazy hair.  She sure does rock her mohawk!

Love,
Michelle

A Day in Wonderland

Today I made coloring books for the girls containing pictures from the Disney version of "Alice in Wonderland."  I printed many pictures and then we bought two pink binders from Target for $1.29 each and made our books.

We had a mini-tea party, which ended up being a mess, while we colored and watched the movie together. 

I didn't get many good pictures, but the idea was fun!  We'll do it again and next time I think I'll do "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and we'll eat apples!  Just not poisonous ones, of course.

Love,
Michelle

Ruckus Room

Wednesday my girls seemed a little rowdy, so we headed to the Ruckus Room.
It is located on Huffmeister between 290 and Cypress North Houston in Cypress, TX.
They have open jump times from 10-5, Monday through Friday.  The cost is about $5 per kid, though, so not a daily activity for us!

Sophie had a blast.  If it hadn't been for the two accidents we would have stayed much longer.

It took Lydie awhile to warm up to jumping, but she had fun once she did. 

She got tired toward the end and laid down on an inflated flower.  Too cute!

We'll go back again.  It was very clean, even the bathrooms.  After Sophie's accidents the staff, politely, asked where she had been playing and then went to every bounce house or play house and cleaned it.  Impressive, I thought!

Love,
Michelle

New Jammies

I decided Lydia needed another pair of summer pajamas and Sophie could use a summer nightgown.  So, off to Kohl's we went and here is what we bought.

Sophie wanted a princess nightgown and this is what we decided upon.

Lydia is too little to care, but I thought these were cute.  I had to chase her around to get a picture (notice her tongue sticking out of her mouth with the effort).

My two cutie pies!

Love,
Michelle

Chalk Animals

I purrchased a Crayola chalk making kit at Walmart on Monday and yesterday the girls and I made chalk animals.

It wasn't that hard or messy.  You add a few capfuls of water to the chalk dust provided and shake up the bottles. 

Once mixed you pour the liquid into the molds and let it harden for 15-20 minutes. 

It worked well and the girls had fun coloring with them.

It was a fun project, not expensive, and not messy!  Gotta love that!

Love,
Michelle

Playhouse

My mother-in-law generously offered to buy a playhouse for the girls.  Sophie and I spent some time looking at many, many playhouses online, showed Brian our favorites and we all picked one out.

It arrived Thursday and we enlisted the help of a neighbor, also named Brian, to go with my Brian up to Walmart to pick it up in his truck.  The box was so big it took up the entire bed of the truck!

Friday night I began putting the house together.  It wasn't too hard as each wall was one piece of the giant puzzle.  The front of the house has a full size door with cut out windows.  It also has a little planter, a mail slot, and a working doorbell!  (Lydia spent a good 10 minutes just standing in front of the house ringing the bell).

The two side walls have windows with shutters (The side wall picture, shows our friend Jack).  The back wall has a large window that holds a folding table/stove/grill.  The table folds in to be a stove and out to be a grill.  There is also a clock, two little shelves, a phone, and a mirror inside.  I must say this playhouse provides a lot for a good price.  The playhouse does not have a floor, but we're keeping it on the patio, so that will provide the floor.

Monday we went out and bought a few toys specifically for the outdoors and for Sophie and Lydie's new house.  We bought a few dishes, a small plastic tea set, a basket of food, a watering can and a dog bowl.  Sophie said her dog, Anna, might get thirsty.  For around $20 these additions really make the house.

Now Sophie said all they need are beds!  Um, I think we'll skip those!

Love,
Michelle

Ni Hao!

Sophie has started to like a new TV show, "Ni Hao, Kailan."  It's about a little girl, Kailan, and is somewhat like Dora as it teaches another language, Chinese, and good lessons.  Such as, what it means to keep a promise, how to share, and how to help your friends.

Sophie loves learning new words in different languages.  We have been working on Spanish and she has quite a few words under her belt.  However, now she wants to learn Chinese.

We went to the bookstore to see what kind of chilren's books we could find to help Sophie learn Chinese.
While at the store the following took place:

Sophie apparoached an Asian mom with three children in tow.
Sophie: "Ni Hao!"  Said a little too loudly.
The mom gave me a strange glance as if to say, "What did your kid just say to me?"
Me:  "She said 'hello' in Chinese."
The Mom:  Bending down to Sophie, "Oh, baby, we're Korean."
I stifled a laugh as Sophie looked over at me and said, "What?"
I explained that just as Chinese people are from China, Koreans are from Korea.
Sophie:  "Is Korea far away like China?"
Me:  "Yes."
Sophie:  "Is it as far as Wisconsin?"
Again stifling a laugh, "It's much farther than Wisconsin."
Sophie:  "Ok."

Through this whole episode the mom and her oldest child were laughing a bit too.  She was really nice and such a good sport with Sophie.  Thank goodness she was a mom herself and understands a bit how little minds work.

Zai hui!  (Good-bye)

Love,
Michelle