Tomball Visitors

Gigi and cousin Sydney decided to take a tour of the countryside and made Austin one of their stops. We were so excited to see them and have them spend the night with us. They didn't stay too long but I guess I can't blame them because my baby and I can sure wear you out quick. We enjoyed the short time we did have with them, though.

My Tex Mex baby brother

I told mommy today that I wanted her to have another baby and I wanted it to be a baby brother this time. When she asked me why, I told her that I wanted another baby because I love my baby, and that Tatie needed a baby because she loves babies. I thought my case was rock solid but I don't think mommy is convinced. I then told her that when I have my baby brother, I want to name him 'Queso'.

Victoria's Visit

Victoria came to play with us for a little bit today because her mommy went to the hospital to see Miss April have her new baby! We love having Victoria over and when Tatie saw what she was wearing, she took off her clothes and went to her closet to find her matching outfit! Thank you for a fun afternoon, Toria.

Big Girl Bed!

It was inevitable. Since Houdini is constantly climbing out - and now in - of her bed, mommy realized it was time to change it over to a big girl bed. Reluctantly. I didn't have a big boy bed until I was 2 1/2, but then again I never climbed out of my bed and we're in our little townhome until Tatie arrived. Daddy is still out of town so Miss Becca helped mommy with the bed - and we helped in our own way too. Tate is very excited and runs around saying 'Big Girl Bed'.....or something like it. Such a big girl!

Example of Tate 'helping'
Tate pretending to sleep in her new bed

Lots of little monkeys in the big girl bed

Big Girl Bed!

Sleeping for real - for the moment, anyway

Love oooooooo

Today Tatie told mommy 'love oooooo' all on her own with no prompting. Mommy is a happy mommy!

Tate's First Movie

Grammy and Gramps got us Toy Story and Toy Story 2 not too long ago and we've been waiting to go see Toy Story 3. Tatie had never been to a movie before but since daddy is out of town on a fishing trip, we thought we'd try it. She was great and I think she really enjoyed herself so mommy may have to take us to movies more often now.

Apples and Carrots and Horses, oh my!

Our friend, Caroline, knows a couple of families who own horses in the city and she feeds them each week. Today, she invited us to go with her. We cut up lots of apples and brought bags of carrots, because we knew they would love having a special treat. On our first stop, we met Mish and Kidd and on our second stop, we met Sheeza, Dallas and Milly. Tate of course was fearless and after she'd take a bite of a carrot, she would then offer it to the horse. Each time a horse took her carrot, she squealed with delight - I'm surprised they weren't frightened away. Now that we know where they live, I have a feeling we'll go visit often - after a trip to the Costco produce section. Thanks, Caroline, for a fun new activity!

Tate tasting the carrot
Tate feeding Mish

More carrots? For Tate or for the horses?

Caroline, Tate and Tripp (with Kidd)

Mommy's Weekend

Mommy had the opportunity to go away to Port Aransas this weekend with 2 other mommies and she jumped at the chance - almost too quickly, in my opinion. Daddy, of course, called in for back up and decided to take us to College Station for the weekend. College Station is one of my favorite places to go and I was excited to see Mama, the moo cows, my tractor and above all else, the farm.

Things went rather well - until it was time to head back. Mommy got a call that Tatie had 'probably' eaten something called 'Algae Destroyer' because there were 10 of the 18 tablets missing and they already had fished (no pun intended) one of them out of her mouth. The problem? Well, it's harmful to humans. Mommy called poison control and fortunately, Tatie didn't eat all of them because they tasted bad. Whew! Mommy was so relieved when we got home that she didn't even notice my new 'gift' from Grandpa Smoky. Not until the next morning, anyway. When mommy got up, I showed her my new, very real, bow and arrow set. It was complete with arm guard, more sharp arrows and a target you see on most hunting shows.

Mommy was less than amused and thinks Grandpa Smoky must have forgotten that I'm only 4. I don't think mommy is going to be going on any mommy only trips for awhile. Not until we're at least 18.

Triangle Fun

On Wednesdays, we like to go to the Triangle because they have a great farmer's market. We walk through and look at all of the fruits and vegetables and from time to time, buy a few goodies to take home with us. We also love going because it has a sprinkler area that is always a favorite - and it has nothing to do with the fact that it's right next to the snow cone man's booth. Since all of the daddies were out of town, we made an afternoon of it at the Triangle.

See our blue mouths? Our snow cones were tasty!

The race is on and Ellie is the winner!

Picnic with 'Which wich'

Silly Girl

Who says I'm not just as silly as my big brother?

Avocado Farmer

I love avocados and lately, I've been very curious about where things come from and how things are made. I constantly ask mommy questions about everything and when I asked her about an avocado, she showed me the seed and told me how they grow. Of course I had to try it and of the 6 seeds we started with, it looks like 1 might actually take off. I check on my avocado plant every day and have been taking very good care of it. I wonder when it will start growing avocados for me?

Ice Cream Bandit

Hmmm.....it seems as though we have an ice cream bandit in the house. We keep finding half eaten ice cream sandwiches when we open the freezer. I wonder who it could be because at night, we're all in our beds where we're supposed to be. Right Houdini?
Regardless, now that we have an ice cream bandit, mommy also has a new kitchen accessory. What do you think? She hopes this will also cut down on the amount of limes she finds all around the house in addition to the apples with bites missing. Time will tell.

Rockin' River

We heard of a great water park in Round Rock and after packing our swimsuits, sunscreen, towels and lunches, we decided to check it out. It was fantastic with a few different pools, a pirate ship and slides. Mommy and Tatie loved the lazy river but my favorite was the big kid pool with my preschool friends. Thanks for the great idea, Victoria!

Houdini's new game

Mommy and Tatie played a fun game last night. I'm not really sure that it was much fun for mommy but here is the summary of the game.

7:30 pm - Mommy puts Tate in bed after prayers, rocking and kisses
7:32pm - As mommy is walking down the stairs she hears, 'hi mommy'....behind her.
7:33pm - Mommy puts Tate back in her bed. See 7:30pm. This time, mommy says 'do not get out of your bed'.

Fast forward to 12:30am. All is quiet in the Riley household with me in my bed, mommy in her bed, daddy in Florida and Tate in her bed. Oh wait....

12:30 am - standing next to mommy's bed. 'Hi Mommy'.
12:35am - Mommy puts Tate back in her bed.
1:30am - standing next to mommy's bed. 'Hi Mommy'. Mommy puts Tate in bed with her hoping she's go to sleep. Not a chance - Tate plays for about 45 minutes. Mommy takes Tate back upstairs to her room.

3:00 am - Are you catching on to this? Standing next to mommy's bed. 'Hi Mommy'.
3:02 am - Mommy puts Tate back in her bed.
4:00am - standing next to mommy's bed. 'Hi Mommy'.
4:02 am - Mommy puts Tate back in her bed.

6:00am - standing next to mommy's bed. 'Hi Mommy'. Mommy gives up and realizes she has lost the game and now must get her day started.

End results? A very tired mommy who doesn't like this new game one bit.

Happy 4th of July!

We were supposed to go to Gigi and Papa's bay house this weekend for the the 4th of July but due to the weather, we had to stay in Austin. We made the most of it and ended up having a great - and busy - holiday weekend.

Allendale Parade

Our neighborhood wasn't having a parade this year so we went to the Allandale parade with the Stephens family. It was a great turn out and many people showed up in great costumes! My baby and I wore the cute outfits Grammy sent us but didn't really want to cooperate for pictures - there was just too much to see. After the parade, we went to Austin Diner for brunch.

How clever is this?

Auditorium Shores - Firework Show

For the fireworks show, we decided to start the evening at Frank's for dinner (how American are hot dogs!?) and then on to Auditorium Shores. There were tons of people there but we found a nice little grassy knoll and set up camp. The Austin Symphony played beautiful music and the fireworks show was awesome!

Miller likes to push, Tate likes to ride. Perfect combination.

Dancing to the symphony music

Tired, sweaty family picture

Daddy took this cool picture of the Frost Bank building

Houdini

Mommy's life is over - as she knows it. Today my baby climbed out of her crib and now there is no stopping her. I never climbed out of my crib and mommy isn't sure what to do now. In fact, I've heard her say on more than one occasion today, 'What am I going to do'? Tatie is loving her new freedom and mommy frequently finds things like toilet paper rolls unrolled, drawers emptied - mostly every drawer with every piece of clothing in her bedroom, teeth marks in the guest bathroom deodorant and the play room completely trashed. Now, how is that possible when my sweet baby sister is sleeping quietly in her bed not making a peep?