Rodeo up, Cowboy!

Before I left for CA, I needed something to really tire myself out and drive me bananas!  (You know, "earn" my vacation by accumulating enough Mommy points)  So my mom and I took the kiddos to the Houston Rodeo.  This is one of those torturous things I do to myself (and my mom) every year because I think it's the sort of thing to do!  After being stuck in traffic, getting lost, then yelling at Paulie (2 hours later) we arrived at our destination.  Don't get me wrong, we always have a fun time once we get to the rodeo it's just A LOT of work getting there!  We stay for roughly an hour and half, then we pack it all up and head home while eating LUNCH in the car.  By 1pm, I am thoroughly exhausted and feel like it's 10 o'clock at night!

In keeping with the theme, it was rodeo week at Paulie's school!  This is Paulie in his cowboy getup.

Back to the Rodeo....Paulie and a Llama!  Oh and his friend, Heejun too!

Paulie is feeding the baby goats wood chips!  Excellent, that'll keep them regular.

His smile is a little insincere, I dont' think he's feeling 100% confident around these animals!...Me neither!

What a brave little boy....And Goat!

Farmer Fred....er, Paulie!

Oh there they are...Fun at the Rodeo!

Cheese!  She's such a ham!

"Farming!"

Who doesn't love a sandbox full of corn kernels?  (It was just a tease cause no one was permitted to get into the sandbox, what?!)

Paulie could not wait to ride this tractor.  I tried to get Molly to pose beside it, but she wasn't having it!  

In his GLORY!

Paulie was old enough to ride the carnival rides this year.  At $2.50 a pop, he rode two rides....We wouldn't want to overwhelm him being that it was his first time!

Next year, he'll have to use his allowance money.

Okay, I'm not completely unreasonable...I did spring for a Spider Face Paint!

And it was so cool! "Cool, really cool" (Paulie's own words)

As an addendum, I would like to share a funny story.....

En route to the Rodeo, while lost and dealing with traffic, I asked Paulie to please be quiet and stop talking to Mommy for a while.  (I know it sounds mean, especially since he had been a very well behaved, patient little boy for the first hour in the car, but I was a TAD stressed).  Fast forward to the next day after I pick him up from school....(in the car)....
Me:  "Paulie, how was your day at school?  Did you have Motor Skills today?"
Paulie:  "I can't talk right now"
Me:  (Not sure I heard him correctly) "Did you have fun?"
Paulie: "Um, can you stop talking to me Mommy?"

Touche Paulie!

Sunny Cali

While Nana was in rainy TX taking care of our two hooligans, Paul and I went to Palm Springs, CA!  We stayed at one of his colleague's houses (one of three) and had ourselves a grand ole time!  This was our second trip to California in 5 months (may not seem like much to some people, but I had only been to CA once many years ago).  I checked in with Nana several times a day, but tried not to mention the gorgeous 70+ degree weather we were enjoying!

Our first night there, Paul's colleague, John, took us to a trendy restaurant, Trio, owned by two of their good friends!  It was so very delicious.  This is the only photo we have at night!  (Yes, I got a spray tan.  Yes my hair was loving the dry air of the desert.  And No, Paul's shirt is not pink, it's salmon!)

The remaining pictures are of the great outdoors.  Unfortunately we have no pictures of our hosts or their gorgeous home, but we spent a great deal of our time hiking and enjoying all that Mother Nature has to offer....So you enjoy too!

Aerial View from our rotating Tram up the side of Mt. San Jacinto.

A view from the top!  Roughly 8500 ft ASL.

40 degrees....Which felt surprisingly warm!

Snow covered mountains in the backdrop!

I got a little hungry so I made like a squirrel and found myself a perch and a snack!

Now TX has some beautiful blue skies, but I have never seen any quite like this!  At least not when it wasn't 100+ degrees.

Self Portrait Time!  (We've got 10 of these)

Peace and Quiet!

The next day we hiked Indian Canyon....Much warmer, but still pleasant!

I know he is buff, but Paul did not bend the tree!

TARZAN....

....Meet JANE!

We were following the signs for Palm Canyon Trail (supposedly a 2.5 mile loop); however, we never looped and ended up on Palm Canyon Trail ROAD which was only another 2-3 miles out of our way.    Some how or another Paul and I always seem to take the long way....AND even though we hadn't seen another human for a few miles, it was not yet dark and we still had water!  It was an AWESOME Adventure with beautiful weather.

Blue Skies and Happy Trails!

Nana's Visit

Nana Knepp came to visit the Texas Izzos.  While she usually flies, she decided to spend two days driving from NC to TX!!  She had a car load of stuff she wanted to give me and I had a car load of stuff I wanted to give her.  Swapping "stuff" wasn't the only reason for her visit.  Nana babysat for us while Paul and I went to Palm Springs, CA.  Paul was out of town for the first week (it was nice to have an extra set of eyes and hands while he was gone) AND we had gorgeous weather here in TX!  Paul and I left for sunny California early Friday morning while TX had nothing but rain for the next four days!  This was the first time my mom watched the two since Molly started walking, so it was a bit of a challenge (especially since they were house bound for all four days!)  Our "mini" vacation was much needed and much enjoyed (Vacation Post to come later).  THANK YOU MOM (aka Nana)!!

Beautiful Sunday afternoon in Katy, TX

Three Generations and three different hair colors!

It's important to get moments like these on camera cause they are at an age where they shout at one another often!  Evidence that the DO love one another.

Enjoying the warm summer-like day!

I can't get enough of her blue eyes!

Never one to be told she's "too small" to do something!  Even if it means she wearing her brother's "too big" helmet which limits her field of vision....Safe or Hazardous?

"Alright, enough already!  Get this thing off of me!"

The LOOK!

Molly has become quite the little Diva lately.  She even has a signature look and this is it!  The look can mean one of two things: 1)  She's mad and is about to yell at you in her growling voice or 2) She's trying to get you to mimic her look so she can laugh at you!  These are two completely opposite emotions, but you just never know what you're gonna get.  Like I said, she's a Diva!

Mardi Gras

In celebration of Mardi Gras (unbeknownst to me our celebration was actually on Fat Tuesday where I thought I still had another week or two before Lent started), we went over to our friends' house and made masks & crowns, danced to some Jazz music, and ate cupcakes & King cake (yep BOTH!).  I've been invited to participate in a weekly craft/education play date.  After the Mardi Gras and Butterfly play dates I've attended thus far, the bar is set pretty high for when it's my turn to host.  I don't host for another three weeks, but I better start planning now cause these ladies aren't messing around!!