Block Party!

Every Mother's Day weekend since before we moved into our house, our neighbor's have had a block party, complete with tons of yummy food and a bouncy house and/or water slide. As Maya explained on Saturday, "They call it a block party, because they have to block off the street."
This year was a beautiful day, cloudy with no rain. Maya was big enough to travel the huge water slide by herself this year and had a blast. Nico went down one time (screaming) with Mommy and said "NOO!" to going again. It was good to catch up with some people and meet some new ones. I love our street!

Oh, and did I mention there was a water balloon fight?

Throw it, Maya!

Look at those sweet lashes! Still my babyface..

Grandpa and Nana came to visit

 We went to the Houston Zoo on Saturday.

 Grandpa with a talkative long-horned cow

 There are many elephants, large and small.

 On Tuesday we went to Galveston Beach.

 The weather was perfect! Shells were plentiful.

 On Monday, we played at the park.

Nana brought many, many new books to read!

Maya turns 5!

At Holly Berry Tea Room for lunch

The little princess

Maya took this photo

Then we did make-up.

A touch of gold eyeshadow, a little blush and some pink lipgloss!

Grandma came over for pizza and cake for supper.

Ladybugs and bumblebees on Maya's new favorite color (yellow)

Nico enjoyed singing happy birthday and eating cake!

Easter

We had a nice long weekend, with a few fun activities. We went strawberry picking on Good Friday, to Galveston's beach on Saturday and had a egg hunt and pinata with our neighbors on Sunday afternoon.

A bit neglected

This blog is in need of some journaling! Life has been staying busy, and I've been neglecting this space. This year so far:

•  We've taken a trip to the zoo. We bought a membership with some Christmas money and plan to go back quite a bit this year. The kids love all the animals.
•  We've played at the park. Maya's favorite thing is the monkey bars that she is able to swing across by herself now. Nico loves to climb around and go on the swings. 
• We've colored, a lot. Almost every day there is a new pile of papers, with little girls with bows in their hair, rainbows, hearts and now unicorns. Nico prefers small lines and loves getting the crayons in and out of the box.
•  Maya switched from gymnastics lessons at The Little Gym to dance lessons offered at daycare.

• Nico has adjusted very well to his brace, an AFO (which means ankle-foot orthotic) and his de-rotation strap and belt. His brace has Batman all over it, so that's its name. We hum the Batman song when we put it on (na na na na, na na na na, Bat- Man!)

I am trying to come up with the perfect plan for Maya's 5th birthday. I can't believe she will be five this year! She has offered many ideas: have it at the park, pinatas, a real unicorn (not a toy), lots of balloons...  I've tried to say unicorns don't really exist, but she doesn't believe me yet.

Maya's ride

Nico's carousel ride (a bit unsure)

On the way home

Tuckered out

Nico sporting his first brace

Maya trying on Nico's brace and belt

100th day of school shirt