Lauren's Birthday Extravaganza Week

Let me start where I left off. Natalie was released from the hospital the day after her surgery and we came home the next day (Saturday). Sunday was Lauren's birthday, but we didn't want to have a bunch of people come to the house in case there was a showing, and we couldn't have anything outside because there was really windy, bad weather. We decided just to do something small at home.

We woke up and had chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles.

(Which Lauren helped to prepare:)

Then she opened presents from Mommy and Daddy and from Natalie. Then it was time to shower and get dressed in her special birthday dress that Ema sent.

We were off for a birthday girl lunch at Chili's. She got 'snack n cheese' and chocolate milk and then a scoop of vanilla ice cream and the waiters sang a happy birthday song. We thought she'd love it, but she hid against Ben the whole time. After that, we went to the mall to walk around and came home. She was so worn out that she fell asleep on the couch a bit before 7. We hadn't even had dinner or cake yet!

The next day when Ben got home from work we did her birthday song and cake. She picked out a pink cake with white frosting and helped me make it. She even helped put the sprinkles on the sides of the cake. She's going to be quite a baker.

Tuesday we got the house ready to go and headed down to San Antonio. We had dinner and picked up Grandma Lissa at the airport. The next morning we got up and ready and went to the Rainforest Cafe on the Riverwalk for lunch. Lauren liked the butterflies, but did not like the snake when we walked in, or the monkey hanging over our table.

She had to jump in someone's lap when he started making noise, and when the lightning storm came through the rainforest.

After lunch we were off to the San Antonio Botanical Garden.

One of her recent favorite things to do is pick flowers, so we thought this would be a place she'd really enjoy. And she did. Natalie liked it, too. She got to be walked around and there were lots of things for her to look at.

Someday when she's bigger, maybe Daddy can do this with Natalie, too. Lauren sure enjoyed it!

We didn't spend too long at the Botanical Garden. Just long enough to walk through everything. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not cold.

She still couldn't leave without picking at least one flower, though. :)

We went back to the house and had cake and presents. This was the cake she picked out and it was hers to dig into.

The next day we were off to the San Antonio Zoo. .

Parents magazine just named it as one of the top 10 zoos in the country, and specifically good for kids under 5. I think Lauren agrees.

She got to feed and brush the goats at the petting zoo.

Then it was time for a hot dog before she hit the beach.

She loves that beach. She could spend all day there. Who cares that the water was icy cold? Not her.

The next day was Sea World. She got to watch the dolphins. She kept yelling, "Come here dolphin so I can pet you!"

But they weren't listening.

She rode her first water ride, the "Texas Splashdown" which has two good drops and lots of water. She loved it. She was good in the 45 minute line to get on the ride. She got to watch Shamu's show and the Sea Lion show, see penguins and the Clydesdale horses and see more flowers.

It was an exhausting week, but lots of fun. Lissa flew back on Saturday, and we drove home after dropping her off at the airport. On Sunday we went to a friend's house to do an Easter egg hunt and have brunch.

Happy Easter!

Saturday we went up to Waco to the zoo again. Lauren seemed to have a pretty good time. We got there late in the day so we didn't have time to do the whole zoo before they closed. We missed out on seeing the Bengal tigers, but we pretty much saw everything else. It's always a nice day when we go walk through the zoo.




We had a nice Easter. We woke up and went to Katrina's house for donuts, then went to church. Afterwards, we came home and had lunch, then Lauren opened her Easter basket before taking a nap. The rest of the day was spent hanging around the house.

Now we're just counting down the next week and a half before Lissa, Sarah, Evan and Ben get here. It's hard to stay patient, but we're doing our best, and we're keeping busy. Tonight we're going to go to Katrina's house for pizza. I need to start getting some party planning done for Lauren's birthday party, too. I think we'll probably grill some burgers and have bbq type food and a cupcake cake. Hopefully it doesn't snow again this year the day of her party.

Luke, the zoo, the countdown

Congratulations

Puccini family!

Luke Puccini

was born on

Monday,

March 17th.

Today, Lauren and I are headed to Waco to go to the zoo again. It looks like the weather is going to be nice and I'm ready for a good day out and about.

We are counting down to Ben's return home. We have less than two weeks. And Lauren will be TWO YEARS OLD two weeks from today! Yay! Lissa, Sarah and Evan will be here for Ben's return and to help us celebrate Lauren's birthday.

We don't have any plans yet for Easter, but Lauren is on the Easter Bunny's list with a basket of toys.

The Zoo, The Oscars and Happy Birthday, Ema!

We have been keeping busy! There's the home improvement project we did (I'll post pictures on here in April after Ben sees it) and that took up a lot of days. We've gone to dinner and lunch quite a bit, too.

This weekend we went to the Waco Zoo with my friend Mandy and her son, Will. Lauren had a good time. She likes looking at the animals. I think she liked the giraffes the best. She got new sunglasses on Friday that she wore during her ride through the zoo.

Last night we went to an Oscar's party at my friend Katherine's house. I made sugar cookies and decorated them like the Oscar winner envelopes. We had a lot of food and a good time.

The weather has been really nice here in Texas, it's been getting into the high 70's all week. We've been in t-shirts and sandals already.

Ben's still doing well. He said right now he's a little bit bored, but he's getting some down time which he hadn't been getting in the last few months. He's catching up on movies and getting in to the gym again. And we can cross another week off! Only five more weeks or so until he comes home!

And Happy Birthday, Ema!

Butterfly, Free Movies, Dancing Girl

This picture is from the Waco Zoo. We went last month when Jayna and Kyle came to visit us.

I have four one month free trial codes for Netflix if anyone would like them. They have to be activated by October 31st, so email me and let me know if you'd like one.

This week finally cooled down a bit. We've been playing out in the front yard. Lauren really enjoys walking up and down the sidewalk and the driveway and collecting acorns in her pocket. In the evening I'll find them all over the house in random places, like shoes or just in a pile on the windowsill. Maybe she's trying to catch squirrels. She's been scooting around in her little car she got from her Grandma Lissa. She can't quite reach the pedals, but she can reach the ground, so she scoots around that way. Eventually she'll get the hang of steering.

Last night we went to Temple to BJ's Brewhouse and Restaurant to help a friend celebrate his promotion. Lauren was quite the dancing girl as dinner was winding down. She shook her groove thang much to the delight of the two tables nearby and the waitress. She can do the twist and pop lock and drop it.

I hope to have some time next week to edit our video from the Balloon Fiesta. Hopefully I'll be able to add some video of that soon. I added some other videos to the bottom of the front page of this blog, and a calendar of events on the left sidebar. You don't have to sign up to be able to leave comments on the blog.