Brittany's Graduation

Brittany's graduation was held at the Merrell Center in Katy. She graduated from Lamar Consolidated High School. Mom stayed with the kids at Larry and Velma's house which was really nice since graduation didn't begin until 6:00. I wasn't quite sure how it would work with that being dinner time and it probably going into their bedtime. We also didn't have to worry about watching the graduation in the foyer in case one of them wasn't wanting to be still. We're very proud of Brittany and are looking forward to her next graduation from Houston Baptist University. Go Britt!

There was a neat sideshow of the graduates' pictures playing prior to the ceremony.

It took about five tries to get this shot, but we got there really early so I had plenty of time!

Half the fun of attending a graduation is spotting your loved one in the lineup.

Walking to her seat.


I'm so excited to be able to add this video of Brittany. I just wish I weren't talking through the whole thing! Sorry, Britt! :)

Moving her tassle.

Back to her seat to wait out the remainder of the ceremony.

Brittany and Tyler

Brittany with Velma and Tyler in their Lamar blue.

Uncle Lorne and his "Paco."

Brittany with her diploma.

Uncle Lorne and Aunt Kelly

The Proud Nana and Dad!

Swing Set

We bought a swing set for Sawyer's birthday. It's obviously for both kids, and probably would have been a great Christmas present, but we thought it would be so cold in December that it would be torture for the kids because they wouldn't be able to really enjoy it until the weather turned warmer.

We got it from Backyard Adventures which I had seen many times because it's off Central Expressway and close to where Sawyer takes his little weekly preschool class. We'd also gone to Lowe's to look around and get some ideas of what accessories come with a swing set these days. It's pretty incredible to see that we could have gotten one that was greater than the down payment on our house. This is such a crazy world in which we live!

The swing set came in on Wednesday and Lorne's boss Tom was gracious enough to let us use his truck to transport it home. It came in five huge boxes which they unloaded in the garage. Lorne started carting the boxes to the backyard and attempting to arrange the pieces in order of assembly. It quickly became apparent that Sawyer and Chloe were going to be a big "help."

Memorial Day weekend was approaching, so I had the idea that I could take the kids to Mark's for the weekend so that Lorne would have uninterrupted assembly time. The birthday party was two weeks away, and it would probably have taken Lorne all of that time to finish since he would only have about one hour each evening, if he was lucky.

He figured that it took him about twenty-four hours total. The kids and I were gone from Friday to Monday, so it really worked out great! Sawyer went straight to the patio door when we got home, peeked through the blinds and said, "Oh my goodness!" It was so cute!

This is the perfect example of the "help" Lorne was getting from the kids.

"How tall are you, Chloe?"



Lorne did a great job of taking progress pictures for me.



Climbing wall

Roof

The other roof

Slide

All finished!



Side view

Other side

Back view

First swing



Chloe loves the rock wall!

"Wow!"

Sawyer taking a turn on the rock wall.

First slide

First glide

We love to dangle!

I have officially decided that Chloe is part monkey!



What a laugh!

"Thanks, Daddy!"

Daddy's Little Girl



"May I help you?"

San Antonio Zoo

The last attraction of our trip was the San Antonio Zoo. We had also planned a trip to the river, but a cold front arrived with the rain from the day before. We also had to tweak our plans a bit because Chloe got croup. She and I went to Boerne Acute Care that morning to get her checked out. She had started coughing Saturday morning, and it just got progressively worse.

I dropped off her prescription at HEB and we headed for the zoo shortly after. She seemed to have a good time, even though she wasn't feeling 100%.

There were some animals at this zoo that we don't' have at the Dallas Zoo, so that made the trip more special for the kids.

Sawyer had been asking for popcorn all weekend so we finally caved. He didn't have much to do with any of the animals until he polished off the container.

The prairie dog exhibit was a big hit with the kids. They were able to crawl inside their home and get really close.



Sawyer found a shady spot to enjoy his popcorn.

The kids each love hippos, but this was the first time for them to see them in person. We spent quite a bit of time in front of their tank.

Chloe used this as her "stage" and started singing the alphabet for God and everyone else to hear.