Wings Over Houston

On Sunday, October 24, we took the kids to Wings Over Houston - the Houston airshow. It is held at Ellington Field, which is just up the road from us. Logan, Mr "I want to go to the airport all the time", had a wonderful time. Kayleigh was okay with it all, but neither of them got naps, so she was a little tired (please read, occasionally cranky).

Here's everybody in front of the A-10. These are the planes that Grandpops used to work on. And, it was Logan's favorite plane, because it did a simulated bombing run.

When I was tucking Logan in Sunday night, I asked him what he remembered, and he said when the Grandpops' plane went BOOM BOOM!

Kayleigh watches the planes.

The Guppy - a NASA plane. Pretty cool lookin', huh? We couldn't really get in it, but it is a really interesting looking plane.

Here are the boys in front of the Shuttle Shuttle - no seriously, this is the 747 that carries the shuttle from California back to Florida. The shuttle piggyback on the 747 (notice the huge trusses on top). We got to go in the 747, and there is nothing inside - well, maybe like 4 rows of seats up front, but that was it. Basically, the plane's job is to piggyback the shuttle and nothing else.

The boys check out the show.

Kayleigh found trying to put on her shoes (that she had pulled off), more interesting than watching the planes.

One of the trick planes we saw. This was the Oracle biplane, so it did some crazy stuff.

The highlight of the night - the Thunderbirds. They are phenomenal. They fly so tight and do amazing tricks while flying within almost inches of each other. What an awesome way to end the show.

My own Jeep

Daddy finally finished up Kayleigh's Jeep - so now the kids have their own individual Jeeps. They have a such fun zooming them around on the tile floor (which is SUPER noisy!). Thanks Dadden!

Slip and slide

We just packed up our Intex pool for the year, so our tarps under it were showing, and wet. Well, the kids were having a blast slipping and sliding on them, so Shane decided to show them the fun of a slip and slide!

Kayleigh was not too thrilled with it, though she came back 3 times for more. I think she didn't like the whole stopping in the mud and grass bit (she came to me crying, holding out dirty hands; we wiped them off, and she was better) - but the sliding part was fun. And Logan had a great time on his belly. Then he tried to do it himself - which ended up being more like a belly flop! Ouch!

Kayleigh's driving

Kayleigh drives - sort of. Her feet can't hit the pedal yet, so Logan pushes down the accelerator for her. And she goes in a circle. And then she lets off the wheel! But she has fun, and so does Logan

Gotta love boys...

Logan this morning:
"Mommy, I getting big. I grow big. My penis grow big. Like Daddy's."

Bahaha!

Kayleigh Shayne - 18 months

Kayleigh Shayne is 18 months! She's a tiny girl - 31 inches (26%) and 22 lbs 8 oz (21%). She still has an amazing smile that she loves to give us, and she has a sweet laugh that can be heard when she's playing with Bubba or with Daddy. She is definitely a Mommy's girl - she wants to be with me all the time (which can be frustrating when you want to go to the bathroom - have you ever gone with a toddler on your lap?). Dr. Quillin said that was perfectly normal - a toddler thinks that if you love someone you spend 100% of the time with that person.

She loves to sing, "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Dadden! Mama! Bubba!" It's really funny, and loud - since she has to sing over any music that's playing. She even sings along to Logan's guitar "playing". Maybe they'll be the next Carpenters or Selah. Kayleigh loves to talk, too. Her new saying is "I needs memonade". We drink a lot of lemonade. She also goes on the big kid play structures and down the big slides. Fearless!

Kayleigh, for being such a tiny girl, is a spit fire. Woo! She has a temper when things don't go her way, and she'll flap her hands in the air and cry. Drama, drama. But she's becoming a good helper - laundry and her favorite, emptying the silverware (even when it's dirty sometimes). She is also independent - she will feed herself, thank you. This will serve her well in the future.

We are so blessed to have Kayleigh - our family wouldn't be the same without her!

Houston Zoo Boo

On Friday, October 15, we went to the Houston Zoo for Zoo Boo - a Halloween themed day. The Zoo was decked out! There were plastic jack-o-lanterns hanging from the trees by the Reflection Pond. There were pumpkins everywhere - even in with the sealions! There were tattoo places, candy stops (Trunk or Treat), a pumpkin patch (small pumpkins), and a mural to draw on.

Plus, there were kids dressed up in costumes everywhere! Here are my two boys in their "costumes". Shane is Cookie Monster, and Logan is a little Jack-O-Lantern. He was not happy about having to wear his costume, but finally he forgot about it and had a good time.

Kayleigh was also dressed up as a jack-o-lantern. She did keep her headband on for much of the time we were there. I mean, longer than 5 minutes! Amazing.

Here, the kids scribble on the big mural. They both had fun doing this - Logan traced his hand in several places (it looks like a Mickey Mouse hand when he does it), and Kayleigh had more fun putting the marker caps on and then taking them off than coloring.

New Baby Tupelo! This new Asian elephant baby was born on Oct 3. So now we have Baby Baylor and Baby Tupelo. How exciting to see this new one!

The Baby Flachmans in the pumpkin patch. Not quite as big as baby elephants...

"I found him and I won't let him go!" Kayleigh loves on her Grandpops. She really enjoys hugging peoples knees. She'll just randomly come up to you and grab one or both of your knees and squeeze. Sweet, but don't try to walk!

Daddy and Logan use paint markers to decorate Logan's pumpkin. It is a very colorful pumpkin - red, black, blue, and white.

Logan takes a drink from the lion's mouth. Such a daring young man! And Daddy, strikes a pose!

See, I do exist! Kinda fun to have Grandma around to take pictures with my camera (she has pretty much the same camera at home). Do I seem to be looking more like the Elmore/Callicott family? Anyway, you can't really see it, but I had on a T-shirt like Shane's, but it was Elmo. So we were Elmo and Cookie Monster. Later that day we went on a date (woohoo!), and we didn't change our shirts. A man at Sears said, "Oh that's so cute!" So even parents can be cute without meaning to be!!

And here's the Family Picture just outside the zoo. We had a fun time - and the kids enjoyed getting to eat a bunch of candy and get to see all the animals.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpops for coming down! We had a great time with you!!

SeaWorld, San Antonio

On Monday, Oct 11 (Columbus Day), we made the almost 4 hour drive to San Antonio to go to Sea World. Thank goodness that the Norwoods let us borrow their minivan! It was much more comfortable than cramming into the F150!

There were pumpkins all around SeaWorld, since it's close to Halloween. There were skeleton bands and other "creepy" things around the place, too.

Our first stop was the Cannery Row Caper show. This show has an actual plot and is not just a vehicle to showcase the sealions, walrus, and otter. It's fun to see the interaction between the humans and their animal costars. It was super fun!

Afterward, we paid the money to feed the sealions and seals. Logan did a pretty good job of chunking the fish in.

Here Daddy drops a fish to a waiting seal below. The sealions and seals had very different temperaments. The seals would wait next to the wall and hit the water with their flipper, making a loud "clap" sound. The sealions would bark, jump, and open their mouths for the fish. If they could talk they would have been shouting, "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!"

Kayleigh got to feed the seals and sealions, too! She didn't do so good on her first toss. Didn't even make it over the edge.

But the next time, she got it in! And it didn't hit the water - it was gone before it got close!

We then went to see the penguins, which is sponsored in part by Southwest Airlines. The water temperature was 39F! That's cold!!

Then we went on the log ride (the line was pretty short, but as Maria would say, "We have good backs", because when we left the line was twice as long). Daddy and Mommy went in the first log, and the grandparents and kids went in the second one. They had fun! This was Kayleigh's first log ride, and I think she had a good time (even if she wasn't feeling the best).

While we were there, we got to feed the dolphins too. Doesn't this one look like it's smiling?

After Daddy and then Grandma touched the dolphin, Logan figured it was safe to do the same. Poor guy had to have his whole body almost over the water to pet the dolphins, but he loved it! We all went through 6 trays of fish, but he fed the dolphins most of them.

From the dolphins, we went to the Shamu show, "Believe". Of course, the orcas are always amazing to watch. Such striking and beautiful animals.

Kayleigh was amazed by the large mammals. She sat still and silent for most of the show! Amazing!

Logan also really enjoyed the show. At one point, they ask you to put your hands together like a whale tail, and move your arms up and down. Logan tried to do that, but his hands wouldn't stay together.

Then SPLASH! All the water came. Unfortunately (according to Logan) or fortunately (according to everyone else) we did not get splash, although we were sitting in the splash zone. So Logan and I went up front to try and get splashed. No dice. Maybe next time.

Then we headed over to the kiddieland section of the park to let Logan ride the rollercoaster. We did this at the end because we knew if we went there first, we'd never see anything else! Logan was just at 38 inches, and could ride the Shamu Express. He had a blast!!

"Hands up! Hands up!" Logan likes to tell you when to put your hands up on the rollercoaster. Here, he and Grandpops have a great time!

Logan would run down the ramp, run to see his pictures in the booth, and then run back into the line. I think he rode the ride about 10 times! If he could have, he would have ridden it until the park closed!

We had a great day, and both kids were asleep as soon as we left the Sea World parking lot.

Texas Renaissance Festival

On Sunday, October 10, we played hooky from church and went to the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville. It was a lot more fun than I was anticipating. Here we are at the entrance to the festival. There were a lot of people dressed up in costumes - which must have been hot since it was in the upper 80's that day.

Logan's favorite thing was the swings. These are big, wooden boat-like swings that you pull using ropes attached to a cross bar on the top. You pull on these ropes, and pull the swing higher and higher. We went three times in quick succession, but at $3 per person, it got a little pricey. So, we waited until we went again.

Logan and Daddy pull on their rope.

Look at those grins - these boys are having a big time!

So to take a break from the swings, we went to the pony ride. This was Kayleigh's first pony ride. She did really well, and held on to the horn. However, there were times when she was ready to get off.

We took our bike bullet (with the front tire put on) because there are no paved sidewalks at the festival. The big tires were much more conducive to going over bumpy terrain. Here are the kids in the bullet - a picture of what several people walked by and said "Oh they are so cute! Look at those curls on her!" Funny, especially when this is right after Logan is whining about "Why Kayleigh spill my lemonade? Why she do that?"

Kayleigh entertained us all with a little song and dance routine while we took a break in the shade. The people sitting on the bench across from us enjoyed the show as well. Funny, lemonade soaked girl.

We watched a guy play a carillon - a medieval instrument sort of like a piano with the strings being replaced by bells - some of them BIG bells! It was pretty amazing and Logan and I were pretty transfixed by the music. (BTW - Logan has a sharp chin!)

Then Grandpops and Logan went on a ride that is twisted up a big pole. It's sort of like when Logan does "twist and shout" one the swings at home - twist the swing up and let him go. He was a little dizzy when he got off...

Being in the sun and fresh air is hard on a little girl. But Grandpops is very comfortable.

Logan, Grandma, and Kayleigh rode on the carousel. Logan loved being on a frog, and was "ribbit"ing for a lot of the ride. Kayleigh was petting her horse and poking its eye...

At the end of the day, Daddy told Logan that we were going to get back on the swings. As we rounded the corner about 300 meters away, Logan yelled to Shane, "I found them Daddy! I found the swings!" He was a little excited to get back on them. So the four Flachmans got back on the swings. Logan did great, and asked Kayleigh a few times while we were swinging, "You having fun, K? You having fun?" What a nice brother!