Gram gave Sam two hats from her collection of plastic bowler hats that go back to the days when she taught the story "Caps for Sale" to her Kinders.
Sam was feeling silly very early on this particular morning. He was putting the hat on, then "sneezing" to make it fall off. You can see in picture #3 he's saying the "choo" in "achoo", his little lisp clearly visible!
A very memorable parade, indeed.
We returned to the exact same parade spot we snagged last fourth to watch McKinney's parade Monday morning. Sam was in a little bit of a funk, for some unknown reason, so his pictures didn't turn out particularly "smiley". But the parade was a success overall...ask him what we saw that day and he will tell you every time, "fire twucks, motorcycles, and horse poop!"
Happy Fourth!
image credit: Daddy
image credit: Pops
image credit: Daddy
Our Fourth of July celebration started off right in our own neighborhood.
Saturday morning we walked down to the same corner we were at last year to watch our neighborhood's parade. There were fire trucks, police cars and kids on bikes throwing candy! That night Gram and Pops and I took Sam to see our fireworks display by the big bass lake. It was an awesome show and Sam did great. He fussed right at the end (just in time for the grand finale) but that's never a surprise on a no-nap day. I carried Sam home -
all the way home
- he was sound asleep, dead weight and sweaty!
The next day we just had to make a pa-wade with our trucks and cars and Sesame Street friends. Everyone loves a parade!
Or "care-hut", as he calls it.
He did really well, and in fact, didn't make a peep the whole time. His stylist, Mercedes, was very nice to him. She let him watch Yo Gabba Gabba on his own little t.v. and gave him a lollipop after she was finished. She gave him a nice cut, too, and he was pretty shaggy when we went in! He's our handsome boy!
There's a pretty little lavender farm about an hour northwest of us, so Sam and I took a trip up there this week to check it out. Sam loved the doggies, and I loved all the whimsical things there were on the farm to photograph! We stayed for a couple of hours and enjoyed the quiet time in the country. He did a great job using "zizzers" for the first time (with Mama's help) to cut the lavender, and carried the basket for me since I had my hands full, too. We loved the animals there, especially the bunnies, and it was nice to cool down and have lunch at the picnic tables in the little forest with our doggie tour guides.
We stopped and had a snack at a downtown bakery located in one of the small towns we passed through on our way home, did some fabric shopping at their quilt shop, and dropped off a package at their post office. We met lots of friendly people, too. Sam was very chatty with the lady at the fabric shop and a man in line behind us at the post office! He slept most of the way home - all that lavender-cutting and small-town folk-meetin' wore him out!
We had a great visit and plan to go back again sometime!
Sam and I went on a little farewell-for-now tour on Friday.
We stopped by my school for the last-day-of-school assembly, visited Mrs. Ellis' library for some flashlight-reading as she was finishing up her last class for the year, then had one last dinner with Daddy, Gram, Pops and Andrew before Andrew goes to Austin for a few months. Not sure how Sam's going to handle not having Andrew to boss around...
I think this is where you'll find us most of the summer.
I wasn't quite sure how Sam would do at the pool this year, but he did great. In fact, he wants to do a lot more than he's ready for, so I have to watch him like a hawk. He loves hanging out in the kiddie pools, which is where we are in these pictures. The fountains are still a big hit (which he still calls "mountains"), and so is the big pool. He still likes for me to give him a "tour", which is just me holding him in the water as we bounce around the big pool, stopping occasionally to jump off any steps we find along the way.The only thing left to do is get Daddy out there!
"Popsicles", he says, "wike Pops".
I made several flavors this week - blueberry, peach-mango, and chocolate pudding - and Sam thinks they're pretty cool! I took these pictures the first night we had them, out on the porch before bed. He asked to try the blueberry. They were a little tart, as you can tell from his face!
Today was the last day of school for Sam...and Mama!
Sam had a great day, even though it was a little bittersweet saying goodbye to his amazing teachers. He had so much fun this year and learned
a lot
.
Oh, and he grew. Tall.
Remember the picture on the left? It was taken August 31st,
. He was just 18 months old. On the right is his picture from this morning, the last day of school, 27 months old.
Where did my baby go?
When I picked Sam up from school on the first day, he'd been crying and looked exhausted, but still wanted to show me his stamp. I still had my camera with me from the morning, so I snapped the pic on the left. I took a similar picture yesterday after picking Sam up from school, and this time he was a much happier - and bigger - boy!
Today was my official last day of school, too. I loved my job, but it will be nice to have a break from the stress of getting Sam ready in the morning, getting him and all of his stuff in the car and to the church on time, and then making the extra little trek to my school!
Come August, though, we'll be ready to be a teacher and a student again!
Greatful for a wonderful school-year for both of us and looking forward to a fun, relaxing summer!
Our little critter had a great time on his first trip to the zoo!
His favorite part? His new wagon!
Please don't feed the animals!!
There were those who soar and those who slither. And then there were those who flirt.
Among the birds at the zoo was the owner of this awesome pad, the stork.
And the beautiful, long-legged flamingoes.
Plump little penguins,
and Sam's favorite bird, the Bald Eagle!
In the Butterfly House!
This guy was trying to digest the meal he'd just devoured - ten whole mice!
(they're all sitting in that pouch there, underneath his throat)
And then there was this handsome bird - and old California Condor. He's fifty-eight and loves to flirt!
Some scaly critters...
Mr. Boudreaux, showing off his choppers!
Peek-A-Boo!
Some of the tamer animals for the little ones!
Best buddies!
A pretty barn owl and a giant bunny. These bunnies can grow to be three feet long and twenty pounds!
Sam and I went into the goat pen with Gram and Pops to pet and feed the goats. One of the goats tried to munch on Pops' shorts! Naughty goat!
Checking out the ponies!
Checking out the fish pond with Gram and Granny.
Best buddies!
Get ready for some hungry - and sleepy - animals.
These were some of the prettiest animals at the zoo, but also some of the sleepiest. I didn't know lions yawned so much!
The elephants weren't quite as sleepy as the lions. They were all walking around, playing with the hay in their corner of the "savannah". I think elephants seem sweet. They are my second favorite animal at the zoo :) This one looks like she's giving us a sheepish little smile!
Don't worry - I wasn't really this close to Miss Cheetah, I was behind some glass. She just liked walking close to us, showing off her spots!
We took a vote Monday and all agreed the giraffe was the Straka Family Favorite Zoo Animal. These sweet babies came right up to us, looking for food. Some of the kids there were feeding them romaine lettuce, supposedly one of their favorite foods, so I just snapped away. I could have stayed there all day, taking pictures of these guys. There were so sweet.
The lady on the left deserves special mention. Her name is Katie. She's pregnant. And she will be pregnant for *gulp*
fifteen months
. In a row. And that's not all - she will spend those months
standing up
, and will continue to stand up right on through, including during the grand finale when her baby will drop to the ground from about six feet up.
Yikes.
Good luck with that, Katie. Better you than me, that's for sure.
One of the giraffes checking out Sam and Gram.
SLURP!!!
This camel was taking a break...
A rhino!
Ha! This zoo speaks my kid's language!
Sam and I had a fun playdate yesterday. Several of us "momtogs" and our boys met at a neighborhood creek to let the kids splash around in their rainboots. The water is very clear and shallow and the creek is nestled in a quiet spot, downhill from a walking trail. The only thing missing yesterday was a little sunshine, which would have made for some pretty sparkles on the water. But Sam had a pretty good time, anyway, especially considering we came directly from school when he's often tired and cranky. He was a little reserved in the water, but did wade out into the creek with me and had a great time playing with a stick on the "shore". We'll definitely have to go back to cool down on a hot sunny day this summer!
A friend of mine from our photography group hosted a lemonade stand photoshoot and asked me to help with a few of the details. It turned out really pretty and the kids had fun. Sam was kind of whiny until the very end, then he decided to be a good sport and play lemonade stand for us so we could get some pics!
It was a beautiful spring day at the Arboretum.
We took Sam to see the fairy tale castles and enjoy the spring blooms!
up close shot of the pollen sacs on his legs!
go bee! make new flowers!
at the first fairy tale house!
picnic lunch
miniature rock garden
the bed from the princess and the pea rapunzel, rapunzel, let down your hair!
a beautiful old tree
throwing pennies in the fountain
resting with Gram - what a day!
We had a nice, relaxing Mother's Day this year. Brian got up early to make me breakfast and had Sam bring me a flower from the bouquet he bought, along with a funny card (which was addressed to "Mum"), into the bedroom when I first woke up. "Here you go, Mama", he said!
We enjoyed an awesome breakfast - eggs, sausage, bagels with salmon and cream cheese, juice and coffee - before heading out to meet Gram and Pops for a picnic at Frisco Commons. Andrew, Great-Grandma and my Uncle Brad joined us, too, and we had fun eating lunch and taking a walk in the windy, but pretty weather. Sam was such a patient boy that we finished our day at the park with some time on the giant wooden playground. Sam did the silly stairs with Gram, the swings with Pops and the horsies with Andrew.
Jan and Emil sent me the sweetest card and Nell and I chatted on the phone later that evening. Thanks, too, to Brian and Brad for the flowers. It was fun photographing something new for a change and they look great in the house! The two pictures of Sam at the bottom of the post are from the Mother's Day Tea at Sam's school. His teachers did a great job of celebrating us moms and Sam enjoyed showing me the puzzles he plays with at school!
