the Houston Butterfly Garden

In late July, Nonnie and Papa treated the kids and I to a Houston Museum date!

Here is Ava on her way out the door. She insisted that Bitty Baby rode in her backpack.

We went to the Butterfly Garden inside the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Before the actual garden, there is a little bug and garden-life exhibit.

Ava LOVED the frogs!

Most of the insects where on display at the kids' eye level. This was so awesome for them!

There was even a PINK katydid. Ava was excited. Colin liked everything. He has tons of questions and was not freaked out at all...unlike his Mommy. :0/ YUCK!

The butterfly hatchery was cool too! We saw some "new" butterflies and even a few trying to wiggle out of the cocoons. So beautiful!

As soon as we entered the garden, the butterflies were EVERYWHERE!

The kids we alittle startled but it only lasted a few minutes.

Colin was trying so hard to get a butterfly to land on him. I don't think he stood still long enough for them to even want to land on him. lol

Yes, Colin and Papa Chuck are matching on purpose.

I LOVE it!

The "vintage-leopard" butterflies likes Gi Gi's dress.

This bug was CRAZZZYYYY looking! The kids wanted NOTHING to do with him.

Right before this picture, a butterfly landed on Ava's hand.

She jumped and said "hey, fly!" and pulled her hand in.

pressed pennies...always a must.

yes, we have a collection of these TOO!

With Aunt Nicki's museum membership, we got in FREE to see the Paleontology exhibit!

They were discussing how cool it would be to catch a catfish this big!

We found out that the dinos with the extra black iron structures on the outside of the bones are the REAL BONE!
Ah-Mazing!

After the museum we took a little ice cream break then headed to the train station.

You know how Kindergarten teachers' minds work...once you go on a field trip, you have to have a project to go along. :)

A few days later, the kids and I made "stained glass butterflies".

Mommy glued the left wings and Ava did the right ones...

Each one of Colin's wings had a different red, white and blue pattern.

Colin's New Room!

We went bed shopping back in FEBRUARY and Colin picked out a new bunk bed.

Yes, I realize it's August and he had to wait like 5 months for the bed...

it was all in good behavior management ;)

Let the ROOM SWITCHING, reorganizing, and painting begin.

The bunk bed wouldn't fit in Colin's old room because there just wasn't a good wall for it. So, C and A switched rooms. It wasn't too difficult and it gave me a chance the clean out the closets and dressers.

We (I say WE but it was really ALL MOMMY) painted the bottom half of the walls midnight blue and hand painted a baseball stitching along one of the upper halves.
Colin requested a Yankees Baseball Room.

I lightly sanded down a wooden table that has gone unused for about 2 years now.

Colin helped me paint it navy and Daddy is going to paint the Yankees "NY" on the top.

I was tricky, but we kept his room a secret until it was finished!

These little guys belonged to my Papa Frank Raimondo. They were made in the 70s and he personally gave them to Colin last summer when we visited Buffalo.

Time for the big reveal! He could wait to tear through the crepe paper and see his baseball room!

The bunk bed came a day later while he was at golf camp.

So he got 2 surprises in a row!

Ava instantly climbed to the top and started saying "my bed, my bed!"

Colin spent a good hour putting away his clothes, a few toys and other miscellaneous items in his new drawers. It was so cute seeing him organize and justify WHY he was putting the shirts here and pj's there. He refolded EVERYTHING and was only putting 4 shirts/shorts/underwear piled on top of one another. Oh, and BTW...his father is the EXACT SAME WAY!

Each night he sleeps in a different bed. He doesn't have a favorite one. He would REALLY like Ava to sleep on the bottom and him on the top bunk. I reminded him that Ava still needs the crib because she rolls around too much and we don't want her to get out of her room in the middle of the night. And, we are not getting Ava a big girl bed until she starts climbing out of the crib on her own. Those reasons lasted a few days then he asked me if we could teach Ava how to climb out of her crib! Um...NO! He just wants to share a room with his Sissy. Sweet BOY!

We still have a few additions to the room.

We are buying navy blue window treatments, we have a red shelf to hang for all of his trophies and Pete has recreated this baseball cross! I will post pictures when everything is up and ready. :)

Now off to start Ava's painting and redecorating!