infatuation

Trains. Lilly can't get enough. First thing out of her mouth in the morning is "choo choo"....she does manage to hear the train that both Cory and I have spent months ignoring. Over the weekend, we passed the railroad tracks just before the gates went down, so we pulled over on a side street to watch. The engineer gave us a toot toot and a big wave. Heaven.

The magic of You Tube has brought all the excitement right to us! Yay for train fanatics that videotape trains!

Email me and I'll send you the video since it won't upload correctly here....

Polly's visit--beach!

We continued the fun down on the beach in Surfside. Team C packed up the car with a picnic lunch and we headed down to enjoy a chilly morning on the sand. We saw some dolphins swimming by the breakwater as well as many little fish that some kids were using for bait. Lilly was very excited. It was warm enough later on to get our toes wet after lunch.

Polly's visit--strawberry picking

Polly came to visit for the weekend--what fun we had! We headed up to Magnolia, about an hour away, to pick strawberries at a farm up there. A rare departure from inside the loop for Team Clechenko! Lilly had a ball--I am quite sure that no strawberry she picked made it into the box.


springtime in Texas wouldn't be right if there weren't bluebonnets!

happy easter

Happy Easter from Team C! March is the most lovely month in H-town and is the first place we've been where you can really wear seasonally appropriate clothing without the trappings of northern climate living. Lilly sported the most lovely dress given to her by Great Grandma Rita about a year ago that just now is fitting. I am amazed that this dress, which by even looking at it would get a stain, made it through the day looking as fresh as the moment it went on.

After brunch with friends, we headed out to Bayou Bend for some pictures. We missed the azaleas this year, but it was still really nice looking. Classic....we were totally "those parents" whistling and clucking at our kid for the perfect photo while she was more interested in picking flowers and finding the tiniest bits of trash. The new camera helped things out, as it actually took pictures within 30 seconds of pressing the shutter button.

The Easter Bunny swung by and delivered a few goodies for Lilly, but the plastic easter grass captured most of the interest. Green easter grass + green carpet = nightmare. The bath crayons were a big hit, until we realized that the resulting artwork is now a more permanent exhibit than originally planned.

yee haw!

We managed to make it down to see the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo last week to catch a little Texas fever. Really, Lilly just wanted to see the entire Reliant Center filled with every barnyard animal you'd want to see. Plenty of farm equipment was also on display, fulfilling Lilly's fantasy of seeing them up close. We also caught a few pig races, saw a bit of the FFA fryer judging and listened to a proper auctioneer sell off a hog for $115,000 raised by a 12 year old. Whew! As no visit to these event is complete without carnival food, we indulged in a heap of frito pie, corn dogs and soda pops...followed promptly with some tums. We were certainly in the minority without our bedazzled jeanwear and giant belt buckles, but we felt ok with that.

Only a few more years until Lilly is old enough for mutton bustin'!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey3MfG_PRhM&NR=1

sand and surf

This past weekend (that'd be March!) we were treated to terrific spring weather. Saturday morning saw the Houston Rodeo roll into town. We headed down to watch the trail riders, floats and marching bands parade through downtown. Lilly was unusually quiet, probably a bit overwhelmed by the scene, but seemed to really like it. No pictures, as the camera was safely on the kitchen counter.

On Sunday, we had a family fun day down in Galveston. We got up and managed to get ourselves together in record time. 45 minutes later, we were nearly the only people on the beach--too cold for all of those native Texans!!! No wading was had due to tons of portuguese man-o-war littering the beach. We thought they were normal jellyfish...except they were blue....until we got home to do some internet investigation.

We saw possibly the scariest playground there--the salt air and had ravaged anything metal and left the plastic brittle and cracked. The little niblet was going nowhere near it, even if she was clad in steel toes and Carhartts, much to her disappointment. Luckily there were birds, helicopters and doggies to keep her otherwise occupied.


a bird...no a plane....




not many shells on this beach, but Lilly manages to find one herself!


family photo-op


one of the many washed-up nasties

curry in a hurry!

A recent lapse in grocery shopping left us digging through the freezer for Lilly's dinner....and turned up a frozen curry meal from Central Market. Incredibly hopeful, I heated it up and filled her little bowl with sticky rice and chicken korma and stood back. The fervor with which she ate the curry was unbelievable!! She gave many "more" signals until she plowed through the entire dinner.

We also found out that Lilly prefers to eat her yogurt with a straw rather than a spoon. She thinks this is quite hilarious and giggles when she sips. Also new is the "surprise" face--big eyes, mouth agape--when she is excited, especially when drinking from her straw.