It's a zoo out there

Inspired by the really nice weather we've been having (sunshine and warmth in June!), I renewed our London Zoo Membership. We have a long six weeks of no nursery ahead of us and it's a great way to get out of the house, especially when I embrace public transportation like I did today. It's amazing how much less effort it takes just to take the bus!

As usual, our first stop was the aquarium, which is a draw for both girls, who were mesmerized by the sea anemone type section of the aquarium. I can't figure out what the zoo is doing with the aquarium, as it seems to have been under construction the entire time we've lived here and still has some temporary ceiling and is very temporary feeling and cave-like. But the fish are nice. I am a little spoiled, having experienced the New Orleans Aquarium many times and I haven't actually been to the London Aquarium, so I probably should stop having such high expectations for the zoo...because zoos aren't all about aquariums anyway...
they're obviously about merry go rounds! This is Evie's first solo merry go round ride. She wanted to go on the big one, but I couldn't take her, so she had to settle for the little one. Clearly it was ok!
Millie watched from the sidelines:
She was also thrilled to pose next to the penguins, who were basking in the rare London sun:
Despite her history with butterflies, Evie insisted on going to the butterfly tent and her reaction was the same as usual: hysterical shrieking when a beautiful blue butterfly flew near her face. Here she is on high alert:
Millie finds the butterflies to be less alarming. These butterflies were called glass wings because they had wings that we could see through:
We had a picnic on the zoo green, along with about six thousand school children. School ends in a few weeks and as part of the final push all the kids are getting to go on lots of school trips. Millie was ecstatic to be out of her buggy and on the grass. Now that she is moving, she is less tolerant of just riding along.
Going to the London Zoo during the summer definitely offers more opportunities to actually see the animals. Today we saw lions, tigers, monkeys, camels and lots of other animals out and about. The last time we came, they were all hunkered down inside to stay warm. My personal favorite is the Pygmy Hippo (named Thug, seen from behind).
We also enjoyed the Galapagos Turtles and when I asked Evie if she could believe that Dirk, the oldest, was born before Lala and Nana, she said, in amazement, "Noooooo....." That made a lady near us laugh (sorry Moms!).
After getting in big trouble for biting me while pretending to be a lion, Evie has turned her pretending efforts towards being a dragon. She was a little confused that this giant lizard is an actual dragon. I think she was expecting the fire breathing variety, but when she heard that it eats things like baby crocodiles, she got interested fast.
But her all time favorites are always the giraffes, who I think she feels a special connection with because of her adoration of her Dou Dou. I am looking forward to when Millie can be more interactive at the zoo and tell us what she loves, too!

We ended our trip to the zoo with a visit to the owls, of whom we also are fond. There were some babies and some dead mice lying around for them to snack on, which was fascinating for little eyes. The nice thing about having a membership to the zoo is that when you've had enough, you can just leave, knowing you can come back whenever you feel like it again. Next time I want visit the bats and I'll bring everyone's bathing suits so they can play in the paddling pool area. Maybe we'll just spend the whole summer at the zoo!

Family fun

improved Move

A ball

On Friday, Jim and I headed to a ball, leaving a devastated Evie behind. She was convinced that Cinderella was going to be there.

The ball was less than thrilling and I will leave out the details to protect the innocent, but it was really nice to meet some of the people that Jim works with and we got to participate in a fascinating game called "Heads and Tails" which involved putting your hand on your head or your tail and standing there while a large, loud mouthed man flipped a coin and told you to stay standing or sit down.

Jim picked Heads:

I stuck with tails:
Eventually someone--not us--won a prize. And later that night, someone at our table--also not us--won a two day hotel stay.

The most exciting part about the evening is that we decided to stay overnight in a hotel, where we slept until 8:30 am the next morning (as opposed to 5 am, which seems to be the standard wake up time in our house, unfortunately). Here we are in our hotel, celebrating the fact that we could go to bed and sleep late!

After a leisurely breakfast that did not include getting up ten times to refill someone's milk or cereal, we decided to be tourists for an hour and wandered over to Tower Bridge. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we live in London:

Jim and an egg sculpture near Boris Johnson's office:
And beneath what will be the tallest building in London: The Shard.

It was such a nice mini-break and we were so happy to get home and see our little girls...who woke us up this morning at 5:30 am. Back to reality.

Evie and Millie

Millie has also taken on the role of "Evie's Doll" and happily participates in being undressed by Evie. What Evie is saying in this video is "Millie stay up a little longer!" and "Millie lie down!"


And while most days are happy days, during which I don't question my ability to remain sane, some days threaten to drive me around the bend. The next video embodies one of those days and the best solution is to get out of the house as soon as possible. While I'm not a big fan of jumping off the furniture, I do like it when Evie and Millie are making each other laugh...but the second half was just Evie being crazy in the way that only a 2.5 year old can be.

Millie Crawls!

Or something like it. With her best spiderman impression, Millie is now able to get across short distances in pursuit of what she wants! She has improved her moves since we took this video yesterday and is already trying to pull herself up into standing (from the floor) since then, too. Another athlete!

Houston!

Better late, than never...the story of our visit to Houston!

In Houston, Millie sat in her first big girl high chair with a fabulous toy that Nana got for her. She loves this three headed creature, still, and plays with it almost every day:
Papa figured out what she loves pretty quickly!

Fun times at the neighborhood playground! And we found and even bigger one a couple of miles away. Kingwood has lots of great places to play.

And Evie got to participate in her annual watering of Nana's garden. One of her favorite things to do!

She also got to model Aunt Mendy's vintage tutu, which Nana made.

But the highlight by far was being reunited with her beloved cousin Jenna, who was really sweet and shared all of her toys and taught Evie some really cool new dance moves.
Another exciting thing: cupcakes! Nana made them and Evie and Jenna decorated and consumed them (and so did the rest of us. Yum!). Proud cupcake decorators:

Meanwhile, Millie was reaping the benefits of Nana love:

And getting smooches from her Aunt Mendy:
Easter Girls!
And getting ready for the Easter Egg Hunt!


Evie proved to be much like her mother in the Easter Egg hunting department, mostly following Jenna around to the eggs that Jenna found first. But occasionally she found one on her own.
Later, there was much rejoicing:
Not to mention a delicious Easter meal:

With extended family! Jim was missed!

Millie was soothed by various loving uncles and grandfathers throughout the week:


But not really by Evie (pictured here at the Houston Zoo, scaring Millie with large drums):
Friend Fiona came along for the fun at the zoo, but she was more scared of the chimpanzees than she was of the drums:

Millie also made it her mission to learn to read before Daddy got to Houston.

And when he got there, Evie was the first to greet him at the airport (after several hundred trips up and down the airport escalators, much to the amusement of a group of nuns who were also waiting for someone to arrive). She was so excited, she forgot to swallow her biscotti.

Millie was also happy to have her Daddy back and snuggled up in his lap:
On Jim's second day, we took a short drive to a really nice, woodsy park in Kingwood, which runs along Lake Houston. The weather was still nice at that point, but probably now it wouldn't be such an idyllic place to be due to the oppressive heat and humidity. We really enjoyed walking there in the spring, though!


Evie with her big walking stick to keep away all the alligators:
Some little feet on the way back from the playground:
A few days into Jim's visit, we ventured into Houston again. We started our visit with a ride on the Hermann Park train. Doesn't everyone look excited!!!??

Despite the lack of train enthusiasm, Hermann Park is WAY better than it was when we lived there and has a nice man made lake as well as some pretty awesome playgrounds (with the requisite sketchy looking homeless people hanging around to keep it real).
We also paid a visit to our favorite place: The Houston Butterfly Museum! There was a little anxiety about the big caterpillar:

And also about the other large bugs around:

Evie was very interested in the technology outside of the butterflies and in looking at the cocoons:

Millie loved the butterflies!

Evie, like last year, was ok with them from a distance...

But the closer they got...

The less she liked it.

Butterfly Hysteria!!!!!! (at this point, she jumped up and started screaming, which amused everyone around us)

Whew, saved from that terrifying and dangerous butterfly!

More in town excitement included celebrating Kristian and Jaime's anniversary at a yummy restaurant, the name of which is eluding me at the moment. Five years of love and happiness (and two super cute kids--Ella and Fiona)!
And then it was family reunion time, with the arrival of Pat and Tom, who flew in from Birmingham for a visit. We've been lucky to see them two years in a row now.
Evie dressed for the occasion:

Handsome Avant men:

Beautiful Avant women!

And the stunning youngest generation of Avant women! (I am not talking about myself, obviously. I was only the support for the beautiful Millie and her gorgeous cousin Olivia)
Bartender. The margaritas were STRONG (surprise, surprise).
The festivities continued!

Millie and I watched in awe as Evie performed a fairy dance:


And then Millie danced off to bond with her sweet Aunt Pat:

Mindy, Olivia and Pat:
Family! Later that evening and improptu talent show took place. Some highlights of talent in the Avant family: Jim can squeak his ear, there was a Bama vs. War Eagle school song whistling throw down, Pat demonstrated her fish lips, Jenna and Ryan did some great dance moves and then I was moved to teach Jenna and Olivia how to do the Hammer crab walk. Jenna also did a great horse noise! Lots of talent!

Evie and Millie and Daddy:
And a big snuggle with Uncle Tom and Aunt Pat:



A first motorcycle ride (I really hope she will never get on a motorcycle that is moving!!):

Jim, banished to the green train at the galleria (Evie and I were on the blue one and Millie was home with Nana and Papa):
Shoe shopping:
It was a great visit and after all that excitement we were wiped out. It was a LOOONG flight back to London, but worth it to spend so much time with family: