Claire as many animals

 We found this little turtle in our pool the other day. Jeff wanted to keep it for a pet until we did some research and found out this type of turtle does best not being a pet. We walked it to the pond in our neighborhood and "released" it. Claire enjoyed watching it for the short time we held it captive.

                                  Who needs toys when you have old diaper boxes to play with?

For the past 2 weeks Claire has been pretending to be an animal for a small part of the day. She usually ends up being either a puppy or a cat and Mommy is usually a unicorn or a frog. Today Claire was a puppy on the ride to the gym, a cat from the gym to the store, and a frog from the store to home! She has really started to show her creativity and continues to amaze me every single day.

It's Pool Time Again!

I love this time of year here. Low 80's during the day with a slight breeze. I take every moment I can to be outside because before I know it, the highs will be over 100 degrees. So today Claire and I decided to brave the pool. It was a bit chilly at first, but once you got in and started moving around, it was not too bad. I believe we have a little fish on our hands. Claire loves her puddle jumper and has no reserve about going into water over her head. She loves to lay on her back and float around and to spin in circles. Not too many people get to see "Claire the Chatterbox" because she is usually shy. I wanted to share the video I took today so you can get an idea of just how much she talks when she gets going!

Easter egg hunt

Claire and I met our friends for an Easter egg hunt today. I thought it would be a great time, but Claire thought differently. She freaked out when we got close to the Easter bunny for a picture, did not like any of the crafts, and was not very excited to pick eggs. She picked about 5 after I told her she had to pick eggs before she could play on the toys. Not at all like I thought the morning would be. Hopefully next year she is a bit more into the activities at Easter.

Easter egg coloring

This was the first year we tried coloring Easter eggs with Claire. I was all excited and thought she would have a great time with it. Well, that wasn't the case! She was excited to get started and once she put the eggs in the colored water, she was pretty much done. That left Mommy to finish the activity by herself. Hopefully next year she will be a bit more excited for this fun tradition. Maybe the Easter egg hunt will be more fun for her!

Zoo day with Mommy!

After living here for 4 years, I have finally mustered up the courage to tackle the drive to downtown Houston to take Claire to the zoo. I have gone many times before but only with Jeff driving. I managed to get there ok and Claire and I had a great day. It is so much fun watching her explore and be independent. She lead the way to every animal she wanted to see and I think she knows the zoo better than I do (probably from going with Daddy often)!. After spending a few hours at the zoo, I thought for sure Claire would sleep on the ride home. She didn't so I thought she would nap when we got home. She didn't do that either. We spent the rest of the day outside riding bike, going for a walk in her wagon, and playing on the swing set and trampoline. She never stopped all day long until bedtime. It was a wonderful Mother-Daughter day! I love this girl so much!