At the park

Christmas Trip

Here are some pics from our wee trip back to the UK over Christmas and New Year.

The Great Blizzard of '09

It's been snowing for a few hours and will continue into the evening before melting away tomorrow. Here's the front of the house:

The pool is at 50f/10c, not recommended for swimming. Plantain trees with snow on their leaves is just wrong:

At least I don't need to mow the lawn this weekend:

Hermann Park

Hermann Park is an 8 mile bike ride from our house. Apart from a short stretch that is being rebuilt near the park, the Brays Bayou trail takes us all the way there without having to get on roads, so it was perfect for Alasdair's trailer. Alasdair doesn't mind the trailer, though he's not keen on his crash helmet and keeps trying to pull it off. Still, he managed to sleep most of the way there, ehich gave him plenty of energy for charging around the play park.

He started in the area aimed at kids 2-5, had a lot of fun climbing and sliding:

Then he went wandering off, looking for trouble:

And found the area aimed at kids younger than 2:

He pretty much had it to himself, so he flung himself around for ages:

Thoroughly worn out, he enjoyed a well earned cheeseburger slider at Little Bigs:

Then managed to somehow lie himself down in the trailer and slept all the way home.

Halloween

Alasdair got good value from his Halloween costume this year. Starting with an event at The Little Gym the Saturday before, we had the Willow Park parade on the Wednesday, his daycare concert on the Thursday and the annual Bromley/Cruse Halloween party on the day itself. Here's a selection of pics.

Look Out Michael Phelps

For the last 6 weeks Alasdair has been taking survival swimming lessons every day with Infant Swim Resource. Thursday was the last big test...floating in clothes and shoes.

He has cried for every lesson but mostly because he can't see what's going on while floating on his back and he likes to be nosy.

So here's a video of the result of getting up every morning for the last 6 weeks to take him to his 7am lesson. With the pool in the back garden this gives us another layer of safety, on top of the fence, alarmed doors, etc.

The training is one child at a time, for a 10 minute lesson, 5 days a week and the transformation has been amazing. Many thanks to the poor old ladies at the JCC who had their morning swim disrupted by Alasdair and 11 other screaming children. The peace of mind is worth it.

Commencing Countdown Engines On

Hi everyone, I know it's been a while since my last update, but I've been very busy. First I got a new pair of wellies, which is just what I need for exploring the far reaches of the garden. They make me very happy:

After exploring the garden I decided I wanted to venture further afield, luckily I found this handy space helmet in Mummy's cupboard:

To infinity, and beyond!

Alasdair's First Haircut

Alasdair had his first haircut today. The infinitely patient Miss Lucy at the Bellaire Barber Shop did the job. Alasdair was a little dubious at first:

But by the time she was done, he was very happy with the results:

Alasdair's Birthday Party

It took a week, but we've all recovered enough from the Sugar overload to post pictures of Alasdair's birthday party last weekend.

Alasdair's New Wheels

On Friday Alasdair turned 1. I know, we can't believe it either. For his birthday he got a cool new trike.

It was quite a hit, even though it was about 800 degrees outside we had lots of fun speeding up and down the street.

Alasdair managed to stay cool thanks to the handy sun shield.

Though Daddy's steering did cause a few nervous moments.

For once, the best present wasn't the box it came in, but it was a pretty close second.