While in Galveston we went to check out the new Rainforest Pyramid at Moody Gardens. There are some nice new features like a butterfly area and monkeys roaming around.
Annette liked looking at the fish :-)
We also spent lots of time relaxing and playing on the beach. Kendall brought an arsenal of beach toys in the attempt to teach Annette how to make sand castles.
She mostly preferred to sit in the shade with her Mommy and sister :-)
Annette in her favorite summertime outfit!
Last Friday was Annette's last day of school at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church. Here she is with some of her classmates and her 2 wonderful teachers, Ms. Sara and Ms. Mahnaz. We'll continue to see Mahnaz, since she's become our part-time afternoon nanny. Annette will be moving on to St. Martin's Episcopal Preschool next year, which is perfect since that's where we go to church.
We celebrated the end of school with a trip to Galveston. We rented a condo at the Galvestonian, which is right on the beach. Here are my 3 favorite people strolling on the sand (Kendall has Zell on his chest in the baby carrier) :-)
Annette hadn't seen the waves since last summer, and was a bit unsure of getting into the ocean. Apparently she takes after her Mommy, and will only get in up to her ankles.
Annette did enjoy some sister bonding time...
The girls enjoyed having Daddy at home for the long weekend!
He put all their stuffed animals in Zell's crib, which Annette thought was great fun :-)
Nani's birthday was on Sunday, so she came over to see her granddaughters.
Annette was fascinated by all the kittens on the quilt that Great-Grandma Lois made for Zell!
All the activity wore our little muffin out :-)
"Yo everybody, happy Canada Day!!"
Annette celebrated her other country's independence today with a parade at school.
All the kids got dressed up in red, white and blue and waved flags :-)
Here's Annette with her classmates and teachers!
Zell came to see the parade too, but ended up sleeping through it instead :-)
Annette, who turned 21 months old on Tuesday, is growing into her role of big sister to Zell, who is 6 weeks old today!
She now has enough hair for pigtails - her new big girl hairstyle :-)
We said goodbye to Mormor a couple of weeks ago by going out for Tex-Mex. She'll be in China until the end of August, when she returns with Morfar.
Zell is growing fast and becoming more aware of her surroundings - here she is waking up from a nap yesterday.
Annette and I went over to her friend Asher's house yesterday afternoon while Zell stayed at home with our new part-time nanny. Annette loves having Mommy all to herself whenever she can :-)
Zell has had a busy 3 weeks of life!
She had her first real bath with her big sis, who thought it was great fun to have a baby in the bathtub with her :-)
She's been spending time with her Mormor (who came all the way back from China just to see her!), Uncle Nils and her cousins.
She also got baptized yesterday in the same gown worn by her Morfar and Mommy - it's seen a lot of babies in 60+ years!
We are loving our new family of 4 :-)
The stork has arrived! Zell Persson Hollrah was born on Thursday, May 12th at 3:31 p.m., weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 19 inches.
Heading to the hospital bright and early on Thursday morning, this is the last picture of Zell inside...
...and the first picture of her outside!
We had a wonderful labor and delivery nurse who had 2 hats ready for either a girl or a boy - we were delighted to get to use the hat she made with a bow on it!
Mommy and Daddy with our newest addition :-)
This will be our last blog post as a family of 3, since the new baby is arriving tomorrow! The princess helped me celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday with brunch at Brennan's, which was wonderful :-)
She loves the new pool Daddy got for her!
It took a while for the water to warm up,
but once it did Annette got in and practiced her kicking :-)
Summer has arrived! Annette enjoyed splashing and drinking pool water with her friend Trey after school last week.
She's also grown to LOVE bath time, and stays in there as long as we let her :-)
Apparently reading while on the potty starts early...
All of Annette's friends are in the process of turning 2, so she's been a frequent party-goer. This weekend we went to a party at Wonderwild, where Annette made Daddy take her down the slide at least 20 times. Both of them were pretty worn out afterward!
On Tuesday we went to Hermann Park with our moms group from church, where we enjoyed strolling by the pond and feeding the ducks.
On Sunday we all went to church in the morning, and then to Grandpa David and Grandma Susan's house for dinner in the afternoon.
Annette got a stuffed bunny, which is her new favorite toy :-)
She mostly dined on pretzel sticks, but also ate some cucumber slices for variety.
Meanwhile, her little brother or sister is getting ready to make its big debut! It is 6 pounds 5 ounces as of this morning, and already looks just like Annette did when she was born!
It loves to suck its thumb and chubby little fingers :-)
