Rodeo 2012

The Houston rodeo is a month long event during March every year. We checked it out last year, http://theducotesinhawaii.blogspot.com/2011/03/everything-is-bigger.html, and were amazed at the size and the variety of entertainment, educational activities, cultural information and of course types of BBQ that were featured. To kickoff the rodeo they have the World's Championship BBQ contest the weekend before it begins so we headed down to check it out. The carnival was in full swing, too, so we roamed around and checked out the festivities and of course tasted some delicious BBQ.

We tasted the beef brisket and pulled pork but Rich couldn't resist this sausage either!

Joseph is a fan!

Checking out the young girl getting ready to ride the mechanical bull

I am heading back with my girlfriends in a few weeks for the Miranda Lambert concert and am excited about that. And, just for the record, I listened to country music even in Hawaii so I haven't just jumped on the bandwagon since living here!

Taking Advantage

This past week we have definitely taken advantage of living in a master planned community with many parks throughout our town. We went to 4 different parks this week and met friends on most of the days so enjoyed the beautiful weather and amenities.

Happy as can be in the woods!

Found his stick for the walk

Checking out the big boy parts of the park

Future Superhero!

"Playing" with Nelson and Will

"This way Brycen!"

And just a cute shot of the little ones at lunch on Friday after our baby boot camp class! Some of us have been doing lunch every Friday for the past month or so and we basically take over the restaurant-we have found one that has enough highchairs and is kid friendly so it has become a weekly date!

A Ball of Energy!

With a love for balls and lots of energy, he is definitely a ball of energy!! Just a quick video to kick off the weekend...

Nature Boy

Joseph LOVES the outside, as most toddlers (did I really just call him a toddler!?!), or almost-toddlers (that sounds better) probably do. With a park behind our home (and a ton of other parks within 10 minutes from us) and the boot camp that I go to 5 days a week being held at a park we are outside at a park most days twice a day. Every time we are out, the first thing that he does is to pick up a stick. He normally has a stick in his hand the entire time outside, unless climbing on the play structures, but he is so happy just roaming around picking up sticks...such a boy! Oh and yesterday at the park with friends we caught him trying to drink from a puddle...again, such a boy! Here are a few pictures from the park yesterday afternoon with a variety of sticks!

"Hi Mom, I have my stick!"

"Ok, new stick, bigger than me, but I'm ready to walk to the park."

"Let's go!"

By the way, it was about 60 out but I couldn't find his hoodie so that is why he is wearing his coat-he was probably sweating but he didn't seem to mind! And, today it was 75-beautiful!!

New stick!

Exploring and getting ready to slide!

Joseph and the ladies

This past weekend we had Joseph's friends, Claire and Norah, come over to play. I think he enjoyed having plenty of attention from the ladies and the three of them play really nicely-Joseph is basically in the middle of both of them, so he is surrounded by the ladies!

Claire practicing her yoga moves and Joseph trying to ruin the pose by sneaking under her.

"Forget yoga, let's just rest!"

They were trying to escape to go outside!

Rich liked the idea of trying to get a picture of them in a row, but that didn't really happen.

Isn't Norah's smile the cutest? :)

More...taken to the next level

Rich had to work late tonight so I was in charge of bath-we have been working on signing "please", so he now has good manners when he wants more water in the tub :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sending lots of love from Joseph.

Happy Valentine's Day!

xoxo

Surprise Visitor

This past Tuesday we were at the park with friends and my dad called and asked me if we wanted to meet him for dinner. What?!?! He was on his way home from Indianapolis for the Superbowl and was able to get on an earlier flight so had a 3 hour layover in Houston. What an awesome surprise! Rich was out of town for a few days for work so Joseph and I headed to the airport, picked him up and went to a great BBQ joint for dinner. The restaurant was perfect-there was hardly anyone there so Joseph had plenty of room to explore and we were able to spend 2 hours just chatting and entertaining J. Although we just saw my dad over New Years and then in New York the week before, this totally made our week and was just such a nice surprise! We'll take all the time with him that we can. Thanks Poppa for making it work-we love you!

Texas winter

The weather this winter in Texas has been kind of crazy-well, at least crazy to us since we are used to 80 and sunny year round! For example, today the high is 55, tomorrow 50, then 63, 70 and 74. To be honest, we have actually enjoyed the change in temperature and being able to shop for different seasons (still thankful though that we don't have snow and freezing temperatures though!) With the park basically in our backyard and lots of playdates with friends we have taken advantage of the sunny weather and get outside every day...especially since summer will be here soon enough and by then we'll be complaining that it is too hot!

These pictures are all from last week to show the difference in temperature/outfits in one week!!

Wrestler in Training

Following in his father's (and all 7 of his Ducote uncles) footsteps, it looks as if we have the beginning of a wrestler on our hands...

How am I going to eat with this thing on my face?
Tough guy!

Geneseo girls

When we were in New York Joseph and I were able to spend some quality time with some of my closest friends which was SO nice! We were able to visit with them all this summer as well but that visit felt really rushed so it was great to have some quality time with them all. Did we really graduate from Geneseo over 10 years ago? That just doesn't sound right.

Jen and her adorable 2 boys, Jackson and Dylan, watched Joseph during my grandma's service which was so thoughtful of them. Thanks again Jen! Then we got together for dinner one night and spent another whole day playing as well-it was so wonderful to get to know her boys better and I just had the best time with Jen. Texas and New York are just too far away from one another-wish that we lived closer!

Joseph and I also met up with another good friend, Allison, and her son Logan for a day. We played at Allison's house for an afternoon and even watched the snow come down. I had to drive back to my grandparents' home while it was snowing, and in the dark, which totally freaked me out (thankfully Joseph slept the entire car ride back) so I am thankful that I don't have to do that very often. Not the greatest pictures but we did have a great day together!

Then Joseph and I made the 2 hour trip to Syracuse to my dear friend, Erin's home, where we spent the night with her family and our good friends Chrissy and Diana also came to visit. It was so fun to see all the kiddos together and to see how much they had grown since the summer. On Saturday it was a balmy 45 degrees which is unheard of in January in Syracuse so we headed to the zoo. It was sunny so it was actually pretty nice and was great to get outside for a bit.

Joseph is not a fan of the beanie!

I love that I have stayed SO close with my girlfriends from Geneseo and although our visits are not as frequent as any of us would like, it is so comforting to know that when we do see one another we pick up right where we left off!

Since we went to West Point last summer, I am thinking a trip to Geneseo is due in the near future!

Family Fun

Although the reason why we went to New York was a sad one, we had such a wonderful time spending time with all of our family. Joseph had met most of my cousins this past summer but he has grown so much in the past 5 months that it was so much fun seeing them all interact this time.

He developed a special bond with my Uncle Bruce, most of which revolved around food! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the two of them together but everyone got a kick out of him eating chili, which we did get on camera...I think they are still scrubbing the walls.

We even visited "Grandma Jen" (my aunt's mother) who gave Joseph money to buy a treat at Bubbles, the ice cream store that Grandma Jen would always give us money to go to while we were young. Thanks Grandma Jen for the money-I enjoyed some ice cream back at home!

And, of course, Joseph loved the extra time with Nani!

She took him outside to experience his first snow and would supply him with snow during the day to eat! Crazy Nani :)

Thanks Mom for staying a few days longer to spend extra time with us.

Grammy S

Joseph and I spent last week in New York. Unfortunately, my grandma passed away after 87 years of a full and love-filled life. I feel so fortunate to have had such a close relationship with my grandparents as a young girl and then going to Geneseo only 4 hours away from them I was able to spend time with them every few months which developed into a stronger relationship as an adult. My grandmother was ALWAYS so happy and hummed or sang her way through life. Her quick wit, compassion and sweet tooth will be missed. I will definitely miss my weekly phone calls to her but am thankful that she was able to meet Joseph twice and that we were all able to visit with her this summer. Her and Pop are together now and I know that she is just humming every day.

We miss you Gram!