First Haircut

Peter's hair was getting a little bit out of control, so I decided it was time for a haircut. We opted to try it ourselves. Well, that was interesting. I usually cut Scott's hair, but doing Peter's was much more challenging. The hard part was not getting him to hold still (he was actually paralyzed with fear by the clippers). The hard part was scaling down my thinking from a Scott-sized head to a Peter-sized head; it is so much smaller! It turned out okay, but don't look too closely. I was depressed the rest of Saturday and actually contemplated not taking him out in public again until his curls come back. I will never cut his curls off again unless it is at his request; just a trim next time. I actually cried after cutting his hair. I really did not think I would be this sentimental about a silly haircut.

BEFORE

DURING

Started with the shears, but it was taking way too long.


THE TERRIFYING CLIPPERS

This video brakes my heart and makes me
laugh at the same time. The poor kid!


THE DEPRESSED AFTER

THE HAPPY AFTER

Grandma Flamm's Visit & Swimming

We were really excited that we could go see Scott's Mom during her layover in Houston. We went to a Burger King to eat and got some really cute pictures of Kristine and Peter.





We also went swimming again the other day. It has been record hot temperatures here in Houston, so the pool is bathtub temperature. So far this summer we have had hardly any rain. From what I hear from family, I think Idaho and Utah stole it from us.

The Alligator Park

Last weekend we went the "alligator park" (it is really called the Brazos Bend State Park). One of my childhood friends, Seth, is here in Houston for job training, so we invited him to come along. We saw about five alligators very close-up! Seth must have been our good luck charm, because the previous five times we have been, we have never seen more than one and always from quite a distance.

I know it sounds very dangerous but the 25 years that the park has been opened, there have been no injuries or deaths. The park is the swampy floodplains of the Brazos Bend River which is a perfect place for alligators. They generally avoid and are scared of humans. The water is their territory where they feel more comfortable than land. Although, they will come out and sun themselves periodically when the weather is nice-no rain, not too warm or cold. So, as long as you don't swim in their swamps and keep your distance, you will be safe.

Enough of my ramblings, here are some pictures and videos we took.

This is called a Banana Spider. During the very wet part of the year, they build HUGE webs EVERYWHERE. It comes to the point where the trails are impassable because of their webs. They are not poisonous by the way. (This is for you Melissa!)

Peter slept for a good portion of our visit, so we did not have to worry about him trying to swim out to meet the alligators. I'm serious when I say this, he really would.

We were only one or two feet from this alligator--protected by a fenced-in wood platform. He just happened to swim underneath the platform while we were on it.

This is the largest alligator we have ever seen at the park. This alligator also provided more action than any other one we have seen. Generally you will just see them lazily swimming or sunning themselves. The people before us, saw him thrashing the deer back and forth in the air. SO COOL!

This alligator posed very well for us.

Two facts that I thought were interesting about alligators:
#1 Temperature of the eggs during incubation determines the gender of the alligator.
#2 I don't remember the exact stats, but only about 1 in 6 alligators survive from hatching to adulthood. Most get eaten by other alligators and creatures.

Family Resemblance

The past little while we have been getting things ready for hurricane season like our 72-hour kit and organizing computers files so we can back them up. As I was going through our pictures, I found some childhood pictures of Scott and the resemblance to Peter is amazing!

Scott's newborn picture.

Peter's newborn picture.

Three Brothers: Scott (the one with curly hair), Jason, & Stephen.

Doug, Kristine, Jason, Stephen, & Scott.
Scott was probably 3 in this picture.

My little boy.

Misc. Photos

Here are some photos that we have taken recently. We haven't posted much over the last month since we have been looking for a house. Hopefully we will get into a house soon. Especially since our lease is up at the end of July and we have already given our notice.

Here is Peter holding his blanket and his Dad's socks.

Here is Peter after getting hit on the head by our new camera. Luckily the camera was fine. Peter was kind enough to break its fall ;). Though he did get a nice bruise.

Peter snuggling with his mommy.

Out like a light. Just the way we like it.

Peter getting into trouble. This climbing thing has got to stop.

Peter with his new swim toy.

Peter stuffing his face.
Spike!
Peter coloring with crayons.
Peter looking for trouble.