our newest little friend

this weekend we got to spend some time with our friends, the benolkens, and their two-week-old baby, wyatt. all three of us (me, lee, and katy) had many opportunities to pass around and take our turn holding baby wyatt since being held is probably his second favorite thing right now.tiffany and aaron seem like they have been doing this parenting thing for way longer than just two weeks. it was fun for us to get some tips from new parents as we get closer to being in their position.
saturday's weather was so perfect in dallas that wyatt got to enjoy his first trip out to lunch. we went to freebirds and of course he slept through the entire meal, but he was a pro at riding in the car.so crazy to think that we will be doing all of this soon. ...did i say that already?

also, one non-wyatt-related note, aaron and tiffany were given this awesome gift from her grandfather and we got to take a ride around the neighborhood in it! it is a 1928 ford model a, and it is in pristine condition! so fun!

18th birthday celebration - Houston style

so last weekend, my not-so-little-anymore little brother came to see us for the weekend. this was his birthday present from us as we knew he had really been wanting to come back since the whole family's visit last spring break.

my parents were cool enough to let him miss a day of school so we took friday off as well and made the most of our time with tyler. we began with breakfast (well, i guess it is considered brunch when you do not arrive until 10:30) at le peep. seriously, those of you who live in houston, if you have never experienced breakfast at le peep...you are missing out! they have several houston locations so find a time to go. you can thank me later.back to the weekend with tyler. after le peep, we ventured over to the galleria. if only had more opportunities to visit the galleria during the week...no crowds! we went into a minor sugar-induced coma in dylan's candy bar, watched tyler flirt with a girl in border's (you're welcome, tyler), and became little kids again while browsing through the lego store.

after hearing me rave about and tweet about crave cupcakes, tyler wanted to try them out for himself so we went to the location near rice village. (sidenote: i like this location because it has more room to sit inside...also, another place houston residents should try if you haven't!) we thought tyler was going to be disappointed with his crave experience because his espresso cupcake was way too bitter. luckily, lee was kind enough to share his white chocolate macadamia nut cupcake and redeem the entire experience. i must add that i tried their ice-cold bottle of chocolate milk for the first time...yum!we made our way into rice village to shop at their awesome gap & gap body stores. from there, we took the scenic route over to hermann park to let tyler see the japanese garden...one of our favorite places in the entire city as you may remember from this post. being the artsy photog that my brother is, he got some pretty cool shots in the park...and i got a couple on my phone because i forgot my camera battery that day.if you're still with me, we capped off friday with dinner at pappasito's and the boys beginning their harry potter lego saga.

saturday was all about college station. we drove to town in time for some breakfast tacos at rudy's, and then we gave tyler a tour of a&m's campus. we got to witness an aggie victory in basketball and enjoy some birthday celebrations with katy and the two youngest garrett kids before heading back to kingwood. major props to katy for thinking of and including tyler in the birthday celebrations.tyler, we had an awesome time hanging out with you & showing you a little more of what we love. we cannot wait for you and the rest of the fam to visit again!

growing

our family is growing...












yep, that's right. baby pilgreen is on his/her way! we are looking forward to meeting the newest member of our family in August.

quite the photogenic little one, don't you think?!

we know how to plan a good weekend

seriously, if you live out of town or out of state, we would love for you to come visit. our motto with visitors is if you get yourself here, we will take care of the rest.

last weekend the allens came to town. this is our second year in a row to host the now 5-member family in a one-bedroom apartment. was it a little tight? well sure but no biggie. did that make it any less fun? heck no! we watched football, played xbox, cooked dinner, watched a movie, and shared shipley's donuts in our cozy one-bedroom apartment. everyone even had hot water for showers (all in the same morning)!

we began saturday with lunch at pappasito's (emily's food request). (was their any doubt that place made its way into a weekend with us?!) lunch was followed by a trip to the zoo. we did go when they visited last year, but we were all interested in the new "african forest" exhibit that just recently opened at last month. all 7 of us made it about halfway through the zoo, including the slightly disappointing new exhibit...houston friends, we just did not think it lived up to all of the hype. overall, the zoo was as great as its always been. from there, walter, emily, emma, eva and i decided we were ready for cupcakes and outlet shopping.we headed to crave cupcakes so they could enjoy the deliciousness i love so much. and enjoy they did. after that, we drove out to the outlet mall in cypress where walter and emily found some great deals.while we were cupcaking-it-up and shopping, lee and jonah finished the zoo and then headed to the museum of natural science. this was a perfect choice for jonah. at 8, he loves animals and discovering new things. the rock/crystal exhibit was a huge hit for him as well as the gyro-meter ride. they capped off their night with the always delicious pappa's burgers.the main purpose for their visit was to purchase some new furniture at ikea. sunday, we all headed for that wonderful shopping experience. they left with the furniture they needed, eva found a new friend, and we even walked away with a new shower curtain (first one in our marriage). we sent them on their way back to louisiana with full bellies from lunch at freebirds (walter's food request).as always, a great weekend was had and we cannot wait to see all of you again. to everyone else, remember the invitation always stands for you to come visit! :)