Go 'stros!

We've had a great start to the month of May with our Astros ticket pack, celebrating Mother's Day, and wrapping up the school year with many fun activities. We decided to go in with some friends and purchase a 6 game season pack to the Astros game. The marvelous Minute Maid Park is only minutes away from our house, and our seats are fabulous. Whether the roof is open or closed, we'll always sit with our back to the sun, a big bonus in Houston for evening games! Mom and I have really been enjoying the warm weather. We've been swimming a lot and hitting the parks with water features. Believe it or not, I was photographed at Discovery Green Park downtown by the Houston chronicle as I played in the fountains. The Chronicle photographer, after being hustled by park management (hooray for great security), took some great shots of me playing, then asked Mom for my name and age. The next day, a big shot of me appeared in the metro section of the Houston Chronicle. This Arnold appearance comes about 11 years after my parents were photographed near the water wall reading a book which also appeared in the paper! What can I say, the camera loves us--ha ha! Mother's Day was a lot of fun. We drove into Woodville to be with Grandmother and the gang. Uncle Jay cooked hamburgers, and I was in charge of the deviled eggs. It was my first ever attempt in making them, and despite some minor messiness, they came out very tasty. After lunch, I got to ride on the 4 wheeler with James. He had to drive really slow, and we could only cruise around the neighborhood, but it was a blast. James and Claire drove the 4 wheeler all the way from their house--how cool! We're winding down the school year and had our last field trip today. It was the best yet--the Aquarium. This amazing downtown facility is a restaurant, aquarium, and amusement park wrapped into one. We rode the ferris wheel, carousel, and took a train ride through the shark tunnel! The aquarium has the coolest fish and reptiles I've ever seen. Long, green eels, enormous sting rays, and huge sharks . . . but my favorite was seeing the most humongous snake I've ever laid eyes upon. This python's head was almost as big as mine! It's over 20 ft long and weighs over 300 pounds. The picture just doesn't do this snake justice. You'd have to see it to believe it. It's been a fun month so far, and we have so much to look forward to this summer. Hope you all had a very happy Mother's Day.