Grandma and grandpa flew down from Chicago for mama's birthday weekend. Here are some of the guys on the couch just hanging out.

Meanwhile, I was outside with Grandpa doing this. Mud pies rule! And so does having grandparents come to visit.

On Mama's birthday, we all went to the zoo. It was perfect weather - not too cool, not too hot, and not too sunny, but not rainy. Awesome, especially for Houston.

I checked out the big bird.
Dada and I watched the snapping turtle, and dada explained how he catches his prey.
BIG turtle.
Every time we go to the zoo, we have to stop to see Tex's relatives. Tex was mama and dada's first pet together.
This funny llama was squirming around in the sand.
Seriously cool lion. Even mama was impressed, and she usually can't get over how much better Africa was.
Walking around with my dada. I'm really growing up.
We loved this guy - he was so wise.
Fun to be at the zoo near all the skyscrapers.
Happy family.
Super happy grandparents.
Grandpa had fun with me!
I had fun with the seal!

For mama's birthday, dada threw her a crawfish boil. It was super tasty (good job dada!). My buddies Luke and Davis came over for the boil (although between the three of us, we only ate 2 pieces of corn from the boil; we preferred the hot dogs from the grill), and we got really dirty playing in the yard. We took a big bubble bath to wash off the dirt. Tub full 'o boys.

Grandma knows that it's dada's favorite, so she made him Sauerbraten the night before she and Grandpa flew back to Chicago. It was Finn's first time having sauerbraten. He wasn't too sure about the vinegar, but he did put a major hurting on the green beans and potato balls.

I'm still not a huge fan, but that's ok, that left more for mama and dada!

I went to my very first TaeKwonDo tournament. I competed as a Tiger Cub. Mama was so happy that Mr. Dallas was the ring leader. She saw him do a Tiger Cub tournament ring years ago, and hoped someday she'd have a son in Mr. Dallas' ring. He is so great with the cubs!

Here we are warming up. Sitting stance and punches!
High block, high block!
Hi-yah! I yelled super loud. Mr. Dallas told me that I'm smart like my mama and strong like my dada.
Whoa....do you see that medal? I want a medal so bad.
Yeah! I got a gold medal! Look how proud my dada was of me!
Mr. Read entertained Finnegan. Finn's not quite ready for a tournament, yet.

It was our first annual trip to the St. Patty's Day Parade, but we had so much fun, I'm sure we'll be back next year.

The fam in our green attire - I even had a green sucker!
Bagpipers - it sounded very cool in downtown Houston.
Green beads! I also gave some of my green beads to the people in the parade. I told Ga that I wanted to give some beads to the "pretty lady" on the float, so Ga walked me over and I delivered the goods.
Mama is very interested in joining the "Houston Irish Lawyers" club, especially if you get a car like this as part of your membership dues!

Just another crazy weeknight at the Pollard house....no shirt...one sock...dancing in the kitchen...

while Finn eats his "heartbeets", as I call them.
What a messy dude. Finn will and does eat most everything. This kid isn't going to waste away!

Can you believe how lucky I am? I got to go to the Monster Jam a second time! It was super fun to hang with the Howells family. It was nice for dada too, as Jack and Rhys got to chase me around, and give poor dada a break!

Maximum Construction (it's actually Destruction, but mama and dada don't correct me) got some major air!
Finn and mama stayed home. Sure am glad I'm the older brother!

The weather wasn't too great for the Mardi Gras parade this year, but we didn't let that stop us from having an awesome time. I racked up a bunch of beads in the first couple of minutes!

It was so fun watching all the different floats come down the street.
The Pollard cheering section.
Beads, beads, beads. I was doing everything I could to get more beads. I perfected throwing kisses, which worked really well.
The fire trucks were loud!
The loot! And this is minus all the stuffed animals, coozies, and frisbees I collected.
Finn stayed home with dada out of the cold and rain, but he borrowed my beads for a picture later.
Happy Mardi Gras!

Dada's favorite.

Mama's favorite.

I was so excited when dada surprised me with Monster Truck tickets. I LOVE the Monster Jam!

Here I am in front of one of my favorites, Backdraft. I think my most favorite is Grave Digger, but I really like them all.
One of the best parts of the Jam is the chocolate ice cream. That's a monster jam size portion, too!
Look at Backdraft get some air!
And Grave Digger too! It is very loud at the Jam. I offered some ear plugs to the little boy that was sitting next to me, and dada was proud of me.

Just because...