Hill Country Christmas at Schlitterbahn

This evening, we took the boys to explore the Schlitterbahn Hill Country Christmas. For those that don't know, Schlitterbahn is a huge water park, built on a natural river. It has been voted the best water park in the world and for good reason - the place is amazing. In a few years, we'll likely be frequent visitors during our hot Texas summers, but today we enjoyed the wintertime festivities.


On the advice of friends, we high-tailed it to the Bobsled Racer when we arrived as the park opened, before the lines grew long. Our fearless duo climbed to the top and raced down the 4-story chutes on their mats without skipping a beat. Ben got stuck midway on his first run and then demanded to ride again so he could get it right. Sound like anyone we know? Fearless Ace shot down the hill like a rocket both times.

After that, we explored the rest of the park. We enjoyed bounce houses, a carousel ride, lots of amazing light displays set to music, a festive play area, a merry maze, and real snow blowers. Another highlight was our trip to the miniature train display. The very sweet train engineers would stop Thomas in front of each child and ask the child to tell Thomas to "go!" and then start him up again. Ben had a conversation with one of the engineers about the track set up that I'm sad to say went over my head. After that, the engineer clearly understood Ben's passion for trains and stopped Thomas in front of our sweet boy several more times.

We had a fantastic time tonight and it is thanks to my wonderful grandparents and their Christmas gift to us. Instead of giving us more stuff, which we have too much of to begin with, they gifted us with this awesome event and we'll treasure the memories forever. Thanks, Grands!

Check out the rest of our pictures here.

The Miracle on 37th Street

Last night, we took the buddies to explore what has come to be known as "The Miracle on 37th Street" in Austin. For the past 20 years, residents on this small urban street show their holiday spirit with a level of enthusiasm that would awe and inspire even Clark Griswold.





The creative residents don't hold back with their displays. They adorned their homes, vehicles, trees, shrubs, toilets (yes...toilets), and sidewalks with thousands of lights. There were even a few homes with lights running over to their neighbor's houses. This year, several residents chose to make political statements as well.




Steve and I enjoyed admiring the creativity and community spirit as we strolled the street. The buddies just enjoyed the spectacularness of it all, and quite enthusiastically. One passerby stopped to sarcastically ask if we could please try to get our boys excited about the lights.

View the rest of our pictures here.

The Walkway of Lights

This is our third Christmas in Austin and we still have not explored the famous Trail of Lights at Zilker Park. It runs for just 10 days, right before Christmas every year and we've just never been able to squeeze it in to our busy schedules.






The aforementioned Trail concluded on the 23rd, but today we explored a much smaller version in Marble Falls, Texas, just 40 miles from our home. The small hill country town is also home to our favorite berry farm, so we've come to know it well.






The Walkway of Lights, on the shores of Lake Marble Falls, was perfect for our buddies. We strolled the pathways, enjoying Christmas music and hot chocolate, and took in the 130 sculptures lit with over a million twinkling lights. It was certainly a wondrous site, especially to two 3 1/2 year olds. We had such a good time that we walked through a second time before leaving.




Perhaps next year we'll make it out to Zilker Park for the acclaimed 1.25 mile Trail of Lights. Or, perhaps, we'll avoid the crowds and traffic and just go to this sweet little light display instead.

Either way, "Merry Texmas, Ya'll".

More pictures here.

I clearly have too much time on my hands...

Steve is building a shed and cleaning out the garage and I'm supposed to be tidying up our house, which looks like Toys R Us exploded in it. Instead, I created this. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!!

Santa and a slew of relatives were certainly good to our buddies this year. If we go missing for a few days, call for help - we might be buried underneath all the toys.

Our official Christmas celebration kicked off last night, when 12 of our friends joined us for Wigilia. After sharing the oplatek (thanks, Aunt Maggie!), we feasted on Steve's pierogies and lots of other meatless dishes. Then, the kids decorated gingerbread people and exchanged gifts. It was a late night for the buddies but they still remembered to choose some cookies to leave out for Santa before retiring to their room.

When morning came, we took our time, leisurely opening presents with plenty of breaks for play time. The highlight for the buddies? Big kid bikes from Santa! And they are FAST on them. I thought I was busy chasing two wild boys before the bikes. I'd really better get myself in shape now.

View more pictures here.

Our Early Christmas

Family Photo: we're just missing Uncle Jeff and Dr. Mike.

What fun we are having with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Carlee, and Michael! Our guests arrived yesterday evening and the fun hasn't stopped. This morning was our unofficial Christmas morning and the buddies and Michael could barely contain their excitement. The buddies received some truly awesome "big kid" presents and I'm hopeful that they'll keep their attention for months to come. They are fascinated with Marble Run and Build a Road, and a small trampoline was a huge hit. And as always, they love their annual HESS trucks from Uncle Jeff - monster trucks this year!

Most of all, we are enjoying the extra family time. Grandma is reading lots of books and brought supplies to decorate gingerbread people and make chocolate mice with her grandsons. Plus, we had plenty of time to play games. We discovered that we are smarter than 5th graders. Late in the afternoon, we took advantage of the warm Texas weather and walked to our neighborhood park. A couple of UT lacrosse players happened to be there practicing and of course, Ace was enthralled by their game. He and I wandered over to watch and cheer them on. The guys were really sweet and let Ace (and then Ben too) take some shots at the goal.

Check out today's pictures here.

Spreading a Little Bit of Cheer

Two of our neighbors are serving in Iraq and won't be home for the holidays. So, a bunch of us decided to deliver meals to their families over the month of December to make their lives just a little brighter. Today was our turn, so I enlisted two very busy helpers after I picked them up from school. They donned their Santa hats and carried American flags as they pulled our wagon filled with food to both houses.




Our 32 degree weather made one person in our group a tad grumpy, but we were able to complete our deliveries successfully. And hot chocolate at home made everything better. Here's to the safe return of our brave friends and a happy holiday for their supportive wives and children.

Ho Ho Ho!!

Art Wall

There are few things I love more than a homemade creation, made by someone I love. Over the years, my Gramps has created some pretty amazing things for me and my family, but I think this one tops them all. Check out our new art wall:


I love how these frames turned out, but that's no surprise, given the fine craftsmanship that my Gramps is known for. Each personalized frame has a binder clip hanging from the top so that we can change our artwork displays easily whenever the mood strikes, and I'm sure that will be often.


These frames got me thinking about all the gifts Gramps has made for me, starting when I was just a girl. So, I went through the house today, photographing them. As I sorted them in order, I was surprised to discover that they tell my life story. Take a look here. Then, go hug the important people in your life.

Northpark Trains

Last weekend brought us to Dallas for a flag-football tournament that the buddies' daddy played in. The buddies and I took advantage of the opportunity to check out the Northpark Trains. Grandma and Grandpa joined us, as well as a couple of dear friends from my days as a volunteer at Children's Medical Center. It was great to catch up with them and meet their gorgeous kids.

The trains were awesome! If there was ever a doubt that Ben loves trains, that doubt is gone now. Our party spent 30 minutes taking in the sites and then made our way to the exit. Except for Ben and Grandpa. Grandpa told Ben it was time to go and Ben said, "No!". So they stayed. And stayed. And stayed some more. An hour and a half went by before Grandpa could convince the little guy to leave.

It was such a treat to see a cool train exhibit with such good company.

Afternoon Projects

Now that the weather has turned cold and darkness arrives early, the buddies have been keeping busy indoors with afternoon projects. Here's what they've been up to:

Ben, decorating his gingerbread man (and then he ate the whole thing).

Ace, with his gingerbread man. (He didn't take a single bite because he wanted to save it to show Daddy and offer him a "lick".)

Ben's family portrait. From left to right: Mommy, Ben, Daddy, Ace.

Ace, playing with the "Yuk" that we made out of glue, water, food coloring, and Borax.
So. Much. Fun.

Our science project. Everyone hypothesized that beans need water to grow. We were right!

Bubble Art. Fill a bowl with water, dish soap, and tempera paint. Blow (don't suck!) until the bubbles grow over the top of the bowl. Press a sheet of paper over the bubbles and check out your cool bubble painting. For the record, our paintings didn't turn out (probably because I didn't use enough paint), and both boys accidentally drank a little bit of soapy, painty water, which freaked me out, so we abandoned the project. But the picture is cute!

Chuy's Children Giving to Children Parade

This morning's holiday outing took us downtown for the Chuy's Children Giving to Children Parade. The hour-long parade down Congress benefits Operation Blue Santa, which delivers toys and food to needy families in Austin.

We arrived early and scored prime front row spots near the Capital building. The buddies kept busy with games and snacks from "Mommy's bag of tricks" as we waited for some friends to join us and the parade to begin.

It wasn't long before we were enjoying sights of firetrucks, marching bands, old-time cars, ponies, unicyclists and jugglers, drill teams, and giant inflatables. We chuckled at some of amateurishness of a few of the floats - the Macy's Parade, this is not - but had a great time.

And best of all, at the conclusion of the parade, volunteers removed the road blocks and invited all the children to deliver their gifts to the toy trucks stationed throughout the parade. It amazes me how quickly the trucks fill to the brim.

View the rest of today's pictures here.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This morning, we joined some friends (and 13,000 other racers) at the 18th annual Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot for the 5 mile run. It was only our second Austin trot experience, but most people know we are long-time trotters at another race. The buddies spent parts of the trot in our double jogger, but also spent a good amount of time running, skipping, and hopping alongside us. A big highlight was when they sprinted across the finish line with their friend, Mia, shouting, "I win! I win!" all the way. Here we are, after the race, in all our glory:

A few minutes after we took the photo, the MC announced that the last trotters had finished the race. He wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving and then helped his friends haul off the audio equipment. We've never witnessed the end of a trot before, so I guess we were pretty slow this year. But, it was worth it. Before long, we'll be trying to keep up with the buddies instead of them trying to keep up with us.

It was a good thing we all burned off a lot of energy this morning, because this evening, we filled our tummies with lots of this:


And then some of this:


During our meal, we discussed what we are thankful for. The conversation went something like this:

Daddy: I'm thankful for Mommy and Benny and Ace.
Mommy: And I'm thankful for Daddy and Ace and Ben.
Ace: I'm thankful for swimming.
Ben: And I'm thankful for candy and toys AND swimming.

We are thankful for food and remember the hungry.
We are thankful for health and remember the sick.
We are thankful for friends and remember the lonely.
We are thankful for freedom and remember the enslaved.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thanksgiving Week Play Date

This morning, the moms and kids in our playgroup took some time out from our busy holiday schedules for a fun and festive play date. The kids made Native American headdresses and then wore them while they played. It is amazing what construction paper, scissors, and a little bit of glue can do to transform an otherwise ordinary day!

Eagle Heart and Walking Bird at the Thanksgiving Feast

Earlier this month, the buddies excitedly came home from school one day, and informed me of their new names: Walking Bird (Ben) and Crazy Horse (Ace). Ace said "Crazy Horse" in a wild, throaty voice and clearly loved the name. But then, on the next school day, he came home and said, "Cooper really wanted to be Crazy Horse, so I chose Eagle Heart." He was a little sad about it, but quickly embraced his new name. And of course, he received lots of praise for letting his friend have what was clearly the best name. Perhaps Eagle Heart does suit my sweet boy.




After weeks of preparation, today was the day of their school's Thanksgiving Feast. I attended with the other moms and listened to the kids sing cute Thanksgiving songs and parade around in their Pilgrim or Indian get-up. Ace couldn't stop waving and smiling at me during the performance.




Afterwards, each class sat together around a blanket and ate a "feast" of turkey lunchmeat, apple slices, cheese cubes, and pumpkin bread. It was a fun activity!

Last T-Ball Game

The buddies played their last t-ball game of the season today. Well, sort of. Ben refused to get out of the car because it was cold and windy outside. So, Ace played in his last game and Ben and I sat in our warm car and watched "Magic School Bus". Until snack time, when Ben decided it wasn't too cold to eat cookies and drink a juice box. He has his priorities after all.

After the game, the team had an end of season party on the patio of one of our favorite restaurants, where it wasn't too cold to eat ice cream. Again, priorities!

Go...

Seadogs!

Our Nature Collage Play Date

The buddies and I met our friends at a park this morning to play and to make nature collages. After some fun on the playscapes, we read "Leaf Man", a lovely children's book by Lois Ehlert. Ace loved all the photographs of creatures made out of leaves. Ben wanted to run around on the tennis courts but obliged me by standing at the back of our group until the end of the story. When we finished the book, each child received a brown paper sack and set off for our nature walk. They collected leaves, sticks, small stones, and feathers.

Heavy winds prevented us from creating our masterpieces at the park, so we packed up our nature treasures, construction paper, glue dots, and googly eyes and created our projects at home. It was our first play date where the kids took home "homework". :) Ace and Ben's nature collages turned out great!




Ben's nature collage ----->

I like how he covered his twig with googly eyes. It's kind of creepy.








<---- Ace's nature collage. He chose a more traditional eye placement.

Happy 80th Birthday Granny!!

My beloved Granny is 80 years young today. The buddies will gladly serenade her in person this weekend, but until then this will have to do:




This was take 7 of 10. And now I need a drink. We tried. :)

Happy Election Day!!

Don't forget to vote! Or, if you're too young, just eat some patriotic cookies and vote for your mom make them again some time.

"Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween! Happy Happy Halloween!"

3 1/2 may be the perfect age for trick or treating. The buddies were able to walk to each house, determine whether or not the porch light was on, walk to the porch by themselves, decide whose turn it was to ring the doorbell, and then be absolutely delighted by whatever they received in their pumpkin buckets. And then Ben would sing at the top of his lungs, "Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween! Happy, happy Halloween!" They were big hits in our neighborhood.

Also, for your enjoyment, I've included a video from their preschool Halloween parade. The kids sang songs for all the parents, led by their music teachers. As you'll see, the buddies were really into it this year. I only caught half of this song on video, but it was clearly the best one.



Now we're ready to move on to our next holiday. 'Tis the season! Already!

Our 3rd Annual Playgroup Halloween Party

Our twin and triplet friends met us at our neighborhood park this morning for our annual playgroup Halloween Party. For a few of our friends, this was the third time they've attended. It is such a joy to watch our kids grow up together.

Our party began with lots of play time in our costumes at the park. The kids took turns making cool spiders out of cardboard egg cups, black paint, pipe cleaners and googly eyes. It was a simple craft, save for the black paint around everyone's costumes just a few days before Halloween. Let's hope it really is washable! Sorry Moms!


After a potluck lunch, complete with spooky cupcakes and punch with frozen creepies, the kids lined up for our costume parade. They proudly marched in line (well, sort of in a line) around the soccer fields. Each child chose a prize for participating in the parade and then we bribed them with candy to get everyone to sit for a group picture. Most of them did!



As things were winding down, we had a special story time with our favorite Halloween book, "Ten Trick or Treaters". The kids helped me count down from 10 to 0 as we read and then sang along to a couple of Halloween songs. Ace and Ben even participated for a little while, though story time is not their favorite thing.

Check out the rest of today's pictures here.