Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Technically, his birthday was yesterday, but since the buddies were in school and Steve and I had our monthly date night, there wasn't much time to celebrate. So, we made our cupcakes on Thursday and frosted them today.

So, how long does it take to make cupcakes with two little helpers? About three times as long as it normally takes. They took turns helping me measure and dump ingredients, blended it all together with the hand mixer (and licked the beaters), and then scooped the batter into our cupcake pans. Their excitement when Daddy arrived home from work was worth all the effort. They nearly tackled him, shouting, "Daddy! We made cupcakes for you!".

Museum Day

Today was Austin's 11th annual Museum Day, a free re-discovery of Austin's museums. 32 museums participated and opened their doors free to the public. We explored four of them today.

Our first stop was the LBJ Library and Museum on the University of Texas' campus. The museum docents couldn't have been friendlier as our two wild boys excitedly ran through the newest exhibit, To the Moon: The American Space Program in the 1960's. The buddies flew flight simulators, looked at rocket replicas, and posed in front of replicas of our first 7 US astronauts. Then, we sat through a 15 minute laser show set to popular 60's music. It was a great exhibit!

Our next stop was the Umlauf Sculpture Garden. This was our second trip to this outdoor museum but it was very different from our first. Today, over 25 sculptors set up booths with their artwork and gave demonstrations. And the buddies got to try their hands at their own sculpture creations. They found the stiff clay more difficult to work with than their usual play- doh, but enjoyed themselves nonetheless.

After that, we crossed the river and headed to the Austin Children's Museum, a must-do for any Museum Day goers with kids. It was a zoo. We stayed as long as Steve and I could handle it, which was about an hour and a half. The feature exhibit was "Play it by Ear", a very cool, hands-on music exhibit. Imagine 7,000 square feet of wall to wall children banging on pots and pans and that's just about what it was like. But the buddies loved exploring all the different exhibits, especially the train station and a very cool machine where they launched wooden balls down chutes and tracks.

Our final museum of the day was the Blanton Museum of Art, a very nice (almost too nice for us!) art museum on campus. I was a little nervous bringing two wild boys into a place filled with priceless art, but they did great. The museum did a phenomenal job making the event family friendly. Our boys made their own art at stations outside the museum and watched a music show, but skipped story time. Smartly, the museum stationed friendly docents near the modern art sculptures that looked very much like playground equipment, and engaged the kids, asking them what the art looked like to them (and reminded them that it wasn't for climbing). Our two explored ancient Roman sculpture, American and European paintings, and modern art (their favorite).

View today's pictures here.

School is Cool!!

The buddies and I are thrilled to be back in the swing of pre-school. We took our first day of school pictures this morning, despite it technically being the second day of school, since Ben stayed home sick on the real first day.

There were no tears at drop off, not even from me. They have a board-certified early education teacher this year and I happily left my children in her capable hands. I couldn't be happier with her credentials, especially when I learned she has a passion for reading. Bring on the books!


Today, the buddies made a special friendship snack mix. Each child in the class brought an ingredient which they mixed together and shared. Ace brought Chex. Ben brought goldfish, but somehow finagled his way into the coveted position of dumping the marshmallows into the bowl. They also went to art class, music class, played in the big room, and attended story time. When I picked them up, they were covered in marker from head to toe and smiling from ear to ear.

Camp Grandma and Grandpa

Last weekend, the buddies spent a couple of fun - filled days at "Grandma's House and Grandpa's Lake" while Steve and I traveled to Minnesota for a wedding. Our only request when we handed them over was that they spoil them lots bring them both back alive. I think they accomplished both goals.






On their first day, we heard that they were on the lake from 7am - 7pm, minus a couple of hours for Grandpa and the buddies to nap. They had their first root beers and orange sodas and Ben discovered the perfect breakfast food - Pop Tarts! Their second day was packed with activities: breakfast at McDonald's, church, a park, a quick lake trip, Chuck E Cheese, and Bass Pro. Grandpa even bought them a container of minnows and let them play with them. Most of them survived.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Two Young Chefs

This morning, the buddies and I invited our playgroup to Young Chefs Academy for a cooking class. It was a hoot! 17 of our favorite twin and triplet friends joined us for the session. Throughout the class, the friendly chefs taught our kids a little about kitchen safety, etiquette, hand-washing, and measurements.

For our main entree, our kids created "Piggies in a Blanket". They painted barbecue sauce on crescent rolls, sprinkled them with "fairy dust" (cheese), topped them with turkey dogs, rolled them up, and then sprinkled them with poppy seeds. Then, we popped the piggies in the oven for a quick nap.


While our piggies cooked, the kids all made tortilla cut-out cookies with sprinkles and practiced cutting the tortillas scraps with child-safe pizza cutters. Before long, it was time for lunch, which the kids really made themselves. The room was filled with proud smiles.

View the rest of today's pictures here.

Typical Around-The-House Shenanigans