Another Berry Picking Adventure

Our favorite berry farm has a bumper crop this year, in spite of our serious dry spell. Those folks know what they're doing and don't kid around with their strawberries. We came home with a little over 6 pounds of red, juicy berries (and probably ate another pound or so while we were there).




More pictures here.

Sons, Suns, and Sunshines

Ace: Mom, are you married to Ben?
Me: No, I'm married to Daddy. Ben is my son.
Ace: And I am your sunshine!
Ben: I am not the sun!
Me (to Ace): Yes, you are my sunshine.
Me (to Ben): Ben, you are my son. Because I am your mom.
Ben (looking at me like I'm crazy): I am not the sun, Mommy.

Heritage Parade and Festival

What fun we had today at the Cedar Park Heritage Parade and Festival. Neither were large scale events, but both were lots of fun.


The parade reminded me of a small town parade, where the main highlight is the candy tossed at the kids standing on the sidewalk. And there was lots of candy tossed at our buddies. And it WAS the highlight of the parade for them. Ben even ventured to say that his favorite part of our day today was getting candy at the parade.


After the parade, we made our way to the festival. The buddies met real fire fighters and climbed on their truck. Then, they spent some time on a few bounce houses. Ace's favorite activity was the petting zoo and pony ride. They both practiced roping, watched a dog show, and hugged the Chick-fil-A cow. And all of that entertainment cost us exactly $0. Thanks City of Cedar Park!

Hail Storm 2009!

The usual cast of characters that congregate in our driveway every evening had extra fun today after our very big hail storm. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought they were collecting Easter eggs or other such treats. But, no, they were collecting chunks of ice that dropped from the sky with crazed enthusiasm.






Our two oldest friends informed us that Bill Nye says hail expands when you put it in the freezer. And so, five wild boys scoured the neighborhood for hail to stow away next to their popsicles. I asked the obvious question, "So, how will you know if it grows? Did you measure it before you put it in your freezer?" Well...no. But, logically, they added an ice cube to compare to the hail in the morning. It doesn't sound terribly scientific to me, but it sure sounds like fun!

Fun with Grandma

Oh how we enjoyed Grandma's visit during her Spring Break! We packed in a trip to our favorite farm and a trip to our favorite local lakeside beach during her visit.

Why the buddies loved having her here: cheetos, kolaches, cupcakes, jelly beans, swhoppers (which are whoppers to most people), Girl Scout cookies, someone to get up with them at the crack of dawn, and generous amounts of love and affection.

Why their parents loved having her here: not just one but TWO date nights (woo!!), happy buddies, and of course we enjoy her company too!

Thanks for the fun visit, Grandma!

Farm Days

Our cousins are spending the week at their family farm again, just an hours drive from our home. We jumped at the chance to catch up up with them and enjoy the simple life, if only for a day.






The buddies love this farm and it keeps getting better, with more kid stuff, each time we visit. The new additions this trip were 3 swings, a tree house, a tire swing, a hammock, and a buddy-sized jeep. Plus, they spent lots of time partaking in our favorite farm activities: fishing, throwing rocks in the pond, crafts, and just generally running free. We even spent some time swimming in the hot tub with cousins. Oh, what fun!





Grandma joined in on the fun with us, since she is visiting during her Spring Break, which made the visit even more special.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light. May good luck pursue you each morning and night. ~ Irish Blessing

A best friend is like a four leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have. ~Author Unknown







The buddies and I really enjoyed St. Patrick's Day this year. A leprechaun visited us yesterday, leaving behind wee green footprints and two pots o' gold for the boys. After we enjoyed the gold nuggets he left behind, we made blarney stones, just like my mom used to make when I was a little girl. I don't remember my mom ever letting us help make them, which probably makes her a little bit smarter than me. What a sticky, peanut-y, mess!



And this morning, we joined our friends for a special St. Patrick's Day play date. We made shamrock crafts, bounced in the bounce house, drank lots of green apple juice, and ate some interesting green pizza. There were about 30 kids at the party, all decked out in green.







We topped all that off with corned beef and cabbage and green beer for dinner. The buddies poked at it and then ate hot dogs. It was the perfect ending to a very Irish day.

Recent Happenings - Ace

We've been busy over the last week, but not necessarily with blog-worthy events. So, here's a little taste of what we've been up to, starting with Ace.

Feeding the ducks - our favorite use for leftover bread.

Just hangin' at our neighborhood park.

Rain painting: the idea is, you finger paint with washable paints and then set it out in the rain so the colors swirl around together. But, then it stopped raining so this project is on hold.

Snack Game: Ace loves this!
Each family member rolls a die for each snack and then adds that number to their bowl, creating a custom snack for everyone. We roll twice on marshmallows, because I'm a nice mom.

Ace, with his custom snack and a lot of cheese.

Recent Happenings: Ben

Here's what Ben has been up to:

It is finally raining! Ben couldn't wait to jump in the puddles! And then said it was too cold and went back inside. We spent more time bundling up than we did playing outside that day.

The day the couch ate Benny.

Soccer practice - shirts vs. skins.
There was a lot of playing going on, but not a lot of playing soccer.

Ben's rain painting.

Lincoln Logs! He could build all day.

Beach Days

The beach at Emma Long Metropolitan Park is one of our favorite places in Austin. Today marked exactly 5 months since our last trip to our favorite beach. Fall and Winter are short in Austin, and that's the way we like it.





We arrived at noon and quickly set up our beach blanket for our picnic lunch. The buddies were too excited to eat. It had been five long, cold months since the last time they'd played with their sand toys, and they were ready.




They built sand castles and carried lake water to their water pit to their hearts' content. Then, they collected shells and threw rocks in the water. And the boat watching was fabulous - a few brave crews were already out with their skis. The water was still quite cold, but as the day grew warmer and warmer the buddies splashed deeper and deeper into the cool lake.





Here's to another 7 months of water fun!

Check out the rest of our pictures here.

Super Buddies to the Rescue!

This morning, we attended a Super Heroes dress up play date. What fun! The buddies were excited to get some more use out of their Super Ace and Super Ben costumes from Halloween, though they still don't like wearing the capes around their little necks.






We met up with Batman and a Transformer at our neighbor's house and enjoyed several hours of play time in their play room and back yard.

Cloud Day

This morning, we met our friends at the park for another themed play date - Cloud Day! The buddies and I really enjoy a good theme, after all.



The buddies and their little friends painted clouds on blue construction paper, using cotton balls and clothespins. Ben quickly informed me that they've done this at school before. Hmmph! So much for my creative activity.



After we painted our clouds, we enjoyed some brief cloud watching from the lawn. Then, more play time and a cloud snack - jello topped with whipped cream "clouds". The kids all asked for an extra helping of "clouds".