Hello from Kingfisher!

The buddies just wanted to send a quick hello to their daddy, who didn't get to join us on our road trip. We're enjoying ourselves!

Exploring Aggieland

The buddies and I took a quick road trip to College Station to pick up Uncle Jeff and bring him back to Austin with us. We were thrilled at the opportunity to explore my old college town and spent the night so we'd have plenty of time. Ahh, College Station. Just driving in on Highway 6 brought back memories. For a brief moment, I even felt that exhilarating "whole life in front of me" feeling that everyone must have during their college years.

The boys were excited to see Uncle Jeff, who came to Texas for fire fighter training. We went to lunch with the crew from his brigade and then went off on our own to explore campus and Northgate. The first stop on our tour was the famous Dixie Chicken and it smelled even worse than I remember. We checked out the rattlesnake inside, bought a t-shirt, ran through Bottle Cap Alley, and then continued on our journey. Our next stop was Loupot's for a few gifts and then on to campus. The buddies enjoyed splashing in Fish Pond, checked out Sul Ross (Ben tried to swipe his pennies), walked underneath the Century Tree, and just generally ran around in the wide open spaces before the 100 degree weather pulled us back to the hotel pool.


Later, after a quick nap, we met Uncle Jeff's friends at Gattitown for a fun night of pizza and games. They were all very sweet to forgo the many better restaurants and spend an evening with our buddies. It was a fun, quick trip and now we're resting up for a full week of fun with Uncle Jeff.

Vacation Highlights

In the interest of cyber safety, I opted not to post any of our vacation entries until after we returned home. I've finally sorted through our 500+ pictures and completed the recaps of our adventures. To view them all, you'll need to scroll back several entries.

And for a pictorial look at our two week trip (including many park visits not previously posted and pictures from the buddies first fireworks show), follow this link.

Here's a taste of what you'll see:


And, a story that is just too funny not to immortalize:

Mid-trip, while staying at Granddad's house, Ben excitedly ran out of the bathroom shouting, "Hey Mommy! I flushed my underwear! I flushed it down the potty! I did it!" I could have died. So, off I marched, to find Steve and Stan, and relay the message. Lucky for Ben, his granddad is quite handy and didn't seem overly worried. I grabbed the kids and ran to a neighborhood park while Stan and Steve went to work taking apart the pipes in the basement. Stan built a handy net contraption, wedged it in a pipe, flushed, and then plunged the toilet. The underwear came shooting down and caught in his trap. Voila! We had our Thomas pants back and escaped an expensive plumber visit.

The Buddies Explore 6th Street

Yes, you read that right. Today, we took the buddies to not just one bar, but two bars on Austin's popular 6th Street. Yep - we're good parents.


Our day began with an 8am t-ball game. Following that, we met an out-of-town friend at Opal Devine's, a former Shiner brewery turned restaurant / pub, for brunch. Then, we walked across the street for our main event, Little Lounge Lizards at Momo's. Little Lounge Lizards is a dance party for kids ages 10 and under and their adults. It was started by three hip moms looking for a more alternative family outing that is fun for both kids and adults. Steve and I don't experience Austin's nightlife very often, so it was fun to catch a glimpse of it, during the day, with our kids.


The club was outfitted with snacks, waters, books, toys, bubbles, temporary tattoos, and loads of toys and musical instruments for its little patrons. And a highlight for me was a chance to dance with the two most handsome boys in the house. Steve and I sipped a few beers, caught up with a few friends, enjoyed the music, and cringed a little as we watched our kids tumble around on the filthy bar floor. We enjoyed the rooftop deck, overlooking the Austin skyline and spent a lot of time up there, despite the 100 degree weather.

As we were leaving, Ace said, "Maybe I can come to this party again some day!" Sure Ace, but "some day" may be 18 years from now, when you can get in on your own.

Free Slurpee Day!

The buddies and our triplet friends missed each other during our "European - style vacation where we were gone for a month" (as their mom put it), so we spent the day with them today to catch up. Since today's date is 7/11 and that means it is free slurpee day, we met at our local store and let the kids each have their first slurpee. They all loved it!




After that, we headed to the YMCA for some swimming fun to let the kids burn off their sugar highs. That was followed by a Sonic lunch and then quiet time at our house, watching Bee Movie. Quiet time didn't end up being very quiet with our 5 kids, but it was fun nonetheless.

A Quick Visit

Thanks for visiting us, Katie, Erik, Noah, and Zach!!

Home At Last

2 weeks.
5 states.
2860 miles traveled by plane.
1445 miles traveled by car.
Too many memories to count.

Check back soon for all the details and pictures. This tired mama has a ton of unpacking to do (after a night out with girlfriends tonight!).

The Garden State Discovery Museum

This morning, we explored a new place to play, just across the Tacony Palmyra bridge between Philadelphia and New Jersey. The Discovery Museum had loads of fun areas for its pint sized visitors and our two, along with their cousins, Alex and Charlotte, explored them all.



Everyone loved fishing off a "real" boat at the shore and exploring the construction zone, complete with hard hats and safety vests. Ace loved playing hockey and basketball in the Get Fit area and Ben really enjoyed the Science Shop. There was even a mini diner with real menus where Me Mom and I were served a mountain of pretend food by quite a few excited pre-schoolers.



Other highlights were the Bubble Zone, where each of our tots stood in the middle of a big pit of suds and hoisted a hula hoop up over their heads with a pulley. The result was a kid inside a bubble. Ace also enjoyed exploring the News Room. He anchored, ran the camera while I gave the daily news and checked out the weather map. See our pictures from the day to check it out.

Fourth of July Party

Yesterday afternoon, we attended our third annual July 4th party at Steve's Uncle Walt's house. As usual, it was a fun, well-planned event. The buddies enjoyed a bounce house, a slip n slide, a pinata, way too much candy and treats, tons of lawn toys, and lots of attention from their great aunts and uncles.

The grown-up entertainment included a "Name that Theme Song" contest, Musical Chairs, and The Great American Candy Game, where 64 candies faced off, March Madness style. Hershey's was the big winner and we all enjoyed a nostalgic look at old favorites like wax bottles (yuck!), pixie sticks, Bazooka bubble gum, and Bit-O-Honey.

Best of all, we loved catching up with family members that we see just once a year. The buddies enjoyed horsing around on the lawn with their great uncles and Ben had a great conversation with Great Grandmom while she helped him open his juice box. We wish we lived closer to our fun relatives.

Check out our pictures here.

Philly Zoo

The buddies and their cousin Finn revisited one of our favorite Philadelphia destinations: the zoo! Since we didn't come close to seeing everything last year, we started at the opposite end and worked our way forward. We enjoyed all the animals, but the favorites this time were the hippos and the peacocks. All three boys had a blast chasing one slightly spooked peacock for a good while. And, lucky for us, the elephants were still waiting for one last visit from us before they move and we were able to check them out up close.

The buddies and Finn enjoyed swan boat rides, pony rides, and a train ride, all for free using Finn's family membership. Thanks Finn! And, the best $12 I've ever spent resulted in this:



All three boys loved their "funny faces". View the rest of our zoo pictures here.

Catching Up with Our Boston Friends

We just completed a two - night stay in Boston, catching up with friends.

We spent some quality time with Steve's former roommate "Schaff" and his wife and son in their gorgeous 100 year old home. They took us to Castle Island, a 22 acre urban park. Our kids enjoyed the play scape with views of the Boston skyline in one direction and the harbor in the other. Once we'd had our fill of the slides and swings, we took a walk up the Boston Harbor and watched the boats come and go. We also enjoyed a sandy beach where Ben and I jumped at the chance to stick our toes in the water.



Later that same day, our hosts threw a backyard barbecue and invited Steve's old crowd over to catch up. It's been more than 10 years since Steve lived in Boston and it was a treat to catch up with his old friends and meet their beautiful families. Oh, how everyone's lives have changed!

Follow this link to see our Boston pictures.

Knoebels

Granddad, Lisa and Lindsay took us on our second trip to Knoebels Amusement Park. It was even more fun than last year's trip. The buddies ran from ride to ride, barely able to contain their excitement. Both enjoyed the kiddie area, where we spent the bulk of our time last year, but it wasn't long before we figured out that they are now tall enough to ride many of the regular rides too.

They loved the log flume. I told them I thought it was scary but Ace assured me that it was not. And Ben yelled, "Let's do that again!" after every ride. We cut him off at three. Both also enjoyed the Tea Cups and lucky for Steve and I, Aunt Lindsay was willing to take them. They laughed and laughed as they spun around faster and faster.


After a long day of fun, we loaded up in the car and both boys drifted off to sleep for the night.

More pics here.

Ocean City, NJ

When Steve's Uncle Jim and Aunt Anne generously offered us the use of their Ocean City, NJ shore house during the first leg of our trip, we jumped at the chance. Their lovely 3-bedroom, 2 bath home sits just a block and half from the beach. We spent 4 days exploring the beach and taking in all the sites. Cousin Finn, Uncle Chris, and Me-Mom also stayed in the house and Aunt Kate and Uncle Wags also joined us for a day.



The buddies splashed in the surf, collected sea shells, built sand castles, made tracks in the sand with their trucks, chased sea-gulls, and ran free. On day 3, Me Mom and I took all three boys on a trolley ride (very exciting!) down to a cute little ice cream shop near the boardwalk. Inside, model trains traveled all around the shop - overhead and along the walls. The buddies and their cousin were mesmerized.

After 4 full days of fun in the sun, it was time to depart and head for our next destination: Granddad's house. Check out all of our shore pics here.

What is wrong with this picture?

That's right - someone took not one, but two bites out of the decorative watermelon cookie. And it was well before we sang "Happy Birthday" to our favorite triplet friends at their party. I'm afraid that a certain brown-eyed boy is a bit of a stinker-pants. It was an awesome party, despite the cookie thievery.

First T-Ball Game

And for our readers' enjoyment, our debuts at the plate. Sorry for the shaky video - their camera-mom had too much coffee before the 9am game.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the daddies in our lives! Steve enjoyed a full round of golf this morning as my present to him and the buddies painted these lovely modern art canvases for him. Ben's creation is on the left; Ace's is on the right.

We also spent the week filling in the blanks on the following Daddy Questionnaires, which we gave to him today. Ace's answers are in blue; Ben's in red.

My dad is 1 / old years old. (actual answer: 35)
My dad has brown / brown hair. (actual answer: brown, though not much of it)
My dad has black / brown eyes. (actual answer: blue-green)
My dad loves to cook some dinner / sing.
I love it when my dad does a silly dance / plays upstairs.
My favorite thing to do with dad is make funny faces / play golf.
My favorite game to play with my dad is Silly Face / Hi Ho Cherrio.
I like it when my dad sings 5 Little Ducks / Silly ABC's.
My dad makes great Chinese food / dinner.
When I’m sad, my dad sings a song and I feel better (awww...) / makes me feel better.
I like to sing the "ya ya ya" song / lick it (honestly, I have no idea...) with my dad.
I love my dad because he sings the "I love" song / Daddy hits the ball.

We hope all the daddies out there had a great day!

Two Super Fun Parties

The buddies attended two birthday parties this weekend and had a couple of wild times. The first, their pre-school classmate Jack's party, featured the Fun Bus. And what fun it was. The Fun Bus is a gymnastics academy on wheels that teaches gymnastics to kids ages 2.5 - 7. The bus has its own rock climbing wall, monkey bars, trampoline, vault, rings, tumbling mats, a zip-line, and a slide out the back. Just about everything you'd find in a traditional gymnasium was included. The buddies loved it.


Mia's party today was just as fun. She had an inflatable water slide that kept our wild boys entertained for hours. Ace said, "This is awesome!" after sliding and racing back for more a few times. Another highlight of the party was the pinata. Ben ate his first pixie stick but ate the whole thing like a candy bar - taking big bites, paper and all. Yum!



View all of our party pics here.

T-Ball!!

The buddies attended their first t-ball practice this week. The consensus? We love it!! Two other sets of twins (all good friends from our playgroup) are on our team too. It should be a fun-filled season.

Swimming with Friends

We met our twin and triplet friends at one of our favorite neighborhood pools this morning for some summer fun. I can't believe we're in the full swing of summer and it is already going by so fast. Despite heavy applications of sunscreen, we are all quite tan after many fun days in the pools, parks, spray grounds and lakes. We just can't get enough of water fun.




And the best part about spending the morning at the pool? Both boys take nice, solid naps afterwards.

Swimming Lessons

Whew! Today we completed our two week swimming course. Here are a few high (and low) lights of the course:

Day 1: Our 3-year old class could easily be described in two categories: those that stayed with the class and those that didn’t. Sadly, one of my children fell into the latter category. Ben wandered away at least half a dozen times, but did well otherwise. Both boys put their faces in the water with ease and enjoyed the pool. I quickly made friends with the mom of another wild boy and together we spent a good portion of the 45 minute class directing our children back to the group.

Day 3: Ben and my new friend’s son were labeled “the runners” by their very nice and very patient teacher. Ace pushed Ben (just because he was excited) on our way out. Ben bled. A lot. Both boys wailed. Loudly. It took us 15 minutes to walk through the Y (leaving behind a trail of blood that I pretended not to see), out the door, through the parking lot and to our car. All whilst receiving lots of stares, tongue clucks and a few pitying looks.

Day 5: I spent the entire class herding two wild boys back to their class. So, I started thinking and put together a plan. After our lesson, we made a trip to the grocery store where I let them each pick out their own ice cream. Then, I told them that they couldn’t have any until after swim lessons the following day and only IF they stay with the class the entire time. Big kids stay with the class and get ice cream. Babies run away. We looked at it in the freezer all afternoon and talked about how they could earn a scoop.

Day 6: Success (mostly)! We looked at our ice cream again in the morning. Several reminders later, we were at swim class. Ace stayed in class and listened to his instructor, regularly reminding her that he was going to have an ice cream cone. Ben did great too, but the big slide was just too tempting and mid way through class he made a break for it. Poor Benny. It nearly killed me to give Ace his ice cream in front of Ben, but I did it. Parenting is definitely not for sissies.

Day 8: We made it! I think we are all glad to have our swimming lessons behind us.

So, did we learn how to swim? Um…no.
Did we have fun? Aside from Day 3 and Day 5, sure.
Did we learn anything? Yes! All three of us!
What’s up next on our summer schedule? T-ball! Look out YMCA, we’ll be back.