Lake Days

We are home after a long, fun - filled weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's house on the lake. Aunt Carlee, Uncle Mike, and Michael made the trip too, and it was nice to catch up with them. The buddies spent their days swimming, boating, fishing off the deck, playing golf, scootching trains, eating cookies and visiting with family and neighbors. They even had a chance to try out our new ice cream ball.

Check out our pictures here.

Another Trip to Our Favorite Berry Farm

Since today was our only free day for the next two and a half weeks, we decided to trek out to our favorite berry farm for some blackberry picking, before the weather gets too hot. Those who have followed our blog for a while know that Sweetberry Farm is one of our favorite places, so I won't bore everyone with a long recap of the field trip we've taken a half dozen times before. We followed our usual routine today:

Pick berries (blackberries this time).

Feed the goats.

Eat homemade ice cream (and sample your brother's flavor).

Our Fire Station Play Date

Today was our turn to host our weekly play date, so we invited our twin and triplet friends to our local fire station. It was educational and fun too!

Two friendly fire fighters greeted our wild crew and showed us around their station. We started with a brief lesson in fire safety: calling 911 for emergencies, sleeping with our doors closed, testing smoke detectors monthly and changing their batteries twice a year. I'll have to get to work on the last few as time allows.

Next, the fire fighters showed us their gear and let the kids try to lift their heavy coats. A few lucky kiddos tried on real fire fighter boots. After that, we continued our tour of the station, seeing the kitchen, the private bedrooms (not shared bunks, since many fire fighters are female now), the gym, and then, the main event: the fire truck.

Our kids loved exploring the truck and learning how many of its parts function. And best of all, everyone got to climb in the cab for a quick tour of the inside. A very nice paramedic showed us her ambulance too. To wrap everything up, they turned on the fire truck lights to the delight of all the little ones.

It was a fun and educational outing. The most important lesson we learned is that fire fighters are our friends. Our hosts today certainly were.

Lake Austin

The buddies and I met a friend this morning at her friend's lake front house and enjoyed some time on a private beach on Lake Austin. We've been searching for a nice local beach and this was the best one so far. It had a nice sandy beach, so we parked our shovels, buckets, rakes, and sandcastle shapes and hit the water.






Everyone loved watching the boats go by and swimming in the chilly water. There were even a few water skiers out today and Ace decided he wants to try to "skate on the water". We had a nice picnic lunch and then splashed some more, before heading home to rest. It was a great morning. Thanks Allison!

One More Bird

Correction: Our baby birds are TRIPLETS, not twins, as we previously thought. This was confirmed during a very fun Sunday dinner on the porch. Steve fed his babies hamburgers from the grill while we watched Mama Bird feed her babies tasty bugs. She is a very busy Mama Bird, indeed.

And our baby birds have names!

Mommy's bird: Little Johnny
Ace's bird: Little Ace
Ben's bird: Little Benny

New Life!

Our Earth Day Caterpillars are growing wild green hair. The buddies faithfully water them every day (lately with their squirt guns).

TWINS! We have two baby Southern Emu Wrens. My grandpa determined their species for us, although he called it a WAG (wild a** guess). We'll wait until they have feathers and are a little stronger before the buddies check them out up close and name them. One is already designated "Little Johnny" in honor of a story from our bird identifying consultant.

"Woo hoo! I can talk about it!"

Today was a day of sporting adventures. We awoke (at 6:15am, unfortunately) to thunder and lightning. Since the rain continued, we decided to check out the basketball courts at the YMCA. I have not been on an indoor court since my love affair with basketball ended 14 years ago and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Perhaps it was because I was seeing it fresh, through the eyes of my children. The buddies loved the big wide open space that we had all to ourselves. And I loved showing them the basics and setting up cones for them to dribble around. We played basketball and soccer and football and could have stayed all day. We were eventually kicked out for league play, so the boys headed to the kid's gym while I grabbed a quick 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. The Y may be our new favorite place to play.

When we left the Y, the sun came out, so we headed to our neighborhood park for two hours of fun. We played the "catch game" with our tennis balls and then headed to the playground. The slides were wet from the morning's rain, which meant my two wild boys went down very fast. Ace kept saying, "Woo hoo! I can talk about it!". It took me a while to figure out that he was mimicking his dad, who often says, "That's what I'm talking about!" when he is excited. That's right, Ace. You can talk about it.

A Visit from Aunt Katie and Uncle Mike

Oh what a fun weekend we just had! The buddies were excited to find Aunt Katie and Uncle Mike (aka Uncle Wags or "that guy") at our house when they awoke on Saturday morning. They were greeted with hugs and presents and things just kept getting better after that.

The theme for our weekend seemed to be outdoor fun. Yesterday, we took our relatives paddle boating on Lady Bird Lake, near downtown, and then to eat on the patio at one of our favorite restaurants, Shady Grove. Steve even sang karaoke in a Southwest Airlines promotional vehicle while we waited for our table. His rendition of "Baby Got Back" was certainly memorable, but probably didn't make us look like the best parents in the world. Afterwards, we made our 2008 premiere at our neighborhood pool, before heading home to grill burgers in our backyard.

Today, we checked out the beach at Emma Long Metropolitan Park. The park spans a full mile of the Lake Austin shoreline. Since the sandy beach was underwater, we grabbed a great spot on the shore, next to the volleyball pit, so that our sand toys could still get some use. The buddies had a great time searching for shells with their dad and digging in the sand with Aunt Kate and Uncle Wags. They splashed in the water some, but the lake was still a bit cool.

It was a quick visit, but definitely a fun one! The buddies and their Aunt Kate and Uncle Wags are clearly part of a mutual admiration club. The boys had such a great time with them. Tomorrow, we'll all return to normal life with refreshed spirits, slight sun-burns, and lots of great memories.

Check out the rest of this weekend's photos here.

Silly Mama Bird

What was she thinking building her nest at eye level of two wild boys??? Over the past few weeks we've enjoyed an up-close nature lesson that I fear will have a tragic end.

Luckily, Mama Bird doesn't seem too bothered by us. Her nest has been hit by a baseball twice and peered at countless times by two noisy boys shouting, "LOOK, A NEST!!!". When we first discovered her nest and five speckled eggs, I felt sure that she'd abandon them soon enough. But, each day, she endures our curiosity and returns to her post. Steve has even taken to feeding her, calling her "a part of our family". Soon enough, we'll have a few more "family members" to peer at.

So, what kind of bird is she? She's a little brown bird and her eggs are white with red speckles. Gramps, please consult your bird books and let us know.

Our 3 Year Stats and a Few Songs

The buddies visited with their nice pediatrician this morning for their 3 year well check. Their stats are:

Ace
height: 40"
weight: 36 lbs 8 oz

Ben
height: 38.5"
weight: 32 lbs 6 oz

Then, for a fun activity this afternoon, I shot video of each boy singing the ABC song. They LOVED watching themselves and each other on the computer screen. I bet we watched the videos a dozen times each. They were particularly entertained by Ace's dramatic ending. These two love slapstick comedy.

Cinco de Mayo

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo yesterday, the buddies and I invited our neighbors over for a "Sangria and Scooters" party. The kids brought their favorite modes of transportation while the moms (and a few dads) enjoyed a few glasses of my famous sangria.

Our motorcycles were a huge hit amongst the 3 year old crowd. The older kids decorated the street with chalk. Until the next rain, the road in front of our house will say, "No Sisters Alood" in more than one place. We hope it washes away before Steve's sister arrives for her much anticipated visit in just 3 days!

First Crawfish Boil

This evening, we attended a crawfish boil and scholarship benefit, thrown by our neighbors. It was a great way to introduce the buddies to a great tradition from our neighboring state. When we arrived, Ace and Ben were thrilled to see a giant bounce house at our neighborhood park. But, the highlight for Ben was the chance to play with live crawfish. He had a blast scooping them from their large bucket next to the boiler and transferring them to a nearby "crawfish racetrack". He played and played until it was time for the last few crawfish to make their way to the boiler.

When it was time to eat, he happily sat at our picnic table and munched on tails, saying, "I like crawfish!" Ace wasn't as big of a fan. He got pinched by one during playtime and then later declared them "too spicy" to eat. Our neighbors thought Ben made a great Cajun.

Scooping...

Admiring...

Munching...

Motorcycles

We received two large boxes on our doorstep this week from Uncle Jeff. The buddies were thrilled to find motorcycles inside. Not only can they press the foot pedal and cruise around the neighborhood, but the buddies can blare the real-sounding police sirens from the attached "walkie talkie". Oh snap! They LOVE them.

Ben was quite sick this week, but between breathing treatments, he was on his motorcycle. The buddies both call them "Uncle Jeff's motorcycle - I can make it go!". You can see the sheer joy on Ace's face the morning after they arrived, when Daddy had them assembled, powered up and ready to ride. Thanks, Uncle Jeff!

Ace and Ben's Birthday Express

We celebrated the buddies' third birthday today by inviting our favorite little friends to a train party. Although today was unseasonably cold and windy and rainy, 30 of our little friends showed up, ready to have a good time.


We had a few fun stations set up for the kids. Everyone decorated their very own rice krispie treat train with icing and sprinkles. Ben traveled the tables, looking for left-behind treats, and helped himself when he found one. Ace just liked decorating his. Another fun station was a train bean bag toss. The kids could play as much as they wanted and decorated themselves with their train sticker prizes when they won.


Midway through the party, "Sophie", a 16 inch gauge 1/4 scale miniature train chugged along on the tracks next to our pavilion and picked us up for our special Birthday Party Express. It was amazing to see the joy on all 30 little faces as Sophie rolled to a stop just for us. We piled on and filled her to well over capacity and then enjoyed the scenic 1.3 mile ride. Ben and Ace "choo- choo'ed" and "whoo- whoo'ed" the whole way.

When we arrived back at the party (with the buddies yelling, "Hey, there's our party!"), the very nice conductor let all the kids take turns posing for pictures in the driver's seat.


After that, it was time to sing happy birthday (twice) and cut the cakes. Ace and Ben loved their train cakes that I made for them. The wind kept us from lighting the candles, so we'll have to do a repeat tomorrow. I'm sure the buddies won't mind a bit.


During our drive home, they chattered to each other about birthdays and trains. I asked them if they had fun at their party and Ben said, "Yes! I liked riding the train! It came right to our party!"

Check out all the pictures here.

Happy Earth Day!

In celebration of Earth Day today, the buddies made Earth Day Caterpillars. They were so proud! You can make them at home too!



Supplies:
1 knee-high stocking
dirt
rye grass seed
2 hairbands
1 pipe cleaner, cut in half



Directions:
Ask Mom to mix 3 parts dirt and 1 part seed in a large bucket. While Mom holds the stocking open, scoop the dirt mixture in, filling to 2/3 full. Ask Mom to tie off the stocking and trim the edge. Wrap two hair bands around the body of the caterpillar, creating sections. Poke pipe cleaners through the head as antennae and curl the edges around your finger. Water daily and watch your friend grow green hair!


Soon enough, we'll find out if the buddies have green thumbs.

A Sleepy Conversation

I overheard this on the monitor today, minutes after bedtime:

Ace: Benny?
Silence
Ace: Benny?
Silence
Ace: Benny?
Silence
Ace: What are you doing over there, Benny?
Ben: Ben is trying to sleep, Ace.
Ace: Benny?
Ben: Close eyes, Ace.
Ace: Ok, Ace closes eyes and mouth.
Ben: Ben closes eyes and mouth too.
Ace: I'm doing it, Benny.
Silence
Ace: Benny?
and so on...

Volente Beach Waterpark

Grandma and Grandpa are in town and joined us on an adventure to Volente Beach Waterpark on Lake Travis. Austin's only water park is just 9 miles from our home and we've been waiting for a good opportunity to check it out. Today was opening day and the park was free to all, so it was the perfect time.

The best part about the park is the sandy beach along the lake with tiki umbrellas and lounge chairs. We arrived as the park opened and took our pick of the spots. The water was still a bit cold, but that didn't stop the buddies from splashing and playing, though they didn't care to get much past knee deep. We spent a good amount of time in the lake before exploring the rest of the park. Steve and Grandpa tried out one of the three water slides, only to have to walk back up because the water pressure was too low. I guess the park works out some of the kinks during "free day". The buddies both liked the pirate ship toddler area, the swimming pool, and the spray ground.

We brought our own picnic lunch, which we enjoyed under our tiki umbrella, and then headed back to the lake, which was easily our favorite part of the park. It was a great outing!

Check out the rest of our pictures here.

Circus Day!

Today was Circus Day at the buddies' school. Each class was assigned a time for their party in the special circus room. All morning, their class activities centered around the circus theme, so when it was time to "go to the circus", the kids were really excited. I arrived a few minutes early, to walk with the class. All ten kiddos were chattering about going to the circus.

At the party, the kids could watch a real circus on the big screen, wear clown wigs or animal masks, crawl through hoops (or use them as hula hoops, as our boys did), try their hand at a clown bean bag toss game, or just dance around and revel in the festivities.

Ace and Ben's teacher and I unofficially manned the bean bag toss for a short while. Several kids tried it unsuccessfully. Miss Dana and I faulted the poor design - the bean bags were disproportionately large, relative to the holes. Miss Dana even tried a few times and vowed to suggest smaller bean bags next year. Then, Ace marched up and tossed three consecutive bean bags through the hole. Miss Dana's jaw dropped. The kid is a machine. He can't wait to turn three so he can play sports and I can't wait to watch.

The Tale of the Tea Party, The (mis)Adventures of Flat Stanley, and "Taking Off a Boo Boo"

What a day. I have a million things to do before Grandma and Grandpa's arrival tomorrow, but I simply must chronicle today's events, lest someone not believe me later.

Today began like most any other day. The buddies were up and ready to party at 6:50am. They were anticipating today's morning outing: a tea party with the Fearsome Threesome at Miss Annie's house. We received the invitation earlier in the week and they were pumped. We donned our special tea party clothes and headed out early. We had a quick errand to run. You see, Flat Stanley is visiting us for the next few weeks, and we have a long list of Austin sites to show him. Since Miss Annie's house isn't too far from downtown, we decided to drive Flat Stanley by the Capitol building on the way and snap his picture. It was an uneventful drive most of the way, but as we approached our exit, one of my tires blew. So, there I was, in late rush hour traffic, on the top deck of IH35 with two kids and Flat Stanley and a shredded right rear tire. We made it safely to the shoulder and parked, ironically, just beneath the "State Capitol Building --->" sign. Steve heroically came to our rescue and had us back on the road within in an hour. And he agreed that the buddies shouldn't miss their tea party, so he volunteered to trade cars with me tomorrow and take mine in for a new set of tires. It is so nice to have a nice husband!

After a slow ride on our donut tire, we arrived at the Fearsome's house, ready to play. The buddies had a grand time in their front yard on their motorcycles, cars, and roller coaster. Then, we stirred up their playroom for a bit, while Miss Annie set the table. What a tea party it was! Both boys loved drinking "tea" (organic fruit juice) out of little cups and really liked Miss Annie's spread of mini muffins, berries, cucumber sandwiches, and mini cupcakes. She even had a real tablecloth on the kid's table. It was such a nice touch, especially since it inevitably soaked up lots of "tea" and ground up snacks. It was the cutest thing in the world to see the five friends enjoying a cup 'o tea and all that goes with it. And I savored Annie's fancy organic Aveda tea - it was the perfect calming beverage after the morning I'd just had. We enjoyed the tea party very much and I have a feeling the boys will ask for their own set of tea cups before their upcoming birthday.

After several hours of fun, we said our goodbyes and started our slow drive home. Ben fell asleep while Ace was rested quietly in his car seat. We were almost home when Ace said, "Mommy, I took off my boo boo!". And, I said, "What???" and turned around to see him holding out a perfectly peeled scab in a pincher grip. "I took off my boo boo!" he said again. Grrreeeaaat... At a stoplight, I turned around to see bright red blood gushing down his arm. Ace saw it too, and started to sob pitifully. The pitiful sob turned into an all-out hyperventilating shriek in the final five minutes of our trip.

When we arrived home, we washed it off, sprayed it with Bactine, and bandaged it up with one of our brand new bandages, given to us yesterday in a massive 195-bandage package from our neighbor who works at 3M. He's seen us riding trikes and scooters in front of our house nearly every evening over the past month. Although we barely know him, he walked the mega bandage package over yesterday and told me, "It looks like you could use these a lot more than I can." Thanks Mr. Rich! 1 down, 194 to go!

And that concludes the story of our day. Here's to a less-eventful tomorrow.

Our 6th Anniversary

What a beautiful Spring day we had today! Steve and I celebrated 6 years of marriage by spending almost the entire day outside with the kids. We began the day by taking the buddies to their favorite park. Then, we headed to The Oasis, a restaurant just 5 miles from our house that boasts the best view on Lake Travis. We sat on the patio and took in the lovely scenery while we all enjoyed our lunch.

After a quick, snuggly nap on the couch with the kids, we hiked Mount Bonnell. The last time we hiked to it's peak, we carried the buddies on our backs. This time, our load was lighter since they enjoyed running up all by themselves. Next time, they may have to carry us.

Ben and I stopped to watch the boats on the Colorado River. There were so many today! When we reached the top, we met up with Steve and Ace and enjoyed the view of the Austin skyline.

We ended the day with some backyard time. Steve grilled steaks and hot dogs while I did some light yard work and the buddies played with their cars on the deck. Then, we enjoyed our supper together on the deck as the sun began to set. It was a perfect anniversary.