Field Trip with Cousins

After school today, we jetted off to meet our cousins for a quick afternoon visit to the Wildflower Center. It is free all month long and this afternoon was probably one of the sunniest winter days of the entire month.








We climbed towers, looked for fish, identified trees and plants, and even played with the puzzles inside the Little House. But mostly, we just ran amok in the fresh air and wide open spaces with our cousins.







It was a good thing we all got so much exercise, because afterward, we decided to join our cousins on their quest to eat their way across Austin, one food trailer at a time. First up was dinner at Odd Duck, where the boys polished off gourmet quesadillas and nibbled as much as I would let them on my New York Strip slider. Owner-Bryce walked over to our table after we had finished and asked us how everything tasted. Deeelish! And lucky for us, Gourdough's Donuts is right next door. We ordered four of the made-to-order, obscenely huge, delishously topped creations and passed them around the table. Ben and I highly recommend the Bring the Heath and Ace likes the Chunky Monkey. Our very fun afternoon ended with my two boys telling me they had tummy-aches from "too much donuts".

Dizzy

Lovely park day today!

Little Campaigners

The buddies and I are helping out with a friend's campaign for Justice of the Peace. Karin is smart, dynamic, and a true community advocate and we just love her. Yesterday, we delivered yard signs to a few of her supporters.

Afterward, we rewarded ourselves by checking out a new park, just 3/4 of a mile from our last delivery. The park sat at the edge of this:

And had a really cool climbing structure, like no other we've found in our area. Score!

The only thing that irked us is that we've lived in Austin for 4 years and are just now discovering this awesome park! We'll be back in the summer, when we can take a swim in the lake.

Bake Sale for Haiti

The kids and moms in the tiny section of our little neighborhood threw a bake sale this afternoon. And raised $554 for the Red Cross. And we have a matching donor, so the kids are sending a little over $1,100 to a devastated Haiti. I. am. nearly. speechless.





It all started yesterday afternoon, when one of our favorite little neighbors, a first-grader, brain-stormed with his mom about ways they could help. They decided on a bake sale and his mom quickly rallied the other moms. Word spread quickly as we baked, made signs, contacted news stations, and arranged for our neighborhood entrance sign to advertise our plans.



We were so honored by the way our community rallied around our kids for this great cause. We live among generous and kind-hearted people and this shows that a little idea can make a big difference. Go kids!












As I was tucking the buddies into bed this evening, Ben said, "I wish my piggy bank was full all the way to the top. Because then I'd have enough money to send water and food and doctors to everybody in the whole world."

They Have Dreams...

We abandoned our MLK Festival plans this morning and decided instead to celebrate National Day of Service by being good neighbors. One of our favorite neighborhood playmates is in the hospital with a severe case of the flu, so we took in his little brother for about 24 hours until his Mimi arrived to help.

We enjoyed the time with our friend. He is a wild boy too, so he fits right in around here. We even had a surprise visit from our former neighbors and we were so glad to be home to catch up with them.


Between playing outside, eating pizza and snacks, watching movies, and playing trains, we made time for a quick lesson and art project on Dr. King. I explained to the three boys that a long time ago, there were different rules for different people. Some people could play at a park, drink out of a water fountain, and sit in any seat on a bus that they chose. But, others could not. We all agreed that this wasn't fair and I told them about Dr. King's dream to change all that.

And so we cut out hand prints in many different colors and each boy told me their "dreams". That part didn't go exactly as well as I'd hoped. Ben: "I have a dream that someday it will be quiet. Because Ace snores and it wakes me up." Ace: "I have a dream...(loud pretend snoring noises)." Neighbor Friend: "I have a dream...about Lightning McQueen!"

Video Thank You Notes - Bloopers!

Yes, I know I have been neglecting this blog since the new year. What, you ask, has been keeping me so busy? The buddies are creating video thank you cards for all their Christmas gifts this year and I am their Chief Videographer and Film Editor. We have just 3 left to go, so I took a break this evening to create a bloopers video from the process. Enjoy! And rest assured, we have a few activities lined up this week that I'll definitely want to share.

Under the Big Top

The Shriner Circus is in town this weekend, so the buddies and a few of their friends enjoyed their first circus experience today. We oohed and ahhed at the many acts that graced the three rings. We saw elephant acts, trapeze artists, acrobats, aerialists, tigers, lions, and clowns. The elephants and the trapeze artists were favorites, as well as a particularly silly clown and his dog. The buddies also tried their first cotton candy - Ben loved it but Ace said it tasted like paper and was too sticky.

Sweet Sleeping Brothers

We found the buddies like this tonight, a few hours into bedtime:

One bed, two boys, and a very cold night. If only they'd get under the covers...

Roller Skating!

37th Street Lights and the Zilker Tree

Me Mom is visiting for the holidays so we took her to visit two beloved Austin holiday traditions: "The Miracle on 37th Street" and the Zilker Tree. We hit 37th Street first and then made our way to a little further south for a quick spin under the lights.






Unfortunately for us, when we climbed back into the car, we discovered that Thunder, Ben's much-loved stuffed horse, was missing. The grown-ups scoured the park (even though we never let Thunder out of the car on our outings) while Ben calmly declared the disappearance to be "a mystery". We came up empty-handed, so we headed back to 37th Street. And, there he was, resting on the curb at the corner where we had parked. We'd left him there for over an hour. It was a Christmas miracle to get him back!

Feliz Navidad!

Ben's favorite song this season is "Feliz Navidad", thanks to our Sea World excursion in San Antonio. He gets pretty close on most of the Spanish words. But, I can't convince him to sing the English words correctly.

It goes like this:

Ben:
Feliz Navidad! Feliz Navidad!
...
I want to wish you a very Christmas!
I want to wish you a very Christmas!
I want to wish you a very Christmas from the bottom of my heart!

Me:
Ben, it is MERRY Christmas, not very Christmas.

Ben:
Oh.
I want to wish you a Larry Christmas!
I want to wish you a Larry Christmas!
I want to wish you a Larry Christmas from the bottom of my heart!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!!

Texas Wigilia

As usual, we were missing our Philadelphia family on Christmas Eve, but we celebrated locally with friends who are like family. Steve was the head pierogi chef and I (with some help from Ace) took care of everything else.


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We wish you a happy and healthy 2010!

A Sea World Christmas

My fantastic grandparents gifted us with season passes to Sea World for Christmas this year. And since today was our only free day between now and January 2nd, the buddies and I opened their present early and took a day trip to San Antonio. And we can go back as much as we want between now and January 2011!

We had a blast! The buddies rode Shamu's Express (a little roller coaster) eleventy-billion times. Then, we caught Clyde and Seamore's show and then high-tailed it to see Shamu Christmas...Miracles. The Shamu show was spectacular - none of us could get enough of it. We skipped the Polar Express 4D show, since the movie scares the pants off the buddies.

We met a scuba-diving Santa, saw the dolphins and sharks up close, posed with Santa Shamu and a bunch of his friends, rode more rides, played in Shamu's Happy Harbor, rode the Express some more, and then ended our day with the buddies burying each other in a giant sand pit. Two very happy buddies could barely make their tired legs trek to the car after a very fun day. Thanks Grands!

Check out the rest of our pictures here.

Kingpin

The buddies went bowling this morning at Main Event along with 32 of their closest little friends. The place is still standing, in case anyone is wondering.

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa

We're having three Christmases at our house this year: one with Grandma and Grandpa, one with Santa, and one with Me Mom. Lucky buddies!

We just finished our first celebration with the Super Grands. They brought glow in the dark sleeping bags for the boys:


And cowboy boots:


And took them on a walk to our neighborhood park:


And played our new favorite game: DodgeTag!


And, of course, the buddies discovered a secondary use for their sleeping bags:



Christmas #1 was a success!

Snow! In Austin!

What's a mom from Kansas to do when she wants to share her love of snow with her children? Empty a room inside her home and build a snow room, of course! And then open it to the public! Every year, this friend-of-a-friend does just that and the buddies and I had a blast checking it out this morning.












We tossed big handfuls of the stuff at each other and at our friends. We built snow piles. We made snow angels. We shrieked with delight when the leaf blower came out. It was almost as fun as the real thing (and not nearly as cold).

More pictures here.

Breakfast with Santa

This morning, we enjoyed a breakfast with Santa, that was very much like the Breakfast with the Easter Bunny that we attended earlier this year.

During breakfast, a balloon-artist stopped by our table and made special creations for each boy. Ace chose a cow (just like last time) and Ben chose a horse (just like last time). Then, Santa himself made a visit and told the buddies to eat a good breakfast so they could go downstairs and hang out with him. They did, so we ventured down for Santa visits, ornament decorating, a candy cane hunt, face painting, and letters to Santa.

Ben told Santa that he wants "two switch trains - one for me and one for Ace". Ace (who tells me his long list EVERY DAY) said, "Mom, you tell him." With the pause from Ace, Ben took the opportunity to tell Santa that he would also like a ball blaster.

Santa was very nice. But, would it have killed him to crack a smile??

Don't You Love It When...

You go to a play date and get to check one of your holiday traditions off your list. And you don't have to do any of the prep work yourself. Thanks Miss Christel!

Decorate Gingerbread Men. Check!

The North Pole Flyer

Last night, we bundled up and took the buddies on a train ride to the North Pole (a.k.a. Bergstram, TX). It was a blast.

We snuggled under blankets in our seats and sipped hot chocolate as the train barreled through the hill county. The buddies loved listening to the clack of the train along the tracks and hearing the whistle and then looking out the window to see cars stopped at railroad crossings. Homes along the route sparkled with lights and we oo'ed and ah'ed at them all.



During the ride, we were entertained by some (not-great) caroling Girl Scouts. And our conductor checked on us often and offered us more hot chocolate. Mrs. Claus came through our coach with gingerbread cookies. And, Santa himself made an appearance and delivered train whistles to each and every child on board. Thanks a lot, Santa. During the last leg of our train ride, the children gathered in the center of each car to hear a reading of "The North Pole Flyer".




Ace and Ben opted to stay in our seats, under their covers, as their eyelids grew heavy. Once the story ended, our tired boys closed their eyes and slept for the last 30 minutes of the ride.