Annual Austin Trip

We took the boys to Austin for the weekend for our "annual Austin trip" and had a great time, all things considered! J got a great deal at Barton Creek Resort and the idea was he would play golf while we hung out with Erin. Well, that's what we did Friday when we arrived - E & I took the boys to the pool while J golfed.

 

We were planning on going to Barton Springs Saturday morning, but on our way back from breakfast, Ben found a penny...he and Jack were play wrestling over it on the bed, while I washed my hands, and then I turned around and Ben was coughing a little. "I put the money in my mouth," is what he told me. I FREAKED out, but couldn't quite believe it. Here's why this never crossed my mind as a possibility: we play with pennies all the time, putting money in their piggy bank, and I have always thought my boys were too smart to put anything small in their mouths. I think he was just laying back on the bed and held it over his face and accidentally swallowed it. So we called Carol, and then we drove to the Austin Children's hospital. Ben got an X-Ray, and while we looked at it, the doctor asked him what that circle was. Ben said "Money in my tummy." ;) So it actually ended up passing the very next night, and all was well - phew! Hopefully our last ER visit? Please? Fingers crossed?

We still had a fun time in Austin, and had dinner with Aunt Andi & her friend John, Erin & Travis at Homeslice Pizza, which is the best pizza place in the world. How is it so good? We then walked down SoCo and went to a candy shop before calling it a night for the boys. On our way home Sunday, we stopped by BU for a bear hunt! Oh, and some Katie's Custard, yum.

Long wait @ Homeslice made easy with Aunt Andi's goodie bags :)

BUGS

We did the Dallas Arboretum Bugs class in June, Tuesday mornings from 9:30-11:00. It was so much fun! They had cute little activities for the kids to do in a classroom and then we would walk somewhere in the Arboretum for more activities. Ben & Jack took the class with their friends O'Neill, Noah, & Hollis, and Nanny Mercedes came with us each week to help out. Good hot summer fun!

Added because the mag. glass was cut off above and I think this is so cute :)

Fair Park Fun

We went to the Children's Aquarium and Discovery Gardens at Fair Park with our friends Jenn, Maddie, & Chloe. We had fun walking around Fair Park and checking everything out. The aquarium was really hands-on, which the boys enjoyed!

We had a picnic in the Discovery Gardens and then walked through the butterfly house in time for the butterfly release (which was a little anti-climatic). The "butterfly release" may not have been that impressive (just a butterfly tent that was unceremoniously unzipped) but there were butterflies everywhere and just walking through all the butterflies was really cool. Ben & Jack enjoyed looking at the "mariposas" and chatting with the girls!

Boston

I met J in Boston for the weekend for our first trip away since the boys were born. We have had a couple of overnights when the boys stayed with J's parents, but it doesn't feel like a big deal when we're in town. Getting on a plane and flying that far away from them was HARD. All I could think was that if anything bad were to happen, I would have had to be drugged on the way home. But all was well, and the boys had a good time with Honey & Papa, which made us feel better.

We stayed at the Beacon XV, which is the most romantic little boutique hotel! It even beat the Ritz Carlton in fanciness :) Every room has a fireplace, and it was so cozy! We had a street view the first night, and I didn't sleep a wink due to the noise, so we switched to the back of the hotel for the second night and I slept great!

So most of our weekend we just walked around and soaked up all the Boston-ness. I love that you can walk everywhere! We visited the Holocaust Memorial, which we saw last time and were very moved. Waiting for dinner Friday night we just relaxed by a fountain and people-watched - how often do we get to do that anymore?! The first night we went to the Neptune Oyster for a lobster roll - delicious! Despite the three hour wait (crazy!) it was really intimate and yummy.

Saturday we walked around, enjoyed the Boston Commons, saw a movie (hah!) and relaxed, then met our friends Dave & Karen for dinner at Al Dente. We went to Al Dente on a rec from friends who used to live in Boston the last time we visited several years ago, and although I was worried I had built it up in my mind, it didn't disappoint! Best Italian food ever. Also great company! We had a great time catching up and spending the evening with good friends.

Good friends who had us over for a yummy lunch the next day and we got to meet little Owen! Sweet, happy boy :) He did make me miss my own little guys even more, and we (okay, maybe just "I") were really anxious to get to the airport and get home. It was a great weekend trip/getaway, and we had a really fun time.

Fun with friends

Random pics of the boys with some of their friends at playdates, at Honey's school with their friend Ryan they met last year, and sidewalk painting with our neighbor & friend Ben:

J wanted to know why the boys were naked - we had just gone swimming and I think I forgot to bring a change of clothes :(

Summer is here!

Not that our May vaca wasn't a fantastic start to our summer, but it's now June and we have officially started our "summer schedule." I'm a nerd and I really like schedules and planning, and our summer schedule is really kind of beautiful. So today was our first official day!

Monday mornings are our only free morning from classes, so that's our morning to go swimming or to do outdoor outings. Today we went to the Dallas Zoo! The boys were so excited. We saw quite a few animals up close today; we only had time for the lemurs, mandrills, penguins, elephants, giraffes, and lions. But we actually got to see them all because they were close today - maybe because we went so early. Every time I go to the zoo I am struck by how magnificent our God is, because His creation is endlessly beautiful and mysterious and awesome. Today I was pointing out the unique features of each animal and talking about them with the boys, and when we "told" Daddy about our day this evening, Jack told him the special feature of giraffes is that they have long necks.  I thought that was impressive! Crazy how they are really learning and picking things up at this stage.

Back to the zoo - I let the boys out of the stroller so they could see, and of course they didn't want to go back in the stroller, which was a little stressful for mommy. But overall they did well walking on their own. We got there in time for the lion encounter and got to see the big male lions up close while the trainers encouraged their "behaviors" for meat - so cool!

After that we went to the children's area and the boys played on the playground, visited the pony (no rides today, sorry guys), the bird enclosure, and played in the water. They didn't even protest leaving, they were so tired!

After naps, we started our alphabet boxes, and today was the letter A. This was really fun! I saw it on Pinterest and have been wanting to try this, and it was a really neat activity. I put in "A" flashcards, a couple of 3D letter A's, A blocks, an apple, airplane, alligator, ace card, and a couple of "A" notepads. We read a book that started with the letter A (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day) and looked for A's, sang "The Ants go Marching," and colored the letter A pages. Ben & Jack really liked it and told Daddy about learning the letter "A" today, pointing it out to him when he asked. So maybe it will even work and we'll learn the alphabet before the fall! Either way, it was cool.

Aren't they so cute :)

Pretend eating the apple after coloring

Of course we both had to do it!

Our play activity was a box of rocks and construction trucks. This kept them engaged for half an hour of play and pretend and we all had a blast! When I told them it was time for an activity, the boys (Jack, especially) got REALLY excited, dancing around and chanting "Tivity!" while I got it ready. I love that they get so enthusiastic about our fun activities. It's serious positive reinforcement for me to keep them coming :)

Family Vacation to FL

This was our second vacation to Watercolor, Florida and our first time to make the drive. It's about 10 hours away, and since this year we would've had to buy the boys plane tickets too, it just made economic sense to drive versus 4 tickets plus a rental car.

We were actually excited about the boys' first road trip!! We bought carseat trays and giraffe neckrolls that the boys didn't actually use, but I had a bag full of new toys/small goodies to keep them entertained between books, snacks, naps, DVDs, and iPads.

Here are the cute but not-used neckrolls:

We drove to Tyler Thursday, to shave off a couple of hours for the next day and make the trip with my parents, who went with us. Yay for grandparents on vacation! It's how I grew up and we are excited to start our own tradition of having our parents with us on vacation - it's such a great way to spend QT with grandparents. Here are Ben & Jack ready for their first big road trip:

And on the road:

 

We stopped about an hour away for dinner at Cracker Barrell in FL. Ben & Jack were READY to stop and had fun in the store and in the rocking chairs outside.

The cute little cottage we stayed in has been featured in Better Homes & Gardens and a coffee table cottages book. It was SO cute! I fell in love with it online and was so excited to see it in person. It was a precious little house and decorated so cute! We were really comfortable there and I especially loved the porch bed-swings - what great naps!

Ben & Jack were really glad to get there, too!

Day One - we had breakfast at the Great Southern in Seaside before heading to the beach. It was yummy and so nice to dine outdoors in the beachy breeze.  Next we went to the beach! It has been a whole year since we have felt sand between our toes and it was so nice to be there. The boys took a couple of days to really warm up to the sand and being in the water independently, but by the end of the trip they were asking to go to the "beech!"After naps, we headed back to Seaside for a jazz concert on the lawn before dinner at the Great Southern. Mmmm nothing like seafood when you're steps from the coast! The boys put on a show with laughter and smiles - Jack learned how to throw his chin into his chest when he was laughing; you know, for emphasis :) Afterwards we went to the resort bonfire and s'mores roast on the beach at sunset - so pretty!

That was just day one!!

Here is a compilation of pictures of the boys on the porch talking with their grandparents - they would not let anyone else sit in those rocking chairs. Even if Ben was sitting in one and I tried to sit beside him, he would say "Get-up, Mama. That's Jack's chair." So no one else got to use those...!

Day two Mom & I lounged on the beach while Dad & J went golfing. That afternoon mom had to take dad to the ER for a foot injury! So while they were at the hospital (his foot is better now, thankfully) we took the boys to Borago and walked around Seaside.

Day three we all spent at the beach & pool and actually used the baby pool this year (we didn't discover it last year until the last day). Jack met a 1.75 year old in the baby pool and took him under his wing, by gathering up all the toys in the pool and taking them to him, saying "Hee you go, baby." It was pretty funny, considering the "baby" was only a few months younger than the boys. After dinner, there was supposed to be a play in Seaside but it was canceled so the boys ran around the amphitheatre lawn instead.

We didn't bring high chairs this year so my big boys sat at the table in chairs. It was cute but crazy! They really liked the freedom :)

 











Day four mom and I took the boys to the playground/splash pad area in the morning while the guys golfed again, then we went shopping in Rosemary Beach before dinner that night at Cafe Thirty-A. We also took beach pictures.

After pictures, my little explorers discovered "Chicago" (seriously, someone stopped by and pointed out that this was a representation of Chicago) and proceeded to destroy something beautiful (!). They had a good time walking around the moat and knocking down the buildings. :) Tide would've washed it away anyway, right? I didn't feel too bad.

Day five mom and I enjoyed a spa morning and then we went shopping at the outlet mall, where Ben & Jack got hats like mommy's. They wouldn't take them off, so we bought them - luckily they were half-off :) The boys participated in an arts/crafts activity that afternoon and made us beautiful stepping stones that we got to bring home! Then J & I had a date night to Cafe Tango, which was muy romantico! Molto romantico? Tres romantique? IDK. It was really nice though and nice to get away with my sweet and handsome hubby!

Our last day we had a relaxing morning at the cottage, went bike-riding, then spent the afternoon at the beach and pool, which Ben & Jack call the "blue agua." This was probably our most fun time in the water yet! The boys had a blast running into the waves, making and tearing down sand castles, dunking daddy in the pool, and playing with their grandparents in the water. We also attempted a boat ride but the captain was too late for us to wait, so the boys "YOLO'd" for a couple of minutes in the boat house. Too cute! For dinner we went to Christiano's, which was fantastic! Even got to meet the chef! Lobster ravioli, mmmm.

Our last morning we had brunch at the resort restaurant, overlooking the ocean and it was so beautiful. We didn't want to leave, but, it was time to come home!