Christmas #1

After church on Sunday, we had first Christmas with Mimi and Papa. The kids were very excited to finally get to open a present! Riley got a notebook (for school!) and Regan got One Direction perfume and poster! Then we went to dinner at Magnolia and then to Mozart's to check out their light show. It was neat, and very "Austin". Thankfully we got there just in time, and were able to come and go pretty quick, they were SO crowded, so we didn't bother with getting coffee or anything. Came home, and David and Riley were up late getting his notebook all set up.

Austin Animal Center

Our Girl Scout troop has been working hard on earning their very first Journey! They have worked on this for months. They chose an animal shelter and several of the girls talked to their school principals about putting out donation boxes at their schools. And then they used some of their fall product money to buy material and made blankets for the cats and dogs. Today we got to go on a tour of the new Austin Animal Center, and bring them all of our donations. They were very happy to receive them, especially since a big cold front is coming tonight, and they said all the blankets would be put to use immediately!

They had a volunteer take us on a tour and show us all the pet areas, they have really nice indoor and outdoor areas and it's all very "green" with solar energy, native dog-friendly landscaping, and lots of nice kennel areas.

The hard part was leaving empty handed. They had too many cute animals and it was so hard to see those cute little faces and keep on walking. But, if you are ever in the market for a pet, that's a great place to get one.

Adopt A Block

Adopt A Block

Today, Celebration Serves had a huge Adopt A Block Party! It was awesome! We had live music, hot dogs, drinks, snow cones, nail painting, face painting, bracelets and necklaces, we handed out Bibles, had the Fire Department bring a truck out for the kids to get in and look around in, had a barber come in to do free haircuts, tons of prizes and a big bouncy house. It was so much fun. I took Riley with me, he loves helping out at Adopt A Block.

It's at an East side apartment complex, lots of kids whose parents aren't around, or are involved in drugs, and our church has just kind of adopted this whole complex. We have picked up trash out there, power washed, planted flowers and grass, as well as monthly trips to have parties with the kids.

So today, Riley and I started off with nails and bracelets. He was so cute painting the nails for the little girls, and helping them with their bracelets. But then we moved over to snow cones and we made 100's of snow cones! They were a big hit, we had a line almost the whole time. Then the concert started, a guy from church, and he was awesome, the kids were dancing around! We passed out Bibles to the kids that needed one, helped the kids get in the fire truck and then helped pick up trash and give out prizes to the kids. It was a lot of fun, and I love seeing those sweet little faces each time I go!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day Weekend

My cousin Christina and her 2 youngest kids, Jeremiah and Joy, came to visit us for Labor Day weekend! We were so excited. They came in Friday night, and so Saturday morning we got up and hit the road. We went to Chuy's for lunch (a must for any visiting guests) and especially during Hatch Green Chili Festival! I feel like a drug dealer, I got another one hooked on the Creamy Jalepeno (mwah ha ha!)

Then we went to the Capitol Building and took a ton of pictures. There were about 10 different Quinceneras there for photos also, so the girls loved checking out all the frilly dresses. Then we went to Big Top Candy Shop and got some good old fashioned candy, and an Italian Creme Soda (yum).

Then we went home, where David had been smoking a brisket all day, and had that for dinner. Sunday we went to church, and I had a Groupon for Texas Jumping Beans, so we took them there for a while to blow off some steam. And Kenzie and Eli joined us there so Tina could meet her newest baby cousin!

Then Tina's oldest son Josh, who is in the Air Force and stationed in San Antonio, came up for the afternoon. We went to Mighty Fine since we took Jeremiah there when he came to visit and couldn't stop talking about the "automatic hand washers" and the two-way mirror in the boy's bathroom! So we sat on the patio so the kids could play on the playground and eat their burgers and we ate Cajun food from Razzoo's!

It was over too quick, as Monday morning they had to get back to Houston. Especially with half of Texas on fire, they ended up in a lot of traffic and smoke was everywhere by this point. It was a good trip though, our kids love getting together, and I'm so glad they have cousins close by to play with.

The Oasis

We went to The Oasis last summer when Regan was at camp, and she has never let us forget about it. She bugged us all the time to take her there. When I saw a Groupon for The Oasis, I snapped it up so we could finally take her. Then it was about to expire, and David had the day off, we thought it would be a good idea to go for lunch.

It started out nice and cloudy so it wasn't too hot, but it got hot while we were eating. She did like it, and wanted her picture taken with every single sculpture they had out there! We did need a bit of attitude adjustment with both kids when we got there, they thought we were going to Sea World or Six Flags or something, so were a little perturbed to just be going "to lunch." But, they got over it and we ended up having a nice lunch, even though it's been super windy.

Then we went to Zookeeper's to get food for Drake. It's so gross, they're called "pinkies" and only .95 cents each, and little tiny hairless dead mice babies. And they just grab them with their bare hands. Not a job for me, that's for sure. But they had some prairie dogs in and the kids got to hold and pet one, and they are the cutest things EVER! I tell you, if they weren't $135 bucks and probably require so much work, I wouldn't mind one myself. They are adorable!! Good thing David was there to keep me grounded.

Servolution

It's my favorite time of year again! Servolution!! Our church organizes a ton of community service projects over the span of 2 weeks, and we all jump in and get our hands dirty. Today was the big kick off, with a rally with Pastor Joe and Jonathan Bowles kicking it off right. Then the Kids team headed back down to Adopt A Block and had a great time with the kids again. This time, I brought Riley with me and shattered his little wide-eyed innocence!

First we handed out juices and bags of chips and ice cream or popsicles. We brought a lot of stuff to leave for Ms. Maggie to have at her apartment, since she has kids coming to her for food all the time, we brought her a good stash to have on hand for that. She makes $10 a month in food stamps, and still manages to try to keep these kids fed.

Then we had a rousing game of kickball, then football, then kickball again, and the girls would hula hoop and play frisbee, and there was a long line of little girls getting their nails painted!

Then we all grabbed some trash bags and hit the complex picking up trash. It was at this point, Riley and I were over by the entrance to the complex, he found a cute puppy that he was petting, and this SUV rolls up, you could feel it, then hear it, then see it. The driver looks at me and says "Hey, Baby!" I just assumed he was talking to someone else and kept picking up trash, but Riley was starting to panic, "mom...mom...momMOMMOMMOM!" The driver had something in his hand, hanging out the window, passed by another car going real slow in the opposite direction, barely stopped, and then kept driving, turning right by us, hand still out the window, this time holding a wad of cash. Riley was like, real loud, "WHY IS HE HOLDING MONEY OUT OF HIS WINDOW?!" Anyway, we continued with our trash pick up and I explained a few things on the way home.

I was glad he went, he had a good time and I think he learned to appreciate the things he has. He told me he felt very sad for those kids and he wants to go back and help some more. I'm glad he's learning to serve at a young age. I took a ton of pictures again, but I'm only posting the ones I really liked. I can't wait to continue to Servolute this week!!

Geocaching at Mt. Bonnell

Riley's Geocaching class had a field trip to Mt. Bonnell. The only thing I remember about this place was we visited once right after I moved to Austin, so I was probably around Riley's age and I just remember about 2 million steps to the top! I dropped Riley and his friend Erik off, then Regan and I met David for lunch, while they did their Geocaching. Then we came back and Regan wanted to go up and see what everyone was doing, so we went up to the top. There weren't nearly as many steps as I remembered, and the view wasn't as great as I remembered either. You had to climb up a rock and lean WAY over to see water. You could barely even see the famous Pennybacker bridge. Anyway, Regan tripped and scraped her knee, then hurt her ankle going down the steps, so all in all it wasn't the best morning.

But on the way back, we passed this park that I have heard a lot about so we decided to stop and check it out. It's famous for it's peacocks and a great place for photographs. The kids tried to pet a peacock, but although they came close, they would jump away if you tried to touch them, usually with a very loud peacock, "OOOWWWW!"

UFC Fight Night

My gift to David for our anniversary was tickets to UFC Fight Night Live at the Frank Erwin Center. It was awesome! I love anything loud and crazy and this was definitely loud and crazy! The fighters weren't anyone major, but they were all really good fights, very entertaining, and we had a great time. I was excited to see Joe Rogan, Dana White, Bruce Buffer, and even MC Hammer was there! I told David next year is his year to plan something for our anniversary, but I don't know if he can top this :)

Phil's Big Top Cupcake!

We met up with our friends, the Turner's today at Phil's Ice House, even the dad's got to come and have lunch with us. They have the best burgers in town, and a playground! And it had rained most of the morning so it wasn't crowded as usual and it wasn't as hot as usual!

Then we let the dad's go back to work and we went down the street to Hey, Cupcake. Regan had a red velvet that was super yummy, and I had the new strawberry flavor. Then we went to SoCo for a true sugar rush, Big Top Candy Shop. One of the best places in Austin, hands down! We got saltwater taffy, chocolate covered coffee beans, chocolate covered cookie dough, a sucker with a scorpion inside, a giant butterfly lollipop, candy cigarettes, gummy everything, gold chocolate coins, and sour candies. I love that place, it's like walking back in time.

Then we headed to Academy to buy Riley some new cleats for football, and got home in time for the sky to open and rain was coming down sideways! The kids ran out and played football and danced in the rain, trying to work off some of that sugar I guess. It's been a great day!

Phil's Ice House

This is by far one of my favorite places to eat in Austin! Best burger in town, next door to Amy's Ice Cream, a cool playground for the kids, what's not to like, right? So, we met David here for lunch and the kids had fun. They usually eat, then spin so much they lose their lunch, but I guess today they took it easy.

ANSC Science Class

I had been hearing a lot of good things about the Austin Nature and Science Center Home School classes, so I tried to register as soon as they opened up this year. Unfortunately, Regan only made it to the wait list for most of the classes, but Riley made it into all of them. The first one was called "Many Legs" where they got to study animals with...you guessed it, many legs! They first spent some time outside with nets looking for bugs they could get a closer look at with the microscopes. Then they went around to the creek and used some nets to look in the water, and then went to the classroom where they got to see tarantula's, Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches and other creepy crawlies. Regan was able to make it in, I guess with flu season in full force, and we were there with Riley anyway, they had an opening for her. She wasn't too thrilled at first, but they both had an awesome time. They will have one class each month, and they can't wait for the next one.

Big Top

Of course, no trip that far south is complete without a trip to Big Top Candy Shop! Regan got a giant Pixie-Stik, giant gumball, and Riley got fake cigarettes, super sour squirt stuff, and bacon flavored bubble gum. He also wanted these:


when he thought they were "fake" but as soon as he found out they were real, well, he still wanted them, but just one, and I made an emergency call to dad, no way was I going to actually buy bacon and cheese flavored crickets, so dad saved the day and said we would buy them, but he would have to eat ALL of them. He put them back quick!

I of course, got my usual, chocolate covered cookie dough. It's like heaven covered in goodness. It can't get any better! And the kids got lime sherbet with a cute little green gummy bear stabbed through with a green plastic sword. What a great place! I'm glad it's so far away and we can't go more often!

The Grove

The kids are going to start piano lessons next week, so we needed a piano keyboard. I found a decent used one on Craig's List and they wanted to meet at Southpark Meadows to make the deal. Well, south Austin might as well be San Antonio in my book, but we made the trek out there and found The Grove, a little group of restaurants around a giant, tree covered playscape. With all the trees, you couldn't tell it was 104 outside! We grabbed lunch at Mama Fu's and then watched the birds steal all the sugar packets from the nearby tables, and grab the noodles off Regan's plate thinking they were worms. It was a fun little time there, and maybe if we're ever on the way to San Antonio, we'll go back!