William's party at the Austin zoo!

Pictures from our nephew's super fun 9th birthday celebration at the Austin Zoo!




Happy Birthday, William!

Sunday night BBQs at the Marquis!

We are so lucky to have a wonderful location here at our apartment complex, right between the bus stop and the sports court/2nd pool, and even more lucky to have met some equally wonderful families to hang out with. We've been enjoying such nice weather here that we've taken to having nearly weekly Sunday night grill outs down at the pool. There are about four families (just about a dozen kids!) that are usually always around, plus we add an extra family or child depending on the weekend. There are always kids playing outside. I didn't expect such a sense of community in what I thought would feel like "transitional" living but I sure am grateful for it!


There are three Power Wheels in the complex. Some day we are going to let the kids go head-to-head with them and see what happens (the other parents and I are somewhat hoping the cars are destroyed...). The Barbie car is quite popular because kids can sit on the truck as well as in the front seats.


Freddie was saying, "Let's do this!" and Sammy pulled him into the pool. It was nearly 80 degrees that afternoon but the water was still cold!

Future sports star


I'm not sure why it's always my boys who end up in the pool... probably because we just moved from Minnesota and for them it feels like summer. I'm sure there are a few Texans who think we are craaaazy....


A couple of our fun and fantastic neighbors, Angela and John.

Thanks to our hilarious neighbor Kristen for bringing the little plastic wine glasses to the party. The wine goes into the stem!

Kids


and cupcakes to finish off the evening...

roller skating

Hilarious pictures from a classmate's birthday party at Skate Town.


Sammy was a bit awkward but he had so much fun and wants to go back, which I am super excited about because I grew up roller skating (seriously every Saturday growing up in Baltimore was spent at Skateland) and I can't wait to go back with him so I can skate, too. Now, where to find an adult replica of my childhood white skates with pink wheels and glittery pom-poms...


To be fair, most of his class was using these hilarious skate walkers. I couldn't stop laughing at them. Sammy was getting around really well by the time we left.

Mario, Luigi and Toad

Mario, Luigi and Toad, originally uploaded by sweetietooth.

Buddies. I love Jack's face looking at the trio, too.

San Antonio

The Alamo
Originally uploaded by sweetietooth

On our way back from visiting Jacob's parents after Christmas we made a detour to San Antonio. Fun, beautiful and historic city to explore if you've never been. Probably even more enjoyable without little children who, in their exhaustion, blurt out things like, "I hate the Alamo!" whilst standing in front of the Alamo. lol

Christmas in the Christmas Capital of Texas!

Christmas Capital of Texas!, originally uploaded by sweetietooth.

Finally managed to get all of our Christmas photos up on Flickr!

Our first Christmas in the Christmas Capital of Texas. It was fun-filled, overly exciting (it was a looong wait for Christmas for our four-year-old and he was going a little nutty by the last two weeks), and family-centric event that lasted weeks and weeks. We're still recovering! (oh, and I've only just recovered from a cold I picked up a few days before Christmas. These two things plus the excitement wiped me out!) The boys were home from school from Dec 16-Jan 2nd.

Here is a LINK to check our festive fun!