Splish Splash

Nothing like going for a swim after a LONG day of school! As soon as we picked Big up from kinder, we hit the water as if summer never ended. The boys picked up right where they left off and Ms. Pink is still not afraid of a thing. We have at least 5 more months of this ahead of us!

Kinder Mall

Big's school has an annual "Kinder Mall" where each student opens his/her own store. Items are mostly homemade and cost pennies! Parents, siblings, and students roam from room to room buying goods from smiling faces. Big sold slime along with a recipe card. Ms. Pink passed out as soon as we left loaded down with bracelets, bows, pet rocks, paper airplanes, pinwheels, and of course a few recipe cards!

Earth Day 2010

Rather than spoiling, rain just made our Earth Day celebration that more special. I think we were the only hikers at McKinney Falls State Park. The 745 acres of preserved land was all ours! We conversed with the birds (whom I swear answered back all of our questions), chased the running water, pretended we were lost, and even enjoyed a picnic in the drizzle.

Insides & Outsides

I have spent the past 2 days under the care of a vascular surgeon. Thanks to my wonderful genes (from both sides), I was lucky enough to carry on the varicose vein tradition. As an early birthday present to myself, I decided to get them taken out. Yes....removed, stripped, ablated, and gone! The proper medical terminology: Microphlebectomy and Endovenous Ablation.

It was not fun nor painless, but the final outcome should be well worth it. Anything to wear shorts during the HOT Texas summers without being so self conscience. Of course being a nurse and all, I asked the doc to put my veins aside so I could see (and touch) them after. He thought it was a weird request, but I was not the first.

Now that I have 2 weeks to wear the sexy "toe-less" compression hose, I thought the kids would enjoy giving me a pedicure!

Luckenbach, TX

Nothing like a Sunday road trip to one of Texas' greatest small towns. No Willie or Waylon today but plenty of beer drinking, Harley riding, handlebar mustache wearing good ole boys around. The kids enjoyed the live music, tree climbing, and a picnic lunch with their cousins.

Ice Cream for Dinner?

Call it an incentive or bribery...I call it something we all deserve after these past few weeks. Ice cream for dinner! No meat, veggies, etc. Nothing but ice cream with a choice of toppings. Amy's Ice Cream was established in Austin back in 1984 and is still a favorite sweet tooth treat. My kids were impressed, especially at the young 'scooper' that crushed their M&M's with an ice cream hammer! As they say "Life is short, start with dessert!"

Capitol 10K

It was a cool, drizzly morning but we did it anyway...in style! My cousin and I received plenty of cheers and waves during our 6.2 mile race this morning. Even though she said "its a costume race," the costumes were few and far between but that gave us even more attention. Our biggest fans were 2 daddys and 5 youngsters at the finish line. We completed the race in less than 60 minutes than went down the street to pig out at Chuy's!

Texas Challenge 2010

Yes, the yearly challenge for us who L-O-V-E bluebonnets...and it is an amazing year with all our rainfall! If you remember from last year, the challenge includes:

1. Find the biggest, most beautiful patch of bluebonnets.
2. Make sure it is not next to a 70 mph freeway when you are dealing with small run-a-ways.
3. Check out the horizon. Who would want a gas station, parking lot, or big rig in their photo.
4. Time it with the kids: everyone must be in a good mood.
5. Time it with yesterday's weather: nothing like stomping through mud to get to the patch.
6. Time it with today's weather: sunny is always good.
7. Time it with tomorrow's weather: nothing like tomorrow having better weather than today and you feel the need to once again, drag your kids to the side of the highway.
8. Watch out for rattlers, yes SNAKES, we are in Texas.
9. Tell your kids they can pick up liter AFTER the pictures are taken.
10. "SAY CHEESE" and bribe the kids with McD's following the photo shoot.

But now that we are in Austin, I have a few more to add to the list:

11. Watch out for the hidden/burried cactus.
12. There are more spiders than snakes here.
13. We are not scared of the speeding cars, but the bicycle gangs (if you have ever driven on 360 here, you know what I am referring to!)
14. And WHICH bluebonnet patch to use. Every 100 yards, there is another just as gorgeous with breathtaking backgrounds!

Here are some blooper shots. I did seem to capture some great ones this year...lucky me!

The Hunt

Each kid got to hunt eggs 3 times this year...at school, at home, and with the neighborhood kids. From the confetti eggs to the melted chocolate candy, we all had a blast!

Happy Easter!

Strike one. Strike two. Strike three. I guess it was a good thing it was a rainy morning here in Austin and we were not able to take bluebonnet pics after mass. We are not very photogenic today! Happy Easter...

Bunny Cake

Minus the icing, the kids were in charge of decorating the cake this year. Turned out gorgeous!