Segway Tour

I bought a groupon for a downtown Austin Segway Tour and it was such a blast!  I know we look like total dorks, but that's alright.  The segways were a blast to ride on....after about 15 minutes of learning how to ride them, we were off cruising around Austin. 

 We rode all around the Texas State Capitol grounds, which are gorgeous, and then we ventured into downtown Austin.  The tour was great for us because our tour guide showed us all the historical and popular spots in the city, which we weren't already familiar with.  We enjoyed it so much we'd love to go again, maybe with some family or friends who want to be as dorky as we are!

Kirby

It's been a rough year for the Langdon dogs, as we've just said goodbye to our perfect dog, Kirby.  Kirby was almost 15 years old and has been our constant companion since before Micah and I were even married.  She went through everything with us and lived a long, happy life.  We watched her health decline over the past few months and made the extremely difficult decision about 3 weeks ago.  We are certain we made the right decision though and gave her a peaceful ending.  Here's a little history of Kirby's long life.

 

Kirby was born around Christmas time in 1998 to a family that lived next to Micah when we were in college.  The family planned to take the entire litter to the animal shelter, so we decided to choose one to keep for ourselves.

 She was the lucky puppy and had the best disposition from day one.  She was the start of our family and our first "baby."

Sometime during her first or second year of life, Kirby got out of the yard and disappeared.  Micah and I searched hours and hours for her and were completely distraught.  We eventually found her on a walk with another couple who had put a bandana around her neck and named her Dixie.  She was just irresistible.

 

 When Micah and I got engaged in 2000, Kirby was already a part of our family.  So much that we included her in our engagement pictures.

This was one of our first Christmases together after we were married.

Kirby moved with us to Nevada in 2003

 

She was with us when we bought and renovated our first home in Carson City.

She enjoyed the Nevada snow more than I did!

She hiked Mt. Tallac with us, the highest peak in the Tahoe basin.  Micah had to actually carry her down part of the mountain because her paws were so torn up from the long hike.

Kirby took many road trips with us into California.

She met wild horses

She was with us when we brought home Owen and Adler.  She tolerated the kids when they were babies, but really fell in love with them when they started throwing food on the ground.  Kirby was constantly hungry and begging for food, so Owen and Adler soon became her best friends.  Kirby would follow them around the house and sit patiently by them at every meal......ready to catch any scraps of food.

 And Kirby was with us when we moved back to Texas.  This summer when she was too old to hike on our ranch, she happily joined us in the golf cart for a ride. 

 

We call Kirby the perfect dog, because for us, she was. She was calm, content, and easy.  She was the complete opposite of Sandy.  Her favorite thing to do was eat and sit in the front yard watching people and life pass by.  Her least favorite thing to do was take a bath.  When she was younger, she loved to chase cats and chipmunks.  When she could hear, she would bark like crazy at a doorbell ringing.  Those things she hadn't done in a while.

The hardest part about Kirby being gone is coming home to an empty house.  There's no longer a pup happily greeting us when we walk through the door.  No Kirby to say goodnight to when we crawl into bed, and no dog greeting us when we wake up every morning.  Our house suddenly seems very quiet, even though she was as calm as a dog could be.  We miss you, Kirby, and will remember you always.

Adler's Princess Party

 Adler turned four in September......FOUR!!!  She is such a spunky, independent, sweet, cuddly girl.  We love her to pieces and she makes all of our lives so much sweeter.  So when she asked for a Princess Party, we had to comply.  It was all she asked for so we went ALL out.

My mom made these adorable frilly purses as party favors.

It was a party, so we had to have food, punch and cake, of course!  That gorgeous castle cake was made by my cousin's wife, Amie.  Is she talented or what??

The day before the party, Owen and Adler helped me decorate their fort for the party.  It was pink and frilly!

 

 The highlight of the party was when Princess Madison made a surprise appearance! She brought with her princess wands for all the girls and read a sweet book called, Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?  Let me know if you want to book her for your next Princess Party, because she was amazing!

The girls also decorated their very own princess mirrors.

Owen was thrilled that some of his friends were at the party to keep him company.  I'm pretty sure this was the only time they all were sitting still. 

Swinging with Uncle Brian

The adults were kept busy playing washers and this awesome Jenga game, made by my brother!

 Lining up for the piñata, because a party just isn't a party unless there's a piñata!

Adler, Ella and Carly

Princesses Adler and Madison

 The party was a success (but I'm secretly hoping next year she'll want to have the party somewhere else)!  The only thing missing were our Nevada friends, whom we've become so used to partying with.  You were missed!

College Station

 We are having a blast being back in Texas and living closer to Aggieland!  We have tickets to take Owen to his first Aggie Football game in November, but we traveled to College Station in September and celebrated the Aggies' game against #1 Alabama.  We lost, but it was an awesome game and we didn't go down easy.

 

For those of you that don't know, the Aggies hold a midnight yell practice at midnight the night before every football game.....think of a giant pep rally on steroids.  This particular yell practice was the largest in school history with over 50,000 people in attendance and was aired on ESPN!  It was amazing.

Even though we didn't attend the actual game, we took the kids up to campus, saw the crowds, felt the excitement, and did a little tailgating.

with Lissette and Brian

This is what happens when you take a 4 year old tailgating.  Don't judge us.

Then we went to Micah's parent's house to watch the game in air conditioning with Noah.

No trip to College Station is complete without fishing with Pop!

 

That same weekend we also helped Madison celebrate her 20th birthday.  Yes, I feel very old now.

August Catch-up

The last month of summer was packed with all kinds of fun activities.  We finished up almost everything on our Summer Bucket List and had a blast in the process!  I absolutely LOVED my summer with the kids!

 We visited the Blue Bell Ice Cream Creamery with my wonderful friend Alyssa and her cute kids.  Blue Bell is one of the best things about being back in Texas (and also probably why we've gained a few pounds since being back)!  If you've never had Blue Bell Ice Cream......I'm so sorry.  The creamery was great fun!

 Micah and I both took the kids on separate "dates," and for Owen I took him to play Laser Tag!  It was way more fun than I imagined and I'm sure we'll go back!  Afterwards we went and ate our favorite summer treat......SNOW CONES!

The kids at the top of Mt. Bonnel, overlooking Lake Austin!

 We took a 2 day trip to Ennis to see my Granny.  She was thrilled to have us and fed the kids as much sugar and candy as they could possibly fill themselves with.  The kids also treated their GG (Great-Granny) to lunch and a movie.

We toured Inner Space Caverns, which we all found interesting and "super cool."

For Micah and Owen's date, the boys went fishing!  I love this picture of Owen doing what he loves.

At the end of our girl date, Adler chose to eat cupcakes at her favorite food trailer in Austin, Hey Cupcake!

We ended summer with a bang!  The day before school started, we went swimming and ate more snow cones!

 Here's the official first day of school pictures!  Owen started the first grade and Adler started going to Junior Pre-K three days a week.

I absolutely adore Owen's first grade teacher!  She tutored his in reading this summer, which made the transition to first grade really easy.  He's doing well in school and seems to enjoy it (although the homework has not impressed him).

Adler is also doing well in preschool.  She's making new friends and is enjoying her school days.  Although she sure does like staying home with me 2 days a week!