What have we been up to??

We have been enjoying exploring Austin in amazing weather over the past few months.  Here's some random snap shots to show what we've been up to.

Adler has made some new friends with Ella and Anna at the Austin Nature & Science Center.  Unfortunately, they live way in North Austin, but we've been getting together a few times a month.

Owen on the Amy's Ice Cream playground.

strolling through downtown Austin

Playing with new friend, Julia.

I ran in the Electric Run with Lacey and a few of her friends.  GREAT time!!

The kids seem to love the rain.....we've seen more of it this past few months than we've seen in 10 years!

We're regulars at the Austin Zoo and love this beauty!

Micah and Owen have build a small garden in our back yard.  Nothing like we had in Nevada, but it will do while we're renting this home.  Owen is totally into it and waters the garden every day when he gets home from school.

Adler and Kaitlyn on Lake Austin

Adler using the ski trainer and having a blast!  This kid loves the water!

Playing in a creek in Round Rock.

Staying warm at Owen's soccer practice....a rare cold day when we had to pull out the big jackets.

This is a typical after-school activity for the kiddos!  They used to strip down naked, but now they prefer to wear their new swim suits.

Easter Party

Micah's boss and the owner of Coleman and Associates holds an annual Easter Party, and what a fantastic party it was this year!  Her home and the office are located on her 15 acre property in South Austin, so she has plenty of space to entertain a large crowd. She even had a schedule of events for the afternoon, including games for the kids, 3 different egg hunts based on age, an egg dying station, an animal balloon artist, washer games, and lots of food and drinks. 

Here's Owen playing an egg toss game. 

Adler after the toddler egg hunt!

Here's the start of the 5-9 year old egg hunt.  It didn't take long!

Owen and his loot.

 Here's the kid's very first picture in the blue bonnets!  It was just a small patch outside of Micah's office.  But I've waiting 6 years to have blue bonnet pictures taken of the kids!  I've found a huge patch not far from our house and plan to have a photo shoot in the next few days. But this one turned out pretty darn cute!

Sweet Berry Farms

We recently went to Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls to pick our own strawberries!  It was only about an hour away from us and well worth the drive. 

 We all had a great time searching for the best berries within the rows and rows of ripe strawberries.  We were hoping they would be as delicious as the strawberries we used to buy at the Farmers Market in Nevada, but they didn't quite live up to our expectations.....they were close though.

 The farm also had other fun things for families to enjoy: mini train rides, feeding the goats, and the great Berry Bounce!

 The kids could have jumped on the Berry Bounce for hours, if there hadn't been a line of other kids behind them waiting for a turn.

I can see this being an annual trip for us.  Next year we'll plan on spending the entire day there!

Austin Mural Challenge

 We recently took part in a family challenge to find Austin murals and take pictures of them.  Austin is kind of famous for its many murals and local artists.  At first I thought the kids might be too young to enjoy it, but Owen had a blast with it and still searches for murals every time we get in the car.  Not only did the hunt for murals take us all over the city, but we ended up winning a great prize....family tickets to the Bullock Texas State History Museum!! WOO-HOO!  Check out the other challenge winners here: http://www.rwethereyetmom.com/2013/04/austin-photo-scavenger-hunt-winners.html

These first 2 murals are my personal favorites!

This one is right off 6th Street....maybe it should be called "Good Drinks?"

This one is one of the most famous and is close to UT campus.

I'm glad the whole family was in on this one.

Found a mural with a Jeep on it.....Owen's favorite!

This place is a South Congress gem!

Downtown Austin

Tribute to the Austin music scene

Grandma got into this one!

Same mural as before, but cool picture of Owen!

Our zip code

Adler discovered this one on South Congress

Ft. Worth Zoo

 About a week and a half ago we went to Ft. Worth for the weekend to visit Micah's brothers and their families.  It was great to spend some quality time with them.  We spent one day at the Ft. Worth Zoo, ate a whole lot of fabulous food, and of course, played with the adorable baby Noah!

Noah picking on Owen!

The baby Rhino was a highlight at the zoo.

Micah's parents also joined us in Ft. Worth!

Owen feeding the birds......really a cool exhibit.

Adler has Olfa wrapped around her tiny finger.

  

Ann and Jay with all of their grandkids!

Adler and I both adored Noah!

Enjoying the merry-go-round.

Weekends like this definitely make us appreciate living back in Texas!

Goodbye Sandy

One week ago today our spunky dog Sandy died.  It's still difficult for me to admit it.  Here's the story: About 2 weeks ago I was at our ranch with the kids towards the end of Owen's spring break.  While we were there Sandy was running like a crazy dog all over the place and accidentally got run over by a truck.  We took her to the Vet in Brady right away and they found no broken bones (which is totally amazing).  The Vet gave her some pain medication and advised us to keep an eye on her and let her rest for a few weeks.  Five days after the accident we noticed some serious swelling in her abdomen and last Thursday we took her to her Vet here in Austin.  It turns out, she had serious internal injuries and we ended up having to put her to sleep.

This is probably the most difficult thing we've had to do as a family.  We waited until Owen got home from school that day and discussed what was going on with him.  He decided he wanted to see her one last time to say goodbye, so we all went to the Vet's office together.  Owen brought her some treats and Adler brought her a stick.  It was an emotional, tearful goodbye, but Micah stayed and said her death was very peaceful.

Sandy spent seven and a half years with us after we adopted her from the animal shelter in Carson City in 2005.  It was estimated that she was around 9 years old.  I honestly had a love-hate relationship with her, as she was sometimes very challenging.  She had crazy energy and was a professional escapee of the yard......she would dig and climb and jump her way out, stay away for hours at a time, but always come back home.  She's chewed up probably 20 pairs of shoes over the years, destroyed many toys, chewed through a seat belt in my car (that costs hundreds of dollars to replace), dug up flowers, broken many pots, and would generally eat anything within her reach.  One Thanksgiving she pulled a cooked ham off the counter and started chowing down. 

She had personality for sure, and she was also extremely loyal and fiercely protective.  She loved to hike, run and chase rabbits and birds.  She loved to swim, even when she was shivering from the Tahoe cold.  She just didn't know when to stop.  She adored Micah and got so excited when he took her out for a skateboard ride, she could barely contain herself. She hated wind and thunder made her really nervous.  Her whole body would shake and she would try to crawl up into our laps.

 As I was going through pictures this week I realized she had a pretty good life.  She was fearful and timid when we adopted her, but she fit into our family better than we ever admitted.  Of course we could have gotten her out more, but she had some fun adventures.  These are a few of my favorite pictures of her over the years.

She loved any activity we were doing with the kiddos....especially bubbles!

 I found so many pictures of Owen with Sandy together and am grateful for all the fun times they had together (not so grateful for that one incident, but I won't go into that now).  Owen absolutely loved that dog and I'm pretty certain the feeling was mutual.

 This was the very last picture taken of Sandy last week.  Adler also had a special relationship with Sandy and would often treat her like one of her babies, covering her with blankets and putting her to sleep.

I'm sorry she won't be a part of our adventures in Texas.  I miss that crazy dog.