Celebrate 36!

My birthday celebrations were ongoing this year, over the course of a week or so!  It was awesome.

After an early birthday party with my mom and brother at our ranch (that included a super cool pinata), one of my besties flew into Austin the night before my birthday.  Woot, woot!!  Tracy and I spent my birthday eating at cool restaurants, devouring snow cones, and catching up.

Sno Beach!

The almost great family birthday picture.  :o)

Micah had the restaurant make this delicious lemon/lavender cake just for us.  It was amazing and extremely thoughtful.

Tracy and I filled a couple of days shopping, getting mani/pedis, and eating more delicious food.

 A few days later we went to iFly for some extreme fun......apparently this has the same feeling as skydiving, except without the jumping out of an airplane part.  It was such a rush!  Next time the kids want to go.

with Tracy and Lacey

Micah and Tad

Micah bought me this really cool parachute hammock for my birthday too.  I normally have to fight the kids off, but sometimes they take it over.

 It's a great place for an afternoon nap.

Adler's Texas Project

Adler had a school project in celebration of Texas Independence Day in March.  Here are some great pictures of her at different Texas/Austin landmarks that we used for her project.  We had a great time touring the city and visiting all of these places!

At the Texas Capital Building

A cool Texas mural

Downtown Austin in the background

Crossing Lady Bird Lake 

 On a hike on the greenbelt

Silly faces!

Spring Break

I took off work the week of Owen's spring break so we could play all week.  We didn't do anything extravagant, but we did take a few short trips and had a nice break from our school routine!  Our first stop was College Station, where we went to Jordynn's birthday party and hung out with family for a few days.

Adler & Jordynn

We went to Sea World half way through the week with our friends Lori, Ella, and Anna.  It was a long day, but the weather was fantastic and we all had a great time!  The kids were especially excited about all the roller coaster rides.

Anna, Owen, Ella and Adler

Adler and Owen riding the big water ride where we all got WET!  Adler is definitely my little thrill seeker.  She had no hesitation!

We spent the rest of spring break at the ranch, working on the cabin and just enjoying the country!

The cows have really gotten used to eating out of our hands.....fun for everyone!

Brian and Lissette joined us for the weekend and the kids got quite attached to Lissette!  

One evening we managed to have dinner with our cousins....we hadn't all been together in about 6 years!  It was so great to reconnect.

Busy Month!

March was a crazy busy month, and we've had a ton of fun!  We've already had our spring break and had several visitors, so there's a lot to catch up on.

 We finally visited the Thinkery.....the brand new children's museum here in Austin.....and it did not disappoint.  We will definitely be going back (many thanks to Mark and Nicole for the awesome family membership)!

This is the very cool outdoor playground at the Thinkery.

Owen is having a fantastic school year!  He has come so far in his reading and writing.  This was one of his recent writing assignments and I just have to share.  He certainly loves his daddy!

His class invited parents to come in and listen to their original poetry and this is Owen reading his poem to everyone.  He actually wrote about one of our evening neighborhood walks.

This is Owen and a few of his classmates reading a short theater script.

Adler is still taking dance class one day a week and preparing for her recital in May!  It's still her favorite day of the week.

Look at those curls!

Meet Hamlet, a pig we met at a very cool vintage store called Revival.

Owen showing off his strength!

Basketball

Owen has just finished his first season of basketball!  He struggled learning the game most of the season, but by the end he had made so much progress!  He was definitely disappointed when his last game ended.

Owen had two great coaches who called him "most improved" on the team!

It was really difficult taking pictures in the gym.  Most were blurry, but this is a good one of him shooting a free throw.

He had devoted grandparents cheering him on at many of the games!  He definitely has a lot of support here in Texas!

Now he's already playing soccer......his favorite sport so far!  Our Saturday mornings stay real busy, but we all enjoy it.

Nevada Visitors!

About two weeks ago our dear friends, Brenda, JP and Ryder, came to Texas for a visit!  It was so nice to have some familiar faces here in Austin and we had a great time showing them around the city.

We took them to the top of Mt. Bonnell so they could see views of Lake Austin.  It was so warm that day it felt like summer!

The kids just picked up right where they left off!  They certainly have a special friendship.

On Valentines evening my sister Madison and her boyfriend Blake kept the kids for us so we could have a night out.  They were so great to help us out and were able to celebrate their Vday a day late here in Austin.  And what did we do????  We went to maybe the best live concert I've ever been to at the Moody Theater, where Austin City Limits is filmed.  We saw Bob Schneider and the Moonlight Orchestra (local favs) and had an amazing time!  I loved every second of it!  I guess he puts on this show every Valentines Day, so this might have to become an annual event for us.

Owen had a cheering section the next morning at his soccer game!

The kiddos with Madison and Blake

Our crew....just like old times!  :o)

We took them to the Texas State Capitol one afternoon and had a picnic on the capitol grounds.

We also shopped on South Congress, ate BBQ at Salt Lick and  ice cream at Amy's, and played disc golf.  We tried to give them the full Austin experience and I think we did pretty good for the amount of time we had.

Owen has mastered his disc throw....he's way better than me for sure!

Owen and Ryder climbing a tree!

We are so grateful for their visit and miss them every single day.  Hope to catch up again this summer in Tahoe!