Trains, Automobiles...No Planes

We took what Brandon called a Staycation yesterday. His cousin Brian, wife Melissa, and their son Zachary met us in New Braunfels to visit. We try to get together with them a few times each year and were due...it had been a while.

They had some free tickets to ride the little park train there given to them by family members, so we thought the kids would really enjoy that. And they did. Andrew sat in amazement and told us everything he saw. Lillian loved it too, but was ready to go to the "cool" playgrounds she saw. So after the train ride, the kids all played on the many playscapes and enjoyed he nice, but hot weather!

It was really nice to see cute little Zack! He is growing up so fast and just as cute as can be. It is always nice to visit with Brian and Melissa as well. Hopefully we'll plan a time when the adults can visit more without the kids as that is tough when you are chasing around 3 toddlers making sure they don't run off!

After saying our goodbyes to the Hajeks, we headed a little further south to check out the Natural Bridge Caverns Wildlife Safari. Brandon and I had been once during college, but not since we had kids. We got the kids out of their carseats and sat them on our laps in the front to drive through the safari. The kids were amazed by the animals and super excited to feed them. Then we rounded a corner and and ostrich came to the window and that all changed! It stuck his head in the window and pecked at Andrew's hand to get the food and Andrew freaked out! He screamed and cried. As we drove on, if we saw another ostrich, he got scared again. It was quite funny. We would ask him if he wanted to see the bird and he was go, "NO! NO! NO!" ha ha.

(Here is Andrew after the Ostrich incident)

It ended with a petting zoo of mostly goats and the kids both liked that with the exception of a goat trying to eat Andrew's shirt. So overall, we had a fun day and the kids definitely slept well last night.

Andrew's Ready for Summer

I took Andrew for a haircut this morning. He was excited. He loves getting his hair cut! I'm glad because with boys you sure have to go a lot more often than with girls. I wanted it a lot shorter since he loves playing outside and it will just be cooler on him with the warmer weather and easier to deal with. He looks so cute and the lady spiked it into a mohawk with gel. It reminds me of when he was a baby and his hair just grew on the top! Here is my handsome boy:

Trike-a-thon

Lillian and Andrew both participated in a Trike-a-thon to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at their preschool. I missed Andrew's due to having to take Lillian to speech therapy and missed Lillian's today, but one of her classmate's mom, my friend Wendy took some great pictures, so I'm stealing them and posting them here to share.

Thanks for all that donated to this great cause. The kids both enjoyed the trike-a-thon. Andrew didn't even want me to put his little car in the van...he wanted to hold it in his carseat all the way home yesterday! ha ha...His teacher said she took pictures too, so if I get one of him, I'll add it later.

If you still would like to donate, you have until next Friday online, I think. The website is: http://mytrikeathon.org/lillian/

So far, combined they have raised $240 for this great cause!

Andrew's Big Boy Room

Andrew's room is now pretty much complete. I ordered some poster sized photos of Texas State Bobcat Stadium, UT's Dischfalk Field and Erwin Center for his walls and they came in today, so I made a run to Michael's to get poster frames and got them hung today. They look great! Finally I can share pictures. Special thanks to Dad and Jamie for getting him his bedding for Christmas and to Jamie for making his nice curtains! Mom and Tory also got him some great decorations for the walls and Katy and Clay got him his awesome stool!

Andrew is Growing Up

We moved Andrew to his new room yesterday evening. We already had it set up. I just had to move his clothes over. I also moved a twin mattress from Lillian's trundle bed to the floor in his room for him to sleep on for a while until he gets used to the move. His new bed is pretty high off the ground and I was worried that with him probably running to the door when we put him to bed at first in there, he wouldn't be able to see to climb back in bed, so this seemed a safer option to start with.

He went down pretty easy for his first night. He did cry a little, but went back to bed. He was passed out after about 20 minutes when we checked on him. But he had piled toys in his bed too. I put them away and covered him up, but they were back this morning. I guess he got up and got them before I came to get him when he woke up.

Pictures are still to come on his new room. I just ordered some posters for his wall, so when they come in and I get them hung, I'll take pictures and share!

Grandma Teddy Helps Out

I asked my mom a long while back if she could come for the weekend I ran my 10k to watch the kids while I raced. So she marked her calendar and we were excited to have her in to visit this weekend. Of course she brought the kids a few grandma gifts. Lillian was super excited about her new Dora doll and Dora blanket. She also got a Dora balloon on one of our runs to HEB this weekend, so she carried all of these things everywhere and snuggled with them all weekend. Andrew got a cute monkey and bear, but just wasn't as excited.

Saturday I thought I would get out and mow up some leaves that had taken over our backyard since I knew it would take me weeks to rake them all up. So I worked a while on that and was proud of how much better it looked. But then after Brandon started grilling and we were out there visiting, I just mentioned to mom how there was a bush I couldn't reach to trim back, so she trimmed that for me and then just kept on going and trimmed every bush in my back yard! It looks so clean and nice and now if the kids play out in the back, I can see them a lot better from the kitchen window. She even trimmed some dead limbs off the tree by the house and some that were hanging down low by the steps when you walk off the deck. It was a huge accomplishment especially since it wasn't a planned job! Now I just need to rake up some more leaves towards the back of the yard and we need to haul off the limbs.

Today, I ran my 10k and you can read about that on my other blog: Toning Up Before 3.

Then, we ate some yummy Mexican food before all coming home to nap and then Grandma Teddy had to drive back home.

Thanks so much for all the help and everything else, Mom. We love you!

New Friends!

I am a member of a few "Mom" websites and began chatting back and forth with a girl named Jamie back in January on Cafemom.com. She found me on there because she and her family were looking to move to this area from California, so she wanted to find out more about it. We began emailing back and forth and came to be great internet friends. Eventually we moved on to facebook since we both were on their more often. In February, her husband and dad came to town to see it and look into living arrangements and they stopped by to visit with me. I could already tell they were loving it and were going to move here.

This past weekend, they moved and so we have some new friends here in town! It was awesome meeting them at the park today. Jamie has two daughters, Ava who is 2 and a half, and Gracie who is 5 months. They are both dolls! Lillian and Ava took to being buddies right away and played together almost the whole time. (I hope she doesn't get too confused by the name since she has 2 other buddies named Ava...one from daycare when she went to Taylor and my friend Erin's daughter!) At least they are probably friends we won't see at the same time! Ava was born in August after Lillian, so they are the same school age.

I'm so excited to have a new girlfriend to visit with! I thought it might be awkward with us only have talked online so far, but it was like we'd known each other for years! Here is to many more playdates and fun ahead!

Easter Weekend

The kids had a great Easter weekend. They got cards from many family members and then baskets full of eggs with candy from Grandpa JD and Jamie, then some fun eggs with stickers and some other things from Aunt Katy and Uncle Clay, then each a basket full of goodies from the Easter bunny. The kids loved hanging out and spending time with Aunt Katy and Uncle Clay as well did Brandon and me. Thanks for coming! We hope to come visit and see your new house soon! Happy Easter everyone!

With their baskets from Grandpa JD and Jamie

Opening gifts from Katy and Clay

With Katy and Clay

Lillian looking at her basket from the Easter bunny

Andrew looking at his basket from the Easter Bunny

This evening in their new pj's!

Strawberry Day

I told Lillian it was "Strawberry Day." We made the drive out to Marble Falls to Sweet Berry Farms to pick fresh strawberries this afternoon. We left right from Andrew's school party and we had a very busy morning, so they both konked out on the drive there. I haven't ever been out that way before and the hill country is gorgeous! Such a beautiful drive with all the hills and right now all the wildflowers everywhere!

The kids loved picking strawberries and loved tasting them as well. We even bought strawberry popsicles to enjoy afterwards too and got Daddy some homemade jam since he is always looking for some good jam or jelly at the store besides grape and it is hard to find. The farm also has goats, so the kids loved petting them. Andrew kept calling them dogs, but Lillian at least learned what a goat looked like in person.

Now we have lots of strawberries to eat over the next few days. I just hope the excitement doesn't wear off so they don't go to waste!

Oh, and we stopped at Happy Hour at Sonic on the way back and they got strawberry slushes, so that is how we celebrated the end of "Strawberry Day!"

Andrew's First School Party

Since Andrew just began preschool at the beginning of March, this was his first school party today. His class hunted Easter eggs during their recess time and had their party this afternoon and Lillian and I came to celebrate with him and the rest of Mrs. Paula's class. Here are some pictures of his party.

Gotta love that cookie mustashe!