Fall

Last night was the Fall Festival at CCOA. It was a fun night full of games, candy, and plenty of opportunities for the kids to play, bounce and dance. There was even a live kids country band!

I wasn't ready to unveil this year's Halloween costumes, so we dressed as Texans! Aurora still had last year's cowgirl costume and Clark, well I just gathered up some cute country duds and he was adorable. It's been a bit muggy but the weather's sort of cooling down. Actually, it's way too hot out today, but it's the middle of October (happy birthday, Julian!) and the fall festivities have begun!

One Aurora

After spending the past week deciding between 8 adorable pictures of Clark, Aurora's school pictures just arrived, and good news - there's only ONE! When I went to order online I quickly realized that it wasn't quite that simple. The order form showed her with a dark blue background and mentioned some other choices -  but once I went to order there were DOZENS of backgrounds to choose from.

It took a lot of searching to find the plain white background. They clearly wanted me to go with a very bright color or strange pattern, which made it hard to see these amazing curls - and Aurora has no idea what color the wall behind her really was. They also wouldn't let me see her photo online at all, and the proof sheet was covered with "DO NOT COPY" so, for $5 extra I bought the digital proof for the blog. Yup, one gorgeous girl STILL = tons of options. The coolest thing is that this photo will go in Aurora's first ever yearbook! Now, when will that soccer picture arrive?

Too Many Clarkies!

I just got Clark's school pictures back, and not only are they way too cute - there are just too many to choose from! Last time he had class pics he was crying and wearing his jammies, even though I'd packed a cute outfit for them to change him into. This time they couldn't tell what outfit he should wear, so they did two sittings - and apparently he enjoyed himself a bit more this time around! So, loyal blog readers, I really need your help. Which pose should I buy!?!?! Here's the first set. My parents said they like the first pose, but I enlarged the third for you. Those hands, that face...

And the second set... seriously, the smile! His hair isn't as neat, but both outfits are adorable:

And here's our boy with his little buddies from the Owl's class. He has a great time at school...

But I don't think I need to spend $200 on photos to commemorate it! Or do I...?

Neighborhood Walks

Ever since my parents moved into our studio, we've been taking two walks a day. One to get Aurora off to the bus stop in the morning, and one after dinner. Recently our evening walks have become block parties, with several of our neighbors (who all happen to have 5-year olds and 1-year olds) coming out and joining us. The kids (and their parents and grandparents) are taking over the streets!!!

They check out mailboxes, pick up rocks and sticks, walk the wrong direction, squeal and laugh, share strollers, sit on shoulders, pet dogs and run through sprinklers, all while walking about 1 mile per hour. The weather has been perfect and it's become such a fun part of our routine.

Day Out

Yesterday I had our whole day scheduled out, and it didn't go quite as planned. The 5K I had on my calendar was moved to next April, and Aurora's soccer practice got rained out. Luckily, today's Day Out with Thomas went better than expected! We had such a nice morning up in Burnet, TX; riding on Thomas, playing with trains, jumping in a bounce house, and taking some cute pictures:

We don't even watch Thomas on TV, but this was a really cool event. Clarkie may be a little too young to really appreciate or remember it, but he had a great time. Who doesn't love trains!? 

All Around Austin

I took the day off to wrap up what has been a wonderful weekend full of birthday festivities all around town. It started with a date night out, which included a trip to the Apple store for Chuck's gift to me - a new computer AND an iPhone upgrade! Blogging has never been so easy. Sunday morning was the Marathon Relay at Auditorium Shores, where I ran 4.4 miles as part of a 6-person relay team. My goal was to average 12-minute miles, and I did it! It was fun and hard and awesome.

Today started with lunch at Aurora's school, followed by haircuts at Bird's Barbershop. Then we took our new 'do's all around town and did a little Austin site-seeing!

We went from South Congress to the Drag and back to Auditorium Shores so that my parents could see a few famous murals and Stevie Ray Vaughan!

We're going to stay in for the rest of the day and have dinner (and brownies, and cookies) at home. Thanks to every body for the great birthday wishes, cards and gifts - I'm a lucky girl!

Photographer

Valley View had a professional photographer come out on the first day of school and they just gave us access to the pictures. Aurora's turned out great!

Tomorrow Clark has school pictures, Wednesday Aurora has school pictures, and Saturday we have to arrive early to soccer practice because a photographer will be there to take individual and team photos. I hope the kids (and you blog readers) are ready!

Soccer Mom

As of today, I'm officially a soccer mom. Aurora just finished her first day of soccer practice, which included some fun drills, a 3v3 scrimmage and (of course) snacks. She had never played before but picked it up really fast - running past the other players and even scoring a goal! The team is made up of other Valley View kindergarten girls, the coach is our neighbor, and at this age the parents are just happy to get to know each other. That's Aurora on the far right of both pictures. 

Luckily, summer is winding down and in spite of the heat Aurora seemed pretty excited that this will be happening every Saturday for the next couple months. Go Westlake GU6 Soccer Stars!

Day Camping

I'm not sure what got into Chuck this weekend. I guess all our recent outdoor adventures made an impact and he wanted more. He spent the evening yesterday looking at the map, reading park reviews, finding tips on grilling, and even pricing out tents and kayaks. After 16 years of marriage, I never thought we'd be a camping family and figured buying gear was probably a little premature - I suggested we start with a day trip to see how that goes first. Aurora was thrilled. She helped me shop for charcoal and picked out pink marshmallows for s'mores, then we loaded up the Element and headed out to Pace Bend Park. It's still a little too hot out, but this was a neat place. There was a beach for swimming where Aurora instantly made friends, and it wasn't at all crowded so we had our pick of campsites.

It wasn't exactly perfect. I mean, this was a learning trip and we definitely have some ideas for what to do better next time. But we all had a good time. On the way home, we talked about the things we loved, the things we liked, and the things we did not like. Each of us ended up with a list:

Chuck loved grilling, liked the breeze, and didn't like the hot sun.
Clark loved walking along the road at the campsite, liked the little water bottles we brought, and didn't like the 40 minute drive.
Aurora loved swimming, liked peeing in the woods, and didn't like leaving.
I loved seeing my family happy, liked the sound of the leaves blowing in the wind, and didn't like the ants that kept biting my feet.

I also liked the drive home, because there was a full complete rainbow which was double at times! It was so big, I couldn't get the whole thing in one picture.

And, I like the idea that we may keep exploring nearby state parks, taking little day trips and perhaps eventually camping overnight. Though, the BEST part was coming home and taking a shower.

Transitions

This has been a big week full of all sorts of changes. My work just underwent some intense strategic planning, Chuck's company just moved into a new office, and I just finished weaning Clark. My body hasn't quite adjusted yet and Clark isn't thrilled about transitioning to cow's milk, but I know we'll both adjust soon. I have this week off and have been spending a lot of time with my parents, as they recently moved into our studio. Today they drove to Florida to help determine their next move.

We also just got the news that Chuck's stepfather Steve passed away. While we knew this was coming, it was still hard to hear. This is a picture from one of our last trips to Arizona. Steve never met Clarkie, but he really liked Aurora. The last thing he told us was not to have any more kids. 

It's okay - two kids is plenty. Today we had Kindergarten parent orientation and Chuck came along to meet Mrs. Parolini and learn about the curriculum. Aurora is transitioning great and really loving her school and teacher. She got this shirt today, which is something amazing to think about:

Yesterday we took a walk to the bus stop with Will and Clark and I asked Aurora to imagine the day they start Kindergarten. Aurora will be such a big girl by then, showing her boys the ropes! These two little guys will likely be getting Westlake Class of 2030 shirts in just a few years... 

Time keeps moving forward and things keep on changing, but I am so very thankful for my family, our jobs, and the opportunities we've had. I'm grateful that Steve decided to help raise Chuck & Andrew, and I'm so glad to have this week off to focus on cleaning, organizing, training, spending extra time with my family, having some space to myself, catching up, and processing life's transitions. 

Outdoor Adventures

Last week I had a day off with the kids and we spent the afternoon swimming with our friend Nicolette. With all the excitement of school starting up, taking some time to just relax together was great.

Today was another day off, and for this long weekend I decided to plan a few fun outdoor adventures for the whole family. We went to Hamilton Pool:

Dinosaur Park, where Clark smiled and waved at each dinosaur:

Mount Bonnell, which was the least crowded place we went and definitely a highlight:

And the Clarksville splash pad, which was awesome. We probably should've planned more splash pad outings, as it was pretty hot out. Clark wasn't sure about the water, but he sure did love the park!

We had some nice lunches out, enjoyed dinner with our neighbors, and took lots of walks - but our favorite outing came today once we got home and put Clarkie down for a nap. My parents agreed to watch the kiddos so Chuck and I could go out alone. We were able to grab a few drinks and go to the movies on our own - something we simply do not do often enough. Every weekend should be this full of adventure! I mean, that's why it's called Amber's Adventures, right?