Birthday Girl

Aurora's big birthday weekend is in full swing! We made cake pops for her to bring to school and had pizza with her grandparents on Thursday, then Grandma Nancy & Uncle Andrew came to town and last night we had a special family celebration at Mesa Rosa (which apparently will be her birthday dinner location of choice every year for the rest of her life).

Today we had her party at Peter Pan mini-golf. The theme was pirate putt-putt, and I think all the kids (big and little) had a good time. Can you believe our sweet girl is FIVE?!

Texas Bluebonnets

This weekend we loaded up the family and headed out in search of wildflowers. Our first stop was the Wildflower Center, which would seem like a logical choice, if only the rest of Austin hadn't already decided they were going to do the same thing. We couldn't even find parking on the street! Wow. It is wildflower season and we Texans are serious about taking pictures of our babies in the bluebonnets. We're so serious that folks pull over on the side of the freeway to get pictures with their kids and dogs. In fact, there are so many wildflowers growing wild that paying for admission to the Wildflower Center almost seems silly, but it's definitely a safer place for photos. Regardless, we decided to head to a nearby park and took a nice walk instead. I kept hoping to see a patch of wildflowers, but all we got were cute Clarkie smiles, and lots of 'em. This is a seriously happy boy!

After the park we headed to the library. I'd heard there was a nice patch of bluebonnets in the back and decided that would suffice. Clark smiled all morning, until I finally set him down in the dirt. Let's just say that at 8 months old, he may not be the outdoorsy type. Still, we got our pictures!!!

Afterwards we went out to dinner at Ski Shores, which is a very family friendly restaurant right on Lake Austin. We had a few drinks, watched the boats, and enjoyed great weather while Aurora played.

Our little Texans love playing and watching the water, and I can't think of many ways I'd rather spend an evening. It makes me want to plan a beach vacation, which can certainly be done right here in this great big state. We may just need to get through some birthday festivities first...

Come to Mama

Last weekend Clark turned 8 months old, and as if on cue he's suddenly hitting all sorts of milestones! Just this week he started clapping and waving, and now our little man is figuring out how to crawl. On Wednesday he started getting up on his knees, yesterday he was rocking and moving, and today he crawled right over to me! Here's a video from yesterday at daycare pickup:

Now that he's gaining control of his little body, I can't just leave him laying on the bed or hanging out on the floor with Aurora anymore. You'd think our house would be super baby-proofed, but in reality it's full of toys that are appropriate for an almost 5-year old. I really am excited about Clark entering this next phase, but at the same time it's sort of sad. My sweet little baby boy is growing up!

Digging in the Dirt

Last week we had some crazy torrential downpour that caused more than just bad traffic and mudslides. Somehow it caused a heavy underground rock to shift just enough to break our main waterline to the house, and we ended up with water streaming down our driveway. My dad turned off the water late Saturday afternoon and a plumber came out to work on it Sunday morning. 

At first we thought it would only take a few hours and made it into a fun adventure. Aurora blew bubbles in the driveway, and we headed out into the yard to do a little digging of our own. We pulled weeds and worked in the yard for quite some time, thinking we'd be able to take showers afterwards. 

What seemed like it would only take a few hours ended up taking 3 full days!!! The plumber did turn the water back on when he left, which was a little wasteful but at least we could shower and do laundry and dishes. By the time I came home today ALL the ground behind that retaining wall had been dug up and he'd fixed 3 additional smaller leaks caused by tree roots. Luckily, he was finally able to find and fix the main leak this afternoon, and tonight we were back to our normal bathtime routine. 

It was a bit of an inconvenience having this happen during Kate's visit. Can you imagine staying at a friend's house and not being able to flush, wash your hands, or shower for days? Not exactly 5-star service. We all survived, and at least he only had to dig up the dirt (not the cement, not the retaining wall, and nothing inside our house) to get to the pipes. It certainly could've been worse.

Weekend Visitors

This weekend my friend Katie came to visit again - but she didn't come alone, and she didn't come just to visit us. She brought her dog Piper, and came to see her brother and his family from Seattle who were here this weekend scoping out Austin to see if they want to move here. The market is pretty hot here right now, as was the weather this weekend. Just a preview of what the summer will be like, I suppose. We met up at Zilker Park, had some good food, and really enjoyed the company, which included two friends just a little older than Aurora.

We decided to cool off with some frozen yogurt, and let me just tell you... this must be the best thing Clark has ever tasted. He could not get enough! Aurora couldn't get enough of those new friends and I know she hopes they'll move out here. If they do, we'll probably start seeing Katie even more.

Kindergarten Roundup

This morning was sort of surreal. I've known for awhile that Kindergarten Roundup was just around the corner, but I really had no idea what it was all about. I figured it was just a chance to take a tour and turn in paperwork, but it was so much more. Once all the families arrived, they asked the kids to go up on stage and the principal paused before introducing us to the "Class of 2026." Wow.

There were 84 kids, which sounds like a lot - but that's just 4 kinder classes and you get the vibe that the school is very small and comfortable. A lot of the littles were nervous as they went off to the library for a story and puppet show, and several of the parents got very emotional as the principal and teachers talked about trusting them with our kids, how much they love this school, and what a joy it is to get to know the incoming kindergartners. We learned about the structure of the school day, how the cafeteria works, drop-off and pick-up, and the Booster Club. We met the school nurse, took a tour with a parent, turned in a ton of paperwork, and watched the kids file off the bus after taking a quick ride down the street and back. It's obviously a great elementary school, and Aurora already has so many friends in the group that I have no worries about her being successful and enjoying kindergarten come August.

Easter Activities

I just announced that our Easter activities have concluded, and Aurora said "What? No more activities!?" How could that be? Okay, I take it back. Chuck said he'd find us an Easter movie to watch and I'm still posting this blog. SO, the Easter activities have ALMOST concluded, and I'd say the weekend was a success. Here's a recap in photos:

Don't feel bad for Aurora... it's true that she only got 5 eggs at the Easter egg hunt, and our girl ran around looking (well after all the eggs were gone) like her life depended on it. But it wasn't her only Easter egg hunt - and those eggs just had tootsie rolls inside (not her favorite). We all had a great weekend with lots of gifts, candy, food, fun activities, a very nice church service, and lots of time with friends and family. Who could ask for anything more? Happy Easter, blog readers!

Camp

Back in California I spent a few years working at summer camp as a Nature Specialist. I thought about that several times this weekend as we enjoyed Nature Storytime at the library, followed by a camping themed birthday party for Aurora's friend Seth. It was such a nice day and such a fun party. They had a nature scavenger hunt, a campfire with s'mores, and several tents set up just for fun.

Seth's mom commented that I held Clark the whole time and must be exhausted. Honestly, it's my busiest time at work and a day off just holding my baby was exactly what we both needed. He got so fussy at about the time I usually head off to work, then realized I wasn't leaving and spent the rest of the day smiling. Today he suddenly started drooling like crazy and it occurred to me that one of these days he's going to sprout teeth, start crawling, and maybe (just maybe) he won't want his mama to hold him so much anymore! I wish we could've stayed in that tent and just camped out together all week.

Faerie Homes & Gardens

This weekend we took a walk through a magical faerie land (Zilker Botanical Gardens) with our sweet little faerie girl. She was so excited that she wore her wings AND made her own crown. It says "CLARK" on top, and I think he approved of the whole situation. You've got to love these smiles...

And his frog legs...  seriously! It was a beautiful day and the gardens are just lovely. There are a bunch of awesome faerie houses hidden all along the trail during this special show, but alas, we didn't see one actual faerie. Aurora and I came to the conclusion that they must only come out at night.

Two Parties

It's pretty common that we'll get invitations for multiple parties in one weekend, but when they overlap or are too close together I usually just choose one. Today we had two parties scheduled for the exact same time and really wanted to go to both, so... we did.

The first was a combination big sister birthday and meet-the-new-baby party for one of Chuck's long-time friends and co-workers. They had a princess bounce house, all sorts of of fun toys, the food was delicious, the baby was adorable, and honestly - we could've hung out there all day.

It's a good thing we didn't because I would've missed wishing my co-worker's baby a happy 1st Birthday! We arrived late to party #2 but still got to visit with lots of friends, enjoy some ice cream, and play outside with their new water table, which was perfect for a hot afternoon.

When we got home, Will was outside playing with his family and Aurora yelled "Yay! Will's outside! Finally something fun for me to do!" HUH? What were we just doing all day!?!? Granted, playing with Will is pretty fun. We ended the day with bubbles, sidewalk chalk and hula hoops.

Clark was such a trooper. He took a morning nap, but I had to cut his early afternoon nap short so that we could leave on time, and that was it. I thought he'd fall asleep in the car or get overtired during dinner, but he just smiled and enjoyed the long afternoon of playing and people watching. Next weekend we have invitations for two birthday parties back-to-back, but we're only going to one...

Catching up

Let me start by saying that I'm sort of an expert at handling daylight savings time with kids. It's true. My little ones have pretty much made the adjustment, but for some reason this time it really affected me! I didn't sleep well on Sunday or Monday and feel like I've spent whole the week trying to catch up... on sleep, at work, and tonight I'm catching up on my blog.

On Sunday I took Aurora to her first meet-up with some new friends. Somebody organized a weekly play group at Valley View Elementary for all the incoming Kindergartners in our area. It was good to meet so many families and Aurora loved the playground. It's a pretty small school, the outdoor areas are great, and the grass is fake! Of course they have the United States painted on the concrete. 

Monday was the Bachelor Finale. This season I got to spend Monday evenings with Sarah, Amelia, Jill and Kate. There's nothing better than good food, good friends, good bad TV, and cute kids!

Last night we went to the library with Grandma, Grandpa, and our neighbor Will to see this crazy percussionist who played all sorts of interesting music. Clarkie loved every minute of it.

Clark is pretty much just a happy little guy who loves most things he's exposed to. Here he is hanging out on Will's swing (while Aurora sweeps the driveway).

And another cute one of Clark on the baby buggy for the first time! Today when I went to pick him up from daycare, he was outside on the buggy with his buddies. What a big boy...

Now that I've caught you up on our activities, I should probably go catch up on my sleep. Good Night!

Puffs