Family Days

This weekend my friend Katie came to town and we had a great time exploring Austin. The main activites I planned randomly happened to involve sculpture museums having family days. First, the Elizabet Ney Museum. I'd heard about this place and thought the building looked cool, but honestly had no idea what it was! Turns out, Ney was a sculptor who traveled the world and settled into a home studio here in Austin nearly 150 years ago. Admission is always free, we got a guided tour, and it just happened to be Ney Day which meant music and festivities were included!

Such a cool place - I definitely recommend it. Today we spent some time at the Umlauf Scuplture Garden, which holds a free family day the first Sunday of each month. We had a nice walk around the grounds and Aurora got to do a couple of fun crafts. She really enjoyed it.

Of course, we did more than that! Clark joined in for a few fun outings as well. We did a free workshop at Home Depot, went out for ice cream and played with Katie's dog Piper, got manis and pedis, and spent an evening with Katie's brother and his family, who recently moved to the area.

The whole weekend was really nice with lovely warm weather and good company. Aurora cried on the way home, sad that our time with Katie and Piper had come to an end. Now that Katie's brother lives here, I'm sure it won't be long before we see her (or her family) again!

Thank you!

Aurora's spring school photos just came in and (of course) they are adorable. They're actually all the same pose, but the photographer printed a big packet with various backgrounds and designs in the hopes that I'd buy them all. Most of the photos look like they were taken outside. They weren't.

Imagine 20 variations with different super-imposed backgrounds and layouts. Honestly, some of them are just silly, but Aurora thinks we should buy them all anyway. I think the thank you card turned out sweet and I'd consider buying a bunch of those for everybody who came to her party or sent gifts! But, I can't. I only get one. Oh well. Thanks anyway!

Sleepovers

Last week we had Aurora's friend Presley over for a sleepover, which was very fun for the girls.

The very next day, Grandma Nancy made her way to Austin and stayed in Aurora's room as well. She took Aurora to a Daisy troop meeting, enjoyed the luau, and we went on a little road trip to Driftwood, TX to eat at the Salt Lick. They have a Kid's Ranch, which was a hit. And the food... well, there's a reason I never came here as a vegetarian.

Nancy had a nice visit (and more BBQ) with my parents - and just as she was heading back to Arizona, my folks also left for a trip to Florida. Aurora won't have time to be sad about all her grandparents leaving because in just a couple days, we have another house guest coming! The adventures (and sleepovers) never stop around here...

Aloha

Happy Birthday to Aurora! Today was her luau party and it was jam packed with family, friends, games, food, and all sort of fun. Grandma Nancy came to town and together we did the limbo, hula danced, busted open a piñata, had tons of cake, and the party kept going after the kids left as a few of my friends came over for presents and pizza.

Awesome to have both grandma's here taking part in the festivities! I think everybody had a good time, and I'm pretty sure everybody's exhausted. I know I am...

My Job

Last week Aurora went on a field trip, and lots of moms went along as chaperones. She really wanted me to go, but I had a busy day at work and couldn't take the time off. She asked me if I ever go on field trips with my coworkers, and I told her... yes! In fact, earlier this week our team took a field trip to Peter Pan mini-golf for our spring picnic.

Today Aurora had a chance to come on a field trip to my office for Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day! We had a fun afternoon aimed at teaching our kids what we do individually and as a team at the Foundation. It included session of LIVESTRONG at School, a painting project with the creative team, recording a thank you video, learning about global telecommunications (by having a video conference with the parents in another room); the kids went through an obstacle course, colored, had snack, laid in the hammock, made new friends AND got a great goodie bag.

I do have a fun job, but Aurora must think I have a REALLY fun job!

Easter Treats

I know you were all hoping Clark would have a chance to meet the Easter Bunny, right? Well, a super creepy EB hopped into his classroom last week and I'd say Clark must have a high level of trust with his teachers at school... they sent me these pictures. Sweet boy.

Today we did all the normal Easter stuff and the kids had a great time. They woke up to an egg hunt in the living room, had all sorts of sugar for breakfast, then Grandma & Grandpa came over with more treats and we decorated eggs before heading off to a church service, which... probably wasn't the best place for two small children hopped up on sugar, but we worked it out.

My parents stayed over for a few hours so Chuck and I could go to the movies, which was a nice treat for us, and we ended the day with a few boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, another treat we'd been looking forward to for awhile. Our favorites were black pepper and vomit, and the worst (by far) was rotten egg. Happy Easter, indeed. Hope yours was just as nice!

Birthday Girl

I usually try not to do this, but it can't be helped. I'm going to be blogging three days in a row. Yes, life is just that exciting right now! While yesterday was Aurora's actual birthday and we did are fair share of celebrating, today may as well have been her birthday because she kept her birthday hat on and we kept on celebrating! First, a family breakfast at IHOP - birthday girl's choice.

I wasn't going to have the wait staff sing, but a little girl at the table across from us was celebrating her birthday and once Aurora heard them sing, we had to make the request. Who knew IHOP was such a popular birthday destination? She sure loved it.

Next, we met up with friends for a play! The Scottish Rite Theater was playing Stories from Frog & Toad, and it was adorable. We even got to meet the actors.

Aurora's a little confused about her party being next weekend, but it's so much better this way. The last few days have been exhausting with car repairs, house repairs, yard work, and there's so much more to do - plus, this way Grandma Nancy can come! Oh, and Easter. More fun to come!

Good Friday

Every Friday is good, but today was especially good. It was Aurora's birthday! Good Friday is usually a school holiday, but today was a make up day for winter weather and in my mind I figured it was a make up day for daycare too, but... I was wrong. I didn't notice until Wednesday that daycare (and therefore Aurora's after school program) was closed. So, I went to work as planned while Chuck worked from home, my parents watched Clark, and Aurora's best friend brought her home for a playdate. The best part of the day? It was Fresh Fruit Friday! We're not supposed to bring cupcakes or sweets for birthdays, but every Friday a parent volunteers to bring a fruit or veggie afternoon snack to school. Today was my turn and I brought all the fixins for strawberry shortcakes. They were a hit!

The birthday girl got to wear a crown all day, though I hear it broke and when her teacher made her a new one, it was too big. Oh well. We didn't have cake tonight, but Aurora did get to open presents.

She absolutely loved everything! Thanks to everybody who sent such great books, clothes, cards, and cool accessories. This is just the beginning of a long week+ of celebrations, gifts, treats and fun. I can hardly believe our big girl is SIX.

Bunny

This weekend was fairly low key. We went shopping, did laundry, went to the park, played with friends... the usual. During Clark's nap, Aurora and I went out to a candy store to see the Easter Bunny. I knew she'd enjoy it, but I felt kind of bad getting pictures without Clarkie.

Oh well. I sure do love having a picture with just us girls! Clark will have his share of Easter festivities. We'll see if he meets the bunny this year or not...