Bull Creek

Luke & I live in a great city for outdoor activities. One of the things we used to do all the time before having kids was to go to Bull Creek. I have so many memories there hiking & swimming. Our kids definitely enjoy our love of the outdoors and we are looking forward to many more trips there this summer. Oh & we are very lucky to have Tori as our extra set of hands every once in awhile. : )

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Rodeo Austin

I continued the tradition of heading out to the Stockshow & Fairgrounds this year with the kids for the 4th year. Last year, we just barely snuck in a visit before Beau was born and he really enjoyed his first "rodeo" for the part that he was awake. We did all the usuals- petting zoo, pony rides, the pig race, went to see all the animals, a lasso show, carnival food & each kid got to do two "rides". It was the perfect day to just have fun with the kids after some pretty hard discipline days. 

 

This guy's personality was shining through & he had a lot of fun seeing the animals. 

 

 

Bailey (the doll) got to join us. : )

 

 

One fun story from the pig races was that Bailey got picked to represent our section of the crowd, which corresponded to a specific pig racing and Justin "Bieboar" the pig WON! She got this pig nose & some oreos as a prize!

One of their "rides" was the trampoline.

This was Blake's first time to try this and he easily mastered the back flip.

The big two also picked to ride the bull!

 

 

Blair got brave and tried this, but quickly got scared.

Both girls had a great time, but Blair didn't want to leave so no smiles for mommy.

And thank goodness this guy can still catch some z's on the go since we skipped his morning nap.

Spring Break Fun

What a Spring Break! Just the right amount of break from school work, special activities, traveling & re-coup time to finish the year strong.

We started it off with a lunch date with Bailey's teacher. Bailey had been asking about this since early in the year.

Mrs. A bought her flowers!!!

Later that week Blake got a lunch date with Boone. Blake loved seeing Boone, but I had to force him into the lunchroom, which was way too big & way too many people in Blake's opinion.

More soccer, then off to Pa & Gigi's!

The Adventures of Santo

Gigi, Bailey, & Nicki (newly named Bailey)

Bailey & Bailey...the long awaited American Girl Doll thanks to Gigi

Bailey & Pa's catch

Blair getting dirty & being Gigi's chicken girl.

Me & my niece Caroline, she has grown up so much since Christmas.

 

 Beau hanging out with Nana Mary, Gigi, Uncle Andrew, & Caroline

  

 

This guy loves Santo just as much as the others.

Meanwhile back at the homefront, Luke was painting the mudroom cabinets & the fireplace.

The washer & dryer are stacked in the hole on the left.

This is what it looked like before.

This is living room before

And this is afterwards. Basically, it went from brown to white/light gray. We are not in love with the whitewash, but this is where we are at now. We might sand-blast it or paint it a darker gray, but either way we think it is a huge improvement. Thanks Luke!

This is totally random, but we had a couple of doctor appointments & Blake was showing off how he can write his name with lowercase letters. Ms Stacy has been working very hard with Blake on this.

Luke's birthday adventures at the ranch

*I was really sad that I forgot my nice camera, but I also so thankful for a camera on my phone!*

These kids love jeep rides!

And go-carts rides aka the "smile-maker"

These were during two breaks of rain when we rushed outside to enjoy the ranch & its toys. 

The next day we were off to Longhorn Caverns since it was pouring all day.

 These next two pictures were the kids favorites from the cave- Crystal City & the dog statue.

 

Luke wanted the kids to see his sister's grave.

 35th birthday brownies

 The sun finally showed its face on the last day, so there was lots of exploration & of course more Jeep rides.

Now only 9 more weeks until Summer vacation!!