Worthy of its own post

Austin's first encounter with Blue Bell....

Checking it out....My very own?

Cousin Summi can't have MY Blue Bell

Diving right in

Digging in now that it is soft enough

Perfecting the spoon.  He ate the whole thing!

Denver visit!

 Last weekend, David and I went to Denver to visit friends.  It was a "get-away" weekend that was my Christmas gift and our anniversary in one.  We stayed in the Brown Palace hotel downtown as a treat.  We left Austin in MiMi's care for the weekend.  (thank you Mary!)  My Aunt Carrie also came by for a few hours to give Mary a break on Saturday.  He had a blast with MiMi and playing with cousins Ben and Summer.  Mary said every once in a while he would pause, look around, and say "MaMa" and "DaDa" as if he was wondering when we were coming back.  I wish I could have seen this.  We definitely missed Austin so much, but at the same time, it was so fun to go back to the place we called home for almost 5 years and hang out with friends there.  We arrived on Friday afternoon and made our way from the airport to our old neighborhood.  Our house looked the same and the neighborhood did too.  We forgot how small the houses look (since they all have basement space) compared to the houses in our new neighborhood. That's not to say our new neighborhood has huge houses but they are more spread out and on bigger lots.  We headed to our hotel, checked in, and changed for dinner.  Kelly and Ryan Puckett met us at the hotel for a drink before heading to Amato's Ale House for dinner.  This was the last place David and I went on a date before moving to Houston.  It has a great view of the city (although we didn't sit outside this time since it was 40 degrees).  After that, we headed to the Yard House right by our hotel and had another drink.  It was so fun to catch up with Ryan and Kelly since the last time we saw them was in October at their wedding.  

On Saturday morning, David had an early tee time at Cherry Creek with his golf buddy Reid.  It is crazy that the city got 5 inches of snow on the Wednesday just before and there was no sign of it by Friday and David could play golf.  That is "spring time" in Denver for ya!  I took my time getting up and headed to my favorite running trail (Highline canal) for a run in the cool, crisp air.  I would have gone to Wash Park but I noticed on the news that the "Furry Scurry" race was there that morning and there were 12,000 people expected.  I ran for about 8 miles and enjoyed the mountain view.  I even saw one of the guys from my old company, Archstone, who I was on a company Marathon relay team with last May. I headed back to the hotel to shower and then went to meet my sweet friends, Michelle and Pippa, for lunch at Root Down.  It was fun to catch up with them.  Pippa had just had her 2nd baby girl 10 days before but she left the kiddos at home with her husband.  I miss seeing these girls at Bible study each week!  After David finished golf, we went to Adam and Rachel's house and an early dinner with Veronica, Ryan, Christina, Brandon, and Anna-Lisa.  We got to meet baby Garrett (Brody's little brother) who is 3 months old.  I think he looks so much like Rachel and so different from his brother!  They are both precious.  Thanks for hosting a fun get-together! 

Right after that we all went to Red Rocks for the Chris Tomlin concert.  It was about 35 degrees so we bundled up with coats, scarves and hats.  At least it didn't rain or snow!  The amphitheater setting is already so majestic and it made it even more awesome of a night that we were worshiping our creator God surrounded by towering rocks and the mountains as a backdrop.  I am so glad all of our friends decided to go too!  

The next morning we slept in (til like 8:30 - woah!) and headed to the airport for a noon flight.  I already can't wait to go back, but next time it will be with my little guy since he was missed.  

I really do love this trail

Rachel and Christina pre-concert!

 

Burning Lights Tour

Drive to Red Rocks

Thanks Veronica for letting me borrow a coat

Miss these friends!

We got to come back and see this little guy!!!

Cooking (with Bear in hand, of course)

Little chef - he loves to make eggs

Homeade quesadilla for Cinco de Mayo dinner

Every time we pull in the garage Austin says "wa-wa".  His mind is always on "wa-wa", either from the hose, or his water table or his new baby pool (thanks to MiMi!)

Daddy is the tickle monster

I promise he didn't get in a fight

Zebra Zone Spring Show (video included in this post!)

This is a record for a timely post.  This afternoon Austin's school had their annual spring show and auction.  The show was themed "Movies that Make you Groove" and Austin's Flamingo class' performance was to the Lion King songs "Hakuna Matata" and "I Just Can't Wait to be King".  His teacher, Miss Ashley, requested that the kids wear a tan shirt and black bottoms, both of which I did not already have but, of course, I was willing to buy whatever Austin needed to be dressed the part.  I finally found a tan (khaki) shirt on amazon and some $5 black shorts at Target (note: I ran to Target during my lunch break to buy $5 shorts and accidentally spent $77 by buying 3 casual cotton sundresses for myself.  I rationalized this purchase by saying that I live in Houston now an will be needed spaghetti strapped loose cotton dresses as a staple outfit in order to stay cool when the real heat arrives.  I digress).  The doors to the school opened at 4pm and the show started at 5pm.  The raffle items and silent auction to raise money for the PTA were set up in the hall outside the classrooms.  We were firmly told NOT to let your child see you before the performance or you would risk them crying and ruining the show.  Of course, the 2 raffle items that I wanted to put tickets in and try to win were right outside his classroom (they have 1/2 doors and low walls).  So, I managed to crouch down to pass the room and place my raffle tickets in the ticket container for the Astros tickets (David's request) and the date night ($80 to Specs Liquor and some random restaurant gift cards).  MiMi so kindly saved seats in the cafeteria for me, David, and herself.  (DiDi was sad to miss the show - she went to Savannah, GA for a family wedding).  The performances were in order of youngest to oldest so Austin's class was the 4th class to perform.  It was hilarious that they had teachers hold the little little babies and shake bells as they "sang" "Be our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast.  It is nice that they reserve the first 2 rows for the parents of the kids who are currently performing.  So we moved to the front row when it was time for the Flamingo class to sing.  Austin marched out on stage next to his buddy, Ben.  Each child had a yellow shaker and was instructed to shake it during Hakuna Matata and I Just Can't Wait to Be King.  We were told that many kids cry and some run off the stage when they spot their mom or dad so my expectations were very low.  Austin surpassed my expectations.  He was the most dramatic "shaker" on stage.  He shook his bottle, while holding it parallel to the floor and smiled really really big when he saw me, David and MiMi.  It was so cute.  After the performance we met them back in his classroom where he did NOT want to go home.  He insisted on staying and playing with the blocks.  I am glad that he likes his school so much!  Did I mention he got his first black eye yesterday at school?

Close up of the two blondies - Austin and his best buddy, Ben

Flamingo class - singing and shaking

Austin is smiling, Ben is a deer in the headlights

Cutie pie - does he need his first haircut?

Fun firsts

Austin has experienced a few fun firsts recently.  On March 23, cousin Annabelle turned 2 and had a fabulous Thomas the Tank themed party at Gymboree.  I am probably the world's worst mother because of depriving my son of Gymboree until he was 20 months old.  He had no clue what to do with the mats, tunnels, balance beams, parachutes, and silly songs.  He warmed up to it and had a fun time, of course.  

Tip-toeing on the ramp

Spotting Grandad from across the gym

Just chillin

Funny facial expressions from both of us - nice

Easter weekend was warm enough to pull out the water table that Aunt Ricki and Uncle Stephen gave Austin for Christmas.  He loves this!  He doesn't care if it is a little breezy and chilly.  Now we have to hide it on a regular basis so he doesn't ask for ma wa-wa (more water) every time he sees it.  We played with it again yesterday.  I can see this being a daily summer activity (that is, if we can put up with the mosquitoes).  

Playing fetch with Savannah will hopefully be something Austin loves for a long time.  The poor dog does not get enough attention these days (she has been very needy since Austin arrived on the scene).  He thinks it is hilarious when Daddy throws Savannah's ball all the way to the back of the yard and she runs to get it.  Then he wants to do it.  Keep practicing, Austin.  

Ready, throw!

Loves playing fetch!

Now let me try, please!

Daddy throws the ball so far!

Taking off in my ride

Last week, we met friends at City Centre on a Friday for happy hour and to let Austin and Savanna (my friend Sara's 2-year old) run around on the "green".  We have been here a few times but this was the first time Austin enjoyed walking around with the other kids and it was such nice weather.  Of course, Austin wanted to play in the fountains.  David was in charge of this and the security patrol kindly asked David to "get his kid out of the fountain".  Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

I could dive right in (he is ALL boy)