Thomas and the State Fair

We took the boys out to Day Out with Thomas on Sat. Sept 28 in Burnet.  Joshua had been looking forward to this day for months.  I think I bought tickets in June for this event.  They had such a good time riding Thomas for 25 minutes.  They both sat with Steve and listened to the Thomas music on the train.  I got stuck sitting next to the conductor who talked my ear off about Arkansas. 
Later that afternoon we went to the Halls new house for their summer party.  Great time with a lot of our friends.  I can't wait till I don't have to supervise my children going up and down the stairs.
The next week we took off Fri Oct 4 and went to Dallas.  We took Joshua to the State Fair and decided to leave Noah with my parents.  Joshua remembered some of the rides we did last year especially the water ride.  We eventually met up with the Jacob clan and had fun eating fried foods ( Fried Millionaire pie - our fav., fried Thanksgiving Dinner - fantastic, fried Nutella, and so much more)  Of course I had my Fletcher's corn dog and some of the best lemonade ever.
That night we saw baby Christian at almost 2 months old and I was able to hold him for a while.  He's definitely a cutie!
We went to Austin's 4th and Avery's 1st B-day party the next day!  Art inspired theme with lots of painting and cupcake decorating!  Was fun catching up with everyone.

This past weekend we went on our first family vacation to Port Aransas.  Dave, Siji, and Teagan were scheduled to go as well but Teagan got sick :( 
We took a half day Friday and arrived at 7:00 at Sandcastle Condos.  The boys loved just being in a different room and Joshua loved being on the 5th floor looking down at the parking lot.  We had a great view of the ocean and the pool.  It rained pretty hard Fri night and was still a little misty on Sat morning so we decided to go to Corpus Christi to the aquarium.  We saw a bird show and walked around outside and saw so many different animals like the bald eagle, dolphins, otters, stingrays.  Then we went inside and saw all the fish and other aquatic animals.  Joshua had a blast looking and learning about different animals and Noah liked running in the opposite direction and licking the glass :)  By the time we finished the aquarium at 1:30 the weather was beautiful.  We headed back to Port A for our time on the beach. 
The boys had fun making sandcastles and just scooping sand into their buckets.  Joshua collected seashells for everyone and they both had fun running away from the waves.  My sun umbrella didn't work too well since it was sooo windy.  The boys were in light jackets and I borrowed Steve's hoodie.  I was just a little cold.  We spent about 2 hours on the beach and they loved it. 
On Sunday we took them into town and got the tourist pic with the boys in the shark's mouth and we let them wander into the candy store.  Then we went back and took one last stroll on the beach before we headed back to Austin.  Not bad for a first family vacation.

                                                       21 mo. old

                                                 Thomas' Day Out

                                                   Thomas the Train

                                                  Golf after Thomas

                                              Texas State Fair 10/4

                                       Fried Thanksgiving Dinner

                                     Best dessert - Fried Millionaire Pie

                                                What were we thinking?

                                                

 

                             
                                            10/12 - Learn to Fish Day

                                            Noah's 1st bed

1st day of preschool and more

We have kept pretty busy in the past month.  The day after all the Samuel cousins left for Dubai we went to a friend's B-day party at the bowling alley.  Noah especially had lots of fun trying to hold a bowling ball and let it go on the ramp.  We also went to look at a house in TeraVista afterwards but was disappointed because of it was currently being rented and not in good condition. 
On the 31st we took them to Gattiland for the first time and that was kind of fun and a little wild (for Round Rock.)  Not too many games for toddlers but they both had fun playing basketball, bowling, skee ball and much more.  The pizza was not so tasty but maybe that's because we're spoiled by Home Slice.
Joshua started his new preschool on Wed. Sept 4.  I didn't get any sleep the night before and according to my coworkers it happens to parents (specifically Moms) every year no matter how long the kids have been going to school.  Joshua didn't seem too anxious but I worried all day long.  Ms. Gwen is his teacher and his class is called Chili Dogs.  Don't ask me why.  Seriously, I don't know why.
I already like this school a lot since we get weekly emails about what they learned that week. 
On Fri., Steve and I left the kids with Mom and Dad and went to Houston to attend Vinod's wedding.  We got into Houston at 9:30 and had fun catching up with everyone that night.  The wedding was at Immanuel Church at 3:30 Sat. and we spent a lot of time at Town Center in Sugar Land leading up to the wedding.  We also visited Shormi and Masoud that morning.   The reception was held at Safari Ranch and we stayed there till a little after midnight.  Lots of fun times with our CPC crew and many more.
We came back to Austin Sunday around 1:00 after eating breakfast at a hard to find cafe in Sugar Land :)  The boys did well with Mom and Dad as expected.  Joshua slept in a sleeping bag next to their bed and Noah slept with them. 
We took them to see Sophie the train on the way home and they were pretty happy about that.
This past Fri Sept 13 we did our usual Fri night mall trip but this time we let Noah walk holding Steve's hand.  It was like letting a wild animal loose.  Noah was too excited to be given his newfound freedom at the mall.  Joshua had to round him up a couple of times and Noah did get a little overexcited at the Disney store but all in all he did good for his first nonstroller trip.
And Saturday we took them to their first Krispy Kreme experience.  Looks like there will be a lot of those in the future.   They both loved watching the doughnuts being made and Joshua got to pick his own (Chocolate sprinkles.)  Later that evening we took them to get ice cream at Amy's in the Arboretum and they sat on the cow statues.  Those were the same cows that I took a picture of Steve leaning against on one of our first dates in Austin 10 years ago.  Seems like the other day :)

Oh yeah - Happy 20th month B-day to my little Noah bear!

                                    Bethany's 2nd B-day party (9/1)

Family Fun

We celebrated Ethan's 6th B-day Thu. Aug. 15 with all the decorations, balloons, and of course an ice cream cake.  He must have had about 10 balloons taped to him.  Its always nice that Ethan is here on vacation during his B-day so we can all celebrate with him.

On Fri we fed the kids and gave them baths early, put them in their pjs and went to East Austin for our trailer fest.  Betsy and I along with the kids stayed in our cars while Steve and Scott went into Eastside Kings and ordered food.  I've always wanted to try Paul Qui's trailer and I thought our food was pretty good.  Then we were off to Gourdough's doughnuts.  Joshua fell asleep before we got to Eastside Kings but Noah didn't fall asleep till Gourdough's.

On Sat., we took the kids to Mayfield Park with the peacocks.  Then we headed to Ms. P's Electric Cock (fried chicken)  and then Coolhaus for ice cream sandwiches.  We were all pretty tired by the time we got home.
We went to church Sun. morning and that afternoon Steve, Joshua, Scott, Ethan, and Mia went to see Planes the movie.  It was Joshua's first movie in a theater.  Betsy and Eva came over as Noah and I got dinner ready for the family.  Mom and Dad joined us that evening for BBQ, all the sides, and apple pie.

Steve and I took off work Mon and Tue and we all headed to Hamilton Pool in Dripping Springs.  I've always heard this a must see in the Austin area and now I know why.  It was a 50 minute drive but well worth it.  You'll see the pic below.  Noble Pig sandwiches for lunch.

On Tue we went to Portrait Innovations for pics and then headed to Bull Creek Park where we met Abby.  From there we hiked up the cliff overlooking the Pennybacker Bridge where Steve got interviewed about whether there should be a guard rail since a guy fell off the cliff that morning.  We were on the 5:00 KXAN news.  We then headed to Waterloo for lunch and of course, Gourdough's ( the restaurant) for doughnuts.

On Thu. we celebrated my birthday with Pei Wei and what else - ice cream cake (toffee.)  Pretty delicious.

I feel like this year we were able to get out and see Austin and spend quality time with everyone.  We had lots of laughs, good conversation, and good food.  Joshua and Noah still say Ethan, Mia, and Eva's name all the time and I really think they got to know their cousins in these past 2 weeks.   
Enjoy the pics!!

                                                   Mayfield Park

                                             Hamilton Pool

 

                                            Bull Creek Park

                                    Hike up the cliff

                                   Overlooking the Bridge

                                  Steve's 10 seconds of fame

 

Welcome Christian Michael Varghese!

On July 16 we welcomed into the world Christian Michael Varghese.  He was 5 days past his due date and even with being induced he still wasn't born till late Tue. evening.  He must have Sunil's stubbornness. :)   
Of course, we went to Dallas that weekend and was able to see him on Sat the 20th.  Joshua was very excited about meeting Christian because he loves babies.  Noah glanced at him a couple of times.  He was so precious and cute.  He slept in my arms most of the time we were there.  He reminded me of how I love love love infants.  Can't wait to see baby Christian grow and interact with his cousins!  Such an exciting time for Sunil and Julie! 

Subin arrived in Dallas on Wed. July 31 from Germany.  His 3 year commitment was finally over with one deployment to Afghanistan.  For now he will remain in the States - South Carolina for a 1yr assignment in Sumter.  We went to Dallas Aug 2 and had his Welcome Home/Happy 33rd B-day party on Sat.  All our family in Dallas came that evening and it was so nice for everyone to visit with him and properly welcome him home.

We were unsure if we would even be able to go to Dallas that weekend because Joshua suffered his 3rd seizure on Tue July 30 at Mom and Dad's house and was hospitalized for a couple of hours.  He bounced back quickly but not before Noah also got sick.  Thankfully, by Friday they were on the road to recovery.

The Samuel family arrived in Austin Sun, Aug 11 after spending a week in FL.  Joshua was very excited about their visit and had a list of all the things he wanted to do with them.  Ethan and Mia are almost the same exact height with Mia looking so mature for her age.  Eva is adorable and quiet.  It's going to be fun getting reacquainted with the kids. 
Joshua was able to cross off #1 on his list:  Sophie the train.  And to think we did that on Sun.
Except for Noah and I, everyone else went to Top Golf on Mon morning and apparently had a great time.  We later went to  Rock and River Aquatic Center in the afternoon and got the kids tired out (us too!)  It was a pretty fun time.
Unfortunately, we won't see them again till Ethan's B-day on Thu.  But there's still more fun to be had!