1st month of summer!

We started the summer off to a cooler than normal month of June in Austin!  Hasn't reached 100 degrees yet which is something to rejoice about!  I was worried about how to keep the boys busy with Mom and Dad for the entire summer but they've seemed to survive June pretty well.  We recently signed Joshua up for swimming classes twice a week and they both are in soccer as of last week.  We also became members of the Thinkery (the Children's Museum) and Mom and Dad have taken them twice now.

Joshua had some dental work done earlier in the month and he did pretty well drinking the medicine and watching his movie at the appointment.  He is growing up so quickly and is still my inquisitive and perceptive little boy.  Its amazing how much he picks up on.  He's very aware of his surroundings and is sensitive to what people say and even the inflection of people's voices.

Noah is my cuddle bunny and I still think of him as my baby.  He still puts everything in his mouth including a lotion pump earlier this month.   He still grabs and finds the most dangerous things he can find in the house and runs around as my mostly happy child.  He also is the one that gets the most spankings and pinches since he always manages to hit or bite Joshua for no reason.  He is a talker and I mean can say full sentences and talk to you like he's having a conversation.  Sports comes very natural to him and he will, without a doubt, be a pretty strong athlete.

My friend Jessica, her husband Brandon and baby Caleb stayed with us a couple of days during the week and the boys loved playing with 4 month old Caleb.  Had fun catching up with Jessica since the last time I saw her was at her wedding in New Orleans!

We went to Dallas in the middle of the month for Shillu's graduation party where I was the co-emcee.  Thankfully wasn't as stressful as I thought it might be.  I practiced my lines with Joshua and I think they both enjoyed watching me speak in front of an audience.  We took lots of pics of Christian who will be one in a month!  Hard to believe!

Dave, Siji and Teagan came to visit us at the end of the month and we had a blast going out to eat and having lots of playtime.

I was blessed not to have to work on the 4th and so the night before we went to the Avery Ranch fireworks.  The boys were a little unsure and a bit scared.  Noah wanted to go home after about a minute and then Joshua started getting a little upset after about 10 minutes.  But it was a beautiful cool night and we will definitely go back out for that next year!

Steve and I were able to attend my co-worker's daughter's wedding on the 5th at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.  So beautiful to go to a wedding there.  Nice to kind of have a date night!

Looking forward to the Samuels visit to Austin in about a week and a half!  Very excited to spend some time with all the kiddos!

                                                        1st homemade popsicle

                                                  Workbook time

                                                             Dental appointment

Neighborhood bash  - they get the pink car!

Thinkery with Teagan

                                       

                                                       Happy Independence Day!

May happenings

We had a busy month this May especially since we went on vacations twice!  The first weekend of May we went to SeaWorld; the first for both the kids and I.  The Jacobs were supposed to join us but they were unable to last minute so we decided to go anyways.  We had a blast going to 3 of the 4 shows especially the one with Shamu.  We also liked the one with the acrobatic divers.  Joshua and Noah were able to ride a couple of rides in the Sesame Street area with Joshua and Steve riding Atlantis, a pretty scary ride according to Joshua.
We spent pretty much the entire day there and then went to the hotel for the night.  The next morning we went to the San Antonio Zoo.  We rode a 30 minute train that winded all through the park area and even made stops.  The zoo was nicely shaded and had really good exhibits.

On Wed, Granny and I went to Joshua's Mother's Day Tea.  Joshua loved being flanked my me on one side and Granny on the other.  We had little quiches, grapes, muffins and punch.  The preschool always does a great job at these sort of events.

The following weekend we went to our friend Tony's B-day celebration in East Austin and then had a nice quiet Mother's Day with Granny and Grandpa having lunch at our house.  I was able to get nails done the day prior as my gift :)


We also had lots of playdates with the boys' friends Jahan and Nayan and crawfish at the Alexanders and Ajay who we hadn't seen in a year!  I also had my coworkers over for a happy hour so they could see our new house!

Joshua's last day of school was Wed. May 21 and I dropped him off so I could tell Ms. Gwen and Ms. Brenda thanks for a great year!  He really enjoyed his 1st year of preschool and learned so much.  Joshua told me that morning he was a little sad to say bye to his friends.  But the last day was pretty fun with bounce houses and slides, Chick-Fil-A and Kona Ice.  He wasn't sad for too long.

This past weekend we went to Galveston for the Memorial Day break.  We stayed in polluted Texas City which was perfectly located between Kemah and Galveston.  Kemah had a great boardwalk area that was very kid friendly.  We spent Sat afternoon there and Sun morning we went to Palm Beach inside Moody Gardens.  We spent most of the day there.  The boys loved the white sand and the water park!  We went back to the hotel to shower and then met Shormi and her family back in Galveston for dinner.  After dinner we headed to Pleasure Pier, which is Galveston's new boardwalk area.  The boys stayed out till 10:30.
We headed back the next morning with a pit stop at the Blue Bell Factory in Brenham for ice cream.

                                                               SeaWorld

                                           They loved their first hotel experience

                                                 Mother's Day Tea

                                                            Fun with Ajay

                                                          Kemah Boardwalk

                                                            Palm Beach in Galveston

                                                     Pleasure Pier with Asiya

                                                       Blue Bell Factory

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

It's Easter!  He is Risen!  He is Risen indeed!  We had a great Easter weekend with Sunil, Julie and Christian coming to visit us in our new home.  We had an Easter Egg hunt in our neighborhood with my coworker Louise and her family and we even dyed eggs ( a first for Joshua and Noah and maybe my second) and had a little brunch.  So much fun that we'll have to start that yearly tradition.  We also made it out to Mount Bonnell (though Joshua and Noah stayed in the car napping) and Mayfield Park.  I think Christian had a blast being outdoors in the beautiful Austin weather.   Church was packed today but a great service nonetheless.  We hope Christian liked his first road trip/vacation!

I'll take a moment to relive Moving Day which was Sat Apr 5.  We had Joshua and Noah spend the night with Mom and Dad Friday so we could finish packing.  We got up early Sat as the movers came at 8 and we had the maids at the new house at 7 cleaning.  It was chaotic and hectic all at the same time.  At one point in the new house the maids, locksmith, painters, and movers were all dodging each other.  All I could do was just watch the circus.  I'm embarrased to say we had about 100 boxes of stuff though Steve will say they were small boxes.  Mom and Dad met us at 11:00 and started helping us unpack.  Thanks to them, the kitchen and kids rooms were unpacked by 5:00.  Then Steve's parents and Joshua and Noah met us back for dinner. Phew - what a day!

And now, two weeks later, we have boxes in our office, garage, and attic that we're slowly unpacking.  But, I can say we feel settled!  I do love our new house - I think its perfect for our family and one we can grow in.  It's a big difference going from a one to two story house and I'm slowly getting accustomed to that.  Running up and down is more exhausting than I thought!  I do miss our old backyard with the playscapes and basketball court but the kids love the playscape in our new backyard.  The kids never went through an adjustment period - they had no problems.  In fact, Joshua and Noah are now sleeping in the same room.  Noah still wakes up about 3 in the morning and we have to put him in our bed.  All in all, it's been a great moving experience and we feel very blessed!

                                                             Bluebonnets

                                                            Elizabeth Milburn Park

                                                  Their last night in their first house

                                                      One last pic in the old house

                                                           

                                                         Dyeing eggs

                                                 

                                                              Easter Egg hunt

                                                   Noah's friend Evelyn

                                       Louise teaching Joshua with Resurrection Eggs

                                                  Confetti everywhere!

                                                       Mount Bonnell

                                                   Mayfield Park

                                       Noah's not so sure of those peacocks

                                                             Easter Sunday