The first 3 days of the Disney cruise

The first week of December we took a Disney Bahamian cruise for 7 days out of Galveston.  We took Joshua out of kinder and it was definitely worth it.  The Johns also went with us and the boys had fun playing with Teagan.
We left on a Friday with a deck sail away party and that's where we got a glimpse of the entertainment we had throughout the cruise.  We had dinner every night at a nice rotation of restaurants at 5:45 with the same servers.  It was nice that the servers got to know us especially the kids for the whole week.  They got to know what we liked and needed throughout dinner.  The servers were so accommodating and also did magic tricks for the kids to entertain them throughout the hour and a half dinner.  Every evening they had a show after dinner in their theater and it was always an amazing show.

We were at sea on Saturday so we just explored the ship, the kids club, and saw characters on the ship.  Siji and I also took a cooking class where we watched the chef make mushroom risotto.  That afternoon and evening the ship was rocking pretty hard and I definitely got sea sick as did a lot of people.  I got a little nervous that I wasn't going to be able to make it through this 7 day cruise.

On Sunday we docked in Key West, FL and I was very excited to eat good seafood and of course key lime pie.  The town was very quaint and we walked around as we experienced spot showers.  We ate at a good seafood restaurant and then went next door and ate key lime pie on a stick dipped in chocolate.  We also bought key lime fudge to take back home.  Everything was fine till Noah fell as he was running and scraped his knee.  Good thing it happened on our way back to the ship.  That night was Frozen themed dinner on the ship.  The head waiter asked if we'd like the cooks to prepare Indian food for us that night and it was delicious.    Will post the pics of these past 3 days here.

                                                                  Deck party

                                                                         Our first dinner

                                               They got this Mickey Mouse bar almost every night.

                                                            Cooking class

                                                       Our small cabin

                                                                     Formal night

Key West

                                                           Yummy key lime pie

The cooks prepared Indian food for us - very good!

The month of November

The first weekend of November my friend Trisha and I took a weekend trip to Chicago.  We had a few minor bumps getting into Chicago but we had a wonderful trip doing things we couldn't do with kids.  We waited at a tapas restaurant (Purple Pig) Friday night for an hour and a half before getting seated.  We also went to an art museum Saturday for 3 hours.  Of course we ate deep dish pizza and got Garrett's popcorn before coming home.

Our family had Thanksgiving lunch the weekend prior to Thanksgiving at our house in Austin.  We had fried turkey and some good sides.  We had a good weekend playing with the kids and eating lots of food.  Mom, Dad, and Subin were all able to go to Noah's Thanksgiving lunch and they also visited Joshua's school where Joshua showed him his classroom.

On Thanksgiving we stayed in Austin and Mom cooked Chinese food ( we were all tired of turkey by then.)  Nice relaxing Thanksgiving Day with lots of Internet shopping.

Fun in October

The first weekend of October the Kolaths came down for a visit.  We had a great time visiting sites in Austin as well as some good eats.  We did Z Tejas for dinner Fri night, Pinthouse Pizza for Sat lunch, Mt. Bonnell, and Gourdough's donuts for dessert.  The Jacobs came over Sat evening for BBQ dinner.  Then Sun morning we went to Jack Allen's for brunch buffet.   It was fun getting to really spend time with them over a relaxing weekend.

Joshua started basketball Sunday and both boys finished soccer Sat.  Watching Noah learn the fundamentals of soccer was entertaining since Noah is very passionate and aggressive when he's on the field.  Joshua, in both sports, was very timid and needed encouragement to be aggressive.  Joshua loved the idea of being in sports and practiced very hard for both.  His game definitely improved by the time both was over.

On the 17th we went to the UT Track and Field for the kickstart of Marathon Kids.  We got to know Joshua's PE teachers pretty well esp. Mrs. Osteen.  It was a fun event with the kids being able to run a lap.  Noah thought he was running a real race!
On Sun. the 18th we went to our first Garba.  The kids dressed in Indian clothes and they had a good time hitting each other with dandiyas!

After having a horrible week with my 13 year old Accord, we finally bought an Acura TSX!  One week later I'm still not used to driving it but it is a pretty nice car.  So yesterday, Halloween, I finally sold my Accord and had to say goodbye.  That car was pretty reliable - the first major purchase I made after I got a PT job, the car I drove my mom and me to church on my wedding day, and the car Steve drove both boys home from the hospital in.  I'm really going to miss that car but I'm sure this new car will last me a while too.  Still pretty sad for me.  Steve couldn't wait to get rid of it! :(

The boys had fun dressing up as Iron Man and Steve and I joined in on the fun with Superman and Wonder Woman.  We walked around the neighborhood with the Mutyalas and they had a blast!

Our little Spotlight Stallion

On Sept. 25, Joshua was awarded the Spotlight Stallion award in his classroom at the Friday assembly.  There are 2 students picked in each class every month that exemplify good behavior, morals, virtues.  We are of course very proud of Joshua because it was the first month for this award and he is just loving kindergarten, his friends, and his teachers.  It was hard for me when he started kinder this year but it's so much easier when I see how much he loves school.

Here are some pics of him at the assembly:

Las Vegas

The week after Steve's 40th birthday party we hopped a plane to Vegas to continue the celebration with Steve's 2 high school friends and their wives.  We had a pretty relaxed time at New York New York hotel and enjoyed restaurants including Mon Ami Gabi, The Border Grill, and Shake Shack.  The wives were able to do a spa treatment at Mandalay Bay and we all were in awe of the Michael Jackson show.  I learned how to play 3 card poker in downtown Vegas which is definitely a different scene from the strip.  Steve and I also went on the observation wheel and had a pretty good time seeing the strip from up so high.  All in all we had a good time celebrating the guys 40th birthday!