Our Month of May!

May went so quick I can't believe that the month is already over! 

The month began with teacher appreciation week at school. Allie's school was easy - buy some flowers in the lobby and the room parents take care of the rest. At Jake's school it was something every day. It got old but every ounce of it was worth it because our teachers this year were fantastic and deserve every bit of our appreciation. 

I was so happy to be able to attend the Mother's Day celebration with the Donkey class

I got 2 for the price of one until Penelope's mom arrived!

Allie giving me her Mother's Day present!

We had our front lawn landscaped and it looks so much better! The back is next now that the deck is done!

Saturday morning we had our end of season soccer party for the Human Highlighters. 

That night we met up with the Kennedy Family for dinner at a new spot in the neighborhood called Twisted Root Burger Co. It's a cool place with a full bar and mini-golf with the purchase of a milkshake. Everybody wins!

Allie loves sweet baby Abigail. 

Jake sat at the bar and watched the basketball game. He was happy as can be!

For mother's day we had the Gray's over for brunch and actually sat outside on our new deck. Pictures to come when the backyard is landscaped. 

Just a few pictures from the donkey room. Particularly love Allie multi-tasking some work while getting her hair done. 

Jake's classmate Evan had a birthday party on a Friday afternoon after almost a whole week of rain. Amazingly the rain stopped for the two hours that the party occurred. I've never seen a group of kids who have needed to be outside as this bunch. 

We had a fun impromptu play date with Eli Gray and his lovely mama, Rachel. 

Saturday lunch out with some sunshine and this guy!

Our little Wonder Woman!

Jake's class has been reading the book, "Nathaniel Fludd, BEASTOLOGIST" a series for young readers by R.L LaFevers. It chronicles the adventures of Nate Fudd who travels the world in search of mythical beasts. Jake and his class submitted their artwork to the authors website and he had two pictures featured!

We enjoyed a fairly quiet Memorial Day weekend even with all the rain. Allie's friend Ava was lucky to see a break in the rain just in time for her party. 

Let's eat some cake!

On the (very small) Ferris Wheel!

That evening we had planned for a family night to go to a Round Rock Express baseball game but the weather didn't cooperate. In a moment of crazy we decided to take the kids out to Main Event. Ugh and we did it without any adult beverages either. The kiddos of course had a great time!

Rainy day = Art projects, movies and general silliness! 

The crazy weather that May brought was truly unlike anything else we've seen since living here. Austin had 16.72 inches, beating the previous May record of 14.10 inches in 1895. In many ways we were lucky in that we had been experiencing some water leaking through our backdoor ahead of the storms so we were already in the process of trying to dry out. So at the very least we were prepared and had put some make-shift barriers in place. 

It was shocking how much it rained and how noisy the sky was filled with thunder and lightening. Here's just a snippet of the rain at our house. This video doesn't do it justice at all. 

All that said, what we saw was nothing like what happened South of us in Wimberley and then in Houston. San Antonio and Dallas also had serious flooding too. We're especially sick about the devastation that took place in Houston especially to Ken & Loretta's home in the Meyerland neighborhood. More about this in the June blog. 

Alex was lucky enough to attend the end of year event in Jake's class. Mrs. Clark was so wonderful and Jake learned so much from being in her class!

She put together a wonderful slideshow from the year and I was able to capture a few screen shots to share a look into the first grade with Jake!

Friday I had the chance to have attend Allie's last shabbat of the year and have lunch with Jake at school. It was a great day!

I wish I could have done it more often but was so glad I got to sneak lunch in with this guy before the end of the year. In case you were wondering, it was dress like a superhero day at Hill!

That weekend we got to have breakfast with friends Jason and Leigh Anne before they head back to Dallas after yet attending yet another wedding. In this picture I think that Jason was being a dinosaur but at points during the meal he also wore Allie's tiara so who knows exactly what was happening here. 

After brunch, Jake and I headed over to a birthday party for Benji Frieden. His mind was blown by a cotton candy machine, his most favorite thing! He was a happy boy!

See you next month!

April Adventures

April is always a busy month! My organizations annual meeting is always in April and takes up a good chunk of the month. 

We started the month celebrating Passover and a lovely Seder at our house. Of which, of course I didn't take pictures of! Next year!

The Superhero fascination continues but I have to admit I may have given in to it a bit. Batgirl & Batmommy save the world!

Poor Jakey. Had a sick day and fell asleep waiting for me to come back downstairs. 

Allie joined in when she got home from school.

Allie and I headed out to celebrate Ryan's 1st birthday! Allie and Hailey were the princesses of the castle. 

And then there is this guy! Happy Birthday Ry-guy!

Allie had a pajama day at school and was beyond excited to wear her Elsa nightgown. Turns out Millie was excited to wear hers as well!

We were excited to "shower" our friend Andrea in anticipation of her baby coming soon. The moment we found out she was pregnant I put all our baby Georgia stuff aside for her. I loved putting together these goodies for her and to pass on the magic yellow "basket" to her. I hope it gives Andrea and baby as many restful naps and nights as it did for us with Allie. 

At classmate Yonah's gymnastics birthday party. Note to self: Never plan a birthday party during nap! 

Sometimes they're so sweet together!

Allie's Audrey Hepburn moment. Doesn't everyone look like this as a soccer spectator? 

Sharing snacks and toys with Max Rapaport.

Our Soccer stud!

In a moment of temporary insanity I agreed that we should join friends on a trip to Sea World in San Antonio the weekend before my conference which is also in San Antonio. So after our conference work day on Saturday we headed to San Antonio to meet up with the Helfman, Chitre and Martasin Families. 

We met them at a fun Mexican restaurant with plenty of margaritas which probably let to the acceptability of "tortilla face".

 Our little brunette trio. Sweet friends Allie, Mila & Livi

Once we were back at the hotel we changed for a PJ party! It was a good thing it was a noisy hotel. We went through a few bottles of wine while the kiddos enjoyed some stories and some Netflix. 

The next morning!

At Sea World!

Watching the Sesame Street show! The marketing between Sea World and Sesame Street was incredible. Evil geniuses!

Down in the "mash-pit" to do a little dancing with Elmo & friends.

 Jake and I rode the Shamu roller coaster. So fun to see his face!

Merry-Go-Round!

Alex rode the slowest ride in the world with Eli and Allie. They however...loved it. 

And of course we saw Shamu. Watching the kids faces during the show was amazing and totally worth the crazy weekend. 

While I was at my conference Alex was sweet enough to send me these pictures of these sweet faces. 

No wonder I was so very happy to get home!

We had a visitor from Eugene later that week. We were happy to have Jan stop by on her Texas tour for the night. Allie especially took right to her. I think Allie knew that Jan was one of Mimi's best friends. She said it was almost like having Mimi here. 

I got to see Jake at his Sports Day. Love watching him in his element --so cute!

Looking forward to May! See you then.