Enjoying June!

The start of June was actually kind of boring in the absolute best possible way!

Jake had the first week of June off in between school ending and camp starting up. Alex's more flexible schedule allowed him to be home with him and I also took a day off. He had a few fun play dates, movies with daddy and time to just play and chill out.

Alex and I spent an afternoon with him at the park playing soccer and throwing the Frisbee around (a new and emerging skill) followed by a stop at Amy's for some ice cream. Yum!

We rearranged the playroom and have been spending tons more time in there all together just playing.

It's a good thing that we did change it up because it means more room for Allie who is now crawling!

For Father's Day weekend we headed to Houston early on Saturday morning. We visited with Alex's grandmother and introduced her to Allie. Then we headed to lunch with Lisa and the boys. Jake quickly fell instep with Drew and Nathan playing on their makeshift bus.

After lunch we went to meet the newest baby of the bunch, Gabrielle Emma Miller, little sister to Jonah and daughter of our friends Jessica and Danny.

We had a fun dinner out with Lisa and her crew! The boys were so excited for Jake to sleep in their room but he chickened out in the last minute. Maybe next time.

On Sunday we celebrated Father's Day with a wonderful brunch at Ken & Loretta's. Jake was so excited to see them and they hadn't seen Allie since her naming. It was the perfect end to our quick but nice trip to Houston.

When we got home Jake went right to the playroom to play with the castle building set that Noonie had for him. He absolutely loves it and loves building different structures for his superheros to live in. I joke with her that she does not need to have a present for these children every time she sees them. Thank you, Noonie & Papa!

We celebrated Father's Day with Alex a little early with cards and gifts on Friday ahead of heading to Houston. Alex is a wonderful daddy and loves our little people so much. We're all very lucky to have him!

 

The following weekend we headed to the splash pad with a bunch of friends to cool off on what will just become yet another hot day. Jake loved being with his friends and Allie loved the splash pad and the water and really loved playing in the water with Max!

Just a few seconds of Allie & Max in action

Jake and Mia 

 Leaving the splash pad Jake was either sad to be heading home or channeling his inner Run DMC. 

Bubba came in late Saturday night for a visit. Bubba and I headed to see "Brave" with Jake. Usually the movies is more of a Jake and Alex activity so it was a treat for me to go and have the popcorn eating little monkey snuggle up on my lap and enjoy the fun.

I had a lovely birthday despite not being very excited about celebrating it. Alex and I escaped for an early happy hour at Uchiko. It was awesome and we had the most fun just sitting at the bar and having some time together. That and the brussel sprouts were unbelievable, yes, brussel sprouts!

We ended the month with a visit from Bubba. It was great having him back in town and all the kids and teachers at Jake's school were happy to see him back. Bubba built castles, let Allie borrow his computer, did some early morning bike riding with Jake and even brought back Bubba's Babysitting Service for a few much needed nights out!

Lots of exciting summer fun coming up in July including Allie's first flight and our trip to NC for Zayde's 75th birthday and lots of summertime adventures!

May Fun

How is it possible that Allie is already 7 months old (now 8 months when the blog goes out)? This year is already going way too fast!

Alex was in Minneapolis for work and brought Jake back a dinosaur egg. We had the best time waiting for it to hatch!

Jake wanted us to know what kind of a dinosaur we should be expecting

I was excited to hear that my old boss and friend, Wayne, was in Austin for a quick trip. Jake, Allie and I headed downtown to see Uncle Wayne. 

Allie's new friend from Wayne

That same day was the Kentucky Derby. Last year the Austin SEC/Kentucky Club started an annual and this year Alex and I both went. It was a lot of fun to get dressed up and out and about (without kids) on a Saturday afternoon.

I was very excited to attend the Whale class Mother's Day Tea with Jake. It was amazing that all the moms were there and the kids were so excited to have us there and proud of what they had made for us. I love that Jake thinks that I'm 12 and has no clue when my birthday is but knows that I like wine!

Allie's school also made gifts for the Mother's Day. Such a special memory to have from her.

Can you guess what my sweet husband got me for Mother's Day? Hint...it isn't Allie although she's one of the two best gifts I've ever gotten. However, the new iPad ranks very high!

We had the best time having the Vivier's visit over the Mother's Day weekend. Philip, Brenna, Josh and Talia headed to Austin on Saturday morning. As Jake said a number of times, Michael was "out of town" and couldn't make it to Austin. After some initial hugs and squeezes for Jake and Allie, we all headed out to Driftwood, Texas for BBQ and Wine. Love that Alex's car has a 3rd row and that we could all go in one car!

First we hit Duchman Family Winery a favorite spot of ours. Even though it is only about 30 minutes from our house it feels like a getaway spot. Brenna and Philip just may be my favorite people to drink wine with!

After Duchman we went just a few minutes down the road to Salt Lick BBQ. Salt Lick is pretty famous around here and worth the trip for the beef ribs alone. Philip was in a ribs comma for many hours post our visit to Driftwood.

Jake was so happy hanging out with his big cousins!

Everyone had lunch at Salt Lick

On Mother's Day, we all met up with the Brown Family for brunch at Iron Cactus. We sat outside and it was a beautiful way to spend the morning especially getting extra cuddles from my sweet Jake and Allie.

Snuggles with Pippi

So sweet!

Happy Mother's Day to us!

We had an impromptu Saturday afternoon walk and lunch out that resulted in a nice long nap!

I attended Jake's end of the year parent-teacher conference and almost started crying while his teacher was telling me what a great kid Jake is! 

After the meeting, I was able to attend parent's day for Jake's martial arts class. It was just about the cutest thing ever. As good as the pictures and video may be, it was 1000 times cuter.

Saying the Little Dragon's Creed

 

Being silly with Avi

Perfecting his kick

We love Auntie Rachel's Gap discount! Yet another item from the Auntie Rachel shopping spree. Look how cute the "Little Monkey" is in her first 2-piece PJ's!

We were all ready for the Memorial Day weekend. We had a few plans but were happy to have a fairly quiet and mellow weekend.

We met the Riemer's out for dinner at our new favorite neighborhood spot, Austin Terrier. Max climbs up to see Allie and below Jake and Jacob feed their obsession for Angry Birds.

We headed out on Monday morning for an special Jake outing to the Dinosaur Park about 10 miles away from the historic town of Bastrop where we had lunch after the park. It was a little bit lame but fun for Jake and man, does that boy (and his mommy) know his dinosaurs!

Jake found an Ornithimimus - a very fast dinosaur!

I spy a Brachiosaurus!

A modern day "The Thinker"?

Mommy, Jake and Stegosaurus

Allie slept through the whole trip and almost being eaten by a T-Rex

Jake investigates a T-Rex nest

Digging for fossils!

This was the last week of school for Jake before camp (which is exactly like normal school) begins. They celebrated with an ice cream party that Alex was able to attend and a splash day on Friday! After the ice cream party Alex and Jake headed to the park to play a little soccer.

Superman plays Soccer

 

Whales splash day!

It has been a great year and I'm so thrilled with the group of kids that he's been with all year and especially his teachers, Ms. Lucy and Ms. Katherine. Sad that we can't just have the same group next year but thankful for his week as a whale.