When Daddy is in Charge......

....and takes his eyes off of me for a minute, I find all sorts of mischief to get into.

Happy 50th Birthday, Uncle Chris!

Uncle Chris turned the big 5-0 and we had a impromptu birthday party for him! Happy Birthday Uncle Chris - we love you!

Sterling McCall Cadillac Museum

Daddy and Mr. Byron love cars and so we thought it would fun to all pile up in one car and head to Round Top for the afternoon. The trip there wasn't too bad, although daddy forgot my bag of books and Gaby and I were a little bored, and the museum wasn't what we thought it would be but we did have a good time. Afterwards we had lunch in a little country cafe and napped in the car on the way back to Austin.

Books Cooks

I love to cook and I always help mommy in the kitchen. Mommy thought it would be fun for me to be in a cooking school and I started 'Book Cooks' today. Each week, we first read a story and then we get to cook something fun that pertains to the story. Today, we read 'Crepes by Suzette' and then made strawberry crepes from scratch! The best part? Eating them. Yum! I can't wait to see what we read and cook (and eat) next Tuesday

Apron is on and I'm ready to cook!

Meeting 'Woss'

Miss Cara has a new baby - a 6 week old bulldog - and we went to meet him today. His name is really 'Hoss' but for some reason, I really have a hard time saying it and call him 'Woss'. I look forward to playing with 'Woss' lots over the summer. I think one day he'll even be big enough for me to ride him! :)

Happy Daddy's Day

Today, we took daddy to the duck pond and had a picnic. We are so lucky to have our daddy and we think he's the best! Happy Daddy's day, daddy.

Conversations with Tripp

Both conversations in the span of one quick car ride to gymnastics.

Tripp: Mommy, when I grow up, I can be a fireman and drive a fire truck.
Mommy: Yes baby. You can be anything you want to be when you grow up.
Tripp: I think I might be a doctor, too.
Mommy: Yes. Or you can be a pilot, or a teacher or....
Tripp: ....or a man or a penguin.

Conversation 2:

Tripp: Mommy, these people are freaking me out.
Mommy: Where did you learn that?
Tripp: At my school.
Mommy: And what do you mean by that?
Tripp (a bit disgusted because mommy SHOULD know what I mean): I mean, when I see the people in the cars, they drive me nuts.

A Big Week

Wow! Lot's of firsts this week. Not only is the tooth visible but my baby has the pageant wave down and even started clapping. Again, mommy hasn't been able to get pictures because as soon as the camera comes out, the show is over.

She definitely likes the music and starts clapping whenever mommy sings or has music on the radio. My goal is to teach my baby pat-a-cake now!

Let her eat.....steak!

My baby has a tooth! It's been working it's way out and it's a little more than half way there. She's so excited and now I think my baby wants a steak.

Mommy keeps trying to get a picture but you'll have to check back later. I think my baby is a little shy about the new addition.

The Dentist

Well, I've been to the dentist before but I didn't get my teeth cleaned or checked. It was more of an introduction to the dentist when I was 2. Now that I'm big, I got to go to the dentist for real! And to make it even cooler, guess who my new dentist is? Miss Angie - Gaby's mommy! I was so excited and talked about going to the dentist for days and days. I did really well and thought all of the equipment was really neat - especially Mr. Thirsty. Final report? No cavities! See you in 6 months....

Getting xrays

Watching Barney at the dentist. This is great!

Dr. Holt at work

Clean and shiny teeth

The Gymnast

Look who is starting gymnastics for the summer? My first class didn't go so well on Monday because Emmylou and I wouldn't pay attention and listen to our new coach. It was pure chaos anyway so I'm sure we're not entirely to blame. However, mommy says if we don't listen this time, we'll be split up. Uh oh.

Help! I'm standing and I can't get down!

Mommy has subscribed to 'BabyCenter' since she was pregnant with me and each week she gets an update on what we should be doing developmentally. I always took my time getting to these 'developmental stages' when I was my baby's age but my baby is always ahead of schedule.

This is the email mommy going last night:
"One day you'll walk into your baby's room and find that little person standing up, grinning at you. Many 8-month-olds are strong enough to pull themselves onto their feet and stay there by holding on to you or a piece of furniture. A somewhat comical aspect of this wonderful development is that some babies know how to get up -- but not back down again. They will stand and stand as long as they can hold on, and finally either tumble down or cry to be "rescued.""

....and today, this is what she found:


It doesn't look like she's smiling to me but this has now been the new game the past few days. My baby stands up and cries until mommy comes and 'saves' her.

The Austin Bats

We have bats. Lots of bats. Yep - Austin is America's largest urban bat colony with over 1.5 million bats that come out from under the Congress bridge each night and eat over 30,000 pounds of insects for dinner. No trip to Austin is complete without a trip to see the bats.

Little did we know that a huge storm, complete with tornados and hail, was about to pound us
and when we got home, we had no electricity. Lucky for us, someone (no names will be mentioned) left a back door unlocked and that's the only way we got in the house since mommy and daddy still haven't put house keys on their key rings and the garage door needs electricity to open. Once inside the nice dark house, we all settled in (although rather warm) and went to bed. Unfortunately, during the night, the lightening destroyed one of the transformers for the water pump and our entire neighborhood was without water for a day. Grammy, Gramps and Aunt Courtney didn't even get to shower before heading to the airport! What kind of send off is that? A smelly one, I'd say.

Waiting for the bats

Going a little batty while waiting for the bats
Bats, oh Bats. Where are you?
Family photo while still waiting for the bats. Notice how dark it is all of a sudden? We didn't.

See the black 'clouds' that look like smoke? Those are bats! The pictures don't do justice so you'll all have to come visit to see them for yourself!

The Texas Bob Bullock Museum

I think Gramps was getting a little board during the week with no tv so we thought he would enjoy checking out the Bob Bullock History Museum and IMAX theater. It's not your typical museum and I had so much fun with all of the interactive exhibits. I really loved seeing the ocean movie with the cool 3D glasses but have to admit that I sure jumped quite a bit when I thought a fish was coming at me or even worse, a sea snake! (Little trivia - mommy and daddy almost had their wedding reception here but ended up at the Stephen F. Austin instead).

The Oasis

Next tourist stop on the schedule? Why the Oasis, of course. Food = overpriced and average but view = beautiful sunset and views of Lake Travis.

Uncle Chris, Aunt Cindy and my baby

My baby likes the Oasis

Blast off - Oasis style

The Duck Tour

As every good tour guide knows, visitors to Austin will have a great time on land and sea on The Duck Tour.

Driving the duck tour 'boat'

Around the House

Spending time in the sandbox Playing t-ball with Courtney. What a hit!

Grammy bought a new juicer and we had to try it out....daily. She is so excited about the juicer that she sounds like an info-mercial. She's good though, because mommy ended up getting one too. Yum!

Tasting the carrots before they become juice

Family Cookout

We have a lot of family in Texas and when they found out Gramps, Grammy and Aunt Courtney were coming, they wanted to see them too. So.....we had them all to Austin for a family cookout. It was a lot of fun and I always enjoy seeing my cousins and other family.

Grammy and Tatie

Girl Power
Cousins John and Thomas, Uncle Rob and Courtney

Being silly after eating way too much