Park Fun

I finally made it out to the Play for All Abilities Park in Round Rock with the kids.  It is really cool. 

Jack Loves Lego

Jack has been loving Lego lately.  He got this Batman car from Grandpa and Nana in February.  He made me put it together 5 times and took it apart each time.  Then when I refused to put it together anymore, he made about 20 tries at doing it himself.  When he finally got it all together on his own he was so proud and excited. It was pretty darn impressive that he did it on his own, I could barely get it together right using the directions.  Now he is a total Lego nut.

We Love Campin'

The kids had no school on Friday, no games, no classes over the weekend so we went camping at Mother Neff State Park for the weekend.  With each camping trip we get better at planning, packing, entertaining ourselves and packing it all up when we go home.  The kids have had a great time just being outside, hiking, snacking and sleeping in tents.  We have a new tradition to tell bedtime stories where one of us starts the story and each person adds on to it.  And each camping trip has some new 'you'll never believe where kid X pooped!' story that is too embarrassing to share. 

Jack helped assemble the tents

Tall grass is fun (later we were told its also full of snakes)

These logs provided HOURS of fun

I used my dutch oven

and made delicious corn bread

Too tired to even snack

Gwen took this picture of me and the big ole bell

Hiking is awesome

We can't possibly pose nicely for a picture

Maddy is a dog or a cat

Austin Rodeo Carnival: March 2013

We made our first attempt at the Austin Rodeo this year, but only the carnival portion.  Like a dummy I waited until too late to get tickets for the actual rodeo, but in retrospect we wouldn't have made it all the way through anyway, so it was better that we didn't try.

The carnival was a lot of fun, but crazy money.  Next time we will definitely do a week day and get the half price passes to ride the rides.  The kids loved riding everything and would have done more.  Also, we will NOT play any midway games.  I let Jack and Maddy play and they WON, so then Gwen was pissed when she did not win.  That ended the day, but it was my fault.  Though I hope Gwen learned a lesson about midway games and never winning. 

Tractor posing

DOG SHOW

Intentionally trying to ruin the picture - FAILED

John looks creeped out

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Maddy was not happy with her ice cream.  Turned out she was running a 101 temp, so she felt like crap.

WE WON!

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Gwen's Abstract Art

The art work produced by my child prodigies is out of hand.  I have it all over my cube walls at work, posted in the bulletin boards in the playroom, organized into binders for each kids and I liberally throw stuff away when I can.  Gwen's after school program is run by an art teacher and Gwen loves creating her own art work every day.  Which is great, she's super creative and comes up with all kinds of cool things on her own or inspired by the teacher.  But I don't know where to put it all.  I finally convinced her to let me take pictures in case anything happens to any of it. 

Whirly Birds

Clay Heart

Clay Elephant with Tile

Paper Nest and Eggs

Baby Bear in Feather Hat

Cardboard Tubes filled with Confetti

Rockets!

Sherwood Forest Faire

My parents visited in February and we all went to Sherwood Forest Faire.  It was really fun and I think it will be better next time when the kids know what to expect. 

We saw a little show with the cast at the beginning.  Then as we walked around Jack and Maddy were made honorary knights and got little sword necklaces.  We saw the bird show, a puppet show, a parade and some other stuff.  We had planned to leave the park and do an early BBQ dinner, but the kids fell apart right at the end.  The Chocolate Fairy had given the kids each a special coin right at the beginning of the day and said if they found the Sweet Shoppe they could get a piece of candy.  Well it took us all damn day to find it and it was not worth that much time.  Other than that, it was a fun outting.

Maddy volunteered to get on stage during this magic show, she's awesome!