Kiddie Acres

It was a beautiful day out on Saturday, so off to Kiddie Acres we went.  For those of you in Austin, if you haven't gone, you should.  It is a old school amusement (used very broadly) park.  It has been there for years and years, and it reminds me of Penny Whistle Park from when I would go to Dallas with my family.  By the time I moved there I was really too old for it.  You can see, Meagan is pretty much at the outgrowing it by space limit.  She still loves  it though!  We are enjoying an unusually wonderful fall; it has been stunning.  This is Austin at her finest.

Trip to Houston

We had a great trip to Houston this past weekend.   Andy and his dad had tickets to see the Texans play, which they loved.  It was a super long overtime game, of course.  We also got to go out to dinner with Andy's two best friends from high school, Cathy and Grant and their spouses.   We hadn't seen each other for several years.  I am hoping that next time we can do it a little bit sooner than that. The girls and I went with my friend Leah and her daughter Chloe to the American Girl store.  Whoa.  That place was crazy.  The girls were in 7th heaven.  To be honest, it WAS pretty fun but really, really crowded and very expensive.  If it is something that we do once a year, it is fine.  It was extra fun for the girls to get to go with Chloe, whom really was one of Meagan's very first friends.  I am very lucky that Leah, her husband, Chloe and Chloe's brother all live in Houston!  On the way home, we went to Matthew's new favorite place:BUCKEE'S!  You have never seen such glee on his face.  He literally wanted to get in the big box of Buckee dolls and said that he was a Buckee.  We are all pretty wowed by the place, though.  Not your typical gas station; in fact, I would say it is the size of a small grocery store. 

Thanksgiving comes early in the first grade

Natalie got to celebrate Thanksgiving early in her class.  The girl next to her is one of her friends from her class and Daisy Scouts, Matilda.  We are excited for the real Thanksgiving.  The kids and I have one more day of work and then we are free!

Daisy Thank You Day

Natalie has recently joined a Daisy Scout troop.  She seems to like it so far.  This week they made a Thank You poster for their school's staff.  It was pretty cute.

Halloween 2012

Once again, we had a perfect day for Halloween.  It is amazing how it happens year after year.  There are lots of time where I hate Austin weather; this is not that time.  It is awesome.  Meagan was a "Shake It Up" dancer, Natalie kicked it old school as a witch, and Matthew wore two costumes.  As you can see, he started off as a Lego, which my dad made.  It was super cute, but the child couldn't run in it, or really even walk in it. He thought that trick or treating was the best!  He couldn't believe that people were just giving him candy.  Completely rocked his world.  He also wanted to wear his costume to school again today, but I wasn't sure his teachers would have been keen on that.  My cousin Becky came to town, which was a blast.  The kids adore her and Halloween has kind of become a tradition with her .  Matthew was fine for a half hour or so, but when it started to get dark, he got scared, so Andy took him home.  We went over to our old neighbors, the Swobodas, who live a few blocks over now and have a great display, and then went to TopaJoe's and Ms. Alice's.  Of course, the girls had to read with Becky, but they managed to get to sleep at not too terrible an hour for Halloween.  Now Andy and I are trying to figure out how to dispose of this candy so that the two of us do not eat it all when we are trying hard with the gym. :-)