THE WEDDING

So we got all dressed up for the big wedding of Mike's cousin Aaron & Lindsay. It wasn't Cal's first wedding but was his first blazer & bow tie - adorable if I do say so myself. And I think he really enjoyed dressing up and never even tried to take it off until after we left. Griff did really well at his first wedding and was also super darn cute. Both were lady killers and enjoyed the cheese cubes on the buffet and the groom's cake complete with a big, bright red Razorback (check out Griffin's post-cake joker-like smile). They both danced with the bride (Cal IMMEDIATELY after the bride and groom's first dance - only slightly inappropriate) and were on really good behavior.

HELLO, SPORTSFANS! We're back!

So I apologize for the 4 month haitus I took this fall. I'm determined to update the blog over the Christmas holidays and get back on track for 2010 - one of my New Year's Resolutions. I'm determined not to let this blog beat me! We had a busy fall with lots of football, the usual holiday busy-ness, oh and WORK for both of us and extra-curricular crap. So between that and the impending Longhorn NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP trip....we've been busy. But again, we're back.

Here are some random photos from our trip to Arkansas in August for Mike's cousin's wedding. Lots of fun time at Nana & Big Daddy 's lake house in Hot Springs: Cal had his first SeaDoo ride - no fear, super fun - several boat rides, the Mid-America museum, some fish-feeding, and both boys' first trip to an amusement park/water park (Magic Springs) which included Cal's first log ride and rollercoaster (notice Cal in the FRONT CAR, not screaming, with Nana). As usual, loved it all. We flew into Little Rock, drove to Hot Springs, saw grandma Ludie in Pine Bluff (more driving), and, oh, did I mention the 4+ hour drive to the actual wedding in Fayetteville? Then back to Little Rock. So lots of time in the car but lots of good family time, too. And really good to see Ludie again at almost 88 years of age...

BAT WATCHING PICNIC

As summer wound down, momma began to feel the usual guilt about not doing all those sweet things that result in Kodak moments. So we picked up the kids from school on a Tuesday, drove through KFC and took a picnic to eat on the lawn of the Four Seasons and prepared to watch the bats afterward. Despite our good intentions, the kids had zero interest in the actual picnic - I think collectively they ate 3 bites of mac & cheese. Mom and dad enjoyed the heck out of their friend chicken and finally gave in to simply preventing the boys from killing themselves despite their best efforts. We finally made it up the hill and did actually see the bats fly - an Austin tradition from the Congress Avenue bridge. The kids did actually enjoy it - Cal spent a lot of time calling out to the bats before they flew to the effect of "Oh, BA-TS, wake uP! It's time for dinner!" Never tiring, we'll give it another try next year.

RANDOM END O' SUMMER CUTENESS

If you're reaing this, you probably know already what a fan I am of super cute random photos. So in honor of the end of summer, here are a few. Griffin loves water play. One of his favorite activities is to stand in our bathtub with the water running & fill up and empty cups. Over and over. Simple pleasures. There are also photos of Griffin's first lollipop from the drive-thru bank teller - he's a natural and licked it down to the last bite - no chomping. A couple of shots at our favorite snowcone stand in the neighborhood and some post-swimming photos wrapped up in big towels. We have one last big trip next week to Arkansas for a Meroney family wedding and then - BAM! Summer's over. So so sad. Of course the end of summer and end of heat bear no relation to each other in Austin. We'll be in triple digits until October. So we'll pretend it's still summer as long as we can and have plenty of swimming in our future. They are both scheduled for a week of swim lessons with Gwen the "swim whisperer" this week. Should be interesting...

'NASTICS

Cal recently finished his 2nd summer of gymnastics lessons. To call them "lessons" is kind of a stretch. They do use legit, adult equipment but it is pretty difficult to get the kids' attention at this age, as you might imagine. They do a great job of making it fun and entertaining for them - they put stuffed animals along the beam and make them "hop" over each animal, call some of the equipment the "french fries" (long skinny pads they do donkey kicks over) and act like wild animals as they rotate from station to station. Anyway, Cal seems to really enjoy it, but none of us think he is truly "gifted" at this stage so I think we will put it on haitus again during the school year and try again next summer to see how it goes. He calls it "Nastics," thus the title of this post. Here are some photos from the last day of class and a video that pretty much sums it up. One is a picture of his group listening to instructions, several action shots and one of him next two of our neighbors waiting to get stamped at the end of class as a reward. He strongly prefers stamps on his belly.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I BRING YOU....THE WIGGLES!

And so it goes. The Wiggles are on tour and came to Austin to our historic Paramount theater which is pretty much the only reason we bought the ridiculously overpriced tickets. We love the Paramount and like supporting local theater in whatever form. So we bit the bullet and went for a big night out on the town - Gatti's buffet and a show. They reserve the first few rows of every show for season ticketholders and apparently none of them care about the Wiggles, so they were almost empty. Which made it REALLY easy for Griffin to walk right up to the stage and stand under it for the majority of the show. For real. The kid has no fear. Or manners. Cal followed him up there but Griff definitely took the lead which was interesting to watch. It was a great venue - our seats were on an aisle so the kids could easily get up and dance off to the side, which they did. They LOVED the show, were completely mesmerized the entire time, danced their little buns off, clapped, the whole shabang. And in all honesty, it was fairly entertaining. Very cultural with music and dancing from lots of different countries, clean/corny jokes and acrobatics and big stuffed animals who did handstands and the splits in costume. I guess it's where old mascots go to die like Disney on Ice for skaters. So we had a good time and will definitely go back if they'll have us and the recession lets up. Here are some cute pics and a couple of fun videos of the boys shaking their groove things.