Email

The email "bings" from my phone throughout the day prompted a conversation about what emails are. My explanation..."information from one person that kind of flies through the air to someone else."

A few minutes later I see this..."Look Mom, we're sending email!!"

This is Little Miss A sending a picture from the top of the stairs and Mr. D scrambling to catch it. :)

Hair Do by Drew

Little Miss A was more than happy to have her bun shish-kabobbed by Mr. D.

Day at the Museum

We met our bffs downtown for a fun afternoon at the Children's Museum...no Rexy or anything like that, but still TONS of fun!! :)

Every time we go to the museum, Little Miss A and Mr. D become immediate pins balls and the giant space that surrounds them is the machine. They go bouncing from one place to the next within seconds...make me crazy!! They worked the kitchen, manned the trains, operated the dairy farm, acted like Austin bats hanging under the Congress Street bridge, learned about Mexican culture (pinatas, music, food, etc)

All this "ping, ping, pinging" (hence the blurry pictures) while Little Miss A is clinging to different animals from the pet clinic..

They did, however spend a lot of time in creation station. :)Little Miss A made a kaleidoscope and a hat. Mr. D made a new and improved light saber...shocker, I know. :)

What a great day with great friends!!!!

Tuesday Trip #7

Our trip this week took us to the ice rink. It was so nice to get bundled up in the heat of summer and hit the ice. :)

This was a common scene...Mr. D was down most of the time as a direct result of speed. What can I say, the kid just wants to go fast!!! That's my boy!! :)

After our adventure at the rink we headed to dinner and a movie. Despicable Me...you're right Aunt K, the minions definitely have the same laugh as Mr. D! ;)

Mountain Vacation Rewind

Snowbird

All kinds of family fun:

snow

hikes

and even more animals...moose, deer, badgers, beavers, chipmunks and potguts too!!

Tuesday Trip #6 in Snowbird...

Bungy tramps, bounce houses, rock walls, alpine slide races, tram and chair lifts, ropes course

The boys are ALL extremists...with injuries all around. So when Daddy and D crashed on the alpine slide, I figured we'd get some manly photos of the aftermath. Not so much.

Yellowstone

Phenomenal 2 day adventure through the park complete with a drive through the gorgeous Grand Tetons...

Old Faithful

bike ride to Morning Glory PoolCamping

Mammoth Hot Springs

We saw all kinds of animals...elk, moose, coyote, bear. It was AWESOME!!!!

Idaho

We stayed in an amazing cabin...a friend of Dad's. Had a blast!!! smores over the campfire

Utah

We landed in Utah and headed to Grandpa N's house. The evening brought a nice game of croquet (which Mr. D immediately confused with a golf like sport mixed with baseball)

coloring "calf" roping"horseback" riding

Tuesday Trip #5
The kids and I hopped a plane headed for the mountains. Daddy was joining us a few days later. Our Tuesday was pretty much spent just traveling to our destination. We are on vacation!!!! :)

Sweet Clara

Little Miss A just loves her American Girl doll, Clara.

She has been going everywhere with us lately, getting buckled into a seat of her own. ;) Can't wait to take her on vacation tomorrow...I know Grandma Nylander has been whipping up some fun surprises for her. Little Miss A is going to be in heaven!!!

Pirate or Superhero?

We acquired a set of matchy-matchy dress up costumes that the "boys" used in full force this weekend. Thanks again Ms. A...Mr. D LOVES to match his father!! :)

It was battle mayhem...superhero/pirate vs. superhero/pirate. Totally even playing field as far as special talents were concerned. Mr. D was commentating the events as they unfolded announcing the winner each round. Ironically, it was a back and forth win, which is a miracle for anyone that knows Mr. D...he NEVER loses. Father/son fun for sure!

Afternoon Science Experiment!!

As I was weeding the other day, I came across this...

AN OWL PELLET!!!!

I used to dissect owl pellets with my 4th graders, so I knew exactly what it was. I had no idea we had owls in the area though. I was so excited...I couldn't wait to share it with Little Miss A and Mr. D. After explaining what it was, the kids were in awe! Definitely a mouse after looking at the bones inside. Wishing so badly there had been a full skull for the kids to see (wishful thinking, I know) at least we found some pretty cool teeth, mandibles and a femur. :)

I'm hoping the kids love science as much as I do!!!!

Make Up

Little Miss A realized she still had her recital make up in her dance bag and came downstairs looking like this...

Isn't she lovely?

Tuesday Trip #4

Since we had to skip our Tuesday trip last week due to Spanish Camp, we took a bigger trip this week to...SIX FLAGS!!!! :)

I packed for the entire park...not sure if A & D would want to experience the rides or the water park. When we got there, the kids saw the signs and started singing in unison "Six Flags!!!" I love surprises!! So, I asked whether they wanted to do rides or water...they both virtually screamed RIDES!!!! So, we left the towels in the car and headed in ready to ride!!! Unsure of how the rides were going to play out with a party of 3 instead of an even party of 4, I have to admit it was easy!!! Little Miss A is officially 48" tall and able to ride most everything by herself. With a nice warm summer day, we rode more water rides this trip than any other. There were several points in our day where we were all 100%, completely SOAKED...it was awesome!!! The kids loved getting wet...we were all so glad to have our bathing suits on under our cover ups! The one ride we need to come back for was he bumper cars...52" to ride alone, so we'll catch this one with Daddy when we come back next month. :)

We had an absolutely AMAZING day!!! We had so much fun that we stayed for the fireworks when the park closed at 9 which were wonderful...not sure why we've never stayed for that before, but it was totally worth it. :)

A Daddy Do

Little Miss A asked Daddy for some braids tonight. (I honestly think she could ask her Daddy for anything...total Daddy's girl syndrome!!!) Anyway, I snapped some pics of the momentous occasion...too cute!!!

A Day off with Daddy

We took advantage of a Monday holiday for Independence Day and went exploring. Daddy had heard from friends at work about a cool spring fed pool not far from our house, so we went to check it out.

relaxing

floating

jumping

watching the rope swing...wondering when they'll get to do that

exploring "tree houses"

finding hidden waterfalls
Krause Springs was amazing!!! Definitely a new Caswell favorite for sure. :)

Happy 4th of July!!!

After fun filled day with the fam, we headed home to cookout, watch the fireworks and do some snappers, poppers and sparklers of our own. In doing so realized, that we are never leaving our house again for the 4th. We had a panoramic view of fireworks all around us from all sorts of publicly and privately purchased displays from about 8:30 - 11:00. It was awesome!!! I'm so happy to report that no iPod was necessary for Little Miss A to view the show. :)

What an amazing day!!!

Family Fun for the Fourth!!!

Our cousins from Houston came in town for the 4th of July weekend. YEA!!! We spent much of Saturday just hanging out and catching up. We definitely need to see them more often!!! :)

We went out on the 4th to catch some local hot spots. Barton Springs was definitely a favorite today. The water was a VERY chilly 68 degrees. A little too cold for my taste, but our daughter was in HEAVEN!!!! She was all about getting her feet wet and playing around.

Mr. D on the other hand...not so much.

Little Miss A and Daddy enjoyed the water so much, they both decided to "go in" regardless of the fact that neither one was wearing a bathing suit. :) So glad Daddy was there to go in with A, since there was no I way I would have made it...it took me FOREVER just to get my whole foot in the water!! :)

Thank you so much for coming Snow family!!! We sure have missed you and can't wait to see you guys again in August!!!!

Presents!!!

Little Miss A and Mr. D are constantly giving gifts to us. Wrapping treasures up in blankets, tying them together with belts and bands and such. Recently Little Miss A started adding a sweet touch to her finished products...hair BOWS!!! :)