America's Sweetie

SHAME ON ME!!! I didn't get a single 4th of July picture with Papa before he left to return to Houston. We went to a neighborhood parade in the morning and then had an All-American LOCAL lunch of Yak Burgers, Coleslaw, and watermelon. Everything came from our Farmer's Market....can't get more American than that!

After Cupcake's nap we went out on our newly shaded (thanks to Papa and the Hubs hanging a shade) porch for some treats. Since the drought is still a HUGE concern here all fireworks shows were canceled. I wanted to end the day with something festive. So, remember my Zoku post here? I got a little more adventurous in honor of our Independent Day:


The strawberry lime flavored treats were a HUGE hit with a certain cupcake! And I didn't mind her chowing down because I knew exactly what was in them and lets just say "healthy" plus a tad of sugar.
We stayed on the porch until we couldn't stand the heat any longer. That was about 15 minutes later. Eep! It is hot and without fireworks to lure us out, we spent the rest of the day inside. It felt a little strange to not see the rockets red glare...or be kept awake until all hours of the night with neighbors who keep the party going well past our bedtime.

Cupcake with Gigi who gave her the precious outfit! (Thanks Gigi and Papa!)

Our Annual Family Shot:Check out last year's here. WOW! Someone or really two someone's have grown. One has grown up and one has a belly.

We're into July now which means 3rd trimester, a big ole belly, crazy hot heat, still no rain, and well the usual Crack Team Adventures. Happy 4th of July 2011 style!

Happy 4th of July!

I have lots of posts for the past week. It has seriously been a FULL week. Here are a view hints of what's to come:

Cinco, Sparkles, Americana, Productivity, and more....

But first, I need a night to just lay on the couch and I'm not even the one who did the bulk of the work. But I do have a little kicker inside.

To tie you over, here's a little 4th of July spirit from our favorite Cupcake:

Hermine and Erin....not at all related

Since I have blog stalkers anxiously awaiting two different pictures you get today's lovely mash of things: Hermine and Erin.

Hermine left Austin wet, wet, wet. It's been a fun two days of pouring, non-stop, rain. Cupcake recently was learning the difference of wet and dry so she has been thrilled to practice her skills by carefully pointing out what was wet and what was dry. However, by yesterday afternoon everything outside was wet and the game wasn't fun anymore. This morning we woke up to a little...err big surprise. We had MORE water around the house than normal. Of course I'm not so on top of things to have a before picture. Then again, how many of you take pictures out of your windows in case of a flood to have the perfect before/after shots? So, work with me here. On the rightish/middle of the picture you'll see a tiny bridge. On a "normal" day we can't really see any water beyond that bridge. If you click the picture for a larger view you'll see the light posts that normally light the park/recreational area. It's flooded. Of course our part of the water is much higher than normal too. We had some deer on the golf course running around like crazy. I think they were thinking what Cupcake was saying: "Uh-oh"

Now on a COMPLETELY different subject...summer is over. Huh? Yep. It flew on by and our labor day weekend was no exception to the rocket speed of life these days. However, for one 2 hour period I got to turn back the clock....24 years. My first best friend Erin was in town with her brand new hubby. We literally haven't seen each other since Elementary school. Thanks to Facebook (not advocating, just reporting details) we recently re-connected and I was able to find out they'd be in town for a weekend get away. We planned a breakfast at Kerbey Lane on Monday morning. We walked in the door and it was like we had snapped our fingers from a play date in Bear Branch to now. She looks, smiles, laughs, and hugs exactly the same as she always did and we had SO.MUCH.FUN catching up, swapping memories, sharing about our families, and taking a picture. The best part is the last picture I remember of us together we were in matching rompers with side pony tails. Oddly rompers and side ponytails are back in style. That's not my point.

My point is upon downloading the picture I realized, two decades later, so many milestones lived in separate worlds and crossing paths again for a quick 2 hour breakfast and....we still match!!!!


We LOVED seeing you Erin and Louie! You guys are so great for each other and it was a blast to get to see you in Austin. Here's to hoping that it won't be another two decades before our paths cross again. Thanks for making time for us in your awesome Austin tourist weekend.

4th of July weekend

For the 4th of July Uncle Brudder, Aunt Amazing, and Little Man came to town. We had SO MUCH FUN with them. We ate, took pictures of the babies, ate, took videos of the babies, ate, and took pictures of the babies. I think we did some other stuff too but so much fun was had around good food and cute babies that the rest is just details.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. We loved putting cupcake and little man on the splash pad. Little man has sooooo many facial expressions. He is just kissable! Check out this priceless one:

Here's Cupcake. Notice their matching swimwear....or lack of:


It was all fun and singing and clapping:


Until the fight over the ball. She's older, he's bigger. It's a draw:


Then Uncle Brudder talks about turning the water up. Cupcake's out:

Little Man is the victim of his Daddy's prank:

Check out this scream as water is shooting over his head:


NOT HAPPY.

But still fun enough to go back. This time Cupcake is the victim. Read this carefully before you watch:

Cupcake will slip. Mommy will scream-laugh. Cupcake will cry. In order to distract her we will all start to clap. She will be distracted. Little Man was already sympathy crying. He can not be distracted by clapping. Watch and laugh. Watch again and notice the feet flying into the air. It was really even funnier in person.