Keeping a Promise...

Well, yesterday I made a promise to the kids that we would go hiking again soon - and the weather was just too beautiful again not to keep the promise I made yesterday. So after Church this morning, we headed out again. We stopped by Freebird's for a quick burrito to fuel up, and then headed in to Bull Creek - a great little hike with a running stream and lots of waterfalls and rocks to climb on.

While Saxon and Elizabeth did not make it yesterday, we did bring them with us today. And we are glad we did - they liked it. Will and Elena continue to grow in both their bravery and their skills in climbing. Almost to the point that they make E and I nervous at what they will attempt. As they learned today - going up is easier than going down!

Even Saxon got into it. Her climbs were not as big - but when she got up, she screamed a big "Hooray!"

At one point, Saxon ran up ahead and we followed chase. When we caught up to her we found her sitting on a rock ... thinking ... we guess. Glad she stayed still long enough to capture the following picture.

A little later we came to a point where the trail crossed the creek - but there were some nicely placed cubic rocks to help us across. The bigger kids were to the other side before we could check to see if it was safe - glad it was.

Then it was time to get Saxon across. We were so careful and gingerly made it across to the other side with no incident. Whew! And when we were safely across. Saxon ran off in joy - only to slip on a wet spot and slide into a puddle - soaked throughout!

If wearing out Will and Elena was our goal -we may have succeeded. On the way back to the car - they stopped and climbed up on a big rock for a little cat nap in the sun! Another awesome day!

A Day with Daddy

We had a great Saturday in Austin.  The weather was absolutely beautiful with a high around 80 degress and a cool, nice breeze the entire day. After a great soccer game in the morning (against ourselves - the other team never showed up) - Elena and Will and I headed out for a truly "Austin" kind of day.

We first headed down to the Barton Springs area for a late lunch.  We were trying to go to a new highly recommended crepe restaurant housed in an old airstream trailer in a gravel parking lot.  While the crepes looked amazing - the wait was over an hour - no dice with kids.  But we are definitely going to try this place again (http://www.fliphappycrepes.com/)

So instead we headed to a famous burger place - P Terry's (http://www.pterrys.com/)  The burgers here were nice and quick.  The fries were excellent.  And our tummies left happy.

To work off our lunch, we then headed over and rented a canoe.  We paddled out of the spring and into the main lake for a nice view of beautiful downtown Austin.  The kids say tons of turtles and a few nice fish.  Everyone agreed that we need to go canoieing more often!

During the canoe ride, Elena kept asking if we could tump over the canoe so she could go swimming.  Not what I had in mind.  So I promised her that when we got back to the canoe rental area, we could take off our shoes and wade into the creek just south of the Barton Spring.  The cold water felt really awesome!

We were a little thirty and warm - so we we headed into the main park to see if we could find some snow cones.  Yep.  Will had lime; Elena had bubble gum; and I went for grape.  It was a perfect treat for cooling off.

To end the day, we headed over to Mount Bonnel on lake Austin.  It is a good hike to the top, but you are rewarding with an amazing view of the lake, downtown, ...  I am proud to report that my kids are turning into little rock climbers.  While I was exhausted they get going and climbing!  They made me promise that we could go on another hike soon..... (see the next post for an update...)

Munchin' in Munchen

Munchen (Munich) is a wonderful city, and I was lucky to have a day to myself here today, despite the rainy, near freezing weather - but hey, it's Saint Patick's Day, so perhaps the weather was meant to remind us all of Ireland.

When you get the Irish and the Germans together, well, it's bound to be a heck of a party, and I was luck enough to happen upon the Munchen St. Patrick's Day festival near the Odeonplatz area of town.

Today you could hear the Irish music bouncing off all of the churches and old buildings.  Plus there were street performers at almost every block near the city center.  This was a day I wish I had some of my best beer drinkin' buddies (yes, that means you, too, E) with me to share the day.

I was lucky enough to first stumble upon the parade to kick the day off.

What you would expect for a nice St. Patrick's Day parade, with the small exception that apparently in Germany, if you are in a parade, you have an inalienable right to the been in any bystanders hands.  Just one more reason why I love Germany.

There was an entire platz with beer, food, beer, crafts, beer, and irish music and dancing.  The bands were awesome; the food was fantastic; and the beer was ... you know.

Wish all my friends could have been with me today - Munchin' in Munchen!

A Sporting Weekend

We are definitely getting ready for the Spring sports season - and this weekend got it off to a great start.  On Saturday morning, Will had a basket ball game - he is really doing quite well.  In the following movie clip you get to see him do some dribbling, some shooting, some passing, ..

After the basket ball game, we went to see Ali swim.  It was the Texas State final swim meet where the best high-school swimmers from the entire state compete.    As a sophomore, Ali got a silver medal in the freestyle and a GOLD medal in the backstroke!  Way to go Ali!

Then will had a baseball scrimmage - his first year in coach pitch little league.  The bar is way up this year - it looks like real baseball.  Will has started as one of the youngest kids on the team and he has had to work really hard to keep up with the older second graders.  But today he hit both a single and triple - and did a nice job at second base!

Christmas 2008 is now over (on the last day of February 2009)

Gram purchased a pretty, hand-painted stool for Saxon for Christmas - but it did not arrive in time for Christmas day.  So we waited and waited and waited and waited and it has finally arrived!

It was well worth the wait.  Saxon is now busy enjoying her new stool!

She is also learning to be quite the poser!

From Boulder to the Springs

It is day four in the Colorado mountains, and we are having a great time. This morning we went for another great hike just outside of Boulder. Pierre, Will, Elena, and I had a great time. It was a good thing we left Saxon back in town - this was a long hike and the kids did great! I would guess we were on the hike for about 2 hours - with a nice stop in a little clearing to rest, have a snack (Pierre's home made "concoction"), and to check out the view - and what a view it was. It is not totally clear - but the snow capped mountain range you see in the background is the continental divide.

While on the hike, we found a great rock in the shape of a bed - so, of course, we had to lie down for a short nap.


Pierre is the consummate hiker. He is patient, knowledgeable, and has all the supplies - making a day on a hike with Pierre always a total pleasure. In the picture below - you can spot Elena and Pierre coming down the mountain for a small excursion to check out the trail.

The kids got to check out Pierre's binoculars - a real treat. The visibility was great - so we could really see things very far away. We could have spent another hour looking at every tree in the distance.

After the hiking, we said out sad good-byes to Mary and Pierre and headed down south to Colorado Springs to see Mac, Pam, and the kids. They have a beautiful house overlooking Pike's Peak and the valley of Colorado Springs.


Mac cooked an amazing meal of chicken and kabobs and brats and hot dogs and grilled veggies and... it was really really good. Everyone enjoyed the meal in Mac and Pam's kitchen.

Graduating to Intermediate Sledding

Well - today is our third day in Colorado and we are having the time of our lives. We are so truly and amazingly blessed to have the friends that we do, and I feel so grateful for getting to enjoy the beauty of God's creations. You cannot help but feel small in the presence of such magnificence.

Today started out with a very relaxing morning. We stayed in our PJs for several hours, enjoying the good company, a hearty nut-butter breakfast, and basking in the warm sunshine.

After picking Luke up from school we headed back to the mountains in an attempt to find the perfect sledding hill (with snow, of course). On the way up into the mountains we stopped and did a little hiking at Boulder Falls park. It was beautiful to see the half frozen waterfall spilling out of the mountain. Certainly none of these pictures do it justice. While Pierre and I took the kids on this hike, the Mommies with Saxon in tow headed up to get some sandwiches for a picnic.

We headed up towards what we believe is an old mining town - although we found little signs of a town - called Caribou Flats. After questioning the decision to go down a torn up dirt road for several miles, we finally came across the most amazing sledding hill I had ever seen (although currently I have only seen 2!?) What a great reward for a long trek. It was gorgeous.

Will took to the snow immediately. He and Luke had a wonderful time sledding down the first hill. Pierre and I followed them. There was only one other family on the hill - and as it turns out they live just about 10 miles from us back home in Texas - what a small world.

After sledding the first hill a couple of times, we stopped to enjoy our picnic lunch and take in the view - again, amazing. Food never tasted so good - even if it was organic, cheese puffs!

After lunch, Pierre, Luke, Will, and I headed off to a higher peak - all virgin powder - completely unsledded. We were wilderness men!



After a couple of good runs at 10,000 feet and 29 degrees - we were all a little chilly and ready to get off of the mountain. So we headed down to the nearest town, Nederland, to find some hot chocolate and hot totties. We found a little coffee shop in an old train car nestled in the snow - how awesome. It was great to warm up a little.

Now we are back at Mary and Pierre's beautiful house getting ready for a nice dinner. We all have that awesome tired and satisfied feeling that you can only get after a very active day!

A Day in Boulder

Today we went to Boulder to visit our friends Mary, Pierre, Luke, and Target. They have been dear friends of our for many many many years since Mary and Elizabeth were Fish Camp co-chairs together in College. They just moved from Texas to Colorado, and we have not yet had a chance to see their amazing house.

Saxon made herself at home, immediately challenging Pierre to a game of chess. Pierre would not engage. Saxon can be an intimidating force. Their house is absolutely beautiful.

We went into town to have lunch at, what else, a burrito place. They already know Pierre by name. No surprise here. The food was really good - but no Freebirds.

After lunch we had some super duper yogurty yogurt and cupcakes. Saxon made quick order of her after lunch treat.

After lunch, Pierre and I took Will, Elena, and Luke up to Eldorado Canyon Park - what an amazing place. Mary and Elizabeth stayed home to get Saxon down for a nap - a good move on our part.

The trails were very nice. Will started out a little tentative - but he quickly turned into a little Spiderman, climbing on everything.

After hiking up the mountain, we then came down and found another trail that ran along a half frozen creek bed. It was beautiful to see the water running under the ice through the beautiful amazing canyon. I could have stayed for several more hours, but the sun was starting to set.

On the way back to the car - we found a little icy pond (frozen solid) to let the kids sneaker ice skate a little. It wasn't too long before we were singing a little Chubby Checker. It was really all Pierre's idea!


Now we are back at the house eating dark chocolate and waiting for a fresh hot pizza delivery. The perfect end to an awesome day!

First blog post - and First Day in Colorado

Well, this is our first blog post ever - and the first day of our vacation in Colorado. We had a great and easy drive here - ~16 hours from Texas. I did not grow up doing a lot of driving, so I don't look forward for being on the road with three kids and a dog for two days - but it is never as bad as I fear it will be. Elizabeth is a master at getting games and art supplies, snacks and movies, and everyone has a good time - even grumpy Daddy.

After arriving at John and Ashley's we headed out to Estes Park for a little mountain fun. There has been very little snow fall in Colorado this winter - so we had to hunt for some good patches of snow.

Our hats are off to Gram - the first order of business was, of course, making snow angels!

Apparently for snow ball newbies, you can get snow ball makers. Will had a blast with these contraptions. I have never gotten hit my more perfectly formed snow balls in my life - or course, being from Texas my experiences are very limited.

Saxon had a great time in the snow!


The next item on the agenda was learning to sled - this was new for everyone in the family, including Elizabeth and I. The two "E"s are the extremes. Elena is a total daredevil - willing to try anything - no holds barred! And Elizabeth, well, is not. But everyone had a blast!

Besides sledding, there was also a zip line between some of the tall mountain trees. All of the kids, including Saxon (with a little help!) had a great time here.

After a great day, we headed home for a nice glass a wine and a hearty meal (Thanks Ashely!) The bar is high for the remaining days - but we will soon be off to meet our friends Mary and Pierre for a fun day in and around Boulder!