sick Hawken

When Hawken is sick, he wants to be wherever I am. Usually that means lots of snuggling and not lots of getting anything done around the house. But sometimes the laundry needs to be put away, so he'll lay on the couch and "help". While putting away a stack of towels, I came back to the couch to hang up the shirts, only to see that my poor sick baby had fallen asleep. So precious. So sick. Poor thing. (He's better now, it was just a cold)

Poor Kina

Poor Kina... she has her own bed in our room. It's tucked into the corner so she can have a space to be alone when the kids are being a little TOO friendly with her. But now, Solace, Sakina's biggest fan, has discovered that's where she sneaks away to. So now I often find him here with Kina. Snuggling with her, wrestling with her, playing with toys on top of her. And sweet Kina stays put. Knowingly looking at me with a "this kid is driving me crazy, but I love him still" look. We love you Kina. You are a good dog.

birth month

My birth month is over, but it was a good one. We still have some fun birthday plans that we're doing later, but everything we did this month was GOOD! Paul sent chocolates and a fruit bouquet, which the kids and I gobbled up in about 2 minutes. I got cards and gifts and happy birthday song voicemails... So far, I love being 30. :)

Plus, my dad still writes my name fancy on the letters he send me (birthday or otherwise), which still makes me happy. Thanks Dad.

tired.

Playing chase with a balloon that just won't stay put can be hard work. Taking a rest in the middle of the floor is a good way to recuperate, and try again. :)

science and creativity

Science experiments, building and creating. These kids sure love being free to do what they like. They are so fascinated by the world. I love to watch them.

Sully Eats Quinoa

Solace prefers to eat with a fork. He isn't very good at it yet, but he likes to do what we do. He's just now interested in prayers too. He watches us so intently as we fold our arms before we eat. I love this age of learning. Here are some cute pictures of Solace eating quinoa, with a fork, mind you.

Sundays

On Sundays, after a long nap, eating popsicles outside on the patio is the best. Lazy, nothing special, just our family, and we love it.

camping conclusion...

Our Austin adventure camping trip was so much fun. It is so nice to unplug and relax and jump in some cold water on a hot day. :) We stayed at McKinney Falls, but also visited the Blue Hole Regional Park, Jacob's Well, Pedernales State Park, Barton Springs Pool, Barton Springs river, and Krause Springs.  We ate at a million amazing restaurants, mostly food trucks.  We explored and swam and swung on ropes. We slid down lazy rivers and jumped off cliffs. It was a great trip.  A loooong video montage of our adventures is completed, finally.  Here it is.

The only thing we brought back home with us this time was a case of poison ivy all over Hawken. Poor thing. He was itching for a week.

Barton Springs River

We played at Barton Springs Pool one day. It cost a few dollars to get into, but is a natural spring that they dammed up the side of to turn it into a pool. Just below the pool, the water rushes down into a river. It's free down there and too beautiful. We tried it out and loved it more than the pool area. The ground was super slick, so the rushing water would push you downstream. The boys loved it.

The water was pure and clean and so beautiful. Really, gorgeous, right? Plus that sweet Lullers is the cutest thing ever too.

There was an awesome playground right where we walked down to the river too. So fun! We had to stop and play for a while.

fun

I don't know why these tiny carts are so wonderful, but they are. It makes shopping go a lot slower, because of course, having a cart automatically makes you in charge, and then of course, you will fight with your sister/brother about how many apples to buy, or which kind of oatmeal tastes the best, etc... But we sure did love finding these tiny carts in the grocery store in Austin. So fun.

Jacob's Well

We went to Jacob's Well again, since last time it was so cloudy. This time it was clear as can be and GORGEOUS! About a million other people thought it would be fun to go there that day too, so it was a bit crowded. Still fun though. Matix made the jump a couple times from a lower rock. I (nervously) jumped once from the high rock. Paul did flips and jumps from every rock there, including rocks that were behind other rocks, meaning he had to run and jump over another rock in order to even see the water... Scary! He is so brave. 

The videos make it easier to see what it was like. There is no place to sit a baby down there, so Sully was in arms the whole time. So, I only got three of the jumps on film. It was a very fun day. :)

Blue Hole - Wimberley Texas

My beloved camera lens was biting the dust on this trip to Austin, so there weren't as many pictures as I wanted. Also, the pictures that I did get were often blurry and out of focus... so sad. 

Anyway, I did get lots of videos clips. Matix was being nervous about the water and would only swing in on Paul's back, even though he tried several times alone. Hawken wouldn't try it at all, but wanted to be filmed jumping into super shallow water, and also being a crocodile... I jumped in the freezing cold water a few times too and even tried the scary ring swing.  Paul, not surprisingly, was right at home with all the crazy jumps and things to swing off of. The kids ate it up watching him. Lullaby was busy picking flowers most of the time, and Solace was passed back and forth between us while we took turns jumping in.  This place was super gorgeous. Another favorite spot, tucked away in the middle of nowhere... So fun!

in Texas...

While in Texas, I have noticed a very interesting sense of humor. When thinking of a way to advertise FOOD that I'm trying to sell, I would never think to talk about the gas that it might give you afterward...

"Cheapest gas in town, beans $1.89 a serving" Really, no thank you.

baby room at the Children's Museum

In July, Paul met us at the Children's Museum a couple times, since his rotation let him out at a reasonable time (some days). When he is there, I am able to take Solace up to the baby area. Only children under three can go there. I wanted to take Lullaby too, but she wouldn't leave her big brothers or daddy. So, Solace and I had fun all by ourselves, which really never happens, except at 2:00am, when Sully pretends to be a newborn again, but that isn't very fun for me... Anyway, Solace loved exploring the upstairs. This little car was the perfect size for him and he made all the car noises while he "drove". So funny.

A huge lite-brite. I loved it more than Sully did. He mostly wanted to taste each peg. Yum! Oh, and the tongue! He doesn't do this very much anymore, so I'm happy to see it in pictures. So cute.

Mini ball pit, and again, the tongue... So adorable.

Color wheel wall. Solace watched as I spun the wheels, really cool. I wish there was a room up there to put the big kids in so they can play while the babies play... Alas, this is a place I can only visit when there is a second adult around.

playground

We found, by accident, the best neighborhood playground ever. We were just there to buy a booster seat, but ended up staying to play on the fantastic playground. Everyone had fun.

Well, everyone had fun, until it was time to go and the kids wanted to jump off the huge rock to Paul. First, they jumped to Paul's arms, then Matix wanted to jump all the way to the ground. That didn't end very well.

Matix got cramps in his feet and screamed (in true Matix fashion) for a minute. Then got up and ran to the car. He is such an over-reacter. I'm sure it hurt, but a minute later he was fine and happy... So was the screaming necessary? It scared us into thinking it was a lot more serious than it really was. Stinker.