keeping Austin weird

For those of you who don't recognize the title of this post it is the motto of the city of Austin. And this little adventure that we went on just so happens to up hold that little motto. During the holidays there is a special street that is known for its unique decorations and political statements. Welcome to 38th street. Here are just a few of the interesting designs. First this is a shiny marlin. That is exactly what I said...marlin?
Here is a little motor bike...and the wheels are rotating in lights, and those are pink flamingos in the front, don't ask me I just took the photos.
Here is a little manger scene filled with white house staff members...and yep Condi is the angel.
These are fish that are made out of cans, pretty crafty.

Here we have a peace sign that is a little shabby.
A look down the street. You can go in the backyards of some of the homes. It is that serious.


Domo erigato Mr. Robato...

Cooking classes anyone. Arial and her friends showed up for the event.
This is a pirate ship that is home to a few classics like barbie, and wonder woman riding a spider? Ken is in the front of the ship surrounded by a school of fish.
Thanks for taking a trip with us. We hope that you enjoyed the ride. Who knows what will be there next year.

Christmas morning do over

Well I have to apologize because I was taking some pictures later in the day on Christmas and I just needed one more and so I went to delete just one and I was in such a hurry that I hit the delete all button, so here are the mock up pictures of our Christmas morning. I have to say that I have never quite been so disappointed in myself or quite so pleased with a fake outcome. So here you have Gwen in jammies and with some presents from my sister Lisa. James is modeling a new watch and in back of me there is a new surround sound system for James. These are a few of our holiday goodies. Seeing how practically all the gift opening pictures turn out the same we figured that we would spare you from having to see all of them. Oh wait a second I erased them so I guess that this is all you get. Merry Christmas.

the long trail of lights

Welcome to the trail of lights at town lake. We will be walking you through it and we have a few pretty good pictures that will show you just a glimpse of what we saw.
It was a little cold so we bundeled up, that meant all of us even Gwen. This time we were prepared for the cold. She has a hat and mittens that we managed to keep on her hands the whole time. That in its self was pretty amazing.


This tree was my favorite. I can't look at it and not wonder how many hours it took to string up all those hundreds of thousands of lights. And what the electric bill is for just one night?

Here is only one of many positions that Gwen would use throughout the night.
Here is a little look into Candy Land. I don't think were in Kansas anymore Gwen.
Here we are at Pooh's Corner and all of his friends were there, and a few thousand more people as well.

You are getting sleepy Gwen, very sleepy. Too bad she never went to sleep for real.

This is one of many arch ways that we walked under. This one was like a starry night.
Here is the beginning of the trail as we are driving away. It looks pretty neat along the city scape.
What a little trooper she did really good and she was only a little pain for a small amount of time, considering that we were out for a few hours. I think that the trail was neat, for me it was a mix of Temple Square and the pumpkin walk. We had a good time, but there were a ton of people out so that made it kind of tricky to see everything and get around easily, but all in all I think that it was pretty fun.

pony's are us

Today we were able to put some of those golden little locks that we have on Gwen's head into a little ponytail. The funniest thing is that I do believe that I have had a ponytail that little within the last year. The tricky part with Gwen is getting it straight and having it still be a ponytail. Lets just say that the girl can move...her head that is. She is always looking around and bopping her head to her own little tune. Try getting a hair-do out of that. I did, so that means it can be done. We will just have to see how long it lasts. My money is on 10 minutes.

media crazy

I thought that Gwen was just crazy about the computers and cell phones, but I was so wrong. Just under a week after she started long distance crawling she found that she can get to the T.V. That is where I underestimated her. The tree has been the object of her attacks lately, but I turned around the other day, and the media center was under seige. She had actually pulled out the DVD player and the pvr box. When I pulled her away she gave me a look like I was crazy and she was so innocent. But I do have to say that those little plaid shorts are so cute and she has the innocent look down. I am just glad that we don't have any stairs, I don't know how we would keep her in one piece.

the new yoga

Forget your yoga routine, the newest craze around here is tunneling. All you need is a 10 month old child that moves like a freight train and fisher-price tunnel toy. Then simply get on your hands and knees and chase and crawl and tunnel, tunnel, tunnel like crazy. Now there is a warning label for sore and red knees and you will be huffing and puffing after the first 25 minutes for sure. However you will see an amazing improvement in the buttox...but just like any other fitness program there are no gaurantees.

a glimpse into the past

While we were away, I was able to take a little trip down memory lane with my friend Kelly Clark. Or since we were going back to our old stomping grounds maybe I should call her my Boss. Kelly and I decided to pay a visit to our friends the regulars...or as their students might call them F.E. Buzzbee and Rich Gordon. We got up and out of the house before 7:00 am, something that was nothing to even bat an eye at just under a year ago. But let me tell you that is a feat for me these days. I don't know about you Kelly, but for me it seems like that job and schedule was a lifetime ago. I had a great time re-hashing the past and talking about everyone's new lives. You know that I live for that kind of information. Well it was nice to have a little look back, even though there are very few things that are the same as when we were there. Oh and I even had a Bagel and cream cheese just for kicks.

sailing away

After a cold little vacation we decided to bring back the summer. So Gwen and I pulled out the pool toys. I filled up the tub so that she would float in the boat, and so she is rocking back and forth to scoot the boat to the front of the tub. Don't you love how she is giving her little friends the ducks a ride. She really is just trying to think of others. I think that she gets that from......JAMES, yes it would have to be James. Well if any of you get tired of winter come on over because we are working on summer in a big way, starting with the bathtub. So bring your swimsuits and come on down.