We're Moving!!!

We're outta here! our boxes are packed, kids are in the car, mail is forwarded, goodbyes are underway. Yes, we are leaving blogger. Wipe those tears, it'll be ok, we just have a new address for our blog. Don't be a hater, just bookmark a new URL and we'll continue on like nothing happened. Here it is: http://www.austinbarlows.com
There, that wasn't so bad. See ya on the other side.

pumpkins are just messy

This year we opted for a little painting of pumpkins instead of scooping the guts and goo. Gwen and Harrison were really excited to be the master artists of their own pumpkins, but lets just say that either way you look at it, pumpkins are a messy deal.


Here is what mine looked like before...
artists hard at work.
And here are the finished products. Do you know who made what pumpkin? Well we shall see how long they last, I mean really they only have to survive four more days, around here that is asking quite a lot though. Alright Halloween we are ready for you.

The bread crumbs lead to our house

Hansel and Gretal will be the costumes of choice for this years Halloween. Um mostly because I am still able to choose the kids costumes. I know what you are thinking, um why the tiny tiny pictures? Well it is because I couldn't get the larger ones to copy over. Lame I know. I suppose that means that you will just have to wait to see what they look like on two little Barlow's.



Or you could just click on them, but that will link you to the costume store.

A camping we will go

This weekend we took the kids camping at Granger Lake not too far from our home. It was really fun to see the kids trying new things as we set up camp and got ready for the night. Gwen helped James set up the tent for a few minutes and she was pretty good at assembling the tent poles.
While James and I unloaded the gear the kids made themselves right at home in the car. Yikes!
James took some time to show Harrison how a professional starts a fire...
But Harry was a little more interested in just being a rock star.
We let the kids make a good attempt at cooking hot dogs, and roasting marshmallows, but in the end they just wanted to eat the food and not cook it. Turns out that the Barlow's are not really the hunter gatherer type, maybe more along the lines of open and eat.

The kids did really well sleeping in the tent even though it did end up getting a little colder than we thought. All in all a fun and exciting trip. I think that next time will be better just because we now know what to expect with the kids, and they can get all excited to use their little sleeping bags which were a huge hit. Hooray for family camping.

Waco at its best

We took a little trip to the Waco zoo this week and my friend Christa and I braved the adventure alone with the kids. The trip may have started out with a rocky car ride, but as soon as the kids were free to roam and see the animals it was great.
We saw this giant orangutan, and this picture doesn't do him justice, he was creepy looking, and may have just become the scary thing in my nightmares. The kids didn't really care too much about him because he wasn't really doing much, but the area around him was full of things to do.
Like ride on little stone horses. Giddy up!
We saw lions, two females to one male in the exhibit...now does that seem right?
We saw Tembo the elephant, and some other one too, but apparently he was not worthy of a name.
Stopped for a potty and snack break, Harrison and Lexi became fast friends that stayed together pretty much the whole trip.
Saw the aquarium.

And the peek a boo window for the alligators and crocodiles.
And then Lexi showed us how to rocket down the slide that goes through the otter's home.
Ready, set, go!


Gwen took a break with Christa and baby Brooklyn in the rocking chairs while everyone else took more turns on the slide.
After that and lots more exciting animals we wound our way back to the exit and took a really quiet ride home, with lots of worn out and sleeping kids. That is the way to travel.
I do love a good trip to the zoo, and it is even better when the kids love it too.

Risk it all!

So I just won a game of Risk! Now if you have ever played the game with me then you know how amazing this little feat is. I am usually the first one demolished on the board. Not tonight.
To top it all off I was able (with some useful coaching by James, who was already out at the time,)
to clear the board of all the other player and win the game all in one single turn. Who could have imagined that, not me. So this one goes out to Mike Frost who would and could beat me seven ways to Sunday in that game. Wish you could have seen it.

when baby turns two!

My baby turned two on Wednesday!! What! It was kind of a funny day. We sang to him in the morning and then it seemed like business as usual. It was when James brought home the cake all the Oooh's and Aaahhh's burst from the kids. And after that I think that the waiting to eat the cake was the hardest.
The whole day I was thinking that he can't really be two already, can he? Um yes he is totally two. Here are their cheesiest faces. Can you see the mischief behind them.
The barnyard cake waiting to be ripped apart, but first on to the presents.


Finally it was time for the cupcake barn, and everyone was more than ready to dig in. I think that each kid packed in at least three cupcakes, or at least the frosting from that many.
And then went back for a little more.
Here is to birthday's and a giant welcome to the terrible two's. Bring it on. We love you Harrison.
Here is Harrison saying a little, and I mean little, thanks to both Grandma and Grandpa Barlow and Dattage. Books and trains are just his thing.

when it rains it pours

Sunday was a day of rest...and rain. Around here the rain storms are huge which also leads to giant amounts of mud and puddles, or in our case both. After the heavy rain fall that we received the kids gladly bolted outside and ran a muck, and mucky in lots of ways.

From head to toes and everywhere else the soppy wet made its mark.


Big jumps by Gwen, and don't ask me how, but one side of Harry's face is totally covered by icky mud and grass, but contained mostly to one side. How does that happen?

Our back yard now looks like a giant mud pit thanks to the kids ability to take advantage of the rainfall, but at least we have some killer photos of dirty kids to show for it. All in a day of rest.

hidden in the depths of my phone

I feel like we have not really been doing anything that is really that interesting or new so I have been struggling to blog. I know that a lot of our friends are on vacations, traveling, having new babies, and finding fun things that their kids are doing in school, but that is not at all what is going with us. We have been doing the lazy day stuff and that is about it.

However as I was updating my phone today I found a few pictures of the kids at the dog park from earlier this week that I thought were kind of funny.
Gwen and Harrison found use of the dog training materials at the dog park, and none of the little dogs even came close to using them like the kids.

First you start running in a small circle,
jump up and run through the first...
and finish strong through the second one, then repeat over and over.
When the inside of the dog park was a little too much, or in Gwen's case she bonked her head, it was off to the other side of the park, the people part.

There are two volleyball courts and this is where I spent the rest of the time while James had Spock.
I had a feeling as soon as we approached this sand pit baths that night would not be optional, no matter how late we got home.
I was right. They had sand all over their clothes and in every little nesting place the body has to offer.
At least they were good, and played nice. It wasn't much later after this that we had to book it out of there because the mosquitoes were out in full force. Now we know that the dog park has a lot to offer, even if we don't stay inside the part for the animals...I think that next time we will be sure to bring some sand toys, and bug spray!