Enchanted Rock

Brian and I have developed a nice tradition over the last few years of getting out of town on our birthdays. We usually head to West Texas for his (June 18) and Port Aransas for mine. Unfortunately, this year the red tide - which is a toxic algae bloom that makes you cough, watery eyes, etc. - was terrible in Port A, so we had to scrap those plans. We still wanted to do something for both my birthday and the Birth of Baha'u'llah, which is an important Baha'i holy day on the 12th of November. Another tradition we love is celebrating Baha'i holy days by getting out into nature with the kids. So... I had a nice low key birthday at home, and then on Friday we went to Enchanted Rock. We hadn't been there for a few years, and were very impressed by everyone's independent hiking/rock scrambling skills. It was perfect weather, if a little bit windy, and we had a great day. I think my favorite part was listening to Autry and Luke converse (in strong British accents) as we climbed. It was something like this:
Professor Luke? Yes, Professor Autry? I believe I've found gold! Oh, I believe you have! Let's dig it out, shall we? Of course! We are going to be quite rich aren't we? Oh yes! Professor Dad! Professor Mom! Can you please put this gold in your pocket? Lovely!
They kept us quite entertained with all the professoring as we huffed up the rock...



We stopped at our place in Stonewall for peach ice cream and cobbler on the way. It was 11:11 on 11/11/11 while we were there. Very exciting.

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There seemed to be a heart theme on our climb. Heart cactus...



Heart puddle...



There may have been some relaxing at the top...

Fall Fest 2011

Luke is eight!

Luke Kai turned eight this week. He was quite excited, requesting his favorite dinner (Fessan-Jan) and decided in honor of his birthday he wanted to take a one hour shower. Which he actually didn't end up doing, thank goodness, considering we are in the worst drought EVER. On his actual birthday (Thursday) we brought cupcakes to his class, he was victorious in the first soccer game of the season, we had his fave dinner, and then mom and the aunties (including Grace) came over and we watched some funny footage from the day he was born. His party was on Saturday, and we played soccer and had cake and presents at the park. It was fun celebrating our sweet boy. Luke at eight is a total and complete joy. He is snuggly and funny and thoughtful. It can be hard to get his attention, as he is usually completely immersed in his imagination, which he expresses with stories and art. He is still into mythology, thanks to the Percy Jackson novels. His newest interest is Egyptian mythology. He will happily have his nose in a book all day, and becomes totally immersed in whatever it is he is reading. He also likes legos, soccer, drawing, webkins, and playing with his sisters and Jack. He always tells us he likes the country more than the city, quiet more than noise, and being home with his family more than crowds. He is very proud of his uniqueness and so are we. Happy Birthday, Lukie Loo!

Tea Party

So, I froze up on blog posts for a while. The more people mentioned to me that they had read the blog the more I felt pressure to write something funny or insightful... Which led to me writing nothing at all. Which is silly. So, on with the documenting, off with the self consciousness. Without further ado - the girls had a tea party and this is what it looked like.










I made my first quilt (crib sized) and this is what it looks like.




Brian is incredibly good looking and this is what he looks like.

He won't be able to get away with this much longer.

Brian was telling someone this story the other day, and I figured I should write it down here, because it is good one... We were in Port Aransas at one of those cheesy beach souvenir shops. Brian told me to tell the kids that they had hermit crabs in the store so I sent them off to go look for them. A few minutes later a tall, blonde sales clerk comes up to me and asks me if Luke is my son. I told her he was, and she laughed and said he had just walked up to her (let's assume thinking she was me), grabbed her butt, and said, "I thought you said there were crabs in here?"

Patriotism

Yesterday while Autry and I were on our way to pick Cormac up from the vet, she asked me when her swimming lessons were.
Me - When we get back from our trip.
A - Allie's birthday?
Me - No. Sometime after that.
A- Is it going to be on anyone's birthday?
Me - I don't think so.
A - Except for Jesus, right?
Me - ?
A - It might be on Jesus's birthday.
Me - Honey, do you know when Jesus's birthday is?
A - (with great enthusiasm) Fourth of July!

Recently

Brian and Autry had a daddy-daughter date last night. Apparently Autry was beside herself with excitement at the undivided attention. While they were eating, she asked Brian a few questions about his tattoo, and then asked him if he wanted to get a tattoo of her face when he was older. When he answered yes, she beamed, lifted her glass, and said, "Cheers!"
Let's hope she doesn't remember that promise...

Luke told me he and Jack are best friends "not because we really ARE LIKE each other, but because we really LIKE each other."

So far summer is off to a great start. We have been swimming every day since school has been out, sometimes twice. Autry started her new "team" dance class. Sierra is doing swim team and loving it. We've had sleepovers, grandparent time, cousin time, soccer and lots of reading... We are staying up late and working on the sleeping in part of that equation. There is a nest of Carolina Wrens in our bathroom window, and we are fish-sitting Mom's classroom guppies for the summer.