Get Ready for Some Pictures!

Just a cutie! Note the drool.....in EVERY picture!! Drives me crazy.

So, I haven't posted in awhile because we've been traveling. Mark had to go to a meeting in San Antonio a few weeks ago and then last week he had one in Austin. Yes, that meant I had too much time on my hands and did a lot of shopping, but I also got a chance to do some fun things with the kids. The greatest thing was that I drove in to New Bransfuls and got to catch up with my friend Carrie that I grew up with. We've been friends since kindergarten, but haven't gotten to see each other since Carrie got married over 3 years ago. So, we had a lot of introductions seeing how I now have 2 kiddos and she has one. I really enjoyed getting to see her and her family. Special thanks to her parents for driving over so that we could catch up too!

My best friend Carrie and her husband Chase and their little boy, Corbin.
Quickly becoming friends!

Of course we all know that if you have kids you have to bribe every once in awhile. Mark had played music in Reno, NV the weekend that he needed to be in Austin, so I drove down by myself with the kids and Mark flew into Austin instead of Dallas. I needed to be there in time to pick him up from the airport and get him to his meeting that started on Sunday afternoon. Obviously the banking world doesn't believe in weekends or no work on the Sabbath. Ha! Ella and Hayden were becoming a little restless on the drive down and the only thing I could think of to keep Ella happy was to tell her she could go swimming when we got to the hotel. It worked!! I then prayed the rest of the way there that first they had a pool and second it was heated. Well they had a pool, not heated, but they did have a hot tub that had a really shallow step that Ella could get partially in without getting overheated. It was still pretty chilly out so she LOVED it! Hayden wasn't to pleased to sit on the side with me.

Pool time in February!

Great sleeping positions. Since we had quality time sharing a hotel room for five days we were amazed at Ella's sleeping positions. I don't believe the child ever keeps the covers on, but you better believe the blanket stays put.

The next to last day we were in Austin I took the kids to the Children's Museum downtown which was just a few blocks over from our hotel and then to Barton Springs. They have a great park and we took our lunch there and then fed the swans and their babies and then went on the train around the park. I have a random picture on the train of this guy that stands in the middle of the park playing his guitar and singing. A little strange, but made for a fun time. Ella loved playing on the playground and ended up with more dirt on her than had she wallowed around with pigs. Unreal. Perfect weather though!! (I don't know why Blogger started underlining things under my next few pictures. Ignore.) I love this picture of Hayden. His expression is priceless. You want me to do what???

Ella doing some grocery shopping at the museum.

Not being cooperative for a picture. The usual.

Swinging!

The best thing ever was the Whole Foods Market downtown!! AMAZING!!! That is the coolest place I've ever been. You can find whatever food you could ever imagine there. Lots of single people that live downtown are floating around acting all important on their cell phones as I push my kids around in the cart oogling the many types of cheeses they have. Yes, I'm a nerd as stated in earlier posts. It really was a neat place, so neat in fact that I had to take Mark back down there for our only dinner together that week. I know we could have gone to a number of cool restaurants, but no. I wanted to eat at the grocery store.

The end! Sorry for the novel!!