prehistoric black friday: chaper 3: happily ever after

Are you tired of my pictures yet? This is definitely picture overload, but I don't scrapbook or even get prints of my photos most of the time so I will keep the memories here for now. 

chapter one      chapter two

After we left the museum we decided to walk through the campus (since it was a lovely day) and see if the LBJ Library was open. (It's free, by the way!) We did make it there and yes, they were open. It was busier than the museum and I think we were the only people that brought children under 15 years old. It was also lunchtime and the kids were getting restless so our visit was verrrry brief (we have been there before though and it's really interesting).

oh look! downtown Austin construction! That's always a nice addition to great photos. (yes, that's the UT tower in the background... we didn't make it over there, but there's always next time.)

I really like this picture. It has a retro feel to it (at least to me). It's like we had the entire place to ourselves... which we sort of did. Inside was a different story as there were many older(ish) folks milling around (wait, does this mean we are old?)

We went to the 10th floor and saw LBJ's Oval Office (replicated) and then someone or maybe all of us started feeling really hungry. Apparently cinnamon rolls will only hold you over for so long (especially if you accidentally burn them.) T suggested bar-b-q or my favorite Mexican restaurant, Maudie's. Seeing how the last time I was going to eat at Maudie's I was experiencing contractions and was on the phone with my doctor's nurse when we pulled into the parking lot only to be told, "No, you can't eat lunch. Go to the hospital." I jumped at the chance for my favorite enchiladas! 

The food was perfect. The kids' behavior was exceptional. The tacos, chips & salsa, rice and beans and, of course, the enchiladas were all I had hoped and dreamed of for over 2 years. As many times as I make tacos and enchiladas at home I fail so badly to replicate my favorite.

she was worth missing Maudie's... although I still don't know why no one brought me some in the hospital

I know it sounds terrible that I hadn't been to Maudie's in over two years when I have frequently gone to Austin for doctor visits and such. It's just that my Maudie's is not close to my doctor's offices. And I like it being a special treat. It's a special place to T and I. I remember lunch breaks spent there while we were both working/living in Austin and childless. It was really fun to take the kids and reminisce about those days. We even drove to our old apartment complex (and I went in and asked how much they were going for just for fun). We stopped by our friends' place (they are getting married this weekend!) and said hi. Then we thought of going to Mount Bonnell (very cool, holds some great memories, too), but it was packed (what's with that?) so we just drove around and looked at all the awesome houses out there. Very much like back in the day. By then the kids were falling asleep so we drove home and rented Captain America and Horrible Bosses from redbox to end the night. Awesome daytrip vacation. I can't wait for 2012 Black Friday.

We had such a great day. I'm looking forward to next year! I'm glad I could share it with y'all, too. 

this sums up our lovely, lovely day

prehistoric black friday: chapter 2

If you noticed in yesterday's post the museum was not very busy. We happened to get there an hour after it opened and were pleasantly surprised by the lack of people. We were about 3/4 of the way through the exhibits when we started actually having to walk around people or say "excuse me". There was a moment when Ry started walking away with another family.... um, sorry kid, you're stuck with us. 

Now, let us get back to my mahr-va-lous pictures.

 See that gigantic skeleton there? (above these words) That, my friends, is the Mosasaur. (That's what we were looking at outside and sitting on it's vertebrae.) This is why I don't swim. I mean, I know it's extinct...

Here was another slightly smaller, not less scary creature. Look at the teeth. 

I failed to get a picture of the enormous armadillo. I'm sorry, I know you wanted to see it. I just took pictures of the kids reactions to things.

 above is an ancient zebra.  below is a giant tusk from something.

 above: Rose giving a very scientific explanation about skeletal structure. Below: D and the giant sea turtle

 above: the kids go fishing  

below: big fish

Last pictures of this post are from the wildlife exhibit.

Mountain lions bring up a lot of emotions. Mostly bad ones.

Tomorrow: Pictures of the family on the University of Texas campus. 

Have a lovely Tuesday!

for more on this trip see chapter one and chapter three

prehistoric black friday: chapter one

Friday T had the day off (it was a surprise!) and we wanted to go do something to take advantage of this. We wanted it to be as close to free as possible so we started looking at museums on line. The boys really want to go to a dinosaur place that is a couple of hours away (the entry fees are not nice for a family of 5 however) so we looked up dinosaur museums in Austin. Come to find out there is one! It's on the University of Texas campus: The Texas Memorial Museum and Texas Natural Science Center. The admission is free and that day parking was also free (in a VERY nearby garage) due to the holiday! I only took a hundred pictures so get ready...

 Outside the museum and science center is a replica of dinosaur tracks found in Texas (pretty cool).

There are also these fun vertebrae (replica) chairs. They are 8 times the size of the vertebrae from the Mosasaur (an underwater dino).

At the entrance there is a large saber tooth tiger (Rose was not getting close!) and I had to have a picture of the boys with it.

The day was absolutely lovely, too. Just had to mention that.

After you walk through the small entry way you see this. It's the Texas Pterosuar. It's hard to see tell how large this is but I couldn't get the whole thing in one picture. I practically had to lay on the floor to get this shot and the wing span is still not entirely captured. It's the "largest flying creature ever discovered." Um... awesomeness. The boys loved it.

D and Ry were identifying all the dinosaurs before I could even read the ID cards. Smart little cookies.

 Rose wanted her picture taken in front of dino skeleton but forgot to look at the camera and she ran away quickly after to find a giant petrified tree trunk.

They all carried their maps around and ohmygosh looked so adorable and like little scientists the entire time.
It's time for me to say goodbye today.... I can promise a lot more pictures tomorrow! I'll leave you with this

for more on this trip see chapter two and chapter three

Spectacles and Gratitude

Yesterday was full of adventure! Okay, not exactly, but it was fun and a tiny bit scary for a second...

Ry-Guy had an eye appointment and D was getting his glasses yesterday morning. I decided to have my mom watch Rose while I took the boys. My sister was home when I got to my mom's house and she needed to run an errand in the city, too, so she came with me. We took my mom's suburban and I had just enough time to get us to the doctors office on time for the appointment. Halfway there D says he is hungry. I sort of dismissed it with a "we'll eat lunch after the appointment" because he had already eaten a healthy breakfast. (no, really, scrambled egg and some yogurt.) (that sounds gross but was eaten like an hour apart) We are driving along and I hear D cough, which is not a big deal because we've been feeling cough-y and stuffy nosed lately. My sister turns around and says, "I think he's throwing up!" So I pull off the road and yes, indeed, he has. Luckily my mom keeps a large blanket and sheet in the back and we clean him up as best as we can and I took his shirt off... Now I needed to decide whether we should proceed on or turn around. After checking his temperature (the old fashioned way: back of my hand) I decide he is probably okay and we give him a bag in case he feels sick again. And pray it's just a weird combo of foods and he's not really sick. (Thankful for my mom's "emergency items" and my sister being there.)

Obviously his clothes are pukish so I have to stop at Target and run through the store and grab a shirt and pants and some baby wipes (to assist in more thorough clean up). The guy at the register asks how I am doing and I respond with a out of breath-ish reply of not exactly how I planned but okay. He asks how old he is (he is ringing up the clothes) and I say five, he spilled something all over him and I had to come in a grab some new clothes... I didn't say what he spilled. The guy responded with a "yeah, I've been there with my daughter!" (thankful for an understanding cashier and that my budget allowed this. Thankful I could leave D with my sis instead of dragging a puked on shirtless boy through Target.)

We make it to the doctor's office 3 minutes late. (thankful they aren't a super busy office) Ry goes in for his appointment and my sis and D wait in the front while he gets his glasses adjusted. (Thankful D is playing and is in really good spirits about his comfy corduroy pants and football shirt.)

Ry waiting for the doc

D sportin' his new eye wear. (and new shirt)

Everything went well after our car sickness episode. (was it car sickness????) We stopped a few more places and then headed home. (Thankful D is feeling back to normal and loves his glasses.)

Hopefully a nice day today. I have some stuff to catch up on + the usual "stuff". It should be lots of fun!

Wedding Weekend pt 1

Friday afternoon T and I headed out to Houston/Spring for the wedding of his long time friend K. T was a groomsman and we decided to be good and attend the rehearsal, thus leaving Friday afternoon and staying the night with some friends. The rehearsal was everything you could imagine it to be. I sat with one of our friends who is getting married in December and talked to her about planning a wedding. I told her to ignore the bossy woman up front who came with the venue as a coordinator because she would be directing everything herself. (We may or may not have come up with a terrible nick name for the lady.)

After we left the rehearsal dinner we drove to April Sound.... yeah. We totally made friends with all the right people. Saturday we woke up (T and I slept on bunk beds... not as awesome as you would think) and had breakfast tacos and thank-the-good-Lord, coffee.

 We then drove down to the marina and hopped on a boat and chillaxed until around noon on Lake Conroe. T and M (another friend) had to go to the wedding venue and get dressed and take pictures and nonsense like that, so I hung out at the house with Jess (M's fiancee) and got ready to go.
The rest of our crew finally came back from the lake and in record time we all headed to the wedding.

There was a cool island that we sank anchor at. Beautiful.

This is where I'll leave you hanging. More to come tomorrow. I've got to take care of some of some things that were neglected while we were having an awesome weekend.
Mama

My "free time" Friday

I know y'all have been hanging on to the edge of your seats wondering what I did on Friday. After I got all the animals fed and watered I cleaned the car and washed the breakfast dishes. I decided then that I'd go ahead and travel an hour away to the city to visit some of my favorite stores. Target and Old Navy. I am happy to say everything I bought was on clearance so I got quite a bit for my budget. Last year I found the warmest pants ever from Old Navy and while browsing the clearance racks there they were! I only had one pair and longed for another pair during the winter. I found them! And I found T a pair (in the men's section). The boys unfortunately got left out of my shopping. I don't know why, but girl clothes were in abundance everywhere but the only clearance boy clothes I found were for infants. Rose got a pair of shorts for the rest of summer and a couple of things for next year. She almost never gets new clothes because my cousin passes down her kids' clothes to me and our goddaughter does the same.

The kids loved the zoo. D-Man was disappointed that they couldn't see the giraffes, but otherwise had a great time and loved telling us about it. Ry was happy he got to see a zebra and birds with red, scary eyes. Apparently they also saw a monkey grab something from a trainer and throw it on the ground. I think they were a bit astonished that a man was in with the monkeys.

I'm ready for some iced coffee before I start in on the weekend cleanup. Have a great Monday,
Mama

Our Day Trip. Round 2 (the end)

When I left off yesterday we had just done a lot of walking around trying not to melt from the heat... It was finally time to sit down and eat.

They had a delicious meal of Cheetos, cookies and yogurt. (It was a special day, who am I to force them to eat a sandwich and watermelon?)

After the park we found a museum downtown and strolled around in the air conditioning for a while.

Ry sporting a KoolAid mustache and observing oil well construction

Then... we went to the park. The kids ran off all the energy they could muster since the humidity and heat were sucking it out pretty fast anyway. It was finally time for one last push on the swings and one last slide...

Some one was having a great time on those swings. (As for the condition of the swing set... I was totally not worried at all about lead paint. I also thanked the heavens that my child couldn't reach over and scrape some into her mouth.)
We ended our day with Sonic's Cherry Limeades. The kids slept all the way home and I tried not to nod off too. It was very nice to get away from home for a few hours to play. 

Can you believe it's already Wednesday? Me either.
Mama

Our Day Trip. Round 1

We went on a little day trip and had our picnic. Our first stop was the old cotton and corn mill. They now host shindigs like weddings and fancy parties (we saw someone coming in when we left; I think it was for a Quinceañera).

1-Row Cotton Picker (1949)

 

 

 

We walked around the place and didn't learn much of anything. Instead of putting up educational posters under plexiglass there was a phone number listed on all the buildings and a number to push associated with each. I was kind of like...What!? Not only is this a self guided, at-your-own-risk sort of place, now I have to call and sit on the phone to find out anything! I didn't. Instead I totally made up stories for the kids.

I was pretty sure this old wagon hauled in the cotton or corn. The boys were fascinated with all the "old rusty houses".

I would love to finish this trip but I am still at the beginning. We have picnic, museum and park left. It would be the world's longest post ever so I'll break it up to keep us all sane. Since the kids just woke up and are now climbing all over me... I've gots to go. (Yes I did mean to say gots) They are hungry and I need the rest of my coffee.
See you tomorrow for Round 2- the picnic
Mama