Matching

I love to have my kids match but can never find things in all three of their sizes. Needless to say I was THRILLED when I found these adorable pineapple swim trunks in all three of their sizes!

Aren't they just adorable?!?!

This & That

Sutton climbed into bed one morning and fell back asleep cuddling with Chad. I love this pic of the two of them-

 If you don't know what fidget spinners are you clearly don't have young kids.  Mine are obsessed with them. The other day Sutton was outside trying to spin three at once.

 Sutton finished swim school!!! He made some great progress and I'm really hoping he will be swimming next year!

We made smoked pizzas at the Ogdens house. They were SOOOO yummy and everyone had fun making them. 

 Chad was quite the pizza dough master.

 Daddy loves naptime on the couch!

One day when I was curling my eyelashes my had slipped. I pulled out like half my eyelashes!!!

 Summer mornings are my absolute favorite. The boys pile in my bed and we watch a show together.

 Vance went to a really cool obstacle training course with his friend. He's already begging to go back.

 One weekend we took the boys to Bass Pro. They love looking at the fish and sitting in all of the boats.

 Summer volleyball league started and I'm loving every minute of it. Our love story really started on the courts so volleyball will always have a special place in my heart. Plus seeing Chad kill it out there is pretty sexy...  I love even all these years later we still enjoy playing together!

 Found this gem on my phone the other day -

 The boys earn Reward Bucks for exercising. I walked in on them all doing a workout video. It was pretty much the most awesome thing every. They did push-ups -

 Push presses -

 And jumping jacks -

 We are definitely Cars 3 fans. We had to buy 3...yes 3...of the Cars 3 edition Lightning McQueens because the turds won't share.

 The look on his face says, "Don't even think about touching one of my McQueens!"

One of my good friends had a baby shower. I can't wait for Baby Carmack's arrival!

Sutton really doesn't understand how to drink out of a water fountain. He just lets the water hit his upper cheek and even into his ear sometimes. #myspecialchild

Cookie Time

One of my besties is having a baby so I helped throw her a fiesta themed baby shower. My main task was making cookies.  

13 bags of icing later I was finally ready to decorate...getting the icing ready is most definitely my least favorite part of the process.

Here are the finished products. I think they turned out pretty cute!

I made a few extras to decorate with the boys the next day.  They are getting better and better every time!

I love sharing one of my hobbies with them.

Look how good Vance is getting!

We promptly ate some as soon as the frosting dried ;)

Austin

We headed to Austin for a quick weekend get away. We haven't really explored the surrounding cities so it was fun to go explore Texas a little bit more!

Our first stop was our favorite kolache place. It is seriously so delicious!!!

The boys happily ate theirs while we made the drive to Austin.

The pics are a little out of order but I'm too lazy to rearrange them. For dinner later that night we went to Hopdoddys. It is a burger and shake place. It was so yummy!

The nutella shake was hands down the boys' favorite part ;)

Our first stop in Austin was the University of Texas. They were excited to pose for a picture in front of the iconic tower on campus.

We went to the student union, the bookstore, and just walked around a little bit. We talked to the boys about what kind of grades it takes to get into UT. I don't think you can start those kinds of conversation too young!  Look how cute they are in the bookstore -

As we roamed the campus we found Sutton Hall!

Now Sutton really needs to go here right?!

On the campus there is an awesome collection/library where they have a Gutenberg bible. Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press. It took him five years to print the bible. There are only 49 left! They also had the first photograph on display. It was cool to talk to the boys about how important these things are!

The next stop was the Texas State Capitol. It is a pretty impressive building!

We went on a tour of the capitol and learned some interesting facts. The boys were really into it.

These original chandeliers cracked me up. Texas really loves to have a star and the word "Texas" on just about everything possible.

I loved the view looking up. Pretty impressive!!

We drove around downtown Austin and saw some really cool churches.

We got a little snack at a food place a friend recommended. We got crispy brussel sprouts and Sutton loved them so much he wouldn't share.

Our next stop was HOPE Graffiti. It is an abandoned condo project that has turned into a graffiti gallery. The boys thought it was so awesome. Next we go we will definitely be bringing some spray paint for them to have a little fun too.

I love this guy!!

Our next stop that day was Congress Bridge. The bridge was expanded in 1980 and when they did the expansion they left 1 1/2" gaps between the concrete. Apparently that is just the perfect space for a bat.  A bat colony has made Congress Bridge their home. Every night from about March to November 1-2 MILLION bats fly out to go hunt for the night. People gather to watch the bats leave. 

It was SOOOO crazy to see. My pictures didn't turn out that great so I found a few online.  

Bats everywhere!!!

The highlight of the trip was floating the Comal River. We met up with the Ogdens, my parents, and a few family friends to float the river together. 

We loaded up on a bus and headed to the river. (Minus Sutton, we got a babysitter for him)

The float was pretty mellow and we had a great time!

About half way through we saw these people jumping off a wall into a tiny little rapid.  We swam to the side and joined them. It was SOOOO fun!

You could jump in and the flow of the river took you on a pretty fun ride for about 50 feet. Here I am jumping -

Grandma was on safety patrol on the sides. Hahaha!

I could hardly believe it but Keller asked Chad to do it with him. Keller is usually VERY cautious so this was completely uncharacteristic of him. Mama was a little nervous we had different men standing every 15 feet in case Keller got away from Chad.

It went just fine and Keller was all smiles!

Vance's turn was a little more stressful (he was fine but a little scared) so he stuck to going down in the tube.

After the river everyone was starving so we headed to the cute little river town called Gruene and ate at their iconic restaurant - The Gristmill.

The food was delicious and Keller thoroughly enjoyed his birthday dessert!

We tried Amy's ice cream one evening - an Austin specialty.

We also enjoyed just relaxing in the evenings. After the river everyone was pretty exhausted.

The next day we headed to Zilker Park. It is a 350 acre park with tons of different attractions. Our first stop was the botanical gardens.

The boys' favorite part were the fairy gardens. They are already designing one for our house ;)

They had a really neat Nature and Science Museum too.

Sutton and that magnifying glass crack me up!

We walked out onto a bridge to get a view of Lady Bird Lake. There were tons of paddle boarders and people kayaking. We will definitely try that next time!

Everyone was ready for a drink after Zilker Park so we headed to Austin's most popular candy shop and soda fountain - Big Top!

The boys thought "secret" Pokemon menu was pretty amazing!

Our last stop was Gourdoughs. It is a gourmet doughnut place. Lots of people recommended it to us and it did not disappoint!

It was a fabulous weekend! I think exploring another Texas city made Texas feel more like home.  I'm so used to knowing lots about the surrounding cities so knowing nothing about any of them has been a little weird. Now it's time to start planning our next trip!