Looks Like We Need an Update

Sheesh. I haven't posted a blog since before school started. Bad Michelle. So I'll make it up to you and add a few pics of the kids and you will forgive me.

Well, Devon is loving kindergarten. Although she asked me a few weeks into school why they were doing the same work they did in Pre-K. I had to tell her that some kids may not have gone to Pre-K and need to catch up and the teacher wants to refresh everyone's memory.

About five weeks into the school year, the school has two days where there is early dismissal and they leave the afternoons open for parent/teacher conferences. I really like that the school does that. You get a one on one with the teacher and you see how your kid is doing. Well, when I went I got to sit in a tiny kindergarten chair in the hall and wait for my turn. I was out there for about 20 minutes (the parent before went a little over her time, but no biggie) but I felt like I was waiting for the principle or something. It was a very odd sensation.

When I did get to see the teacher. She told me that she was very pleased with Devon and told me her strong points are that she is a fast learner, an eager learner and gets along very well with all her classmates. Not bad huh? But then she got to the "concerns list." There was only one thing in that column and it was that Devon is "too shy and quiet" when talking to the teacher. Apparently her teacher has to ask her to speak up often. But she said that is also common for kids who are the first born girl.

It was real strange when Devon went back to school. Matthew only noticed she wasn't there when it was nap time. He was so used to hugging her before nap he would cry, stretching his arms out for his sister who wasn't there. Poor guy. But he has gotten used to it now. And oddly enough as soon as Devon started school Matthew started talking more. It seems not having big sister there to talk for him gave him a little push to speak up.

I've gone back to working at the church nursery during the ESL classes again. It's twice a week now, so it's twice the fun. This service is available to the students of the ESL classes who have kids. It's a bit challenging when we get a new kid because about 90% of the time they don't speak or understand English, AND they have never been away from their parents before. Talk about a scary experience for the kid! But we do our best to comfort them, and after many weeks they feel comfortable. Let's put a big emphasis on MANY WEEKS.

And finally, I am taking a class at our church that will last about 7 months called Disciple. I had many of my friends tell me about it and they all said it was a bit challenging because you go through most of the bible in that whole time. I was really excited to take on this challenge. But it's not quite what I was hoping for, but I am really enjoying it and learning a lot.

So as promised, here are some new pics of the kiddos. :)

I know I post a lot of pictures with the two of them sitting in this little car, but they play in it so often and this time Devon was wearing Chris's hat. I couldn't resist.

Hear Matthew wanted me to help him put on his backpack. He had filled it with books. So I asked him if he was going to school like Devon he actually said "Yes." It was really cute. He's such a silly boy.

California Day Four (Last Day)

On Monday we really slept in. We planned to go to downtown LA after lunch and see the LaBrea tar pits and the Hollywood walk of fame. Super tourist day basically. :) Then off to the Metro Rail back to the airport, and then home. At midnight. Texas time.

When we finally find the tar pits, I get really excited, this is some really awesomely cool stuff. Although I didn't really care for the smell. I loved how they had statues in the tar that were molded from bones that were actually excavated in the area. We even got to see the pit bubble. Big woah! Ok, my not so inner nerd is starting to show. I'll tone it down a bit.

After walking around the one big pit, we wondered over to the museum and had a look inside. It wasn't too huge inside, but they had a ton (haha get it mammoths. ton. sorry.) of skeletons, and that really surprised me. It was really informative, but I'll just show a few pictures and spare the "boring details." But one of my favorite parts I didn't photograph. They had part of their lab out in the museum and through thick glass we could see scientists cleaning off fossils that had be found in the back where they are still excavating. Oh so fascinating. I was born for tedious science work!

After browsing the museum we learned that there were places in the back where we could see them excavating. Oooooh!!
So after the pits, we headed over to Hollywood. At first when we were walking along the stars, I wasn't impressed. I didn't recognize any names. But eventually as we got closer to the chinese theatre we saw some big names.

Then we came to an area with look-a-likes everywhere. All trying to make a buck of course. I had to stop and get a quick pick with one of my favorite movie icons, Napoleon Dynamite. He stayed in character pretty well. It was his idea to do the "yessssssss" thing. Clever guy. :)

And then we saw the chinese theatre with all the foot prints and autographs in concrete, didn't take any pictures though. Doh!
And then before we left, we saw Michael Jacksons star. Of course it was the most popular in terms of having a mob of people surround it to take pictures and maybe mourn.

Then it was off to the Metro Rail! Which we got on just in time for five o'clock traffic. Fun! I did really enjoy the light rail system. It was very convienent for us, and was super easy to navigate even for out of towners. We get to the airport and get through much faster this time. Hooray! And even had time to eat over priced Burger King for dinner.

We got back to Austin a little before midnight and when Chris tried to call some of his police pals to give us a ride, there happened to be a SWAT call. I was like, "Come on. On a Monday night." So we ended up taking a cab to the East Substation and drove home to a very lonely Xander. Then shortly hit the hay.

California Day Three

We planned day three a tad more, to fit two adventures. And we even planned to wake up "early" so we could leave at 9:00. Our first destination was Raging Waters, which is a big water park. And once again, we had free tickets thanks to Tina's awesome hook-ups from Clear Channel.

Here is a picture of us driving up to the park. Of course I didn't bring my camera in, so this is the only photo I have.

I hadn't been to a water park in about eight years. We stayed for about four hours and then decided that was enough heat and sun. Plus, we were ready for lunch, which was in the car. We packed a picnic lunch to save some money. And it was a good thing too because we looked at the price of food as we were leaving and a slice of pizza and a soda cost, $9!! Highway robbery!

Once we left the water park we headed out to Santa Monica, aka The Pacific Ocean! Now I've seen the Gulf a few times and have even been to beaches in Florida, but non of those compared to the Pacific. It was crisp blue color, and of course there were mountains around too, adding to the awesomeness.

When we got to Santa Monica we drove down the PCH, Pacific Coast Highway. We saw lots of over priced beach houses and hotels, tons of people and even a Ferrari. You know you're in Cali when you see a Ferrari.

Also, about half of the stretch of the highway we drove was along steep cliffs. I suppose people are too busy looking at the ocean to notice if a rock fell on your car, unless it was a big one.

So once we find a place to park, and start walking around we see what was a type of "muscle beach," at least that what's I'm calling it because all you could do it work out and show off like these guys.
We walked over to the pier and had a look around. It was so neat. There were shops, rides, and street shows. Oh and lets not forget the freggin' OCEAN!

So I'm going to get it over with and tell you about being dragged, and yes the man did drag me, into "performing" with some break dancers during a street show. They were funny, and very talented, but they also picked the whitest looking people in the audience to pick on. It was awesome. Humiliating, but in an awesome way.

Now I'll admit I was a weeny and didn't go into the ocean. I was already in dry clothes and didn't really feel like getting wet again. Chris and Jon went in for about half an hour or so and Tina and I took pictures and hung out.

And so eventually the sun started to go down and it was time to go back to the apartment. That night we Had In-N-Out Burger for dinner, thanks to the marvelous suggestion by Gypsy. It was super yummy. We went back to the house and relaxed for the rest of the night.

California Day Two

Boy it sure was different waking up on my own instead of to Devon or Matthew. But since California time is two hours earlier than Texas. I had to have woke up at 5:00am Cali time, because it was still pretty dark outside. I just stayed in bed and dozed for a while until everyone else got up.

On the agenda for Saturday was Universal Studios! I was really excited about this. Since Tina works at Clear Channel she was able to get us all free tickets, which normally cost a little over $60 each. Yikes! Three cheers for Tina!! And it was only about a 25 minute drive from their place. Oh and have I mentioned they live pretty darn close to a mountain. I was incredible!

Everywhere we went there were mountains visible. I was in heaven. I love mountains! I just never really thought about the topography of Cali. Having all those mountains around makes the tectonic threat pretty obvious though. I was slightly worried about the .000000000999 percent chance that an earthquake could happen the few days we were there. So basically this means my thought process was,

"Woah. Mountains. Sweet. They're huge. We're surrounded by them. It

took thousands and thousands and thousands of years of tectonic activity

to create them. Wait. Tectonic activity? That means earthquakes. Oh man.

I didn't even think about earthquakes. Dang."

And then my worrying was over. Such a simple mind. I know. But here are some pictures of the mountains.

This was just up the road from there apartment. I don't know if I would ever go inside if there were a mountain right outside my house.

Yep. There were mountains by the ocean. Gorgeous! But technically we went to the beach Sunday. So this is a sneak peak.

So on to Universal! I didn't take my camera because they don't allow them on the rides and I don't trust people enough to leave it in a cubby hole while I'm on a 3-10 minute ride. Paranoid. I know. But it was awesome. First you go into a place called Universal City. There are tons of shops and big name restaurants. It seemed like they were going for a time square/Las Vegas look. Cool stuff.

After that you go into the actual park. We rode on the new Simpsons ride, which Chris said was his favorite. We also did The Mummy ride, which was an indoor roller coaster in complete darkness. Scary. Then of course was my personal favorite, the Jurassic Park ride! Let's see. I can't remember some of the other things we did. Uhg. And it's only been a week.

We also took a tram tour of the lots where they film tv shows and movies. It was really neat. The tour combined entertainment sections and also real sets. For instance, we drove down the actual Wisteria Lane (spelling?) from Desperate Housewives. I don't watch the show, but it was interesting the see how they just built there own neighborhood in the middle of rows and rows of studios.

We were able to get our hands stamped to go back out to Universal City and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Those are always fun. But pricey! We stayed at the park all day. It was awesome. Not once did I have to change a diaper or read "But Not the Hippopotamus" a million times. I had real conversations without interruptions. I could make decisions without worrying how they would impact a one year old and five year old. It was nice. But I still missed them. :)

California Day One

We've been back for almost a week now. I'd better blog now before I forgot what happened. ;)

Well, first off, we dropped the kids off on Thursday afternoon, meeting Chris's parents halfway to their house. It's a four hour drive total. We met at a McDonalds and the plan was to eat and let the kids play on the playground, but of course it was raining. One of the three days it rained this summer! We load up everything in Pop's car and move the car seats over. Then came the hard part, saying good-bye. The trick was to be sincere but not too sappy to where Matthew would get upset. Meaning I couldn't show how sad I really was, because I knew I would miss them. So I had to be tough. I did a good job because the kids left smiling and that was the important part.

We drive back to Austin. Now our plan was scheduled to leave at 7:40am on Friday morning. Instead of paying $25 a day to park at the airport, we park at the East Substatin, Chris's work. Seemed like a good secure place to park, within the large gates and surrounded by police cars. You can't beat that!

We wake up at 5:15 on Friday morning, get ready real quick, and drive to the East Sub. From there we walked a few blocks to a bus stop for the airport flyer, due at 6:28am. We cleverly packed everything in backpacks to make this easier.

As we are approaching the bus stop I realize I don't have any change for the bus and I wasn't sure if they took 20s. So Chris dashes across the street to a Sonic to get change. He ran back across the street just before the bus was pulling up. What a trooper! The bus gets us to the airport in ten minutes. Shocking. I know.

We go into the airport thinking, "yeah, we're here an hour early that should be fine this early in the morning." Then we see the lines to check in baggage. UHG! I was feeling panicky. An airport employee told us we had to go to a specific (and LONG) line to check in Chris's gun. It takes half an hour to get to the counter and it turns out we actually could have gone through any line. Grrr. So we pay for the bag and then fill out some paper work for Chris's gun. While there I nervously say, "We can make to the terminal by 7:40 right?" The lady then tells us the most amazing news, the flight was delayed by 35 minutes. Talk about relief. So we go over to where they really check the gun and then we were off to go to our terminal.

We wait in another line to take off our shoes and put everything through the x-ray machine. When we get out of that line it was 7:32am. If our flight had not been delayed we would have had eight minutes to get to the gate and board before it left. But luckily, we we're stressing any more.

We board on the plane. And arrive in sunny California where it was 74 degrees at 9:15am. Awesome weather! We collect our bags and hop on a shuttle bus to the Metro Rail. I was really impressed with the rails there. It took us an hour to get from the airport to Passadina, where Jon and Tina live.

We meet up with Jon and Tina and then we were off to Chinatown! We had lunch at Foo Chow, which was used in the movie Rush Hour. You may have heard of it. But we weren't that impressed with their food. Then we walked around, taking tons of pictures of course. It seemed pretty empty. And I was expecting more outdoor vendors, but maybe it's different on the weekends.

Then we headed back to get some groceries, because lucky me was getting cooking lessons from Jon, who buy the way is almost done with culinary school at the Le Courdon Blue. You know we're Emiril went. Yep. Jon's that good. :)

He showed me how to make mac and cheese, the real way. I've tried twice and both times I ruined the sauce and we had to eat buttered elbow macaroni. And Chris said he wanted quiche, so I got to learn out to make that from scratch too. Both were actually pretty simple, I just learn cooking techniques better hands on. We had sooooooo much cheese though! It was great.

Honest Abe, I mean Devon

Today was a day for one of our bi-monthly trips to Costco. I love it! But that's not the point of this short story. As we're heading toward the check-out counters, with a very grumpy Matthew, I see a display for kids vitamins, of course in jumbo bottles. Instead of just grabbing the one I know I'll end up buying, I compare all the different kinds (it's a sickness, I can't just pass by the other options there could be a better deal). And after a few minutes I hand Devon the bottle that I knew I was probably going to get.

Devon holds it and points to the bears for Matthew saying, "Bear. Matthew can you say bear?" She's cute and helpful, huh? So I load up all our goodies onto the conveyor tables and check out super quick as usual. When they push my basket to me Devon stops me with a very serious voice saying. "Stop. They didn't let me pay for my vitamins." She's been big on buying things herself lately. I turn to ask the cashier to ring it up real quick, but she had already scanned half a dozen things from the lady behind me in line. I told you, these people are quick.

I really didn't want to go back to the end of a line. So I go to a manager who is conveniently near me and tell him what happened and asked if he could ring it up for me. He was very happy to help so we go to an empty register and pay for it. While I'm swiping my debit card he turns to Devon and says, "Are those your vitamins?" She replied, "Yes. The lady didn't scan them and I forgot my money, so my Mom is really nice and is buying them for me."HAHA! Then he tells her, "That was a very honest thing to do. Just like honest Abe." And here's the best part, she told him, "You know, his real name is Abraham," in a very as a matter of fact voice. We both just laughed. He told her, "You sure are a smart kid," and we left.

I would have been so embarrassed if we had left the store and not payed for them. I just wasn't paying as close attention when putting my things up. Next time I'll know to check the kids laps when checking out. As for Miss Know It All, I can only hope she keeps up the confidence, but needs a little work on respect to adults. Luckily the manager wasn't offended.

Side story. As I was loading the car, I witnessed two cars back out into each other. One car was very calm and sincere, the other had a very grumpy lady who insisted on calling the police. When I had put everything up and the kids were loaded, I went to tell her they would be waiting in the parking lot a while for a police officer to show up, for maybe even two or three hours. But she cut me off at "Excuse me." She started yelling at me that I would need to "wait a damn minute for the police to get there," before she would move her car. I just laughed and turned around. Her car wasn't really blocking mine, but if she's going to be snippy, then too bad for her. We left for home.

Dino Park or Great Scott We Finally Made It!

Alas, a wonderful day came on Tuesday that was cloudy and perfect to spend a couple of hours in Bastrop, at The Dinosaur Park. I know it sounds odd that a cloudy day would be a perfect day, but with it being the norm this summer for the temperatures to hang out nicely above 100, clouds make it less burdensome. It was a 30 minute drive for us, but with the back seat full of books, the kids didn't really notice. Sneaky. I know.

When I pull into the driveway for the dinosaur park there were three small PrimeRose buses, which is a daycare out here. I was a little bummed, but then I noticed that they must have all come about 15 minutes apart because they were separated pretty well in small groups. Not too bad. The first place you walk in is the gift shop, which of course is bursting with dinosaurs in every corner. I about lost it. It was incredible. I might have to remember this place for Christmas presents for little man. Devon had to drag me past all the shelves of dinosaurs so we could pay to get into the park.

The park really consists of two parts. One is a 1/2 mile trail where you see the dinosaur sculptures and the other has a playground, picnic tables and a dino-dig area to dig for dinosaur "fossils." When we headed over to the trail to start the tour, we had a clipboard with scavenger hunt clues. I wasn't sure if Devon would get what a scavenger hunt was, but of course she found everything but one, and I couldn't even find it. It just gives us a reason to go back another day.

So here are the pictures I know you are dying to see. :)

Here are the kids with a Stegoceras. Once Matthew saw this he started squealing "di-di!" Too cute! And then as we walked on he was eagerly looking around the woods for more "di-di's." It really is a great place, as you walk through the trails it gives you the feeling of being on a dinosaur safari.

This is the kids with one of the most recognizable dinosaurs, the Triceratops. These statues are built to scale, so seeing just how big these creatures were is incredible. Or I'm just a big dino-dork.


Along the trail there were a couple of statues for photo opportunities and interaction. This is the kids with a baby Apatosaurus. After playing with this dinosaur Matthew didn't want to keep going. He wanted to stay and play with it. It took a little convincing, but finally I said "I see more dinosaurs" and he got back in. :) More sneakiness. I should write a book called, The Sneaky Mom.
Here are the kids with my personal childhood favorite, the Stegosaurus. It was huge!

I know the kids aren't in this picture, but you can't ignore the T-Rex. He is actually placed along the trail to where you go around a corner and BAM! there is a T-Rex. Very clever Dinosaur Park.
After the T-Rex, was its' nest with a baby T-Rex. The kids loved climbing all over it.


After finishing the trail, we had some lunch and the kids played on the playground and in the dig pit. But before we left, because dark rain clouds were headed our way, I snagged some pictures of the kids playing with this random T-Rex head. It thought it was awesome that there was a place in the back to climb in the mouth. Super funny.

Overall, this is a really neat park. If we are ever to win the lottery I would donate lots of money to this park. This is the only dinosaur park I have ever heard of. Oh and I forgot to mention most of the dinosaurs at the park, have been found in Texas. I thought that was cool. Of course I didn't show them all. I wouldn't want to spoil all the fun.

Hooray for Backup Plans

So this morning started out a little cloudy, and I thought "what a great day to go to the Dinosaur Park!" I've been wanting to take the kids there all summer and finally I found a day when we could go. We had no errands to run, no traveling, housework wasn't pretty caught up, and no one was sick, all perfect conditions for a morning trip to the dino park. This morning I was able to pack a picnic lunch without the kids even noticing. Once we were all dressed and it was close to time to head out I told Devon where we were going. She started bouncing up and down. Then Matthew started bouncing because Devon was.

At around 9:30 we head out to the car, because the park opens at 10:00, why they don't open early in the summer is beyond me. So the car is all packed and I am buckling Matthew when it dawns on me that when I was looking at there website the other night it said they were CLOSED on Wednesdays. I wanted to cry! All that work and good timing gone to waste. Bummer.

So I gently tell Devon that they are closed today and she actually took it very well. I still got in the car and started it. We had packed a picnic and the stroller, by George, we were going somewhere. So the next best thing was Zilker Park, because it's free. We head out and when we get there I see daycare buses. Uhg! Luckily they weren't on the playground and the kids got a good 30 minutes before the daycare kids came over to the playground. After that we walked around Barton Creek, and watched the train pass by about four times. It's a shame I didn't have any cash on me, I could see Matthew was pleading with his eyes to ride it.

After we had all the fun we could, we ate lunch and headed home. We left at 11:30 and we were all sweating. This summer has seemed much more brutal than usual. A few weeks ago I tried to take the kids to a park nearby and even when arriving at 8:30 the equipment was hot to touch. So here is a small replay of the kids time at the park.

Ever since Matthew was about 10 or 11 months old he has always gone down slides backwards on his belly. It's so funny to watch. There was even a tube slide that he tried to wiggle onto backwards, he wasn't able to make it though because it was not flush with the platform.

Here the kids are driving the firetruck together. I somehow managed to get them smiling at each other. They really are some sweet kids.

This one is funny. Matthew looks concerned because I snapped this picture right after the Zilker train had tooted it's horn. He had never seen the train before, but he knew there was something interesting coming.

They stood up on the fire truck to get a good view of the training passing by. I really wish I could have taken them on the train. Next time I'll bring cash for sure. Matthew was pointing at the train.

This is of course my favorite picture. They were building a "pebble castle." That was Devon's term for it. I really am blessed to have some sweet kids. Even though they are four years apart they still play very well together and truly love each other and I think this photo really captures that. Of course they have their spats here and there, but that just helps them grow closer in the long run. Right?

First Harvest

Well, the tomato plants my neighbor gave me have really taken off. They are about 4 1/2 feet tall now. And there are lots and lots and lots of yummy tomatoes coming in. My Roma bush has about a dozen green ones and the two pear tomato bushes have about three dozen tomatoes on them. And I have learned a valuable lesson, gardeners need patience. Silly me thought that shortly after a tomato sprouted out on the plant I would get a yummy red tomato. Wrong. It takes about three weeks for them to ripen on the vine. So right now I just have to keep watering and waiting.

I have harvested two Roma tomatoes. They were yummy, but tiny. I haven't figured out why they are so small. I need to google that. The first tomato I chopped up and put in some guacamole, mmmmmh. The second tomato I let Matthew hold, and I toook a picture to show just how tiny it was.

Well, it wasn't but a moment after I handed the tomato to him that he put in in his mouth.

He wasn't a big fan of the green stuff.

So he gave it back to me seeming disappointed.

I took off the leaves and gave it back and he chomped down on half of it.
Then a few seconds later he stuffed the other half in his mouth. Once he was done chewing he started walking towards the back of the yard. He wanted another one. Cute huh? Too bad there wasn't any for him to pick.
I also pulled up one of my baby carrots too because I thought it looked ready.

I'm pretty sure they need a bit more growing to do. But it's getting close. Maybe in a month I'll try again. It was really bizzar. The carrot was bendy like a rubber pencil. So I'm only guessing they need to sit longer. Maybe I should google that too.