Hiking and Picnic

Once everyone got up and dressed we went out to Emma Long, the 3 mile leashless hiking trail. The weather was nice and everyone, especially Lizzy, had a nice time. Evan did really well and walked almost the whole way.

At the end of the hike we found a picnic table and ate mostly Thanksgiving leftovers.

For dinner we all met Aaron and Mandy at BJs. We had to wait a long time to get our food, but the kids were pretty good.

We came home and put the kids to bed.

Gruene, Texas

This morning we took it easy and then left the house around 10:30 and headed to Gruene, Texas. Gruene is about halfway between Austin and San Antonio. So we met Aunt Diane, Uncle Jay, Susie, and Ryan there for lunch. We all had a nice time. The kids were good and enjoyed running around after lunch. There was a nice grassy field next to the restaurant. Then, we went to the General Store and got some tin boxes for the boys and some fudge.

When we got back home we tried to put Noah down for a nap, but he didn’t sleep.

For dinner we all ate at El Chile.

We just put the boys to bed. Michael and Jen went out tonight.

Here are some pictures from today and yesterday

Turkey Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, Rachel and I planned to run the 20th annual Turkey Trot here in Austin. We're normally in Dallas so given that Rachel's been running and our being in Austin for the first time since 2002, we decided to run it. It's a 5-mile run.

We set our alarm for 7:30am. At 7am, Evan came in and woke me up to ask me if I was getting up soon. I said in 30 minutes, so he went back to his room for 30 minutes. As soon as the alarm went off, he came back in.

The run started at 9:30. We left around 8:15. We got off Mopac at 8:30. It took us another hour to go about 2 miles to the parking garage. There was no one directing traffic, it was as if the city was unprepared for this run. By the time we got into the garage there were no spots left. We were going to leave and by some chance we saw someone pulling out of a spot and got that spot. The race was just starting as we got there but we were back with the walkers. As we ran we had to dodge and weave people walking with dogs and strollers and everything else for the first mile. By the time we finished the first mile, I was exhausted. It was incredibly humid as it was threatening to rain and the dodging and weaving was very tiring. We mostly walked the rest of the way but mixed in some running. All-in-all, we were very disappointed with the run. It just seemed completely unorganized. Even when we finished, they had run out of bottles of water.

We stopped and got Slurpees on the way home.

When we got home, Evan was sitting watching the Macy's Parade with Uncle Mike and Aunt Jen. He looked very cute sitting in between them.

We started getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner.

We planned on having dinner at 3pm. Papa's cousin, Jimmy came over. We got a Greenberg Smoked Turkey which we warmed up for dinner. We didn't end up eating until about 3:30 or 3:45 though. The dinner was very good. Grandma made sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping. I made a Jell-O mold. Grandma made cornbread stuffing. Aunt Jen made a salad and mushrooms. We also had cranberry sauce. Rachel made a Coke Ham. Noah ate the ham, the cranberry sauce, the Jell-o, a roll and turkey. Evan had cranberry sauce, a roll and the Jell-o. They both said they liked Thanksgiving.

After dinner, Evan and Noah ended up falling asleep on the couch. Papa took dropped Uncle Mike and Aunt Jen off at the Texas football game. When he got home, we woke the boys up, gave them baths and then we went downstairs for dessert. I made chocolate creme pie and Aunt Jen had made a pumpkin cheesecake pie. Noah asked for the pumpkin pie but didn't eat it. Evan asked for the chocolate pie but only wanted to eat the crust. The both ended up eating two clementines.

We put the boys to bed, and watched some of the Longhorns game. They are both still up.

Until next time...

Morning Walk and Preparing for Thanksgiving

This morning Grandma, Papa, Noah, Evan, Lizzy and I went to the school near us. Evan wanted to ride bikes so Evan and I rode the tandem bike there. While we waited for everyone Evan and I played on the playground. Evan and Noah played for a little while on the playground together and then we went over to the pond/dock. There was someone fishing there. The boys enjoyed feeding bread to the fish. We also had some fruit while we sat on the dock.

Once we got home, I left again and went downtown. I need to take care of something with the speeding ticket I got a while back.

The rest of the day was spent at home hanging out and getting stuff ready for Thanksgiving.

Papa picked up Uncle Mike and Aunt Jen at the airport and then we all went to dinner at Red’s Porch.

When we got back the house the kids were going nuts. They had fun playing with Uncle Mike and Aunt Jen.

Once the boys were in the bed the adults played Bananagrams.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

This morning the kids had school. I dropped them off without any problems. Noah went to school in his underwear, but didn’t go potty all day. He stayed dry though. His teachers said he did drink, but for some reason he didn’t want to go to the bathroom at school. Once we got home he went though.

While Evan and Noah were at school I went to HEB to get all the remaining things for Thanksgiving. I hope I got everything we need.

Grandma and Papa got here around 2:45pm. The boys were very excited to see them. They played outside for a while. We also did reading and writing (letter I).

For dinner we went to Docs. They have a nice play area for kids. We were able to sit outside and watch the boys play. Unfortunately, they didn’t have much that the boys would eat there. We tried ordering a hamburger. Our plan was to give Noah the burger and Evan the bun with vegetables. Evan mostly ate pickles for dinner and Noah just ate fries and Grandma’s tortilla.

We just got home. Morry made Evan and sandwich. Hopefully soon we’ll put the boys to bed.

Potty Training Success

So, I knew we’d be home all day today. I still had a lot cleaning to do. I decided today would be a good day to try potty training Noah. We tried a few months ago, but he wasn’t quite ready.

Today went really well. Noah was in the same pair of underwear all day and didn’t have a single accident. Evan was a good helper. He’d help dump the pee from the small potty into the toilet until Noah decided he wanted to start doing it.

Gabby came at 3:45 and I tutored.

Morry and I needed to pick up our packets for the Turkey Trot so we decided to all go to pick them up downtown and then go to dinner. Our plan was to go to Mongolian Barbecue. We got our packets and then found a good parking spot downtown near the restaurant. When we got to the restaurant the door was locked. It turns out they are only open for dinner on certain days. We ended up going to PF Chang’s across the street. Both boys did well. Noah went to the bathroom multiple times while we were there.

Morry and I put the boys to bed and are doing some more cleaning. Evan and Noah are still up. Noah keeps saying he needs to go potty. It’s hard to know if he really does or if he just figured out another way to stall before bed.

Battles

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning we decided to go to HEB. We needed to get ingredients for our Thanksgiving meal. Normally, if you go around 10am to HEB on a Sunday, it's not too crowded. I guess many people are at church. Today, on the other hand, with Thanksgiving right around the corner, it was pretty crowded. To be honest, I felt like HEB at least at the checkouts were somewhat unprepared for the rush.

We let the boys walk with us and not go in the cart. They weren't that well behaved. Several times they started fighting with each other. Sometimes they didn't listen about when we needed to move on. They were in good moods, just somewhat hyper.

We got home and I made some Pillsbury cinnamon buns for brunch. Then the Steelers game came on. The boys fought more than they normally do. I felt like I kept having to yell at them. I don't know what their deal was. Rachel spent the entire game cleaning the upstairs in preparation for our company.

The Steelers won by the way. Oh, and the NFL referees suck. Roger Goodell sucks. And Richard Seymour is a bum who should never be allowed to play again.

At the end of the game, Rachel put Noah down for a nap. He may have slept for a little bit, but it wasn't very long.

For dinner, we offered to bring Matt and Rachael and family pizza. We thought we'd pick up Little Caesar's on the way. But the one we were planning on going to apparently closed down...a long time ago. Thank you, yp.com - I will make sure never to use that site again. So we had to go way out of the way and the people there were not bright and so it took about 20 minutes just to get the pizza.

Our time with the Podbers was nice though. All the kids played together the whole time. It was very loud upstairs but it seemed like everyone got along. The only problem we had is I think we stayed too long. Evan pretty much had a meltdown on the way home.

We got home and after Evan and I fought for a while as I threatened to throw out his light saber, he went to sleep pretty quickly. Noah is still up though.

Until next time...

Haircuts, Date Lunch, and Salt Lick

This morning I went running with the other moms. We ran about 5 ½ miles.

When I got back home we took the boys to get hair cuts at Great Clips. Then, we came home and around 12 Gabby came over. We asked her to come around lunch time so Morry and I could have a nice, quiet lunch together.

Morry and I went to Satellite Bistro and then went to a tea shop downtown.

When we got home we put Noah down for a nap and he actually slept.

Around 4:30 Robbie and Melissa came over. Robbie is town to take a board exam. We hung out here for a little bit and then we all went to dinner at Salt Lick. Since we got there early we didn’t have to wait for a table. Evan and Noah did pretty well. The food was good.

When we got home we gave the boys baths and put them bed.