UT Baseball and Pup Cup

Today Evan and Noah went to the UT baseball games.  There was a partial game first (a make up from yesterday's rain).  We dropped them off and then took Chewie to Hamilton Greenbelt.

We walked around for about an hour and then stopped at Black Rock on the way home.  The barista offered Chewie a pup cup (whipped cream) and he loved it.

We went home for a little bit and then went back out to pick up the boys.

They had a good time at the game.

From there we went to H-E-B and then picked up Torchy's for dinner.

Here are pictures from today.

UT Game

This morning we left around noon to head out to the University of Texas football game.  Grandma and Papa took all of us as an early Hanukkah present.

After finding a parking spot in North Campus, we "tailgated" and ate our picnic lunch near the car.

Then, we walked to the stadium.   It was a bit chilly, but still a nice time.  Texas lost.

We picked up food from Me Con Bistro and ate dinner at Grandma and Papa's house.   Then, we had leftover desserts.

Here are some pictures from today.

UT

This morning we slept in and took it easy.

Around lunch time we drove over to the University of Texas and walked around campus.

For a late lunch we went to Wild Wood Bakehouse, a gluten-free restaurant/bakery.  The food was good and the kids ate well, but it took a very long time.  We got some bakery items to go after eating.

Evan had a birthday party to go to from 3:30-6.  It was after 4pm by the time we got there.  We dropped him off at the park where the birthday party was and then came home.

Morry packed an overnight bag for Evan and left to go back to the party.

I cleaned around the house and baked cookies and rice crispy treats for tonight.

Morry picked up Evan from the party and from there took him to Josh's house to spend the night.

Noah and I went over to Grandma and Papa's house.

Michael, Jen, Maya, and Artie arrived around 7pm.

We all had dinner together that Grandma and Papa made - brisket, potatoes, squash.

The kids had fun playing together after dinner.

We just got home.

Monday and Tuesday

Yesterday I took the kids to our community pool.  They had a good time.  They were there for 4 hours, and even after that, still didn't want to leave.

Today, we met Lorena, Owen, and Liam at the UT campus.  We took the kids bowling at the UT student union and then ate at the food court there.  We walked around campus a little bit and went into the bookstore.

From there, we went downtown for Voodoo Donuts. The kids really enjoyed that!

For dinner we ate at Hula Hut.

The kids had fun playing together at home tonight.

They are getting ready for bed now.

Here are some pictures of our day.

Passports

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning we all got going early.  Rachel's car is still at the dealership.  How they are taking this long with an 100,000 maintenance, I don't know.  So we all drove up to Aaron's.  Rachel dropped me off so I could do some work.

Then Rachel took the boys to get their passports.  They had gotten the pictures done yesterday.  They just needed to go to the office on UT Campus to submit everything.  We're not going anywhere, we just thought it'd be nice to have.

After they were done, Rachel came back to the office.  We all walked across the street to the Little Deli to get lunch.  I think everyone enjoyed it.

Rachel and the boys then left to go to meet a family at a yogurt shop.  The boys are supposed to go to a 4-night sleep-over camp in a few weeks.  They were meeting a family that has two kids that are going.  Those two kids have been there before.  The one boy will be in Noah's age group.

For dinner, I grilled chicken wings.  For some we put on Buffalo sauce.  For other's we put on barbecue sauce.

Rachel and I took a walk with Lizzy.

The boys will get ready for bed soon.

Until next time...

Campus

Today we went to the University of Texas.  We got free parking on the street, so it started out well.  We went to the Co-op (bookstore), the Texas Union, and walked around campus a little bit.  For lunch we ate at Einstein Bros Bagels on The Drag.  Then, we went to Rita's for dessert.

We came home and did stuff around the house this afternoon.

We went to Target to get a gift for a birthday party.  The boys also picked out some toys with gift cards they had.  Noah got a Wii game and and Evan got Legos.  On the way home we stopped at Austin Pizza Garden to pick up dinner.

The boys are playing with their toys now and then we'll get them ready for bed.

UT Campus

We had a small breakfast at home and then went out for the day.

First, we picked up Morry's car from the shop.  Then, we went to the UT campus.  We got souvenirs from the bookstore to bring to people on our trip.  The boys were really wild in the bookstore and Noah had to go to the bathroom twice while we were in there.

Then, we ate lunch at Einstein Bros Bagels on the drag.  The boys were also pretty wild at lunch too. 

We walked around campus, but all the buildings were closed because it was holiday weekend.  I wanted to take them inside the union, but it was locked.  Then, Noah had to go to the bathroom again.  We tried the library, but it was locked too.  We had to walk back to the bookstore so that Noah could use the restroom there.

We took it easy at home for the rest of the afternoon.

While the boys ate dinner, I started giving Lizzy a trim. The shaver ran out out of juice since I didn't have it charging long.  I'll have to do more tomorrow or another time.

We just gave the boys showers and got them ready for bed.

Now, we'll eat our dinner.

A Big, Long Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

As you can probably tell, I'm back from California.  I left the hotel this morning at 5:20am.  Both plane rides were on time and uneventful which was good.

Rachel had to get Noah up for the last time this morning so that they could take Evan to school.  It is difficult getting him up.

Rachel went to HEB while the boys were in school.

When I was driving home from the airport, Rachel and Noah were walking to go get Evan. On the way home, Noah fell asleep in the stroller.  When Rachel got home, she had to carry Noah to his bed where he slept.

Earlier this week, we got an email from the little league that Evan plays in.  The University of Texas Baseball and Softball teams were having a one night camp tonight for up to 40 kids.  The camp included working on baseball skills on the field of the main stadium where the UT baseball team plays.  Afterwards they served pizza and showed a movie and did some arts and crafts.  We decided that this was something Evan would want to do and signed him up.  When Rachel told Evan earlier this week, he was pretty excited.  Before we left to drop him off tonight, he was even more excited.  When we got to the stadium and he saw how big it was, his eyes got huge and he was even more excited.  I wasn't sure if he'd understand how cool this was - that he was going to be playing with a top 25 baseball and softball team.  He seemed to understand it more than I had given him credit for.  We signed him in and walked him into the locker room of the softball team.  It was like a lounge in there was nice couches and a big screen tv on.  Evan seemed excited, gave us a high five and we left.

We went to dinner with Noah.  It was strange only having Noah at dinner.  It has not been common that the three of us have been out together without Evan.  Noah ate his dinner and was very well behaved.  From there we went to Mozart's which is a coffee shop out on Lake Austin.  At the top of every hour they were having a Christmas light show.  We got Noah ice cream there and then the show started.  He loved it and was dancing to the music.  We actually stayed an entire hour and Noah got to watch it a second time. I think Noah had a really good night being the center of attention from both Mommy and Daddy without Evan around.

We drove back to the stadium to pick up Evan.  We had to walk up to one of the luxury suites and get him.  He was making a craft and seemed into the Polar Express which they were showing.  They told us that they worked with Evan on hitting, running the bases, throwing the ball and catching grounders and fly balls.  He also had gotten a UT nylon bag with a string tie.  We thought that all kids had gotten it but the camp director told us that Evan won it.  That he did something special when hitting the ball.  I have not been able to figure out what - Evan said something about hitting the ball the hardest or the farthest.  I don't know really, but what was clear is that this was something special.  He told us they took him into the batting cages and someone pitched to him.  I wish I had video of all this.  The camp was for 4 to 9 year olds and when we dropped him off, Evan looked pretty young compared to many of the kids.  I don't know if they divided the kids up or anything.  Evan said he wants to do it again.  They said they'll be doing another one in January.

We drove home and got the boys ready for bed.  I picked out the book "The Pigeon Wants A Puppy".  Evan sat on my lap.  The first page seemed easy so I had Evan read the first page to me.  He ended up reading the entire book to me with just a little help from me.  I cannot believe Evan is hanging with the UT baseball team, hitting in the batting cage, and reading a book to me.  It's amazing.

Until next time...

UT and a Birthday Party

This morning we went to campus. The University of Texas Children's Research Lab was looking for some kids to take part in a study. We have participated a few times in the past. Evan and Noah both did a study involving puppets to see how children relate to people who are similar to them. Each study took just a few minutes and the boys got to pick out a prize from the toy box. Noah got a mini chalkboard and Evan got a dinosaur figures pack.

After that we walked around campus a little bit. We bought some Texas stuff at the Co-op (bookstore) and got a bite to eat at Einsteins Bagels.

Morry dropped us off at Kevin's birthday party at a jumpy place. He met someone for a lunch meeting. Towards the end of the party Morry came to pick us up. Evan and Noah had a great time and were worn out.

We took it easy the rest of the afternoon and evening. For dinner we picked up Blue Bamboo and made pasta for kids.

Morry and the kids watched a little bit of the Longhorns football game and then we got them ready for bed.

Better and Better

This morning Jodie picked up Evan for school. A little bit later Susan and Laurel (from Moms Club playgroup) came over to watch Noah so that I could go to the doctor. At first Noah was very clingy and didn’t want me to put him down. I was a little worried leaving. When I got back Susan said Noah did great. He and Laurel played and ate lunch together. Susan and I talked a little bit while the kids played.

Evan came home about 1:45. I let Evan and Noah play for just a few minutes and then I put them down for naps. They both slept well.

For dinner Sharmon, from the Moms club, brought over food from Blue Bamboo.

We gave the boys baths and then let them watch some of the Rose Bowl – go horns!

Evan and Noah are in bed now, but of course, Evan is still up.

UT and Green Eggs and Ham

This morning we had an appointment at the University of Texas Children’s Research Lab. They called to see if I could bring in Evan for a study. They said the study involved showing a kid toys, taking them apart, and having them put it back to together. So, I said we could come in at 11am today.

It was pouring down rain on the way there.

When we got there Evan was very quiet. Noah and I were able to watch him from another room. I could see, but not hear anything. The girl said he did well and did what he was asked. She told me he said something about a Cars birthday and she asked me if he was talking about the Cars movie. After the study they brought a box over to Evan with toys and let him pick one. Evan picked the sidewalk chalk. As we were leaving, classes must have just gotten out and there were a ton of students everywhere. There were people on bikes, people walking. Evan was very curious about where they were going.

On the way home we stopped at Target to return a couple of things. Evan was upset that we didn’t go to the toy section and threw a little fit in the parking lot. It had just started raining hard again and we got wet while he was throwing a fit and I was trying to get him in the car.

Driving home I asked Evan what he wanted for lunch. I listed a few things and the last one was eggs. He said he wanted green eggs and ham. So, when we got home we actually made green egg and turkey. I didn’t have ham. He helped me mix the eggs and add a drop of green coloring.

Noah went down for a nap around 2:00. Evan wasn’t tired so let him play Geo Trax for a little bit upstairs and then he took a nap around 3:00.

Blanca came at 4:00. Noah was just waking up at that time. She said Evan got up around 5:00.

I tutored and got home at 6:00.

We had steak (Morry) and shrimp (me) and rice for dinner. Evan ate more of his green eggs and ham for dinner. He really didn’t each much of it at lunch. He did finish them all at dinner though. Both Evan and Noah ate a lot of fruit. Our boys love strawberries especially.

We took a walk after dinner. We went around the block. Evan rode his little bike the whole way while we walked with Noah in the stroller.

We just put the boys to bed. Evan is still crying. He started fighting bed time a few nights ago. Hopefully he calms down soon and gets some sleep.

UT

We had an appointment at the University of Texas at 11:00am for a baby psychology study. They called me a few days ago to see if I could bring Noah in. They are doing a study on how infants understand numbers. There was a screen Noah had to look at and they showed different numbers of objects to him. The whole thing maybe lasted 15 minutes. They don’t pay anything, but they gave us a little baby cup with Bevo (the longhorn) on it. While I was in the room with Noah a student played with Evan. They had a ton of toys in the lobby. Evan and Noah didn’t want to leave.

When we got home I went for a 3 mile run with the boys and Lizzy. When we got home Rita and Blanca were outside with a big black dog. They were trying to figure out whose dog it was. The dog was very friendly and played with Lizzy in the front yard. The dog did not have any tags on it. Rita couldn’t put the dog in her yard because her other dogs wouldn’t get along with him. I said she could put the dog in our yard, as long as she tried to find the owners. I needed to get inside and feed Evan and Noah. Lizzy and the dog played for a while in the backyard. At some point in the afternoon I looked out in the yard and the dog was gone. I’m hoping that means they found the owner.

Evan and Noah took good naps.

For dinner we had bbq ribs and French bread.

After dinner we took a walk around the neighborhood and Evan walked the whole time. He even helped hold Lizzy’s leash some of the way.

The boys are in bed now. Noah is still talking.