Our Favorite Pastime...

Lately (in case you can't tell from the blog), our favorite place has been the zoo.  This time, though, we went first the first time alone.  Without any friends or dad.  It was... different.  Let's just say that Oliver got fixated on some strange things.

Like the elephant statue:

Where we stood for 20 minutes while he finished my bottle of water and asked me to take pictures:

Elliot, thankfully, stayed happy chewing on Sophie:

We also hung out in the huts of the African Forest exhibit.  Where they have no animals...

At least we enjoyed some quality time with the chimps:

The highlight, though, was brushing the dirt in the petting zoo.  Yes, the dirt.

Elliot wasn't quite sure what to make of the goats:

I did manage one little pic of me and the boys...  Some day I might actually get a quality picture of the three of us. ;)

Twinkies

You know how in movies, when people get amnesia, they sometimes go months before they figure out who they are?  Living new lives as new people?  Until finally one of their loved ones spots them walking down the street or whatever? Well, (God forbid this ever happen! but let's just imagine for a moment...) it's nice to know that if such a thing were to happen to either of my boys, their chances of being "discovered" by someone who knows them are radically higher than most, since anyone who knows ANY of my brothers would immediately be able to recognize them as related.

See what I mean?  How cute are they?

Best part of this story, though?  Just after I took these pictures, Elliot threw up all over Rhys' head...

Running in torrents down his face and beard.  Priceless.

And yes, by the way, that is my brother Rhys returned (safely!) from his army tours.  We are so thankful that he's home. :)

The Pun'kin Patch

At last... It's December, so, naturally, I'm finally catching up on posts from two months ago.  Oh, well... better late than never!  We really had so much fun at the pumpkin patch at St. Luke's - totally recommend it.  Oliver actually mentioned it today on our walk when we heard church bells.  He said, "Like St. Luca's at the punkin patch!"  Anyway...

Oliver was in awe when we first arrived:

And, not surprisingly, he immediately wanted to sit on the pumpkins (which the posted signs expressly forbade):


He pointed out his favorites to Casey:

And even agreed to pose next to his brother.  Of course, I either caught Elliot smiling:

OR Oliver:

But this is the closest I got to them both:

That's not to say that I didn't get some great pictures, though.  Does anyone else think of the Target lady when they see this?

And how about that tongue?

And I definitely think Elliot looks like he just bit into a fresh jalapeño here:

I love the moment when Oliver decided to check out... arm rest and all:

So I settled for some pics of Elliot (who was just starting to sit up... but with pumpkins propped all around, I wasn't too worried!).  Check out these priceless faces:

I even coerced the boys into some pics with mom, though I can't say they were super successful:

So, naturally, I resorted to tickling:

But Elliot was done by then:

He was much happier in Casey's arms walking around:

Oliver took a rest:


And eventually was ready to pull our load to the car:

SO SO fun.  Definitely planning to return next year!

Good Ol' Wimberley Texas

I'm jumping back to August in an attempt to catch up... plus I figured I'd draw out the suspense even more from my pumpkin patch teaser (over a month ago!  gasp!).  Anyway, we were OVERJOYED in August to have two of our precious friends from France visit for a few days.  Katy (originally from Alabama) and Cami (from the Loire valley, about two hours south of Paris) and their daughter Julia Kate (almost exactly one year younger than Oliver) and their little boy on the way came to Houston for an evening and then drove to Wimberley for the weekend with us.

Yes.  Four adults. One of whom was very pregnant. Two toddlers.  One infant.  One suburban.  And a 3+ hour car ride each way.  So. fun.

Cami, who loves everything American and Southern, had never been to Texas, so we wanted to give him a real taste...  Therefore, we had to stop at Luling City BBQ on the way:

In Wimberley, we stayed at Sabino Ranch, home of my grandparents dear friends.  [Quick history - my grandparents lived in Wimberley the whole time I was growing up.  I visited every summer, and Chris and I were actually married there.  Recently, my grandmother sold her house there and moved to Houston to be closer to family.  We're glad to have her here but so sad to be separated from Wimberley.  I count myself so blessed to have family friends like the Johnsons who welcomed us onto their ranch and into their guest house for the weekend!]  Oliver absolutely ate. it. up.  Climbing fences:

Drooling over the motor pool:

And wanting to test drive each vehicle:



We walked down to Blue Hole (which, for those of you familiar with it and Wimberley, happens to be on the Johnson's land, just a three minute walk from the guest house):

And enjoyed the gorgeous cypress-lined swimming hole:


The next morning, Oliver requested another trip to the motor pool:

And we dragged Katy and Cami along to take in the Texas ranch experience:

We, of course, paid another visit to the water:

And enjoyed the gorgeous weather by eating outside:

That afternoon, we drove to one of the Texas Hill Country's little vineyards and basked in the view:

We sat for an hour or so under the trees:
And played with the kids:

Oliver actually took this picture - talented, huh?

And don't I just have the most handsome husband ever?

Julia Kate, true to her half-French heritage, was enjoying the empty bouteille de vin (and I had to get a pic!):

That evening, we visited the hill-country staple, the Salt Lick.  We enjoyed the live music (Oli is a good tipper):

Cami and Julia Kate danced the night away:

Oliver threw rocks (and thoroughly enjoyed himself!):

And I even got a pic with my sweet husband - a rarity!

We had SO much fun with these friends, and we only look forward to more memories.  Love and miss you guys!!!