Aunt Allison

Allison came to visit for three days. The girls loved having someone new to play games with. They played Scrabble, Yahtzee, Uno, Trouble, and some games on Allison's phone:

We also went to Mount Bonnell...

Mayfield Park...

(Can you spot at least 4 peacocks in this picture?)

This guy was attracted to his reflection in the fender of the truck. He actually got really aggressive with himself.

Then we got lunch in SoCo at Home Slice...

 We rode the train at Zilker Park...

(At Lou Neff Point)

And saw Lizzie there with her class on a field trip...

 Tried the queso at a Torchy's food truck:

For you, Nor: "Like a Fat Kid Loves Cake"

Hiked Twin Falls... (This was the highlight of the trip for Allison. You should ask her about it.) ;)

 Oh, and we took the kids to "Woofstock" at the animal shelter:

We also tried a Texas-size donut at Round Rock Donuts, but the pictures got deleted by mistake! (Do you see the box below? One donut fills that entire box.)

It was a fun visit!

Random

All four kids got sick this week with a stomach bug. :( Here's Owen, asleep at the breakfast table.

Scott has been trying to fix up the yard. He and the kids have been digging up the bushes so that we can have more space:

Fossils

These pictures were taken about a month ago, but I just harvested them off of Scott's home. While Emily was busy working, Scott took the three oldest kids with him to check out a potential campsite for the Scouts up near Killeen. The kids were excited because they found a bunch of fossils:

Check out the cool view in the background.

Dying Easter Eggs

Poor thing threw up shortly after the picture was taken.

New Minivan

We traded in our 2004 Ford Freestar (right) for a 2016 Kia Sedona (left).

The kids found a baby bunny at the car dealership. (I told them he works for the Easter bunny and he was checking on them to see if they were being naughty or nice.)

Lizzie is smiling here to counteract Heidi's grumpiness. We went to Fuddruckers for lunch, and Heidi took one look at her hamburger and steak fries and refused to eat. (Can you say spoiled rotten?)  

Egg Drop

All the kindergartners had to come up with a way to drop a raw egg from the roof of the school without it breaking. Our solution was to pack it in popcorn, and it worked! (Bonus: She got to eat the popcorn for after-school snack.) 

Here is Heidi with her popcorn bucket:

This video is on the long side, but to keep it interesting here are some "I Spy" ideas: Can you spy Lizzie's teacher (the blonde in the purple shirt and gray jacket)? Can you spy the assistant principal, Mr. Gagne, in a chicken suit? Can you spy Owen throwing a temper tantrum because he wanted to go play on the playground instead of watch the egg drop?

More Egg Hunts

Yesterday we went to a story time / egg hunt at the library with our friend Lila:

And today we went to another egg hunt that was put on by Austin Parks & Rec:

Can you spot the Easter bunny in the background?

William wasn't too excited about having his picture taken with the Easter bunny.

And Owen was like: "Hey man, give me my personal space!"

Ward Easter Party

(The girls dressed like twins because they wanted to trick everyone.)

Pflugerville Bike Rodeo

This morning we went to a bike rodeo, put on by the local police department. The kids had a lot of fun making their way through 8 different stations with help from the police officers:

The rodeo was in the parking lot between Pflugerville High School and the PISD administration building. "Pfun" Pflugerville trivia: In the background you can see the PHS football stadium, where part of the show Friday Night Lights was filmed. According to good ol' Wikipedia, "The Dillon Panther football team and coaches' uniforms were based on the uniforms of the Pflugerville Panthers. The series borrowed the uniforms, cheerleaders, fans and stadium of the Pflugerville Panthers. Producers shot Pflugerville games and used them as game footage in the series."

School Carnival

Last night was the school carnival. They had a velcro wall, inflatable obstacle course, petting zoo, and lots of games. It was pretty much the worst day of Lizzie's life because we stayed for just an hour and only bought $10 worth of tickets. (Life is hard when you have mean parents.)

The world's worst water balloon toss:

PISD District Art Show

Both girls had their artwork featured in the district's art show, on display at the public library:

Recent Videos at the Park

Warning: There's a lot of screaming in this first video--the kids were pretending that William was a monster--so you may want to turn down your volume.

We were at playgroup at the park on Friday. I was chatting with some friends, and the next thing I know Owen was on top of the jungle gym. It turns out he had climbed up the slide. He did it at least half a dozen times before we went home and loved it:

Mother-Daughter Date

Heidi got a coupon for a free kid's meal since she was Star Student:

The Birthday Boy

We are so grateful for this little guy. He is so sweet and happy. He has 8 teeth. He doesn't quite walk yet, but he's so close! I love his crawl-walk. (He walks with one leg while crawling with the other. Scott calls it a "crab walk.") His favorite word is "HEIDI!" (That's really the only thing he says consistently, but he has been known to say "mama" and "dada.") He is a good eater and really likes the baby food pouches because he can feed himself. He is average height (47th percentile) and very lean for his age (13th percentile). He loves to pull books off of the shelves and empty drawers. We have to keep all the bathroom doors closed so that he doesn't get into the garbage, toilet, or toilet paper. He volunteers at the school with Mom 3-4 days a week, and all the teachers are amazed at how good he is. He sometimes gives kisses and he likes to bite. (I'm pretty sure he thinks it's a game.) He slept through the night starting at 2 months (!!!) then regressed around 6 months when he started teething, but now he's finally sleeping through the night again. He is SUCH a joy, and we are so grateful that he is part of our family.

We had ice cream sandwiches instead of the traditional cake and ice cream. William approved.

Isn't he handsome?