Grandpa Miller's House

In Milo's dog house

Mt. Bonnell in Austin

On our last day we made a little hike up Mount Bonnell and had a picnic. It was near downtown Austin, so it gave us a great view of the city:

You can see the Colorado River and one of the really nice Austin neighborhoods in the background.

You can see downtown Austin in the background.

Swimming

Our hotel had an indoor pool and hot tub, so the kids enjoyed swimming most nights:

San Antonio Temple

We also drove up to the temple. It was high on a hill, so it gave a great view of the city:

The view

There was a family there doing a photo shoot, and after a while we got "kicked out" because facilities maintenance needed to close the gates, so we didn't get a very good picture of the temple itself.

The Riverwalk in San Antonio

We ate Mexican food at a restaurant on the Riverwalk...

...and then took a riverboat tour.

The Alamo in San Antonio

Scott and Emily watched The Alamo on Wednesday night, and then Thursday we all went and saw the real thing:

Central Texas Wing of the Commemorative Air Force Museum in San Marcos

Texas Military Forces Museum in Austin

The kids even got to climb into the cockpit of an old fighter plane

Dick's Classic Garage Car Museum in San Marcos

Monday was really cold, so we looked for an indoor activity. This was just 3 miles from our hotel. They had more than 80 beautifully restored classic cars on display--mostly from the 1940s and 1950s. It was pretty cool. (I didn't get many good pictures because the lighting was kind of weird--and because I was busy trying to keep kids from touching things that they shouldn't.) :) We thought about Uncle Jeff the whole time and wished that Jeff and Sherry's family were there with us.

(This was not one of the beautifully restored cars... Just an older clunker for taking pictures in.)

San Antonio

Yesterday we spent the day in San Antonio. We toured the Alamo, ate Mexican food on the Riverwalk, took a river cruise, and saw the temple (which is high up on a hill and gives a great view of the city).

We'll post pictures of our trip when we get back to Mesa, but for now here is a video of the mariachis that serenaded the girls at lunch:

Greetings from Austin!

Butler Park in Downtown Austin

At the Park

We met up with LeiLani and her kids at McQueen Park this week. :)

Look at all these hoodlums

The boys enjoying their picnic lunch

Balloon Pillow

The girls went to the dentist this week and got balloons. Apparently, balloons double really well as pillows--or so Owen tells me. :)

Owen Talks

Owen is quite the talker nowadays. He loves to repeat everything he hears. I tried to record a little, but he was so fascinated by the camera that I couldn't get him to say much. So these videos are a little on the long side and lacking in substance; I'll have to try again some other time:

 

Bathroom Update

Scott put a lot work into this bathroom this week--painting and drywall repair. It looks really nice. One lady came by yesterday to look at the place, and she says she plans to submit an offer this weekend. Hopefully it works out! :)

This paint color matches most of the rest of the condo. The lighter color makes the bathroom feel a lot brighter.

Mesa Riverview

We went on an impromptu trip to the Mesa Riverview Park tonight. The City made some great renovations while we were in Ohio:

Lizzie on the 50 foot tall Genesis climbing tower... She would have climbed higher if we would have let her.

Splashpad

Fruit Salad

For some reason Lizzie has been really into fruit salad lately. One morning she and Heidi surprised me and made a fruit salad:

It contains several grapes, an orange, 2 apples, and 2 bananas.

Here she spelled out "fruit salad party" phonetically--without help:

Uncle Steven's Basketball Game

We went to Uncle Steven's basketball game this morning:

Basketball Fans

Mommy-Owen Selfie

Yay, Uncle Steven!

Artwork

This artwork has been on our fridge for the past month. Thought I should take a picture before they go in the trash:

Lizzie drew this picture of Cinderella.

Heidi drew and autographed this Christmas tree. (For a little while, she spelled her name "HOA." We've been working on it, and she now spells her name "Heidi" or "Hiedi" or some other variation.)

Lizzie's rendering of a pool party

Halle Heart Children's Museum in Tempe

(The pictures didn't turn out great because of a flash/lighting problem:)

Giant heart replica (Where does she come up with these poses?)

This exhibit was cool... You could see heart replicas and hear heart beats for a bunch of different animals.

I think the highlight for Owen was just spinning in circles around this pole. :)