Bring on the Magic!

At the beginning of September we took a family trip to the greatest place on Earth... Disney World! We all had a wonderful time, and it was so much fun to see the kids get so excited for every new place, ride, and character that we saw. We spent a week seeing all the sights at the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. The highlight of the trip for Luke was riding Thunder Mountain. He must have ridden at least 10 times! And the smile never left his face! Hopefully on our next visit he'll be tall enough for Space Mountain! Abby had a wonderful time meeting all of the princesses at Cinderella's Castle, and she loved getting a chance to ride almost all of the rides with us this time. We loved the food, the fireworks, and just had a really wonderful time!

A big first day

Today was a big first for Luke - his first day at "real" school. He started his Pre-Kindergarten class this year, and he was so excited he could hardly sleep the night before! This is our first experience with uniforms, and so far Luke seems to be enjoying it. I'm enjoying not having to worry about what we pick to wear in the mornings! Luke was happy to find that 2 of his friends form his preschool are in his class as well. It should make the new start much easier for him! Hopefully this is the school that both kids will attend all the way through 8th grade. His new teacher seems very nice and excited for the new year! We're looking forward to all of the exciting new things to come this year!

Happy birthday, Carl!

The kids and I had a great time getting the house ready with lots of decorations, balloons, and a big birthday sign for Carl today! And most importantly, we baked him a delicious cake! He had a great time, and we were happy to spend a special day with him.

Around the town

We spent the day enjoying some of the sites and fun things to do in down town Austin today. We started our day at the children't museum, which is always a big hit with the kids. When we left, we noticed that there were some of the painted guitars and cows around the museum that the kids were so excited to see! It reminded me of my days living in Chicago with the painted cows everywhere. We had fun checking them out, and then topped off our outing with some delicious lunch at the "big Whole Foods" - one of Luke's favorite stops. It was a good Austin kind of day!

Beautiful Ballerina and Super Swimmer!

I don't think that there is anything cuter than a little girl all ready for dance class! Abby started dance classes this month, as well as swim lessons. It's been a busy month for her, but she is absolutely loving it! She has no fear of the water, and is quickly learning ow to hold her breath for longer periods of time, and swim under the water to a designated place. Dance class is much more free form and fun, and she loves spinning and jumping to the music. I wish I had caught that first look of complete surprise when she first heard the noise her tap shoes made on the floor. Priceless!

Let's Hit the Beach!

This year the kids finally got to see what all of this beach stuff is all about! They waited with excitement for months to hit the road for the beach house in Mississippi, and it was worth the wait! We missed having Carl with us, but the kids did such a wonderful job with a very long drive, and they had a fantastic time playing with their cousins and enjoying the beach! Lily and Luke were a little team right from the start, and Abby was absolutely in love with baby Annie. She was a little mother all week! We can't wait to do it all again next summer!

Fiesta Texas

Last weekend we made the trip down to San Antonio for the Samsung company picnic at Fiesta Texas. It was a hot day, but the kids had such a great time! Luke was able to do his first "real" roller coaster, and can't wait to go back for more!