Halloween 1 and 2!

I had a great plan this year for Halloween. Oliver was going to be spider man and Ava a spider. So for our first two Halloween events, the plan went swimmingly. Oliver was Spiderman in his school parade and both kids dressed up for a Halloween party at Emma's house.

Ollie's Class at his School Parade

Sweet Berry Farm Fall Festival

There is a farm in nearby Marble Falls which we love to visit, called Sweet Berry Farms. We held our bake sale for Share our Strength there last spring, visit every year to pick strawberries and blackberries and never miss their fall festival. The place is great!

This year we organized a group to go and celebrated Aunt Jen's birthday there (sans Aunt Jen unfortunately, but we were thinking of ya!).

We decorated pumpkins:

Played on the Haystacks:

Fed the goats:


Went on a hayride (apparently there was something much more interesting to look at than the camera...Mommy missed it!):

Navigated the hedge maze to ring the bell in the center:
And enjoyed a strawberry popsicle:

We had an awesome day!

Time to Make the Donuts

Krispee Kreme offers a family night once a week where kids can decorate a donut and make a craft. Now some responsible parents might say giving kids donuts right before bed is a bad idea...but then again nobody ever accused me of being overly responsible.

I think the Kid Looks More Delicious than the Donut...Numnumnum

All Star Decorating Team

Waco Zoo

Before Annie left town, we caught a few extra play dates. One of them was to the Waco Zoo with Renee and her youngest son, Ryan.

Livi, Oliver and Ryan Hangin' with our Komodo Dragon Friend

Ava and Oliver Playing on the Musical Playground by the Orangutans

Moments later Oliver got a bee sting. He took it like a champ though and was a-ok.

Apparently Mommy only took decent pictures of the human animals at the zoo....oh well, they are cuter anyway:)

The State Fair

Jon has always wanted to go to the Texas State Fair. With all the great festivals in Austin, we were sure this would be an uber-festival to remember. So, we packed up for the fair's final weekend, and headed to Dallas.

When we arrived in Dallas, we went to a theme restaurant called the Magical Mystery something where we were served a smoking blue potion by Ted (from Bill and Ted's Great Adventure). The food was mediocre but the experience was fun.

Everyone except Oliver (who I am convinced could sleep through a rock concert) had a pretty sleepless night, compliments of Miss Ava. So in the morning, the kids and Mommy headed out for a little breakfast and exploring while Daddy slept in. We found a cute little breakfast place and then played for a little while at the mall near our hotel.


Then it was off to the fair. We ate funny fried foods, shopped, perused the rides and games and watched shows (lots of cars and some animals). It wasn't the uber-festival we had hoped for but it made for a nice day anyway.

The Kids Enjoying the Indoor Sandbox at The Fair

Farewell to Nate and Annie

Our good friends, Nate and Annie, and their children Olivia and Casey decided to leave Austin for Harrisburg, PA. The sad news is they are not here (though I am willing to visit them not only for their friendship but also for their proximity to Hershey Pennsylvania...Annie says the whole city smells like chocolate!).

We got together with a couple other friends to throw a going away bash. The party was fun, though the goodbyes were not.

Fly In

The neighborhood across the street has a landing strip in it and most of the residents own planes. They host a fly in once a year and we are lucky enough to have friends who invite us. It is tons of fun to see all the planes taking off and landing. Mr. Marc even let Oliver check out his plane up close!

Oliver and Marc's Daughter, Haley, Ready for Take-off