Exploring the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch

Gigi and Papa took E to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch after hearing about it on my friend's The Daytripper show on PBS. The ranch covers 400 acres of the Texas Hill Country. You drive through the 4 mile path to explore the home of native, exotic, and endangered wildlife. What a blast E had as he continues to talk about his animal adventures with Gigi and Papa!

At one point an ostrich stuck his head into the car soo far that he took Papa's bag of feed.
Beware of their feisty nature!

Camp Mabry: American Heroes Celebration

We got a closer look at military life over this Saturday in April. Camp Mabry hosted its annual American Heroes celebration which invites the public to come visit Austin’s local heroes serving for the country and state. It was a real honor to be amongst the military families.

E got some hands on training on military vehicles.

Pretending to fly alongside this fighter jet.

Mount Bonell was not far, so we enjoyed the morning by taking a hike.

God Bless America!

A Cousin is a Ready-Made Friend for Life!

Aunt A led her team to the state soccer championships here in the capital city.
We got the chance to keep D on that exciting day. E enjoyed having his cousin around!

Pecan Street Preschool 2011

E had his first class picture taken this Spring. We look forward to many more cute shots in the future. This was from his "Lil Lions" class.

Some Things Are Worth Repeating!!

E celebrated his 2nd birthday with a family cook-out at our home. It was a good time for all! He had a blast playing soccer and "get you" around the garden and devouring his "Cars" cupcake. He especially loved meeting his new cousin for the first time. E was eager for D to play with his new slinky but it will not be long... He is having a blast playing with all his great birthday gifts and cool new books. Thank you sweet family for making the trip to celebrate!

The guys!

Family fun!

Papa and GiGi with E and D

Love you, Uncle A!

A great hug from a great uncle!

We did have one special gift for the birthday boy that was a true surprise for all!! As noted in the last picture, we gifted E with a scrub top which we had monogrammed with "BIG BROTHER" for his L & D trip in October to meet his baby brother or sister. That is right, we are now 12 weeks pregnant and super excited for our growing family! Here is a link to our "YouTube" video of Baby G #2's first sonogram.

Thank you for your prayers as we progress through the next 6 months!

GiGi's Birthday at Green Pastures

For GiGi's birthday celebration we went to Green Pastures for a fabulous Sunday brunch. We strolled the majestic Victorian estate located in South Austin and were greeted by numerous peacocks under the grand live oak trees. What a treat for all!

Happy Birthday GiGi!

"Wow mom, I see a peacock!"

Beautiful albino peacock

So glad our dear friend could make it!

F-i-r-s-t C-a-m-p-i-n-g T-r-i-p!!

Our first camping trip with E was exciting, exhausting, and fun all rolled into one! We ventured to McKinney Falls State Park for tent camping the first weekend in March. Unfortunately, there was a burn ban so no camp fires were allowed. Thankfully, the rangers were allowing charcoal to still be used for cooking purposes. This would not have been an issue but the Texas weather was unpredictable and got down into the 30's upon waking on Saturday morning. Can you say C-O-L-D! Despite this, we still made the most of it by hiking around the beautiful park. E kept us laughing out loud on Friday night as he verbalized all that he heard while "resting" in the tent. He would say, "I hear a birdie, hmmm...I hear an airplane, hmmm..." This went on and on until finally he went to sleep. We only made it one night but it prepared us well for our next camping adventure to Bastrop State Park the first weekend in April. Check out the pictures from McKinney Falls State Park here:

The BIG, BIG BRIDGE!

So thankful to have my Eagle and Cub Scout along!