Owen's First Tooth

First in, first out.  Owen lost his first tooth today!  I wasn't expecting this to happen until he was closer to 6, but the tooth had been wiggling for weeks already.  Unfortunately, he swallowed it with a bite of bagel at breakfast, but the tooth fairy was understanding and appreciative of his hand-written note. :)  

It was also a big weekend because he played his first outdoor soccer game (though it was more of just practice) and enjoyed his first real sushi (salmon sashimi).  He's growing up!

(All of the under-5 soccer teams doing a group warm-up.)

Spring in Texas, Austin Return

Our return flight was out of Austin, so we headed back there on Saturday to spend our last 30-ish hours in Texas near our old home.  Our first stop was at the Tylers' house to recreate this picture from 2 years ago, this time outside with Juan.

It was a little chilly and overcast, but the kids had fun playing outside and inside together.  

Our kids are pretty close in age, but opposite genders.  Calvin was a little shy, but enjoyed sharing his cars with Owen.

Maria had at least 3 wardrobe changes while we were there, as you can see in the pictures.  :)  Sometimes I wonder if Hadley will be influenced by princess dress-up or if she will be a tomboy in order to follow her big brother around.

Just outside their neighborhood was a beautiful patch of bluebonnets, so we pulled over for a few minutes to frolic and photograph.  I love spring in Texas!

Then we headed to West Austin to meet up with more college buddies, the Franklins, and their son, Liam, who is just a few months younger than Hadley.  At both of these stops, I noticed that our kids did not have any reservations about walking into someone else's house and finding/playing with their toys.  Either they're not shy or they were starved for toy variety by this point in the trip. :)

We also tried out Hat Creek burgers, which had a perfect outdoor playground/patio set-up so kids could play and parents could visit.  Idaho needs more of these!  Of course, Hadley may have tried to imitate the older kids by walking along the border fence, and she may have fallen off...  Maybe it'll be really perfect in another year.

Then we took a lovely hill country drive through some of our favorite scenic spots in town (360 bridge, Mt. Bonnell, Mayfield preserve, greenbelt) back to our hotel for the night.

Our flight out wasn't until early afternoon, so we had all morning to find something to do. Luckily, things don't shut down on Sundays in the big city.  We decided to check out the kid's museum, The Thinkery, before heading to the airport.  It's located near Mueller Park, which is actually the old Austin airport.  Now it's a serene green space with a pond, which was eerily misty that morning.

Due to some computer issues, we got into the museum on a donation basis.  Score! The Thinkery was pretty awesome.  The kids had a great time, and I think it was an ideal place to go on a misty morning for a few hours before travel began again. Owen enjoyed the building area, which had all manner of straps, bars, shapes, and pegs to connect.

That area didn't hold Hadley's interest for nearly as long, so we split off and she painted on a glass wall. The kids could subsequently paint, spray with water, and squeegee it clean nearly endlessly.  We stayed here for quite a while.

Then we found the light/dark room, which had lots of giant Lite-Brite walls and tables, along with other experiments in light, shadow, and color.

In the meantime, Owen had discovered the glider launching area.  There was a table with various plastic animal/shape frames into which you could slide different foam tails and wings and then launch them with an air cannon.  Oh boy!  That was fun for both.

A quick brain break with physical activity outside on this huge playscape made mostly of rope and then back inside and upstairs.

 ...where they had a huge farmer's market, chicken coop, and kitchen set-up.  Hadley went into cooking mode, and Owen demonstrated some before-unseen OCD trying to sort out the different food bins.  Don't know where he gets that from!  Ha ha.

 The last thing before we left was a gymnastics room and a parachute activity.  Win-win!

One more thing before we got in the car.  This beautiful, shimmery, tiled sea monster!  So cool!  And there was a huge playground behind it that we just didn't have time for. All evidence confirming the need for a children's museum in Idaho Falls.

After the kids' museum, it was time to head to the airport for check-in.  Austin's airport has local eateries in their food court, rather than the usual chains, so we took advantage of one more place we don't have in town before boarding.

The kids were perfectly happy sitting by the window discussing all of the busy people they saw getting the plane ready for flight.  Owen was helping Hadley learn what all of the jobs were; it was a sweet moment.  

The seats on the return flight were 3 on one side and 1 on the other.  Guess who got stuck with both kids?  Nope, Daddy!  The museum tuckered them out, and all 3 of them slept. So cute!  And I got to read a magazine.  Gasp! Thanks Texas for another great trip!  Until next time!

P.S. The fight attendants were not a fan of this pose...  :)

Spring in Texas, Big City Houston

Houston - big, hot, and humid, but home to family.  We love staying at Uncky Dan and Auntie Jenn's house, especially if Oma and Papa are there, too!  (I also have to note that this was the first trip that the kids had to share a room, and it went pretty well!  They're growing up.)  When we arrived on Tuesday afternoon, Oma wasted no time in tracing a life-sized Owen for him to decorate.

Here's the finished product.  Owen couldn't wait to give it to Uncle Dan when he came home from work!

There was also much fun to be had with chalk, balloons, hampers, blankets, and old magazines during our stay.  The kids did not mind the heat or humidity at all.  There was so much to do and so little time!  

The blankets were used along with pillows and a desk chair to form a fort to protect Aunt Jenn, Owen, myself, and sometimes Hadley.  The opposing team (Papa, Dad, and sometimes Hadley) then tossed a tennis ball over trying to breach the fort.  It was all fun and games until someone messed with Hadley's bag of fish (don't ask)!

Hadley was a flip-flopper on the teams and also enjoyed walking around with this hamper over her head a la Dark Helmet, which was pretty comical.

The old magazines were dismantled and reassembled into a alphabet collage.  The kids really seemed to enjoy searching, cutting, and pasting their finds, though Hadley may have been a bit obsessed with faces on her collage...

And of course, we spent much time at the playground or going for walks (usually to the playground).  

Owen said that the clover looked soft enough to lie on.  Poor kid; he may never have seen clover before...?  (Is that something I should be keeping track of?)

Now, that didn't all happen on Tuesday, but it was the stuff that we did at and/or close to the house.  As we've established, Houston is a big city with lots of things to entertain small-town Idahoans, including food.  Our agenda in Texas is usually centered around food: BBQ, Tex Mex, Asian, Cajun, sushi, Southern...  All the stuff that's hard to come by in Idaho, including crawfish for a certain someone.

It's also important to introduce nostalgic eateries to the next generation and make sure they know their culinary roots.

Hadley even helped us make pizzas one night.  Even better, she ate it!

Now back to the bigger stuff.  On Wednesday, 5 of us ventured into the museum district in search of dinosaurs again. We found them at the HMNS, just where we left them.

Watch out, Hadley!!

Owen was in heaven.  So many dinosaur bones!

We also saw exhibits on samurai (in record speed),

fossil fuels and energy (Owen actually requested to 'ride' the geovator, which he didn't really like last time, but seemed to appreciate this trip),

and wildlife, which the kids found fascinating.  

By the end, Hadley was pretty tuckered out, 

but Owen had just enough energy to check out the planets outside before our trip back across town.

On Thursday, we met up with my college roommate and her husband, at their new brewery: 11 Below.  We got to see the sights and taste some of their beer.  We are so excited for this new business venture and really hope it takes off for them!

Rosa has a girl, Lilly, just a few months older than Hadley, and they palled around while we got the brewery tour.  Aren't they cute with their hands in their tiny pockets?  (Owen got a day with Oma and Papa at Chuck-E-Cheese!)  

On Friday, us parents had a date night, Oma and Hadley had a stay-in night, and Owen went with Dan, Jenn, and Papa to a Houston Dash soccer game.  I think he had fun, and it was a perfect set up to return to Idaho to start his own soccer season.