...and we swam

Well, truth be told we didn't PLUNGE in, but we did get wet and splash and have a marvelous hour playing in the pool today, for our advent activity. Call us wimps (it was 82 degrees) - but we had a blast! *note-pools in Texas are not heated. We wore hats, for a winter effect :)

Okay, now don't laugh too hard. Long before she was born, I got this little vintage swim cap for like $3 on clearance thinking it would be fun for some pictures one day. Well...it looks kinda silly on, but since it's 0-6m size I figured this might be my last chance for any pics. And since we were Polar-Bear-Plunging today, I thought, why not? She doesn't have hardly a lick of hair, I won't dunk her under today, it's warm and we're pretending to be Polar Bears...nothing really makes sense and we're a bunch of sillies anyway, so why not bring the silly swim cap? And there ya go. Her brother and sister really liked her "flower hat" I couldn't decide if it was cute or just crazy, either way - the bebe is cute and there's no doubt about that. And she seemed pretty happy wearing it, so win - win :)

In fact, we were all happy. It was a lovely afternoon. We went home, turned on the A/C and made some hot chocolate with peppermint ice-cream, one of our favorite winter treats. I think these advent activities are just as much for me as they are for the kids. It's fun to look forward to each day! I can't promise pictures every day, but a handful here and there will do fine to document our new adventures and new traditions. 

Advent in Austin

  We have a tradition in our family, which makes December one of the most wonderful times of the year. Every day, we do a little something special to get in the holiday spirit and spread some holiday cheer. Advent! This year, it's going to be a new adventure as we're in a new city and totally new climate - today it was 82 degrees! It still feels a lot like summer, but while it may not look like the Christmas we are used to (lots of palms, but no pine trees here), it IS beginning to feel like Christmas.   I'm still kind of scrambling to put everything together, but I've got a good start and will tweak as I go along. I've been researching all the fun things there are to do here in Austin this time of year, and there are many! I fully admit my heart is a little sad when I think about missing out on some of our Seattle favorites (My very favorite Santa at Pike Place Market, The Great Figgy Pudding Street Corner Caroling Competition - Llew Crew!, Argosy Christmas Ships at the beach, and Greenlake Pathway of Lights, you will be sorely missed!), but I am also super excited to start some new traditions right here in Austin, Texas!

Here's how our Advent works: Each morning, the kids get to open the door of our little advent calendar, where they find a little treat (chocolate or mini candy cane) and two little notes. The first note is a scripture. So, we open our Scriptures and read a story from the life of Christ, which illustrates one of his attributes to which we can aspire. The next note tells us what fun activity we get to do that day. It could be something simple, or more elaborate, depending on the day. Then, each evening, once everyone is ready for bed, the kids get to take turns each night picking out a book to unwrap and read together by candlelight. They LOVE this tradition! I wrap up all of the books we have collected, and then substitute the rest with books from the library, until our collection expands enough to have a book for each evening. 

Here is our list for 2012 - Let the fun begin!

1. Children Giving to Children Parade. (bring new toys to donate)

2. First Presidency Christmas Devotional. (you can find info to watch a live stream here)

3. Polar Bear Plunge (it's supposed to be over 80 degrees so it shouldn't be too bad...but we'll warm up afterward with our annual hot chocolate party - a la mode with peppermint ice-cream!)

4. Craft: make a starry garland (inspired by this one from the Land of Nod) 

5. Address and Mail Christmas Cards and Packages

6. Make and decorate Christmas Sugar Cookies (bring 3-4 dozen to share tomorrow at the Musical Fireside)

7. Listen to Christmas Music at Stake Musical Fireside

8. Pick out a Christmas Tree. Luminations @ Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center (bring canned goods to donate to food bank)

9. Decorate Christmas Tree 

10. Christmas Movie Night: A Charlie Brown Christmas

11.Craft: Silhouette Ornaments, one for each family member. (Inspiration found here)

12. Make Homemade Eggnog and Eggnog French Toast for dinner!

13. Write letters to Santa and pay him a visit.

14. Tidings of Comfort and Joy - church dessert potluck and service, anyone is welcome to join us - info  here and sign up here.

15. Find Baby Jesus at Main Street Bethlehem (Burnet, TX).

16. Make Gingerbread Houses

17. Read "The Legend of the Candy Cane" and make Candy Cane Cookies. If you don't have the book, you can use this resource.

18. Dance it Ourselves - The Nutcracker (I will make masks - inspired by these - and play our favorite Tchaikovsky suite, so we can be super silly and dance around the living room! Our kids know the story and the ballet well, so they'll have a blast! Maybe next year we can actually attend the real ballet :)

19. Make some snowballs and build a snowman (snowball cookie recipe here,  and felt snowman for the kids to dress up - inspired by this one)

20. Twinkle Party - sleepover in the living room by the Christmas Tree. Admire the lights until we fall asleep.

21. The Christmas Express! (Idea from here) I'm toying of decorating our little red wagon with special lights to be a "sleigh" and piling the kids in with hot chocolate and popcorn and just strolling around our neighborhood (instead of driving somewhere) once they hand over their tickets. There's so many great houses decorated around here, it would be fun to go out on foot this year - and then come home and watch The Polar Express together.

22. Zilker Park Trail of Lights and Tree. We plan to do some dancing and spinning under that huge tree (we hear it's tradition)!

23. Christmas Carol to Family & Friends afar via Skype & FaceTime - so be signed into your accounts in case you get a call!

24. Christmas Eve Box (inspired by this one)

Other fun local events/ideas I found that won't work with our schedule this year (but I'm taking note in case they work next year!) And if any locals happen to read this and can think of any other favorites to add to this list, please leave a comment! Thanks!

-Zilker Park Tree Lighting Ceremony

-Merry Movie night under the stars - this year was Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story. How fun would that be?

-Holiday Sing-A-Long and Downtown Stroll - Capitol Building

-Cut down a native tree at the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm

-Play in REAL SNOW at snow day at the Hill Country Galleria

-Local school - Ballet Southwest Academy's production of The Nutcracker - it's slightly shorter (1.5 hours) and a bit more family friendly, yet still a great production. OR Austin City Ballet's Children's Nutcracker.

-Ice skating (a rarity in Texas!) on the top of Whole Foods Flagship store, downtown on Lamar, up on the plaza.

-Handel's Messiah, or the Sing-it-Yourself version.

-The Polar Express Story time at Barnes and Noble

-37th Street Lights - craaazy lights! 

-Wimberley Trail of Lights

5 months old

To say things have been busy around here would be an understatement. I took these pics on the day Hazel turned 5 months old - a little over a week ago - but only now have I found taken a moment to sit down and post them...before she is yet another month older. The time really flies - both when you're having fun, and when you're just plain...busy :) Busy doing good things, and exciting things for our family, but busy nonetheless. I have some older video, too, but haven't had time to put it together yet. Maybe by next month? 

So here's our Hazel Grace at 5 months old. I can't decide if she looks more like the Gerber baby or more like a Kewpie doll. What would your vote be? Either way, she's very cute, squishy, and lovable. And oh those beautiful eyes! She gets so many compliments on them, and it's not a wonder why. So happy, so bright, so beautiful! They still haven't truly "settled" which, in my experience, the longer they take to settle, more unique color they turn out to be. I'm guessing they'll end up a custom shade of - Hazel.

Little Hazey girl, at 5 months...

-daddy says you smile with your whole body, and i think he's right :)

-you melt my heart in a serious way

-when chaos is happening around me, you are the calm in the middle of the storm. Not that your siblings are a storm - but sometimes they make for some crazy times, and sometimes life is just a little crazy - but all we have to do is look at you and your smile as you giggle and try to grab our noses, and the chaos magically turns to calm as we slow down to enjoy you, dear sweet girl.

-you and I love snuggling up together in the evening. usually, after dinner, you're ready to go nurse and cuddle, so I steal you away and get you ready for bed and while daddy gets your brother and sister ready for bed, I get to lay in bed with you and kiss your sweet cheeks while you nurse and snuggle up. You are so sweet. Often, we fall asleep together and daddy usually lets me just sleep, too. 

-you are about to get into some serious trouble - you're starting to crawl! it's quite darling how you are SO tiny and petite and you get up  on your hands and knees (strong girly!) and you bounce and you get going. Now, you're not full-on-all-out speed crawling yet (which is a blessing in my opinion) but you are right there, on the verge. You get places. And sometimes you lurch forward so quickly you startle yourself (it's kind of cute). No doubt you'll be booking it toward our Christmas tree and gifts in a few more weeks. This is both exciting, and sad. Bittersweet that you're growing up so fast, little girl!

-the past two weeks - since you've gotten your crawl on - you wake up earlier and have a hard time napping because you are soooo excited to get on all fours and practice your new skillz! at nap time, I find you crawling all around your crib, and in the morning (you sleep in between me and daddy) you are awake singing and experimenting with your sweet voice. Your so delicious and happy, we just love it! but I wouldn't mind if you went back to your old habit of sleeping until about 8am instead of 6am. ;)

-I may have said this before, but you and a rockstar, baby! You just are so chill and go-with-the-flow. And that's good because almost from the moment you zoomed into the world (thank goodness it wasn't in the hospital parking lot, but very close!) things in our life have been moving at mach 10 speed, or so it seems. Just a lot of changes and things going on - and you roll with it. Most of the things going on are good, even great, things, but stressful nonetheless because so many  things have happened so fast.

-the only time you don't roll with the punches is if we drive downtown to pick up your daddy from work, and it's dark outside. This only started about two weeks ago, and I think it maybe has something to do with daylight savings? not sure - but if you're in the car after dark you aren't our usual happy camper. and you usually save the worst of it for when daddy gets in the car after a very long and high pressure day at work. now, that's not very nice, but we'll forgive you ;)

-you love to suck on your fingers and toes. especially those toes. it's pretty cute and pretty amazing - you're like a little pretzel.

-your favorite toys, hands down, are Sofie the Giraffe and these two little vanilla teething toys (elephant and sheep) that smell so good! You love those the best! You also love the cute dwell stacking blocks that Mama's friend, Cassandra, passed down to you from when her boys were babies (she'd be happy to know they're getting lots of good use!)

-you're having so much fun with your brother and sister these days, now that you're getting around. you love to crawl over and get into whatever they're doing, which makes it fun for everyone. They especially think it's funny when you get into the legos. come to think of it, they think you're quite funny, and vice versa. they love to make you giggle, especially your brother. and you do have a darling giggle! 

-if this post seems a little more frazzled than usual, it's because your Mama is super kind of maxed out and tired. It's been a whirlwind week. Tomorrow is a big day and if all goes well, we'll have about the best Christmas present ever this year for our little family. Oh, SO much to do before Christmas! I'm so excited for your first Christmas - and all of our first Christmas here in Austin. I think it's pretty safe to say it won't be a white one, this year :)

-keep on smiling sweet one! You are so very loved!

Celebrations // Happy Birthday, Jacob!

Words are not enough to express how much we love our Daddy.
happy birthday jacob from Tysha on Vimeo.

Outings // Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary

We went to the Zoo.

We frequently went to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle (you know, like weekly, sometimes more than once a week - we had a pass and it was right up the street so why not?) The Zoo in Seattle is one of the best in the country (also one of the most expensive!) It's like a gigantic, beautiful park, really - with tons of animals. Even an indoor play area (we loooved the Zoomazium on rainy days with it's music time, story times, creature features, etc. not to mention rocks to climb on and places to run around etc.) We loved the Zoo. That said, I had been warned that the Zoo in Austin wasn't quite up to par. I was told to lower my expectations, and to see it for what it is - more of a refuge and sanitary - and then I wouldn't be too disappointed. I wasn't worried about the kids being disappointed, they're always happy simply to be outside and if animals around, well - bonus :) So, Saturday as we drove the 5 minutes to the Zoo from our apartment, we lowered out expectations...a lot. And guess what? 

We loved it!

There was something very cozy about the Zoo. We went on a Saturday, which is probably their busiest day - but it didn't feel overcrowded. And because it is smaller - everything is just closer to see. A lot of the animals are older, and more slow-moving, because they take animals that other Zoos won't take - but do the kids care? NO! It made it that much easier to see them! Also, in Seattle, I don't think a lot of the animals like the rainy weather - so they hide out. But we didn't have trouble seeing ANY of the animals here! And the kids got up-close-and-personal with a lot of the little critters.

Mmmm - eat those fingers, Hazey!

Mr. Turtle says hello! He's even waving and flashing you a smile!

And the next animal...

Hello Kitty? Yep. Mm Hmm.

Aspen's kinda obsessed with the little kitty. She has been telling me for months she is going to have a Hello Kitty Birthday. To her utter surprise and joy, I busted out a Hello Kitty lunchbox all for her - to take on our picnic to the Zoo. I was originally saving it for her birthday, but we only have one insulated lunch box and with a family of 5 and warm temps, I thought it would be a good idea to bring another one. Not to mention, the kids were fighting over who would get to carry the "owl lunchbox". So I told Sawyer the owl is officially his and Hello Kitty is Aspens. Problem solved and two happy campers :)

Picture overload here of Aspen. Sawyer was so busy running here and there - but she was in her own little quiet world. I love catching her there. The girl LOVES rocks. LOVES them. So, while everyone else was admiring the jaguars - she was sitting their plunking rocks over the little fence. At first I was calling her to move on along with us, but then I just stopped and watched her. What does she think about when she carefully selects her little rocks, feels them in her fingers, and tosses them over her shoulder? I don't know...but I sure love watching her.

My favorite of the day - the Bengal Tiger! So majestic! And he came walking right up close to me! We hardly ever got to see the Tiger in Seattle - only saw him napping or heard him roaring - kind of a hard spot to see in the distance. But here, the Tiger was RIGHT THERE in front of us. We watched him for quite some time. 

And how cute is this little spotted deer?

Daddy and Sawyer were ready to head to the train...but Aspen got caught up in her little world again. Rocks. Rocks. Rocks. I stayed back with her while she built a little mountain out of her rocks. Also, gotta love her dirt-covered face at the end of the day!

We were at the Zoo a good 5 or so hours. And we pretty much saw it all. It was perfect. We really had a wonderful time. Our outing ended perfect with a 20 minute ride on the Zoo train! Who doesn't love riding a train?

This girl had such a great time, she was asleep after half a second once we got in the car :) I think the train ride kind of lulled her into sleepy mode. (It did to her Daddy, too - just don't tell!)

So, there you have the Austin Zoo. We had a wonderful time. I know I say it whenever I write about a family outing - but it's only because it's true: I love my little family and being with them is the best thing in the world to me. There was craziness at the beginning and end of the day when Jacob and I had chores to do and work to get done (aka his day job comes home a lot) but the time in between - we just enjoyed, together. After the Zoo, we went for an afternoon swim with the kids, sat in the hot tub, and then went to Torchy's Tacos (one of our favorite places!) to end it right. Perfect, really. Our lives aren't perfect, we aren't perfect, but the time we have together: is perfect. 

I loved this outing because it showed me, again, that things ARE different, places ARE different. But not in necessarily a bad, or a good, or a better, or a worse, kind of way. Just different. And that's okay.