Restaurant Reviews...mmmmm.

We decided that since we were in town this weekend that we needed to go ahead and try out a few new restaurants. :) We LOVE doing that...and it helps us to keep the list of places that we eat out at fresh and new. :) SWEET! :)

So Saturday night we headed down SOUTH......to a fun Cajun place-the Evangeline Cafe. Yum to the good old Cajun grub! :) My dad knows the owner's son at this restaurant so we had to check it out just for that reason. They are bringing some Lake Charles up to Austin. :)

Lots to choose from such as poboys, creole, etoufee, pistolettes, and boudin. YUM!!! :) We had a good meal...and Braden grubbed up too. :) He also really enjoyed flirting with the ladies that were sitting behind us...and the waitstaff. :) Then on Sunday we headed down to the Hill Country Galleria to just get B out for a little shopping adventure. He likes to look at everything...so it is a fun way to kill some time. We went to the little sprinkler park as he loves to watch the kids in there. And we hit up Barnes and Noble to read some books in the kids section. We also had to go to Learning Express where they have the BEST toys and fun things for the kids to play with!! He loves that store! :)

Learning Express...HOORAY!! He played with the big train sets and the balls of course. :) And lots of other fun things that caught his eye. :)He loves the fountains around too...and he just says "wa-wa" over and over again. :)We tried a new Italian place for dinner on Sunday night-Bella Serra. They had the BEST garlic and cheese rolls that I might have ever eaten!! :) YUM!!! :) Here's to another good Austin weekend. We still cannot wait for fall so we can enjoy some more outdoor restaurants!! Love it! :)

Stylin' and Profilin' With a New Hairdo.....

Saturday was the big day....time to get our little man his first haircut. :) He was starting to look a little bit shaggy but I was trying to hold off until he was one. :) So we hit the one year mark, and we decided to clean up the hair that was starting to come over his ears, and get longer down his neck. :) So glad we did b.c he looks so stinkin cute with his new "do"! :)

We had a lot of fun with the first cut, and we took him to a super cute little place-"Pigtails and Crewcuts". They had all of the fun cars that the kids could sit in and movies playing everywhere. There were lots of toys, and the stylist that cut Braden's hair was very good with him.

We had NO idea how he would do as I have heard horror stories from friends that have taken their kiddos, and the kids have end up making themselves sick they were crying so much. So we went into the process slightly nervous...but it could not have gone better!! We were so thankful! :)

Here are some pics from the experience! :) Braden picked the firetruck to sit in. He thought it was so neat to be able to drive it! :)
He was just getting adjusted to his cape. :) Here we go! :) This tickles a little bit. :)
I love driving the car and watching myself in the mirror! :)Mohawk man... :)Dad showing me how to check out the progress in the mirror so far. :)Time to hold the head still to do the very last part. :) Have to be careful when we are cutting close to the ears. :) They kept telling me that I was doing a great job...but I did not mind since I was watching "Finding Nemo!!" :)Now that I am all done I think I want to check out some of the other vehicles. I might pick a different one when I come back next time! :) Maybe the taxi?

Or the airplane? :)Afterward we went to one of our favorite frozen yogurt spots to reward our little man for doing so awesome during his haircut! :) YoYo's...here we come! :)

Getting my haircut was so worth it if I get some frozen yogurt! :) YUM! :)

Do you like my new cut? :)

YAY...first haircut success!! :) So glad it went well!! :) WHOOP! :)

Random Fun Memories-Part Two

So "Random Fun Memories" Part Two is all about the Danskin Triathalon that I did in June of 2004. I have to take you back about 6 years on this one.

First of all, I LOVED IT!! I thought it was the best thing!! There were at least 3000 women that did it that year. A LOT! :) Although I was completely starving and exhausted afterward, I had a ball. :) A few of my fun friends did it too-Anna and Melissa, and then a few other folks from Dell. It was just awesome! :) I wish I had the energy to train for something like that now...but pretty much I just chase a one year old around instead! LOL! :)

We swam in Decker Lake first (all while getting kicked in the head by multiple other women), then we biked up and down many many hills (ouch!!), and then we ran at the end (my least favorite part). Talk about getting yourself into shape fast by training for one of those! :)

Here are a couple of pics from the event. I must warn you that these pics must have been taken with a disposable camera or something b.c they are NOT the best! :) But nevertheless they are a good representation of the 5 am arrival, and the smiles when it was over. :)

Have to get my bike in the perfect spot so it is ready when I come out of the water! :) Anna and I..... Melissa and I...EARLY morning!! And why is the picture crooked? LOL! :)
Hanging out by the end of the swim finish waiting for my turn to start swimming. :)Mel by the port o potties. :) Have to have a lot of those for all of the women. :)
Not sure what the random dude is doing...
(Was this before good photo editing as well?) :)
Mel hanging out by the swim finish in the early morning hours. Just waiting for our wave to start. You can probably barely make this one out....but it is where we came out of the water after the swim...and we ran up to our bikes to get moving. :) Starting to get light out. :)What a good time!! WHOOP for the Danskin!! Good times and I would love to do it again one day. Not sure how soon that one day will come though! LOL! :)

Don't Leave Me!!!!

Well little B is going through a little bit of spearation anxiety at his age. WOW!! You know I really did not expect that too much since he has been going to a little school since he was 4 months old. But lo and behold around Month 11 something just changed. Our calm and happy baby began to raise the roof when we dropped him off places and left. One of those places being the church nursery!! Oh yes. It is just not fun being "those people". :)

Who wants to be THAT mom that brings her kid to the church nursery and he flips out in front of everyone? Yep, that was us around mid Aug. Good times!! All of a sudden he decided one day that he DID NOT want to be left alone...PERIOD! So we dealt with that for a couple of weeks in the nursery, and I think one Sunday he might have even cried through the entire service. What in the world. You know it is bad when you come back, and the ladies that are keeping him look totally frazzled. :( Oh...and he has been on a "stroller" ride for most of the service! That translates into "get that kid outta here!!" :)

So around Month 11 1/2 we had our first exposure to what separation/stranger anxiety is like, and I am not going to lie.......I was not a huge fan! :)

We still have bouts of it here and there when we go to new places...or when he just does not want either of us to leave him. Sometimes he does it around the house just to be a little bit of a pill I think. :) He will come up to us and just cling to our legs for dear life...and we are not going anywhere (just cooking dinner or something). :) Pure joy.

I know that it will all go away at some point..but the toddler years have already proven to be QUITE interesting in these last few weeks. Braden is definitely coming into a mind of his own...and there is no doubt about the fact that he WILL let you know what he thinks! :) Here's to more good times in the toddler years! :) I am sure this is only the beginning of my blog posts about this subject. :)

Fun With The Fish......

While Braden was in Lake Charles over Labor Day weekend with my parents, we had some fun one year pics taken of him. One of my mom's friends does a great job with kids, and one of her signature photo sessions is with a fish when they turn one. So of course we had to do it! :)

Mom and Dad said Braden did awesome at the photo shoot and was a real trooper. He gave lots of smiles and hammed it up of course. :)

Hundreds of pics were taken..but here are just a few for a preview. :)

Braden LOVED that fish Dorothy!! They said he kept trying to grab the fish and get a good hold on it. He is not scared of much these days....so I can only imagine how he must have been torturing her!! Oh Braden. :)

Man I love this fish! :) I am pretty sure Dorothy likes me too! :) Ready or not....here I come. :)And I bet no one even knew that I could make the fish face....but I can! :)

And just one quick shot of me with one of my other favorite things-BUBBLES! :)

Looking forward to the next fun photo shoot for sure! :) Thank you LouAnn! :)

North Carolina...And A Little R&R On The Lake!

Chris and I had a fun Labor Day weekend in the Piney Woods of North Carolina! :) Nice! :) Beautiful weather, gorgeous scenery, and lots of R&R...of course you cannot beat that! :)

We headed out on Friday to meet up with my parents in Houston for dinner at Lupe Tortilla. We also did the "Braden exchange" that evening as well. :) He was going for another fun weekend of getting spoiled in Lake Charles. :) The funniest part is that he was not even phased by the fact that we were leaving him with his grandparents. We put him in his PJ's, gave him his milk and blanket, and put him in the car with a little DVD on. And he was pretty much content and just said "Bye". :) Well how do you like that? LOL! :)

I know that something is going on here guys!! But it is ok b.c staying with Mimi and Pappy is MEGA fun! :) Have a good trip Mom and Dad! :) Chris and I checked into the Sheraton for the night in Houston..and then flew out early Saturday morning for Raleigh. :) WHOOP! :) Once we got to Raleigh and got our rental car...we made the hour and a 1/2 trek up to Lake Gaston (which is on the border of NC and Virginia). :) Simply beautiful up there! :)

We spent the weekend with some good friends that Chris went to grad school with at The Bush School. There were 4 couples and we stayed at our good friend Jayme's parents lakehouse. Now this is no ordinary cabin on the lake..this is a mega retreat!! With 6 bedrooms and 5 baths...there is MORE than enough room for everyone to get very cozy. :) We love it out there! :)

And we have arrrived!! HOORAY! :)Other pretty homes on the lake around us. Love those trees! :) Jayme's maiden name is "Head"...so how cute that they have "HEADquarters" signs around the house and dock. :)More lake beauty... Hammock time! :)Arturo decided he was going to catch some fish!! :)When that did not work out too well, he and Justin decided to try the other dock....There was LOTS of laughing. My sides hurt! :) And lots of lounging..... :)There were good stories told around the bonfire at night.... :) (In the 60 degree weather!)
And even more great stories told on the boat at sunset... :)

Jayme was a great driver..even at 7 months pregnant with her baby girl! :) She really took care of us all weekend. :)

And there were numerous amazing pictures taken by our famous resident photographer Kii. :) Seriously, his pics are brillant!! He is a super photographer for the Associated Press...and I could not be more jealous of his job and all that he gets to see! :) I have to ask him 20 questions about his dream job every time I see him! :)

Moque was checking out the gorgeous sunset....

Justin and Jamie cuddling up on the boat. They win the parents of the year award as they have 3 year old triplet girls!! :)

I think Chris might have smiled the entire weekend. :)

And a sunset cruise would not be complete without crackers, dips, and of course some wine!! :)

Since most of the weekend was about eating awesome food...we had to head down to the marina to grub up on the best "4 Napkin Cheeseburgers" in town! :) What a fun weekend!! Even though we could not wait to see Braden on Monday night, Chris and I were very glad we were able to go and enjoy the fun times at Lake Gaston again this year! :) What a good time it was! :)

God bless the USA!! God bless Lake Gaston!! And God bless our fun friends that we got to spend a great weekend with!! :) Looking forward to seeing you all again soon! :)