A Wild Week

I had two reasons to head to Austin this week--my cousin Megan and her family was in town visiting from LA, and I had a bachelorette party there over the weekend--so Charlie and I decided to make a week out of it and headed down south on Tuesday to see the Californians before they headed back to cooler temps.

My cousin Amy hosted a pool party at her house on Tuesday and it was so much fun. Charlie didn't nap in the car on the way down, but had so much fun with his cousins that the lack of nap didn't seem to phase him a bit--we played hard and he was furious when we had to leave. I LOVED getting to see little Elec. I hadn't seen him since Christmas, and he had changed so much in the interim. He and Charlie are only 3 months apart, and they are so similar--both very boy. :) I can't wait for them to get more playtime this Christmas!

Here's Megan, Elec, and Chris. We miss you guys already!

Our sweet hostess, Amy, and her two lovely girls. Jane Ann is becoming quite the little swimmer!

Abbey and George came over as well and it was such a treat to get to see them. I hate not having them in Dallas anymore, but love seeing them in Austin!

Charlotte and KK enjoyed some Cheetos. Charlie found the discarded Cheetos later and thought he had hit the jackpot. He also found a discarded Lunchable and very quietly dug into it. I caught him with the soggy food, took it away, and got a very angry "my cracker!" in response. :)

Baby Katie wasn't sure she wanted Charlie invading the sandbox with her. Smart woman! :)

She later decided he wasn't all that bad, and the two of them played very sweetly in the pool.

Charlie and I headed to Seguin after the Austin festivities and spent a few days with my parents, Uncle Robie, Aunt Dede, and the Reeds. On Wednesday, my mom, Dede, Addie and I took all four kids to the Children's Museum in New Braunfels. We had a blast. Charlie was obsessed with the ambulance. I think we spent 90% of our time fiddling the steering wheel and turning on the lights.

His second favorite thing was the train table. He hasn't quite figured out how to keep his trains on the track, but he tried hard. When all else failed, he swiped a couple trains and carried them around the museum with us. :)

Jack and Julia knew just what to do. They headed straight to the "bank," got some quick cash, and started shopping!

Katie nicely cooked up some lunch for us.

We also got to see a reptile show. Our favorites were the baby crocodile and baby alligator.

Someone almost got up the courage to touch them...

On Friday, I headed to Austin for my bachelorette weekend, but Charlie didn't let my absence stop him. He had plenty of plans for his weekend in Seguin. On Friday night, he took my parents with him to Katie's 2nd birthday party. I HATED missing the sweet girl's birthday, but I was glad Charlie didn't have to miss out on the fun.

As usual, Charlie loved the slide (both the climb up and the slide down).

I love this picture of Katie and Charlie at the top of the slide. I think Jack and Julia are trying to coax them down.

Looks like Jules had to go up, but Charlie is headed down!

Charlie loved getting in on the Reed Family baseball game. He loves baseball bats right now, but if you're in the vicinity when he has one, beware!

Charlie loved getting to swing with his Aunt Addie. The little birthday girl looks a little unsure of why HE'S getting to have all the fun. :)

Sweet Katie and her fish cake.

Isn't this cute??

Looks like someone got lots of help opening presents... :)

Charlie's favorite words right now are "tractor," "truck," and "digger," and he is obsessed with all of these. As a special treat, Papa took Charlie out to La Vernia on Saturday to check out both a digger AND a tractor. Charlie was thrilled, and apparently quite stirred up while they were out there. There was a lot of "tractor" talk on the way home... :)

I had a wonderful time during my weekend away, but it was SO good to see Charlie on Sunday. I was missing him terribly, and we were both really excited to get home to Clint. Thank you so much Papa and Ali for making our week away so fun and easy!