Out and About

A Fun Day at Krause Springs:

More Feeding the Gigantic Catfish at "The Pier" Restaurant on Lake Travis:

Although the my sister and her family sadly moved away from San Antonio right as we moved to Austin, we were pretty excited to have Keith's dad and family move back to San Antonio (from San Diego) this month. Papa John and Keith's brother Jake came up to meet Addie and hang out for a bit:

Addie was able to join in on the pool fun at our second trip to Volente Water Park:

While Avery couldn't get enough of the frog slide:

Addie was quite proud of the disastrous, disgusting mess she made of herself with her biter biscuit. Thank goodness a pool was nearby, otherwise we would've had to hose her down:
A Third Round at our Favorite Inks Lake State Park- a great place to picnic and swim:

And the potty training has proved so successful that even in a bathing suit in the water, Avery held it until she had a chance to get her swimsuit off and use our port-a-potty:

Around the House Antics

Yet again, Avery finds a way to turn a slightly risky situation into a straight-up dangerous one: Addie's not only proud to be eating solid foods, but adamantly tyring to eat them on her own:
And she finally sits up well enough to join in on the pirate pool fun:

Avery and Addie's First Bath Together-

Addie looks a bit hesitant about being confined in a small, slippery, wet place with her crazy, unpredictable sister:

Perhaps we should've approached the potty training with a promise of a "Go Diego" acton figure. Keith bought her the figure on his way home from work as a gift for her first successful potty training day. I've never seen her so excited to open a gift. She held it up and exclaimed "WOW!":

Avery Continues Her Random Playtime-

She loves to find new, random things to line up in OCD-esque manners. On this day, she got a hold of plastic, colored CD cases and decided that her Polly Pocket dolls needed to be placed inside the cases and lined up on the piano:

Our Princesses

One of Avery's favorite things to do is dress up as a "princess" with a tiara, her tu-tu, high heels, and a wand. She was quite upset with me at first for letting Addie be a princess with a tiara and wand as well, but soon realized playing princess is more fun when you have a fellow princess to enjoy the excitement:

Hamilton Pool and Salt Lick

Keith's former P.A. school friend, Travis and his girlfriend Katy, came down to visit from Atlanta for a few days before we all headed to another P.A. school friend's wedding in a little town called Yoakum, TX. We had a fun day visiting a natural spring pool called Hamilton Pool followed by eating out at the most famous near-Austin barbecue restaurant- The Salt Lick.

As soon as we got to Hamilton Pool, Avery put Travis to work demanding he keep her entertained: And, as usual, Avery had no problem making friends with other kids her age: Addie enjoyed some time in the pool, but little piggly-wiggly is always content when she has a bottle in her mouth:
A final photo before we headed off the Salt Lick:

As we ate the all-you-can-eat-barbecue, Avery came up with a new way to request food. She'd shove the fork in my face and have the fork tell me her resquests for food in ventriloqusit style. It's most popular request was to say "Mommy, I need to feed Avery some more beans":

And Addie, as always, chilled in the stroller: The Aftermath of a day in the sun followed by all-you-can-eat barbecue:

Jenny's Wedding

We had a blast at Keith's former P.A. school friend Jenny's wedding. Most of Keith's closest P.A. friends were there, so it was a nice reunion and chance to catch up a crew:Avery relaxed for a bit in the stroller... And would take a few breathers in it throughout the night...

But quickly headed off to the dance floor before the music even started and spent most of the five hours we were there dancing and mingling: Again, no problems making friends (she especially loves to join in with the older kids):

And she did amazingly well joining in on the line-dancing. I suppose it's time to start looking in to some possible toddler dance classes:

I joined in the fun with her here and there. (I actually started off wearing a fancy dress, but soon changed into more comfortable attire when I realized that the majority of the guests were dressed in small-town, casual-wear):

Addie, as always, chilled in the stroller, watching the action, for most of the time unless she was hungry for a bottle or needed a little rocking to help her fall asleep:And Avery made it pretty clear when she was worn down and ready to head home:

Celebrating July 4th

We celebrated July 4th over at Don and Michele's. We hung around their house swimming, playing Ping Pong, and eating food off the grill until nightfall. And then we headed off to the nearby park for a firework show: As always, Addie chilled in the stroller:

Aunt Michele was smart enough to bring glow-in-the-dark toys to keep the kids distracted while we waited for the show to start:

We set up camp and waited for the show to start:

Keith got a bit annoyed with my excessive camera shots:

But then grew bored as we waited and decided to take control over the photography:

And at last, the show began. I was worried the noises would be too much for the easily-startled Addie, but she took it all in stride:

And Avery was intrigued with the show from beginning to end:

Around the House Indoor Antics

As usual, Avery never lets the day go drab:
I brought out the Jump N Go for Addie's enjoyment, but Avery decided she needed a turn first. Luckily, Addie was pretty amused just sitting in her Exersaucer and watching her crazy sister go buck wild in it:

But she soon grew weary. "When's my turn, Mom?"Addie soon sees what all the hype is about:Not really... she enjoyed being in it for about two minutes and then got freaked out about how it spins unexpectedly and hasn't enjoyed being in it since. Addie loves kicking, so I thought this toy would be right up her alley. But Addie also has a huge fear for the unexpected, and that fear apparently spades her love for kicking:

As soon as Addie makes a noise when waking up from her naps, Avery is in her bedroom screaming and squealing and laughing. On this day, Avery ran in and decided to join in on the crib fun before I knew what happened. She gave me a look like "What Mom- is this going to be a problem?" Apparently, Addie had no problem joining in on the craziness:

Avery proudly discovers plastic spoon glasses:

Addie will probably be demanding in the future when it comes to footwear. She loves going after other peoples' feet when they're wearing colorful socks or shoes. She gets pretty excited when I put socks or shoes on her as well, but it never occurred to me until I was putting up laundry one day that wearing my colorful socks would be even more thrilling to her:

Avery never gets tired of dressing up with Princess shoes and tiaras (never mind me power napping on Addie's blanket in the background):

And while Avery was busy and distracted pretending to be a princess, Addie was pleased to finally get a hold of one of Avery's precious-not-to-be-touched-by-ANYONE princess dolls: