More Than Just Trains

Our first stop in Austin was to the Children's Museum. It was a quirky, old school type of place- indicative, I think, of the city itself. There were lots of nooks and tiny rooms to explore. Liam and Dash loved it. They were fantastic travelers that day so they deserved a treat.

They ESPECIALLY loved the big train table. Ohhh ho ho, they loved that train table.

I mean, look at it, it's the stuff one-year-old's dreams are made of.

After about 45 seconds of listening to story time, Liam found some more interesting fish shapes on the wall.

Then they found REAL fish!

Fish face!

They played on some musical frogs.

And they played me Happy Birthday on the pipes!

Then... back to the train table!

There were cars on the train table too, so that made it even better.

Then they tried out the giant Lite Brite (amongst my most favorite childhood toys. The normal sized kind, that is).

Then back to the train table!

This is the life!

Birthday Present

So, two Saturdays ago, it was my birthday! To celebrate, we went to Austin! I'll tell you about it over the next day or two. It was fabulous. Plus, Sean bought me a wide-angle lens! Whee!

It was also the birthday in which I forgot we live in an electronic world. I forgot the camera battery. The camera battery died the first day of our trip (so much for practicing with that wide-angle...). It wasn't a total loss, we still had our video camera to record the fun. But I forgot it for half the day on Saturday. I forgot my phone charger. My phone died (so anyone who meant to call me for my birthday and forgot, there's your excuse!). And... I broke the Kindle. You know, it was on the bed while I was playing with the kids and I pushed on it without realizing it- crack! Le sigh.

Buuuuut it was still an awesome birthday! Most chiefly because this happened:

(holding hands from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Best birthday present I've ever received.

Honeybee Actions

I admit it, I'm a blog stalker. Not generally, I usually make my presence known if I read a blog long enough. Sometimes, though, I write my first comment on a blog and it goes unacknowledged. That's fine but it makes me less likely to write a comment again. And I wonder if the blogger doesn't like my participation in the blog. (I'm totally not talking about all you guys who I know personally- you definitely don't need to respond to every comment I make, that's just silly)

That being said, anyone out there, feel free to comment! If you're friend or stranger, you're all welcome (except for creepers, you're not allowed). I'm happy you can share in the joy of my wonderful family.

[Post-edit: This was not meant to be a guilt trip in any way. Just a friendly "Welcome!" in case you felt wary of posting a comment or felt funny about visiting my blog without my knowledge. Whatever that means. I'm just happy you're here!]

One of the blogs I've enjoyed stalking is Baby Making- she's a mormon mom of twins and she's fun to read. Right up my alley. She also just made some Photoshop Actions (Honeybee Actions) and held a contest to give some away. Well, I won! And I've been trying out her actions. I made a sampling of her actions and thought I'd share it with you, too. I used a couple of photos my boys' Year and A Half post.

Here's Liam introducing some of the color action options:

Straight out of camera...

Here's Dash introducing some of the Black & White / Sepia actions:

Straight out of camera...

I think I'm most excited about Paisley, Softly, Iced Tea, and Christmas Cardigans. I am, of course, still figuring out the right photographic situation for each action, that takes time. It helps to see them all compared, doesn't it?  Thanks for the actions, Becky!

Panel of Experts: Dinner and Books

1) What the heck do you guys do during dinner prep time? My goodness, the second I step into the kitchen to get dinner ready, at least one boys storms in whining. No matter if I've been playing with them since nap time, no matter if they were in the middle of a super-absorbing plaything, no matter if they just had a magnificent snack- they're always mad when I start making dinner. They especially want to be picked up, which doesn't work with most dinner prep activities (i.e. knife wielding). It especially doesn't work when both want to be picked up.

If Sean's home, it helps a ton since he'll play with them, though they still wander in from time to time for my attention. And Sean isn't always home to help. Soooooo... what kind of things work for you? I'm all ears for any suggestion!

2) Like I mentioned a few days ago, Liam and Dash often cannot stand sharing a parent, especially a parent's lap. Anyone have any good ideas on how to resolve that issue? It is getting a little bit better, maybe it'd just go away with time?

Okay, so sometimes they do share.

3) Do you guys have any parenting book suggestions? Books of any sort- how to raise a toddler, potty training,  time management, etc. If there's any book out there that's been helpful to you, do share!

Blow That Bubble

Daddy can blow bubbles. Dash can catch them.

And Liam can catch them.

Mommy can blow bubbles.

Dash can catch them.

And Liam can catch them.

You know who else can blow bubbles?

Dash can blow bubbles!

And Liam can blow bubbles!

We are a bubble blowing family!

The Park, by Dada

Part the Second of our Outing at the Park. Featuring: Photos by Dada. Enjoy.

I love this fuzzy one. It looks so artistically cool to me.

Dash now likes to scooch far far forward, his arms bent behind him, before he lets go and descends the slide. He's building his own suspense.

The lawn maintenance crew came while we were there. Liam was enthralled.

Dash just stared and stared.

Dash also tried his hand at the long bendy slide for the first time.

And Liam figured out how to climb UP the long bendy slide for the first time.

Brothers look out for each other.

Yes, I know I'm beautiful.

I'm leaning my tummy against the fence, I'm so awesome.

Saved the best for last.

The Park, by Mama

Part the First of our Outing at the Park. Featuring: Photos by Mama. Enjoy.

Hee hee hee!!!

Ha ha ha!!!

I can't get over those pictures! They're just too funny. Such strong hands, they can hang there for a good ten seconds before releasing into our outstretched hands.

Oh my Earnest Liam

Oh my Skeptical Dash

He gets that face from his daddy.

And he gets his giggles from his daddy too!

This... is something we're working on. I'll just leave it at that.

Looking adorable is not something we're working on. It comes naturally.

Do you think they take after their dad? Because, duh, they do. They're like little clones.

Anything climbable is climbed, no question. Even some non-climbable things are climbed too!

I think he's happy.

I love him.

And I love him.