Hiking last weekend

So it's fall, almost Halloween, and that usually means a trip to the pumpkin patch. But D & I weren't especially looking forward to it since we've been for the past four years. I suggested a hike somewhere we hadn't been before and the Es thought that sounded like a good idea, so we headed to Great Hills Park in northwest Austin. We had gorgeous weather, tasty snacks, and a playscape midway through the hike that EEN were very happy to play on (well, Nico really spent more time practicing climbing the stairs than playing, but he still had fun). Here are some pictures (those of you on facebook have already seen some of these, but there are new ones too.)

:: The best of the posed group shots ::

:: Egan crossing a creek (notice his tongue and the foot that is already in the water--we crossed so many little creeks that at some point he just stopped caring about whether he got wet) ::

:: Ella jumping off a huge boulder--she said this tied with the playscape for her favorite part of the hike ::

:: Egan jumping--he said he was pretending to be a bird ::

:: Sweet smiley Ella ::

:: Dijar checking out the creek ::

:: Nico stayed awake for the whole hike (and Ella typed this whole sentence--yay, Ella!) ::

:: Egan wouldn't let me take his photo in this little cave unless he got to hide behind his rock ::

:: On the trail ::

:: Rock climbing ::


:: One of my personal favorites ::

:: Another good one ::

:: Crossing another creek, this time via roots instead of rocks ::

:: Checking out a really neat limestone-sinkhole-kind-of-thing ::

I forgot about these pics...

I just realized I never finished posting the rest of the Colorado vacation pictures. Here are the last set. We spent one day hiking, wading, fly fishing, etc, along the Chalk Creek. This place is a couple of hours from Colorado Springs. We would never have found it if D and I hadn't been channel surfing and seen photos of the place on Dateline (the story was "The Murder at Chalk Creek"). We didn't find any bodies, but we did find a very nice waterfall and a cold creek to play in.

:: The best of about ten photos Janie took trying to get five people to look and smile at the same time...four out of five ain't bad ::

:: A series of photos with approximate dialogue--It's too cold ::

:: Okay, we'll go without you ::

:: Wait for me! ::

:: Fly fishing like Daddy ::

:: Our in-house photographer ::

:: Back in the car ::

New haircuts for Ella and me

Ella has been asking for a haircut for awhile and we've just never gotten around to it. I finally got a much-needed haircut myself this morning and that spurred Ella to insist on me cutting hers this afternoon. Here are some before and afters.

::Ella's waist-length hair::


::Admiring herself in the mirror post-haircut::

::Catching me watching her admire herself in the mirror::

::Showing off the ponytail that's missing::

::New haircut=happy Ella, fewer tangles=happy Ella and happy mama::

::Me and Ella Belle::

Happy birthday to Nico!

We had Nico's first birthday party yesterday. We managed to keep him awake through the whole thing and he seemed to really enjoy himself. Here are some photos.

::Think he's getting ready to make a wish?::

::Nico loved the plate almost as much as the cake (well, maybe because it had cake on it...)::

::Full and happy::

::But not too full for just one bite of this yummy candle::

::Time for clean-up::

This boy is a berry-eatin' fool

Nico loves food (gets it from his mama, I think). He's not picky, either (definitely doesn't get that from his mama). He eats his veggies like a champ and really doesn't refuse much. I taught him the sign for "more" the other day and now he uses it constantly, always in reference to food. I think his favorite foods right now are berries, especially blackberries and raspberries. He does like to share if you're interested. :)