A day in Wimberley, Texas

About an hour outside of Austin is a little artist town called Wimberely. The town is known for it's galleries, glass blowing, and a cobalt blue creek that runs through the middle of town. It is also home to "Pioneer Town" which is a bunch of Old-West style abandoned buildings lined up to create a fake eerie ghost town. It felt like a set straight from Universal Studios. As a matter of fact, a lot of the drive there felt like we were back in time on the set of a Hollywood Western. We took a scenic drive and walked around the shops before having an early dinner at Cypress Creek Cafe. What drew us to Wimberely was its 6-acre display of a Christmas light wonderland. We had heard it was fantastical, but weren't sure exactly what to expect. With the weather in the 50s, we meandered through the winter lights, full of all kinds of displays that would have made Clark Griswold proud. Morgan took a ride on the tractor train and we had hot chocolate and roasted marshmellows before heading back home.

Pioneer Town

Morgan on the Tractor Train

Ho Ho Howdy

the aftermath

Well, Santa was able to suck in enough to fit down our 60's style chimney. Dean was the first to wake and while I was feeding him a bottle in the living room, Morgan woke up and pointed at the gifts with a big smile when he saw them. Thank you to all of Santa's elves who made this year special. The boys had sooooo many presents to open and Morgan wanted to play with each one after opening it (even the books)! Morgan was a good big brother and asked to open Dean's gifts, which surprised even me since he still had so many unopened ones for himself. Although Dean did not grasp what was going on, he liked touching all the new toys, wrapping paper and boxes, not to mention the constant entertainment. Now that Christmas is over, we are working on sharing all the toys. Not sure if Morgan will still be inviting Dean to play trains though as the train town is now more like a metropolis!

Ed cooked a yummy filet with crab imperial on Christmas Eve for just the four of us. After playing with all the new toys Christmas day, we headed out for Chinese for dinner with all the jews : ) It was a quiet Christmas this year without the extended family - we miss you everyone!

Fair, Anyone?

from the ferris wheel

kiddie coaster

A fair in December? Why not! We were surprised too when we noticed the ferris wheel from the highway one night but decided to make plans to go. Morgan enjoyed some of the kiddie rides including riding a car, motorcycle, spinning orb, kiddie coaster and the ferris wheel. Poor Dean was too little for any of the rides but had lots of flashing lights and new things to observe! Before going home, Morgan chose a second turn on the ferris wheel for his last ride. Sorry, Morgan, gotta wait til you're 48" for the bumper cars. Maybe next year!

Illuminated Weirdness on 37th Street

An interpretation of Rudolph I suppose???

Sock Monkey Manger Scene

There's a block of homes on 37th Street in Austin that are known for going all out with their Christmas decorations and lighting. The spectacle attracts lots of car and foot traffic and so we decided to check it out. While there was lots of eye candy, I'd say the theme wavered between festive and just plain weird. Although the sock monkey manger scene was pretty funny : )

Have Boys. Will Grow.

 

These boys are growing so fast. Morgan must be in a growth spurt because he has been constantly eating the past 3 weeks. And I mean constantly. Like adult-sized portions for meals and 3-4 snacks between meals. I don't know where he puts it all but the boy is hungry. All. The. Time. Our piggy Dean on the other hand has lost a lot of his appetite, becoming an extremely picky eater but still super pudgy as ever. He's been cruising while holding on to furniture and will likely start walking within the next couple weeks. Dean can now say three words: da-da, baby, and ma-ma. And I think it's pretty official that Morgan can spell now, mostly three-letter words. He's very interested in spelling and numbers these days. And of course race cars and trains.

And dare I say it, the boys are even getting along and playing more together. I don't know what came over Morgan the other day, but he asked if Dean could play trains with him in his room (which is usually off limits to troublemaker Dean). They played trains together for 20 minutes. Dean made vroom car noises while pushing his train around, so we'll have to work on that. Thankfully Dean did not pick apart and destroy the train tracks so he might be invited back again sometime.

Here's a movie of both boys playing bumper cars together:
http://blip.tv/pelaezfam/bumper-cars-5832062

And one of Dean showing his latest interactions:
http://blip.tv/pelaezfam/dean-s-latest-skills-5832082

See you in 2012!

Morgan had his last day of school and a Holiday Party to commemorate the long break. They'll be headed back January 4th.

Dean, meet Santa. Santa, meet... oh, nevermind.

Well, we tried. Morgan did not want to sit on Santa's lap (but I also think his decline had something to do with not wanting to part with the candy cane in his mouth -- the first one he's ever had, and yes, he ate the whole thing). So, we thought we'd try Dean by himself. He was in a great mood, smiling until he left Daddy's arms and saw that strange white beard. Instant meltdown. We can try again next year... We were at the light festival at Zilker Park tonight, where we also ate funnel cakes under a 155 foot tree made of lights strung up a light tower. The tradition here is to go underneath and spin around while looking up... very dizzying. Around the base of the tree were food booths, pictures with Santa, and an outdoor theatre with dance troops and kids singing Christmas music which proved good entertainment for the kids.

A Cardboard Christmas

My good friend Emily gave us a "Christmas Tree in a Box" before we left, knowing that we would not have any of our personal ornaments or Christmas decorations here in Austin. So today, instead of erecting our fake Target tree, we assembled a die-cut tree while listening to Christmas music. It came complete with paper ornaments to hang and even a paper star that Ed placed on the top for a final touch. So on the kitchen counter it now sits (so Dean can't tear it apart and eat it). Hope Santa will be able to find it, and when he does, it'll be dwarfed by all the gifts! Thank you Emily!

check out the Christmas socks

Capitol Tree Lighting

We headed downtown to the grounds of the State Capitol for the tree lighting and celebrations including carrolling, street vendors, live musicians, silent movies projected on sides of buildings, and your average holiday show featuring bicycling reindeer, butterflies, bats and a rattlesnake. It was fun just sitting watching the cyclists, singing christmas songs and snacking on kettle corn. We stayed a while but not long enough apparently for the actual tree lighting. There's a saying here "Keep Austin Weird". I guess Christmas festivities are no exception : )

notice the rattlesnake tail

Chuy's Blue Santa Parade

 

Saturday was the Annual Chuy's Blue Santa Parade going from the Capitol to the Congress Bridge. It seems like winter arrived overnight as we bundled up to watch the string of giant blimps, marching bands and bedazzled floats. The kids had a lot of eye candy and on the way back to the car, Morgan ran into the Blue Santa and got to rattle off his wish list. We also passed by some military hummers that had been in the parade and a soldier was kind enough to let Morgan get in the vehicle. That boy was grinning ear to ear!

Mt. Bonnell

With Lola and Papa Bobby in tow, we climbed the 117 stairs (Morgan counted) to the top of Mt. Bonnell to watch the sunset and check out the view of downtown Austin and the river (as well as the expensive homes that reside there). Aside from a 1 year old using my shoulder blade as a teething ring, it was fun. A week ago, we hadn't even heard of the place, but a neighbor happened to mention it in passing. Still lots to discover here in Austin!

Tree Lighting at the Domain

 

Cue the fake snow! Now it really feels like Christmas... Went to the tree lighting ceremony at The Domain which was an outdoor shopping center with a Reston Town Center vibe. We enjoyed TexMex food, live music and the kid's favorite -- a laser show. Nevermind that we were wearing short sleeves and sweating, but Christmas was in the air!

Get your 'stache on

 

I mean, I know these boys are growing fast, but facial hair??? I don't know what it is about mustaches around here, but they are very popular. Went to the carnival at Homeslice Pizza yesterday and the boys opted to sport some themselves. Morgan chose "The Villian" for Dean and "The Crustashe" for himself. We got some good laughs and stares on the walk home!

Sunset at the Oasis

 Ok, so I'm a little behind on the blog. Morgan has officially dropped his nap, so I now have 2 hours/day less, yikes! Anyways, we had heard from several people how great some place called Oasis was where you can watch the sun set at the lake while sipping margaritas. So we thought we'd give it a shot when my mom was in town. It was a good 40 minute drive in traffic, but the drive took us through parts of Austin we've never been -- lots of hills and hill country terrain. Oasis is perched on a large part of the lake, although the water level looked pretty low. The terraced balconies gave you a great view and it felt like we were far from the city. The menu was just ok and the drinks were strong, but the view couldn't be beat. Until after 6:04, when everything turned dark  ; ) We will definitely have to come back in the spring!