A visit from Annie and Jonas

Jonas had a break from school and so he and Annie were able to spend a whole week with us, including Easter. The boys enjoyed having their cousin around and we proceeded to eat our way through Austin and found fun ways to fill our time between meals : )

On the very first full day of their visit, the 2nd grade put on a Poetry Slam in which they each came up to recite one English and one Spanish poem of their choice. Annie and J were able to attend and see Morgan read "El Tigre" and "Teacher Sighting". His artwork was projected behind him as he read:

After a morning of poetry, Annie and I took J to the Ladybird Wildflower Center where we saw baby owls, walked the paths and checked out lots of, well, wildflowers. It was a beautiful day to take a stroll and enjoy the scenery...

That evening, I dragged Annie to an event I helped organize with some other lady artist friends: Ladies Drawing Night. It was an initiative spurred by the desire to bring attention to those organizations whom we care about whose budgets have been slashed in the new administration. This was our first event and we were able to raise $500 for the Natural Resources Defense Council while making postcards to senators, eating delicious cupcakes and enjoying the company of like-minded ladies. Great way to spend an evening!

We also took the boys to Dart'em Up after school one day (where Morgan's bday party will be). We knew Jonas would love it and no surprise, he did. Even Annie, Ed and I got in on the action...

That Friday, the boys had off school for Good Friday and we headed over the Horseshoe Bay for Easter weekend. We lucked out with pool and hot tub weather! The boys had fun hanging out and of course had the traditional smore's.

On Saturday morning, I got up super early to see the ascension of the hot air balloons, but the winds were too strong for them to take off. I did get to see a pretty sunrise though. Definitely needed extra coffee that day...

After a big breakfast at Magnolia cafe, we checked out some of the Easter festivities like the petting zoo and of course the Easter egg "hunt" (which we missed last year by 30 seconds). This time, we made sure to get there early and the hunt was more like a mad dash as the eggs were in a field in plain sight.

headed to the easter egg hunt

and just like that, it was over

the boys check out their booty

Later that afternoon, was the balloon festival where we parked on a blanket to watch the sky divers, eat fair food, witness the balloon glow and listen to live music. Jonas and Dean also checked out an animal show while Morgan laid on the blanket, pretty much too tired to do anything...

the worldwide premiere of "Tom" from Tom & Jerry was... backwards

there's the front!

The next day, we made a pit stop at El Gaucho Winery on the way back to Austin. The kids happily played in the tee pees while we took part in the Easter edition of their traditional Argentinian asado and wines. Delicioso!!!

On Monday, Annie, J, and I went to the Bob Bullock Museum to get our Texas History on. We especially liked the exhibit about the shipwrecked La Belle that was discovered in the Gulf of Mexico as recently as the 90's. Afterwards, we headed to Radio coffee house and partook in some yummy tacos.

It was a fun week that flew by fast! Thanks Annie and J for coming out and spending your Spring Break with us!