Umlauf Sculpture Garden

Whoops. Found these photos on my camera from September when we went to the Umlauf Sculpture Garden that never made it onto the blog... This was one of those places I wanted to visit when we were here last year, but never made it. I took the boys on a sunny Friday when it opened and we were pretty much the only people there. They have a winding outdoor trail through a manicured garden with all kinds of beautiful sculptures throughout. It was a little hard to keep Dean from not running off or ahead so I don't know how many of the sculptures I actually got to enjoy, but it was fun for the kids and a beautiful venue. They had a cute scavenger hunt with photos only showing portions of a sculpture for your clues. Morgan did pretty good with all except for the last one which I genuinely couldn't find myself. We made a few loops around the garden before we finally found that darn bird at the foot of St. Francis. Mission accomplished!

UT Parent's Weekend

Jackie and Poppy descended upon Austin for Steven's Parent's Weekend. On Saturday, we had breakfast at the house, hung out with the kids and bought Jackie a pair of cowboy boots, followed by a masterful cookout care of Ed and a UT game against Baylor (thanks Siiri for babysitting the kids!) We rode open air bike taxis from the parking garage to the stadium, which I've always wanted to try.  The game was fun and you don't realize how huge the stadium is until you take 11 escalators to get to your seats in the second to last row, but man, you can see everything from up there! UT won with a whopping 52 to 50 (don't be impressed -- I had to look that up. C'mon you know me!) Sunday morning was brunch at Snack Bar before they had to shove off and head back to Atlanta. It was good to see everyone! Thanks again Dad for the tickets and Prager Beer Tshirts : )

DinoPark

 

Made the 35 minute drive to Bastrop's Dino Park... who knew dinosaurs lived next to a trailer park??? It was basically a wooded trail with life-sized realistic replicas of dinos sprinkled throughout, and a scavenger hunt of prehistoric things for the kids to find. I had heard about it from another mom, but wasn't really sure what to expect. It was a good hour and change to do the whole trail and the boys loved looking and reading about the different dinosaurs. The trail culminated with a playground and dino dig and, of course, what Dino Park wouldn't be complete without a T-Rex head in which you could climb into the mouth : )

 

I can't remember the name of this one, but check out it's claws!

Never seen a flower like this in the parking lot -- must've been prehistoric

Visit from Mimi

Mimi came for a short visit to see us and Uncle Steven at UT. We played at the house, then had dinner at a Japanese Hibachi Restaurant where the boys enjoyed watching the cooking demonstration. The next morning was Morgan's parent/teacher conference, so Mimi played on the school playground with the kids while Ed and I met with Morgan's teacher. We then had lunch at the house and hung out for a little bit before Mimi had to head back to Dallas. It was short and sweet, but good to visit!

Countdown to Halloween

Went to picturesque Barton Hill Farms in Bastrop, TX this weekend on a welcome overcast day to pick pumpkins, navigate a 5-acre corn maze, listen to live music and enjoy the kid activities. Morgan and Dean had fun playing in the giant boat-shaped sandbox, climbing hay barrels, running in a wooden fortress and assisting mommy and daddy in a game of good ole corn hole. Morgan demonstrated his keen sense of direction by guiding us through part of the huge corn maze. Last year, Dean wasn't even walking and had to sit it out, but this year he was chasing his big brother the whole way. What a difference a year makes! At the end, they each selected a small pumpkin to take home and paint.

"I love my pumpkin THIS much!"

bye bye pumpkin patch

Hamilton Pool

 This weekend we visited Hamilton Pool, a natural pool created from a collapsed grotto in the Texas hill country. Although the weather was nice, we didn't go in the water, but did plenty of hiking and enjoyed the view instead. There was hardly anyone there, which was a contrast to the last time we tried to go when we were turned away due to the 2 hour wait to get in (they limit the number of people that come). We followed the trail that went all around the pool, including under the overhang and waterfall, then took the river trail for a half mile before turning around. This was our first hike with Dean OUT of the carrier and it was pretty rocky, so a challenge for Dean, but he did good. He kept saying "rocky" and "big step" and pushing away our hand when we tried to hold his, the big independent boy... It was a spectacular view, my favorite hike since we've been here and worth the 40 minute drive to get there. Next time we'll have to bring a picnic and our bathing suits!