Austin Steam Train

This past weekend the Austin Spartans rented the entire Santa Fe car on the Austin Steam Train for a discounted price!  We couldn't pass that up, plus we've never ridden the train.  It was a quaint train ride from Cedar Park to Burnet, they even provided snacks!  Once in Burnet we ate at the Highlander restaurant and wandered around the town.  Emma and I volunteered to star in the Wild West Shoot out as town folk, we even had speaking roles!  Everyone had a great time and Ry was in a great mood despite only taking a 15 min cat nap in the car ride back home at the end of the day.

Come join the Austin Spartans for a historic train ride into the Texas Hill Country. We have booked the Santa Fe 1343 car aboard the Hill Country Flyer for a great trip on Saturday, April 27th, 2013. This popular train ride departs Cedar Park at 10:00am (arrive by 9:30) for a two hour journey through the Texas Hill Country to Burnet. Passengers can enjoy lunch and shopping at their own leisure during stopover. The Burnet Gunfighters present their wild west gunfight, weather permitting, at the train station in Burnet before the trains leaves at approximately 2:15 pm to return to Cedar Park.

At the train station 4/27/2013

all aboard!

Ready for our journey to begin

We're moving!

Mommy and Ry

Waiting for the show at the Wild West Shootout town

We're proper town folk

Having a spat with a saloon girl

Relaxing before the shootout

Picture with the sheriff

Ry on the engine

Blake's 2nd Birthday

Lots of birthdays in the month of April!  Ry's cousin Blake celebrated her 2nd birthday the weekend after Ry's party. The theme was paint and Ry loved the pebble pit and bounce house.  Happy 2nd birthday niece Blake!

Birthday Girl 4/20/2013

Ryland's 2nd Birthday

I can't believe our little guy is 2 years old (as of 4/18)!  How time flies.  He's a curious, loving, adventurous, rambunctious, clever, sweet little boy and we love you so very much.  Happy 2nd Birthday Ryland!

We threw Ry a jungle safari themed birthday party the weekend before his birthday.  I found some great arts n crafts and a game for the kids as well as cute cupcake cake ideas, decor, favors and a face painter!  I'm super excited how everything turned out and Ry had a blast.


Head on over to My Mom's Memos for a full recap of Ryland's birthday fun.
Click here to view the party pictures uploaded to FB.

Birthday cake!

The birthday boy! 4/13/2013

Happy Birthday Ryland!

Mommy will help blow out the candles

Emma's Birthday

Emma's turned 12 at the beginning of April and we celebrated with family at Mighty Fines.  I happened to come across a picture of this amazing cake online and decided to make it for her. It was perfect as it included everything she likes; chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate, Kit Kats and piggies!  Happy Birthday Emma!

Cupcakes at Mighty Fines 4/4/2013

smash, Emma and her mom

Happy as a pig in mud!  The cake I made for Emma.

Here's a picture of the cake I found online...I think I matched it fairly closely.

All I had to go on was the picture.

Camping at Pace Bend

During Spring Break we went camping at Pace Bend.  Last year Ry was barely a year old and was just learning to walk.  This time he was off wandering on his own, playing with rocks, dirt and toting his dump truck everywhere.  He especially loved rolly pollies and would scream 'BUG!" every time he saw one.  My parents had a new camper this year, which Ry made himself quite comfortable in (actually we all did), especially in the early morning when it was cold out.  He had a ball and slept great at night in our tent.  I think he slept better than us.  Unfortunately there was a burn ban this year so no wood fires, which meant no s'mores!  Waaaaahh!  That's OK, we enjoyed awesome dutch oven cooking and the weather we perfect!

Camping at pace bend 3/14-3/16

our camp site

playing '31'





I like long walks along the beach...

warming up with Juju

Kristi 5K

Jenn and I ran the Kristi 5K this past Saturday (3/3/13).  It was sunny and 50 degrees, which would have been fine if it wasn't for the wind.  15-22mph winds really makes you cold when you're just hanging around the lake waiting for the race to start, especially when you're only wearing shorts and short sleeves.  We ran counterclockwise around the lake.  Mile 2 was the toughest and had the worst wind resistance.  I finished in 26:25 (Garmin, there was no chip timing) and the course was a bit short at 2.88 miles (Jenn said she got 2.93 miles).  I took 1st place in my age group and recieved a medal.  I was the 3rd female to cross the finish line and 9th or 10th overall.  Jenn took 1st female overall and received a nice trophy.

Avg pace - 9:11
Mile 1 - 9:09, Mile 2 - 9:38, last 0.88 - 7:38 (8:44 pace)

Freezing at the start of the race 3/3/2013

Freezing at the start of the race 3/3/2013

Here comes Jenn (23:12 mins)

Crossing the finish line! (26:25 mins)

Receiving my medal for 1st place in my age group.

medal

Race shirt keepsake quilt!

After my friend Amanda raved about her awesome race shirt quilt, I decided to take advantage of the living social deal as well.  I have until August to gather up all my race shirts and decide which ones I want to turn into a quilt.  I'm actually kinda excited about it.  Now I just need to decide if I stick to the standard 45x60 picnic size quilt (12 squares) or upgrade!?

Speaking of races...I haven't run a race since July or Aug of last year!  I need to get motivated and sign up for some races.  Perhaps I should do the Kristi 5K this weekend...