Mother's Day

Mom does so many amazing things for our family all the time. Hazel, Turner and I were pretty excited to hear about a day that is just for doing things for her.
Dad secretly told us that we had some special surprises for Mom for Mother's Day, but we didn't tell Mom.  She thought we were just going to be hanging out like any ordinary day. Hazel and I did a great job keeping everything a secret. Our only slip-up came Saturday night when Hazel told Mom we had a surprise for her. But Hazel didn't tell her what the surprise was, so our secret was still safe.

In the morning, Dad got up with all of us so Mom could sleep in. She thought that was the surprise, but that was just the beginning. We were downstairs making beautiful Mother's Day cards for her, and making her breakfast in bed. Hazel made jelly and apple butter toast, I made smoothies, and Dad cut up some fresh strawberries. Turner cheered us on since he's too little to cook.

Mom was super surprised to get a delicious breakfast in bed and all of our cards. Hazel stayed upstairs to eat with her and has decided that she loves breakfast in bed too.

Then we video-called Bubbe to wish her a happy Mother's Day too.

Later in the day we took Mom to Rita's for ice cream.  Yum!

After running a few errands, we took Mom to dinner at Bamboo Bistro. They have a neat outside area where we can run around and enjoy the great weather.  Mom picked up Freebird's for us to eat while Mom and Dad ate Chinese food.

The kids of the owner of Bamboo Bistro were also outside playing and they were close to the same age as Hazel and me. We had so much fun playing with them - chasing each other around, climbing on things, talking, kicking a soccer ball.  Their parents even let us come in the restaurant and get a full tour of the back rooms.  It started getting late, so Dad said we had to go. Our new little friend asked Dad if we could stay and play a little longer and he said it was getting too late for a school night but that we would come back soon.

It was a pretty busy day. Mom said she really loved her Mother's Day.

I had so much fun on Mother's Day that I declared Brother's Day one day last week, and this Saturday was Sister's Day. To celebrate Sister's Day, we made Hazel banana pancakes and mangoes for her own breakfast in bed, went to the frozen banana stand in South Austin for the first time this year (but definitely not the last!) and she chose to go back to Freebird's so we could play with our new friends some more.

A nice, cool spring

We have had a beautiful, mild spring. It’s just now starting to get hot, and we’ve been spending lots of time outside. We have been playing at the park a lot and have been eating al fresco at our new picnic table in our back yard, under the shade of a large umbrella.

A couple of weekends ago, we hiked a trail in the nearby greenbelt in our neighborhood. It was very rocky and hilly, and was in a wooded area. We were with a group and hiked more than two miles. Hazel found some fossils, I climbed a big rock, and we looked at some cool crayfish the tour guide caught in a bucket. It was a nice way to spend a cool morning outside. Mom, Dad and I liked it the most, and we were all wiped out at the end.

That afternoon, while Turner and Hazel slept off the long walk, I went to a party with Dad at the Austin Children's Hospital to celebrate the opening of a new wing there.  We met up with Avi and his new brother Etain, and their parents.  There was music and ice cream there which was fun.  But then I saw the the most amazing thing - there was a man there 10 feet tall!

I ran over to him and started peppering him with questions: How tall was he?  How old was he?  Where did he live? How tall were the ceilings in his house?

He was juggling with another man, but stopped once he realized the extent of my questioning.  He patiently answered all of my questions. His name is Ben, his ceilings are only 8 feet tall, he is 38 (just like my Dad!). He told Dad I made his day. After that conversation, I went to play in the bounce house for a while.

When the party ended, we headed back to Avi's house and played at the park for a while with Avi and his dad.

Another day, we all went to a party in East Austin, where we saw one of our old favorite musicians, Matt the Electrician. We danced, ate, looked at Town Lake and had fun hitting a piñata.

At the end of each school year, we have Field Day, a day when they have lots of outdoor things to do. This year it was pretty cold – cold enough I had to wear a coat to school -- so they had to cancel most of the water events, but it was fun anyway. 

We started by getting cool owl tattoos. Then we went to the gym, where we played with a rainbow ball and a rope. We had to kick the ball and swing back to our teacher. After that we went outside to some bounce houses. It was pretty fun. My favorite part was playing in the bounce houses, although I was kind of scared by the big slide.

One day a week, Hazel and Turner go to school for the day so Mom can get work and errands accomplished and she and I can spend some quality time together in the afternoon doing big kid things. So a few days after Field Day, after the weather warmed up again, Mom and I went kayaking. 

They gave us a kayak with a see-through bottom so we could see fish and plants as we went down the river. I paddled about four strokes before giving up, and I ate granola bars and stuck my hand in the water the rest of the ride. It was pretty fun and relaxing, until the end when we saw a water moccasin. Luckily, we were headed back to the rowing dock by then and just about to get out. We can’t wait to go kayaking again soon, and we’ll probably bring Hazel with us next time. Mom said I've never looked happier than I did out on the lake.

Another important event this month was Hazel had her four-year well visit at the doctor. It was a pretty major checkup, complete with vision and hearing tests, and at the end of the appointment, shots. Hazel was very brave about the shots, even though she didn’t like them very much and got pretty sick afterward.

Hazel and Turner are switching to the same preschool that I’ll go to two mornings each week during the summer, while my regular school is closed for summer vacation. I went there last year and it was great. Mom took Turner and Hazel there last week so they could see what it’ll be like. Hazel jumped right in and joined her class. She painted, played with flour and had a snack while she was there. Turner played with a doll and went out to the playground. They really liked it; Mom had to drag them out of there, literally kicking and screaming. Hazel said she can’t wait to start going there.

Later that day, Mom told me to tell Hazel what it's like at that school. I told Hazel it's lots of fun and the teachers there aren't as bossy as my teachers at our elementary school.

We are still plugging away at our swim lessons twice a week too, and we are really excited for summer so we can swim almost any day we want. We are getting really good at floating on our backs so we can breathe. We jump in, do three “big arms,” then roll over onto our backs. I can kick the whole way across the pool. We like jumping in at the end of our lessons.

Another cool thing about springtime is it’s baby deer season! We have tons of deer in our neighborhood and the other day, on the way home from the park, there was a mom and a newborn right outside our backyard. The mom ran away, leaving the baby, who could barely stand up. Just two days later we saw them again, and the baby was running next to its mom. It’s getting strong fast!

Click here for photos of our almost-summer fun!

Bubbe's visit

Playing at the park with Bubbe

We just had a visitor from Atlanta -- Bubbe!

Mom picked me up from school Thursday in the car so we could head straight to the airport and pick up our guest. We were pretty excited and talked Bubbe's ear off the whole way home.

Once we got home, we hung out with Bubbe at our house until Dad came home.

Then we headed out to Lowes, where we had fun playing in the pretend kitchens, and dinner at a place we rarely go, Pluckers. Hazel learned she loves corn dogs and I learned I don't really like them. Mom, Dad and Bubbe shared lots of different types of sauce for chicken. It was a fun night out.

Lowe's is super fun!

When we got home, we showed Bubbe how we play hide-and-seek. Hazel was happy to have someone who hasn't seen all of her great hiding places yet. Once again, we all agreed that Hazel is the best hider we have ever sought.

I was super excited about waking Bubbe up in the morning. I told her I was going to wake her up at 6 a.m.  She said 7 a.m, so we compromised. Friday morning, I kept my promise and Hazel and I woke Bubbe up at 7 a.m.  Bubbe made us a yummy breakfast and took us to school, letting Mom and Dad sleep in a little bit. After school, Bubbe went along with us to our swim lesson.

Unfortunately, Turner wasn't feeling up to par so he didn't get to show off his moves in the pool, but Hazel and I had what our instructor called "our best lesson ever." He told Bubbe she should visit more often, we did so well.

Nothing beats Rita's

After a stop for frozen custard on the way home from swimming, we spent our afternoon in the kitchen with Bubbe, making hide-and-seek muffins. The muffins were called hide-and-seek because they have a strawberry or banana hidden in the middle. It was a lot of fun.

We had a homemade pizza party, then Bubbe put us to bed so Dad and Mom could hit the town. She read us lots of books before bed and made sure we brushed our teeth really well.

Mom and Dad seemed pretty happy to have a night out. I can't imagine why.

Playing at Tot Shabbat

Saturday morning, we headed out with Dad and Bubbe to Tot Shabbat.  Unfortunately, Turner still wasn't feeling well, so Mom took him to the doctor while we were having fun.  We got to show Bubbe how great we were at all of the Shabbat songs, and then Bubbe helped us color reusable shopping bags.  We told Bubbe that Austin has a bag ban, so you have to bring your own bags to the grocery store. Bubbe watched us play on the playground until we were pretty tired.  We went home, had lunch, and took a nice nap with Bubbe.

Meanwhile, Turner got diagnosed with a sinus infection - poor guy! Mom and Dad were relieved that it wasn't an ear infection and that his tubes were still in his ears.

Saturday afternoon was the main event!

Stretch!

We all went to celebrate Hazel's birthday party at Kiddie Acres. Dad and Bubbe had never been before, so we were excited to show off the place to them -- almost as excited as we were to ride all of the rides. We got there right on time, and some of the other kids got there on time too. While Mom was getting set up and getting the ride tickets for everyone, Dad had all of us kids do stretches and exercises. It was pretty funny.


I was excited to see so many of our friends there - Ryan and Megan, Clark, Benjamin, and Vishnu. We were sad that our friends Ethan and Travis couldn't make it because Ethan had strep throat. We brought them some cake later in the day to cheer him up.

The weather was perfect, and all of the kids stuck together. First we went on the train. Then we went on a horse ride (on a real pony!) After that, we went on boats, and airplanes, and a ferris wheel.  Then it was time to sing happy birthday and have cake and ice cream!  Yum!

We made sure to go on the carousel and cars before we left. Dad got dizzy on the carousel. Oh Dad! We all had such a great time, but the day wasn't even over yet.

When we got home, Hazel opened her presents, then we drove down to Shady Grove for dinner.  Turner was very happy to sit outside and watch the birds, and Hazel did a great job coloring her kids menu. Dad colored his too, but everyone agreed that Hazel's was better. Bubbe shared some of her nachos and french fries with us at dinner. We came home and went to sleep without much of a fight.

Sunday morning, Bubbe and Dad took us kids out to the park to play. We ran into one of my friends that will also start kindergarten class in the fall, Maury, and her dad. We had so much fun playing with her. We played tag, and hide-and-seek, and even ran over to the other playground. Mom came over and we took some pictures. Maury wanted to be in the pictures too, so Mom took some of her as well. Unfortunately, soon it was time to take Bubbe to the airport, so we had to go.

Dinner at Shady Grove

While Hazel and Turner napped, I helped Dad take Bubbe to the airport - I wanted to make sure Dad knew the best way to drive there (I'm still really good at giving driving directions). It was sad to say goodbye to Bubbe, but we'll see here again this summer.

When Dad and I got home, we woke Hazel up because it was time for another party! Clark had a birthday party at a gymnastics school nearby. Dad took Hazel and me while Mom stayed home with Turner. It was pretty fun. Hazel and I got to jump on a trampoline, walk across balance beams, jump off towers, and climb rock walls and ropes. They even had a big foam pit. I was a little hesitant to jump in when it was my turn, so Hazel ran up, grabbed my hand, and jumped in, pulling me in with her. Dad laughed a lot at that.

Happy Birthday Hazel

What a fun weekend.  Click here for fun photos of our weekend and Hazel's last 4th birthday celebration.

Happy birthday to Hazel!

Hazel is four!

Yesterday was her birthday, and we had a blast.

We started the day with a dance party. Mom played the Beatles "Birthday" and we all danced for a while and sang to Hazel.

When we headed downstairs for breakfast, Hazel was greeted by her first present -- her very own scooter! She has wanted one for a while and was pretty excited. When she got to the breakfast table, she found even more gifts -- birthday/summer shoes from Bubbe, art supplies from Oma, and star-shaped crayons from Aunt Lauren and Uncle Ryan. She put her shoes on right away and then spent the morning coloring.

Hazel gets serious about art,
even before the sun has a chance to come up

We had a fun afternoon too. Our friend Ethan came over for some coloring fun and cake. Mom made one of Grandma's famous chocolate cakes with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups inside and peanut butter icing on top. After he went home, we went outside so Hazel could test out her scooter while I rode my bike. Hazel made a new friend at the park, then we went to dinner at Fuddruckers.

Fuddruckers must have known it was Hazel's birthday because a balloon artist came around to our table. Hazel and I had her make balloon motorcycles for us and she made a tiger for Turner. While we were there Hazel opened more presents -- books from us and jewelry and a jewelry box from Aunt Susan, Uncle Stuart, Aunt Pat and Uncle Neal -- and we had more cake.

By the time we came home it was pretty late, and Hazel didn't have it in her to open any more presents, so we saved the rest for Friday morning.

Scooter drama!

As soon as she got up, she opened a write and draw kit for her Tag and rock-shaped crayons from Aunt Laurie and Uncle Jonathan and a bunch of fun workbooks from Bubbe. She also got a bunch more fun stuff from all of us here at home. It was a fun start to the day, and nice that she could spread out her birthday a little bit. Tonight she'll open the last of her loot -- her cards from everyone.

Thanks to everyone who helped make Hazel's day special!  XO

For pictures of Hazel's fourth birthday, click here.

Hazel's pre-birthday bash

Helping out

Hazel turned four years old Thursday. In order to fit in all our celebrations, we had to get an early start. Tuesday, we had a party for her at her school.


I wanted to go to the party, so Mom picked me up early from school so I could go along. I am glad I was able to make it! We took lots of yummy food because it was a pizza party.

Turner helped too

After singing a song that settled all the kids down and signaled that it was time to eat, we started out with pizza, apple sauce and juice boxes. The grand finale was cone cakes, cupcakes Mom baked inside ice cream cones, so it looked like ice cream, but really it was cake!

Hazel and I helped make the cone cakes Monday. Turner helped by stealing one after we made them. He was sweet about it -- he was happy to share with Hazel and me. And it helped Mom by letting her know they cooked properly, the whole way through.

Party time

Everyone liked the yummy cone cakes. Hazel liked that they were pink and had Hello Kitty on top. She really liked being the center of attention. Mom thought Hazel looked like she was radiating sunshine from her head because she was so happy, when the class sang happy birthday to her.

We had a great time. It was a simple but fun party, and a good way to kick off Hazel's fourth birthday.

For photos of our cone cake extravaganza, click here.

Our life in videos

Mom has been taking some fun videos of us lately.  Here they are!

First, Hazel and Turner find something fun to do with Dad.


Turner uses some one syllable words to tell us about life


The hat, the banjo.  Yup, we are raising a hipster.


Turner burns some energy by pushing around a toy

Our wild San Antonio adventure

Hanging out at the Children's Museum

Dad went to Atlanta for a long weekend visit, so we hit the road to adventure. Really, we just went to San Antonio. But it was very fun.

We headed down bright and early Saturday morning. Our first stop was the Children's Museum. We are regulars there -- one of the staff members even recognized us. She seems to really enjoy Hazel.

Anyway, there was a special program this time. An architect talked to us in a special room. He talked about making cities prettier and more useful places, then we all worked with the architect's interns who helped us decorate cartons to look like buildings. Hazel and Turner worked with our intern, while I was stuck with Mom. Turner was happy to decorate the floor with Sharpies and glue foam pieces to a piece of paper. Hazel was excited to have any craft project on her hands. In the end, I snuck off to hold court with another couple of interns and the head of the museum's special programs. I told them all about where we live, our address and how to get there from San Antonio.

Our friend from the zoo

We enjoyed the rest of the museum as usual before heading off to a new destination -- a hotel! This was no ordinary trip; it was an overnight visit! We were excited because we knew our hotel had an indoor pool, so first thing after we checked in, we put on our swimsuits and headed back to the first floor. Unfortunately, even though it was inside, the pool was ice cold. So Mom got in the hot tub and let us put our toes in. We kept trying to sneak in until she told us we'd turn into kid soup if we got into the hot water.

After a nice bath, we headed out again, this time to another new destination, an awesome restaurant called Cerroni's Purple Garlic. It was an Italian place, and we were excited about pizza and eggplant parmesan. We were greeted at the door by a "kids eat free" sign and after ordering, headed outside for an even better surprise -- a HUGE sand pit loaded with other kids. Mom was happy we could run off and play while she enjoyed some nice jazz music and her food.

Zoo train

Our night at the hotel was uneventful. We had one king size bed and Turner had trouble settling down at first since he hasn't spent a whole night in a bed with the rest of us before. But after that we slept soundly until about 5:00 a.m., when Turner woke up with a cold.

About an hour later, we headed to HEB bright and early for some Tylenol for Turner, then wolfed down a big hotel breakfast before heading out to our next fun stop -- the zoo! We got there right when it opened so it wasn't crowded, we had a front row parking space, and the animals were all wide awake. I wanted to see the zebras, and at first they were in a pen. But then we saw a guy go in, open up their gate, and then the two zebras ran out full speed into their larger area to chase some antelope and some strange large birds. The guy also let a warthog into the large area, who also seemed happy to be free.

The car ride back to Austin

Hazel and Mom were excited to see the monkeys. We got there at the right time for that because they were eating their breakfast of lettuce, radishes and other veggies. They all seemed to really like carrots.

Two other things that were neat were the crocodiles and hippos. We watched one of the hippos go from the land into the water and blow a big underwater air bubble. The hippo lifted up its feet and floated, and we learned that a hippo going from one place to another is no small feat. Turner really liked the fish in the hippo tank.

Hazel made up a game called "Home Team"

We saw a baby dwarf croc go from swimming to land, and had a great view of a huge Nile croc who was underwater with only a tiny bit of its snout poking out of the water. It was really impressive.

Turner was really into all of it. Mom thinks he likes the zoo more than any of us. 


After the zoo, we took a train ride around the park before heading home. When we got in the car, we told Mom we had fun in San Antonio. The next time she looked back at us, we were all asleep, a sign Mom took to mean that the weekend was a success.

Turner was in charge

When we got home, it was a gorgeous afternoon so we enjoyed our backyard. It felt good to be back in Austin.

It was a great weekend adventure, and we were glad to see Dad when he came back Tuesday.

To see how much fun we had, click here.