Father's Day Top Ten

Here's a little tribute to Derek from the kiddos...

The top 10 things we love about our dad!
by Barrett and Brooklyn(mainly Barrett)

10. he works hard to get us money to live on

9. he drives us to church and care group

8.he lets us watch him exercise and teaches us our own exercises

7. he takes us to the swimming pool and plays watergun fights with us

6. he plays with us all kinds of games and legos and basketball too and rides bikes with us

5. he makes us laugh so hard

4. he reads stories to us every night and listens to us pray

3. he teaches us about sports, how things work and all about God

2.he gives really good hugs and tells us he is so proud of us

1.he loves us so much and makes us really happy

Derek is a wonderful dad! He is so much fun and always makes the kids laugh. He is so proud of them and is always showing and telling them how loved they are.

Texas Wine

Derek and I have been wanting to go to some of Hill Country Wineries for a while. So, this past weekend we spent a relaxing day driving through the hill country and going to a few wineries. It was a wonderful time and we found some new wines that we really like. It was a great, relaxing time for us together.

At Texas Hills Vineyard in Johnson City

At Driftwood Estate Winery- we sat and talked sharing a bottle of wine overlooking the beautiful vineyard and rolling hills

Mandola Winery- we tasted some great wines here too and then ate a wonderful dinner

Houston

The kids and I went to Houston last week while Derek was fishing. It was a wonderful ,relaxing visit. The kids were great and we all enjoyed seeing family. We got to spend the day with my grandparents and Aunt Jayne. It was a great time. We also went to the neighborhood pool(I have many good memories of spending summers at that same pool). We also got to see the Reaves family some too and that was a fun time as well. The kids really enjoyed playing together with their cousins and Uncle Rich made the kids laugh. Here are some pics of our fun trip.

Pops & Dorrie have an awesome pool and splash pad in their neighborhoodBrooklyn playing in the water!Barrett had a great time going down the waterslides!Jayne, Pops, & Dorrie trying to stay cool in the shadePops with Brooklyn and NanaBarrett and his great-grandmother, DorrieB and Pops- the boys!

Fun at the parkCheese!Barrett enjoyed climbing all of the rock wallsNana & BB and Teddy- they enjoyed hanging out together and B liked helping Teddy in the garden

The Reaves cousins- Harper and Sydney- they had a blast hanging out and playing

Aunt Michele with ther neices and nephews

Zoo trip & Butler Park

A few weeks ago we went to the Austin Zoo. It is great size for the kids and the kids can get right close to the animals. We saw beautiful lions and tigers and lots of other neat animals. Then we ended our time with lunch and snocones!

Cool tiger! It was beautiful!
This was a noisy bird

This bird was the hot photo spot

We also went to Butler Park . It is a cool place where they have a splash park.The kids had a great time running through the water.

We are trying to do lots of fun outdoor Austin things this summer. We are off to a good start.

Family Friendly Places to Eat

We are finally getting to a point where we can go to "waiter" restaurants with the kids and it is enjoyable and fun. While we don't do it too often, it is fun to go out and not have to rush before the kids reach a melt down point. We like to eat at local places when we can and this time of year is great for eating outside. Also, lots of places have live music- fun to hear, the kids love it and it makes places not so quiet. Here are some of our favorite family friendly places to eat in Austin.

Home Slice- this food is delicious, the place is loud and very casual. The waitstaff is always good with the kids and there is often live music out back which we always love. Mangeri's Pizza is good too.

Flip Happy Crepes-(not really a waiter place, but not fast food either)- while it may take a long time for the yummy food to be ready, the kids can snack and have plenty of places to play while we wait. And being outside is always a plus for the kids. It is delicious food and a fun lunch place for the whole family.

Chuys- mexican food is always a good choice- there are chips to keep them happy, tortilla dough to play with, we all love the food and I can get a margarita. Polvo's and Flores are other ones we like too.

Tino's Greek Cafe- while there is no waiter here, they have such good food. My kids love the hummus, chicken and pita bread and Derek and I like the food too. And, it is usually not very crowded.

Freddie's Place- we had heard the food was ok, but Derek and I both really liked ours. And, there is a great playscape the kids can play on while the adults sit under the shade trees. Nice and relaxing.

South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery- we have only been once, but we really liked this place. You order at a trailer and your food comes out- tacos or burgers. There is even a dessert trailer- yum! The food and atmosphere were good. Great for a group too.

Hut's- the food is great! We love their burgers! There is lots to look at and you can always bribe the kids with a malt after dinner.

Here are a few others that we like too- Nutty Brown Cafe on kids night(Tuesday), Shady Grove(if you time it right), Waterloo Ice House(several locations), Hula Hut(early dinner on a weekday), Rudy's, places that are having live music- the kids love to dance and listen to music

I'd love to have more ideas of good family friendly places, and I know some of you get out and eat out alot more than we do, so please share your favorites.