Back to School

Nature's Way started up again in mid-September and Spencer was so ready to get back to the Trailhouse. He's going four mornings a week this year and he's in Miss Kelly's Iguanodon class along with three of his classmates from last year and four new friends.

 

Daddy made these awesome drink slings for Spencer from a pair of cargo shorts. So cool! Now he can be hands-free on his hikes and even store his treasures in the handy pocket.

Of course with the start of our more full-time schedule at Nature's Way, we had to say goodbye to our friends and teachers at Roz-Mina. I'm sure Spencer will go back from time-to-time and they already invited us to come to the Halloween party!

Spencer also wanted Daddy to pose in front of the school. :)

Can't wait to see what this year has in store for our sweet boy.

End of Summer

Before Spencer started back at Nature's Way (more on that later), I took two days off to have some time with him to celebrate the end of summer.

On Monday, we headed to the Austin Zoo. We normally stay there an hour at the most, but we had a marathon visit! It was partially because the animals were being super active and chatty...

And partially because we got to participate in an interactive program with one of the zookeepers, Audrey. It was enrichment day for a couple of animals and Spencer got to help out. Our first stop was at the tortoise house, where Audrey set up an "apple-bobbing trough." Who knew tortoises like to bob for apples? Well, they do! Audrey also taught us a little about the animals, including some of the differences between tortoises and turtles. The kids also got to feed the tortoises some carrots and other vegetables.

The we headed over to the pot-bellied pigs, who were in for a fruit and vegetable feast.

Audrey spent so much time talking with us - there were two other boys with their mamas. It made me wish we could go back every week for her programs, but with school starting we'll have to wait until next summer. Sidebar: Oddly enough, we discovered that one of the boys was starting his first year at Nature's Way that week! 

Later in the afternoon after lunch and rest time, Spencer introduced me to Jumpoline Park -  one of his favorite places to go with Daddy. The place was practically deserted, which made it more fun for me. I can't imagine going there when it's crowded. I actually jumped too, and it was a total blast! We ended up going back the next day too, but I didn't jump that time. These pictures crack me up.

 

Spencer's favorite part is when they turn off the lights and start the disco party. Both days he went up to the counter to ask if they would start the disco party and felt proud (and empowered) when they obliged.

I love it when I get to play stay-at-home-mom. We had two great days!

A Major Milestone...

Spencer went to his first Texas Longhorns football game last weekend! Jenni and Mitch were kind enough to offer us their three extra tickets. We started off at a big tailgate party, which was h-o-t. Then Spencer and I met Jenni and Mitch at one of the end zone clubs. Spencer took a picture with the Hamburger Helper dude, jumped in a bouncy house for a few minutes and tried out the Rock Band video game with Mitch.

  Then Daddy met us and it was time to head over to DKR.

We weren't sure what Spencer would think of all the noise and commotion at the stadium, but he settled right in and got his horns up. Our goal was to make it long enough to see the band at halftime, but I think Spencer would've made it the whole game - especially once he switched seats and sat next to Jenni and Mitch. They sure kept him entertained and Mitch even bought him an awesome football. Since the game didn't start until 7PM and we had a long journey back to our car, we thought it would be best to head out during the 3rd quarter. Maybe we should've stayed because Ole' Miss scored twice before we made it out of the stadium parking lot...

 

Since we had parked really far from the stadium, Spencer had the idea of taking a "pedi-cab" back to the car. Basically a person on a bicycle hauls you around in a little cart. That was the best $10 we spent all day! Even though the Horns lost, we had a fantastic day and are so grateful to Jenni and Mitch for their generosity and for being so good to our boy. He loves them so much!

P.S. The next day we had Spencer's friend Charlie over to play and I overheard Spencer say, "Hey Charlie, see my football? My friend Mitch bought it for me at the Texas Longhorns game yesterday." He's proud of that pigskin. :)

PAWS

Spencer and I volunteered through Little Helping Hands again last week. This time we chose a different activity - still with Meals on Wheels, but instead of delivering food, we prepared pet supplies. MOW has a program called PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support) that provides cat food, dog food and cat litter to people who need a little assistance in order to keep their furry companions.

This is the kind of activity I love to do and we made an excellent team. Spencer loved marking things off our list as we filled orders and was a big help gathering the supplies as well.

We loved this activity and hope to sign up again next month. I've never volunteered much, but it's something Dave and I want to expose Spencer to as much as we can. We are a lucky little family and it feels great to give back to the community.

Park City (Part 4)

Since Friday was our last day for activities, we set out bright and early on the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway, with our ultimate destination being Mirror Lake. This is considered one of the most beautiful drives in the United States and it lived up to the hype. There were lots of places to stop along the way to take in some incredible views. (Reminder: More photos are posted here.)

First we pulled over at Slate Gorge.

Next we stopped at Provo Falls. We stayed here a little while because it was fun to throw rocks in the water and explore.

Then we made it to Mirror Lake and Spencer decided he wanted to have our picnic lunch right then - I don't think it was even 11:00am yet, but we ate. Then we walked around the lake, which is about 1.5 miles but completely flat. We talked to some nice fisherman and Spencer played chase with a chipmunk, too.

When we were finished exploring at Mirror Lake, we headed back towards Park City and went to the Solider Hollow Sheepherding Classic. We watched a few dogs and their handlers herd sheep - it was really interesting, but sadly the temperature was in the 90s in the hollow and it felt like 120 degrees! We watched a splash dog competition as well, but decided we needed to get inside. So we took off and went bowling instead and then had dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

We had to say goodbye to Park City the next day (sniff-sniff), so while I was packing, the boys went outside for a little more golf.

I sat outside to have some coffee and couldn't get over how perfect the moment was: mountains, a cool breeze, hot air balloons overhead, watching my loves on the 15th hole, and College Game Day wafting through the window. Pretty epic way to end vacation!