March Catch-Up: First T-Ball Game

Spencer's first t-ball game was held on March 22. First we went to the South Austin Baseball opening ceremonies, where the Toros were announced. I felt so proud seeing our little guy confidently run across the field.

A few hours later we had our first game. There was a lot of comedy and a lot of cuteness and even a bit of playing baseball. Spencer played shortstop and 3rd base. He had two great hits and got a runner out. But more importantly he loved it and had a lot of fun!

Our second game was this past weekend. Geep, Pop, Paw-Paw and even Uncle Glenn came to the game. This time Spencer played pitcher and first base. He got two base hits and got 4 runners out - even caught the ball a couple of times to get someone out. (Funny: For the first game, neither team made 3 outs in an inning, so we weren't sure what would happen if that occurred. It turns out we do switch sides when there are 3 outs. There's no keeping score, so I wasn't sure how outs would be handled.) We are excited about how good he's doing, but we really try to emphasize the fun. And he does love it!

March Catch-Up: Bubble Wrap Scooter Fun

One of my Facebook friends did this on a much larger scale in her garage. Our small-scale version still provided several minutes of entertainment.

March Catch-Up: Spring Break

I don't want catch-ups to be the new norm for the blog, but that's how it's working out lately. Things are kind of crazy around here, which I'll explain in a separate post at some point. But for now, Spring Break!

Paw-Paw came in the first weekend of Spring Break and we took him to see the LEGO Movie. It was my first time, too. I enjoyed it but Paw-Paw spent a little time snoozing. I took off Monday and Tuesday so Spencer and I could have some quality time. On Monday, we went to the Austin Zoo to say "Hi" to all of our friends, like Cesar the lion. Then we went to Boardwalk Burgers for lunch, had a quick rest, then headed to Hoppin' House for classmate Ivy's birthday party. It was a great day!

On Tuesday, Spencer and I went to the Austin Star of Texas Rodeo Carnival. Boy, did we have fun! It was the third year in a row we've gone, but the first without Daddy. We missed him! We both had a wristband to ride all the rides. Spencer rode the biggest roller coaster he's been on so far (The Caterpillar, I think? that's it in the selfie below). Probably his favorite thing was going thru the 3 fun houses over and over and over.

This year he didn't feel like doing the petting zoo or any of the "fair" activities - just the carnival. Of course we made time for a corn dog and lemonade. And a few total ripoff games.

I noticed Spencer was quite brave this time around. He seriously contemplated riding a big ride that spins and goes backward (there was a ride like this at the Brazoria County Fair when I was growing up and it was my favorite!). After debating a bit, he decided to ride a very similar one in the kiddie section that was a little calmer, but still went backwards and made me motion sick. :)

Spencer spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with Geep and Pop in San Antonio. They saw the Mr. Peabody & Sherman movie, which Spencer deemed "too intense." They also did fun stuff like visiting the Witte Museum and checking out a sand sculpture competition at the Botanical Gardens. This was the first time Spencer has ever called us from San Antonio kind of acting like he wanted to come home. It tugged at this mama's heart, but once he and I chatted he perked back up. He always has so much fun with Geep and Pop, so I wasn't worried.

I got sick while Spencer was gone, so when he got back Friday he and Daddy spent a lot of time together - during the weekend, too. They got some good re-connect time.

It was a fantastic Spring Break!

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Now playing shortstop, #4, Spencerrrrrr Horrrrrrridge.

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He's so excited to be playing tee-ball.

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Spring Break tradition: Austin rodeo carnival.

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Fresh haircut and style always makes Mommy swoon a bit.

February Catch-Up: Tee-Ball

Spencer is playing tee-ball for the first time this spring. He is so excited! We had an informal meeting with the coach last week and got to meet a few of his teammates. They ended up practicing even though not all of the kids were there. I took video (of course!) of Spencer's first at-bat. This is how Dave saw it go down...

Stay tuned for what will surely be an overload of tee-ball photos! Real practice starts this week and our first game is in a few weeks. Fun!

February Catch-Up: Celebrating Urban Birds

Last month the Austin Nature and Science Center had a special event focused on urban birds. There were all kinds of activities like making bird feeders...

 Exploring how different beaks are designed to pick up different things...

 Drawing a bird... in this case, an Angry Bird!

There was also a neat scavenger hunt and we went to a talk about some other birds, where we saw a tiny little blind screech owl, a Bobwhite Quail and a fancy pigeon (my term). But the highlight was seeing a Eurasian Eagle-Owl. It's the largest owl species in the world. Just to give it some context, the handler said a Great Horned Owl usually weighs 3-4 pounds, and this guy was 9-10 pounds. And boy, did the have a sharp beak and claws! I actually got to pet him because he was raised by this woman pretty much from birth. Later in another activity, the instructor told us that petting an owl is a VERY rare experience!

February Catch-Up: Pet Sounds

We caught a really cool exhibition at Laguna Gloria in February. It's called "Charles Long: Pet Sounds" and here's a quick description:  

Titled after the 1966 Beach Boys album of the same name, these playful sculptures in bright, candy colors begin as railings and morph into luscious, playful blobs that engage the viewer with murmurs, vibrations, and strange sounds when touched. 

We had fun wandering around touching all the sculptures and hearing what sounds and vibrations we could set off.

 
The exhibit is in town through mid-April and highly recommend checking it out. There's lots of wandering you can do on the grounds of Laguna Gloria - makes for a nice little afternoon.

February Catch-Up: Valentine's Day

We had a nice little Valentine's Day. Spencer doesn't go to school on Fridays, so the day before he brought his big homemade Valentine to share with his class. Like I mentioned last year, Nature's Way does not encourage trading Valentines at school because of the frustration and confusion that can cause the young 'uns. This year his heart featured LEGOS, a tiger, a jet, art, soccer, the school playground and a hike with Daddy. Sweet.

On Valentine's Day Spencer opened his gifts - The Jungle Book DVD and his first box of Valentine's chocolates (which he hasn't eaten - just not a sweets guy). I also found a perfect card for him featuring fish jokes and decoder to find the answers. 

Mommy and Daddy also each got a box of chocolates. Then that night we cooked a delicious steak dinner. It was the best steak Daddy has ever made! Spencer worked on the mashed potatoes and I made asparagus. It was a family effort and a lovely evening celebrating my two loves.