Weekend in Dallas, Part III: Waffle Off

This might be one of those "you had to be there" moments, and I would give anything to have a recording of it. We ate breakfast at the La Quinta Saturday morning. There was a make-your-own-waffle-station. Step 1 was to spray the griddle with something called Waffle Off. Geep, Pop and I were talking to Lane and Amelia when we heard Spencer say loudly, "Thanks, Waffle Off!"—it was straight out of a commercial. The whole place cracked up.

Weekend in Dallas, Part II: The Zoo

We went to the Dallas Zoo Sunday morning before heading back to Austin. When we got there, Spencer said he wanted to see skunks, unicorns and snarling leopards. We were 0 for 3 on those animals, but saw gorillas, cheetahs, chimps (including a toddler chimp!), giraffes, elephants and many more creatures. We even ate lunch in a restaurant that had a big window where four lions were sleeping and trying to stay cool in the heat. There was also an area where you could climb through a tunnel and then pop up into a dome inside a mongoose enclosure.

We saw something really funny happen during a bird show. The presenter pulled two volunteers up on stage to have a big owl fly right over their heads. When it was over she was distracting the volunteers by giving them a key chain or something. Meanwhile, someone opened a door to let a couple of chickens onto the stage. They came running over to where the women were and one of them was so startled that she fell into a big pool of water onstage trying to get away from the chickens. (It was not part of the act.) Spencer retold that story to me last night before bed so it made an impression on him, too.

Our boy slept the whole way back to Austin - he was plum tuckered out from our big weekend.

Weekend in Dallas, Part I: The Wedding

We spent the weekend in Dallas for the wedding of Dave's cousin Laura and Tanner. I'm not sure what Spencer thought "Dallas" was because he asked me, "Do they have bathrooms at Dallas?" when we were packing. When we first drove into Dallas, Spencer had just woken up after sleeping the whole way there. We pointed out the Dallas skyline and said we were in Dallas and he said, "Can we go inside?"

The wedding was at the Four Seasons Resort in Las Colinas and we spent Saturday morning and afternoon at the pool there with Geep and Pop. It was awesome - a saline pool with a beach. Daddy bought Spencer a neat swim vest that gave him a little more freedom in the water. He was in heaven!

After swimming, we all took a nap (yes, in a bed!) and got ready for the big wedding that evening. Spencer and cousin Caroline played together at the pre-wedding cocktail hour (unfortunately I didn't get any good pics of those cuties together - hoping someone else did?), then we rode in golf carts over to the ceremony site on the 18th hole. I was nervous about Spencer talking during the wedding, but he was quiet when it counted. We stayed at the reception until about 10:30 - and Spencer even ate a cupcake at 10:00. We definitely cut loose and all survived. He looked so tired when we got back to our room and eventually fell asleep at 11:30, but we slept until 9:30 the next morning!

Thanks Aunt Janice and Uncle Gary for a wonderful weekend. And congratulations to Laura and Tanner!

New Videos

I just realized I uploaded several new videos recently but forgot to add links to the Videos section on the right side of the page. You can check those out, and here is a little preview:

Busy (HOT) Weekend

We took our first swim of the season Saturday afternoon. We met Piper, Beckett, Coy, Garven and Kit at Deep Eddy. Spencer had a blast and to our delight had no fear of the water. He was all smiles the whole time.

We also went to Jenni and Mitch's house Sunday morning and then headed over to Mills Pond to feed the ducks, geese and turtles. I think the thing that most impressed Spencer was that Jenni and Mitch both have iPads. "You have TWO of these???"

Late Sunday afternoon we were surprised by a sudden rain shower. Spencer said, "Mommy, can we go outside and play in the rain? It will be fun!" How could I argue with that? Deep Eddy and the rain were definitely the only cool moments of the weekend (temperature-wise, that is).

"I Know the Secrets That You Keep..."

"...when you're talkin' in your sleep." I know some of you will get my 80s reference. :) Spencer has been sleeping with us a lot lately (okay, pretty much every night starting sometime after midnight, but it's okay). I didn't realize how much he talks in his sleep. Here are a few quotes just from last night:

• "Do we have chicken and ketchup?"
• "MAC-AND-CHEESE!" (This was said very loudly and with a lot of gusto...sounds like someone needs a bedtime snack before he hits the hay.)
• "Ohhhhhhhhhhh where is it? I think Daddy took it. I can't find it."
• "Get it!" (This was said in a somewhat, shall we say, demonic voice...)

He also cries out a lot saying things like "No no no!" or "Stop it!" Dave is not surprised that Spencer's a sleep talker because he's put up with my nighttime shenanigans for years.

Since I don't have a sleep talking picture, I will end this post with a picture that just makes me smile - so much joy in this moment. Happy Friday!

Gardening Update

Wow! We've had some major sprouting in less than a week. The marigolds and zinnias are growing (not sure which is which) and the beans are taking off like crazy. The leaves were just starting to form yesterday and this morning they were huge. The rosemary isn't doing anything, but 3 outta 4 ain't bad.