Mom's Visit

My mom came to visit last month and we HAD SOOOOOO MUCH FUN. Seriously, every time she comes we always have a great time. I knew the first place I was going to take her was to the Philly Cheesesteak trailer over on the East side. My mom being the good little Jersey girl has standards and only likes cheesesteaks that remind her of back east. And these sandwiches did not disappoint. They ship in their rolls from back east and I think that makes such a difference.
Yum!

We also stopped by Cornucopia to get some popcorn. I love this place... you can try the flavors before you buy them. We ended up buying Dill (seriously yum), Jalapeno Cheddar (for Jim) and a Java Chip (coffee flavored popcorn with chocolate drizzled on it). We tried a few other flavors like cake batter (to sweet for me), chocolate covered cherry (WAY to cherry- almost like Ludens cough drops).

This was mom's first time to meet Abbey and the kittens! Of course the animals knew they were meeting grand-ma-ma and loved all over here. Here is Jelly loving on Chewie. Chewie normally doesn't let the kittens crawl on him, so I was pretty happy to get a picture of this! I think he was okay with it because there was a blanket in between them :)

I wanted to doing something sophisticated while mom was here so we went to a show at Bass Concert Hall. Unfortunately there was a huge LACK of shows to see while she was here so I gambled on this show. It was called Diavolo Dance Theater- they had 2 different sets that they used. The first one was a block that had movable parts that they used when dancing and the 2nd was a half circle, that rocked back and forth. They said not to take pictures but I still snuck one in just so my readers could see (see... I take care of you guys!). But I didn't get one of the 2nd set, which in my opinion was the better set because the dancers had a lot more acrobatics.

On Saturday morning, we headed out to do some garage sale shopping and we came across an area with lots of graffiti. The area was really neat so we stopped to take a few photos :)

We were striking out on finding good garage sales so we headed down to South Congress to walk around and check out the outdoor shops that set up for the day. As soon as we walked by the Crepes trailer we both glanced at each other and knew we had to get one :) We ordered a breakfast crepe that had eggs, bacon, spinach and cheese. It was delish! They had a few other crepes, like the BBQ brisket, that I'll be back to try.

Mom got the lucky task of going to the granite yard with Jim and I to check out granite. Our kitchen has been a looooong process and I feel like we are getting to a point were it is going to start moving again. We picked out a type of granite that we both liked and recently made the purchase of the actual slab. Now we are just waiting for install!!!

Mom and I headed to the Hope farmers market on Sunday where we checked out produce (how cool is purple cauliflower!?!) and bought earrings from a local artist.

Hope Farmers Market

That night we headed out to Lamberts for dinner. The food was really good but the experience lacked a bit because we got stuck out on the patio when it was chilly. We didn't have reservations so we had to take what was available.

A trip to Austin wouldn't be complete without a walk around Town Lake with the dogs. It ended up being a really nice day so it was perfect!

Mom and I with the kittens and of course Abbey wanted in on the picture :)

Mom and Jim under the Austin Motel phallic sign on South Congress. We ate at Hopdoddy that night...their hamburgers are fantastic. And if you haven't eaten there, I highly suggest you go!

I love this picture!

Of course we turn into hams in front of the camera

Mom resting on the couch with her boo-boo, Abbey

We had a WONDERFUL vacation with mom and I know all of her grand-boo-boo's loved having her visit too!!

I was so lucky to have the camera by me to catch this display

of total and utter cuteness

Abbey and Chewie

Since Mother Nature continues to give us Spring like weather, I have been spending a decent amount of time outside with the dogs. I'm not a fan of 80 degree weather at the end of November, but I guess it is better than 100 degree weather :).

Abbey will tear through any manufactured toy I put in front of her. Some times the toy will last 5 minutes and sometimes I get lucky and it takes her a day to destroy. She also loves the sticks in the backyard. We have left some of the bigger branches that have fallen because she'll chew on them all day if we let her. It is the cheapest and longest lasting toy that we have found. I just wish it was cleaner and I would totally let her bring it in the house. Well, I would let her bring it in the house once it was smaller. She runs around with the sticks that are over 3 feet long and she doesn't have a clue when she hits something, so I can't see bringing it into the house and letting her roam free with it.

Chewie was more relaxed the day I was taking pictures... I didn't have to chase him around or watch out for flying sticks.

This was the first time I have seen her use the tree to balance herself while barking at a squirrel :) Watch out squirrel's, you have another doggie after you

Lunch with the kids

I am so grateful that I live very close to where I work. It helps me in the mornings when I am running late, if I leave something at home I can get it within 10 minutes, and I can eat lunch at home and hang out with the kids.

I took these photos with an iPhone while at home during lunch with the pups

Chewie looks like a cartoon type figure with that huge smile on his face

Abby taking a break from chasing Chewie around the yard

Chewie resting on the couch

Dogs on alert!

Our babies

It is getting hard to find outdoor activities with the kids when it is so damn hot outside!! Even our early morning walks leaves the dogs panting, so we are keeping activities at a minimum right now. HOWEVER, throw a little water into the mix and you get two DAMN happy dogs that want to stay all day long. Seriously, we had to pull them out of the water. Instead of heading to Town Lake (maybe one day I'll feel comfortable calling it Lady Bird Lake) to get some water time we headed to Peace Park. They have a little stretch of leash less area (24th street to 29th street, off of Lamar) which includes Shoal Creek. I thought this would be a good area to let Abby really get a feel for the water because it isn't to deep.

It took her all of 30 seconds to realize that she LOVED the water. She had a huge smile on her face and was sprinting all over the place. We ended up having to get the leash and calming her down a bit, we are still over-sensitive/protective about her knee. The last thing we want is another hurt body part.

I love this photo... I knew I had seconds before I had to move because I'm pretty sure she would have run right into me if I had stayed in the same place

We probably stayed about 30 minutes before we decided to head down the trail. I look forward to the day where we can have Abby off of the leash and have her listen to us. We let go of her leash at the water (left it on her) but we were on both sides of the water making sure she didn't get to far away from us.


Not a great photo, but you can see the height difference of Chewie and Abby... she is gaining some ground on him! She is 6 months old.
Last weekend, I spent some time outside with the kids and the wide angle lens.

Abby is not very lady like... she loves to sleep like this, which leaves her,,, ummm,,, whooo-ha out in the open

Aaahhhhhh!!! Love this photo! Chewie is okay with her laying on him, as long as she isn't a freak and start licking him to death. This was the night after swimming, so they were both pretty tired

It's time for the girl to start swimming lessons

Now that Abby is back in good health, we have introduced her to the hike and bike trail. She is a little skittish of all of the bikers and runners going by but she seems to be getting used to it. We still have a lot of work to do on the leash, but she is getting the hang of it. Chewie on the other hand LOVES the hike and bike trail and usually prances along the trail.

At our "turn around" of the walk, we arrive at the leashless area of the trail. Abby is still no where near trained enough to let her off of the leash but Chewie does really well off of the leash. Barring any squirrel sighting, Chewie listens to us. There is a gentle slope down to Town Lake that Chewie loves using to get into the water. We took Abby there and she walked right in.... granted she stopped at about her puppy ankles but she didn't seem disturbed by the water.

1st week on the hike and bike.

Look Ma,,, I'm in the water


Watching at Chewie swims around

Jim and the kids at Zilker Park

Me and the kids

2nd week at the park

Chewie paddling around in the water

When we were down by the water, there were 4 other dogs there and she was watching them. She was very good around the other dogs and started to play with them. Chewie was out swimming with the other dogs, and he was playing nice as well. Chewie seems to have a shorter temper with some dogs (nothing more than a snarl) since we adopted Abby. I am assuming that it has to do with Abby tormenting him all day with her licking and nibbling and he just takes it. Trust me, I am keeping an eye on him while at the park and nothing besides a growl has happened (and usually after that Chewie takes off running).

She walked right in the water and hung out there. I'm not comfortable letting go of the leash yet, but she was pulling a bit because she wanted to go further into the water. Yay!!