Fishy Fishy in a Brook

We went to the ward chili and cornbread dinner/trunk or treat yesterday. When we first got there and put Megan's costume on she was a little shy, and wouldn't turn around for the camera.


But when she saw the other kids in their costumes she quickly got over it, and got back into a posing mood. She had a lot of fun playing all the games and running around (we think this picture where she is fishing is quite ironic.)








And here she is eating her one piece of Halloween candy -- a tootsie roll still in the wrapper. Mmmmm.

Pumpkin Carving

Kimmie is such a good mom. She always plans fun things for me and Meg. This week she invited over our friends the Barlows and we had cheese soup and root beer, and we carved pumpkins. Megan was so excited, she even wanted to show the Barlows her costume, which is progress on that front (we have been trying to tell her it is "cool" and "neat" rather than laugh at her, I think we may have finally convinced her).

Meg has gotten pretty good at posing for the camera (I don't know where she gets that from). Here she is saying cheese.



















































































Meg loved her pumpkin, and she was especially intersted in the "fire" inside. I guess we'll have to be careful about that.

Enchanted Rock

This weekend we went to Enchanted Rock State Park. The State Park pretty much consists of a giant pink granite dome rock that you can climb to enjoy a spectacular view. When we got to the top we found a cave that you could go spelunking in. Mike went in but didn't get very far because we didn't have a flashlight. Mike definitely wants to return with a flashlight next time. Megan is a trooper, she is always ready for fun. (Can you find Mike in the cave?)

New Post

We had such a good time in Utah (and took so many pictures) that it has been hard to decide which ones to use for a new post. We have been thinking about it all week, and it has just been too hard to separate them. So (by popular demand) we thought we'd at least post some pictures, even without explanations.

Megan's Audition

Megan has a few favorite bands. Ever since she was only a few months old she has calmed down when Bob Marley came on, and for the last 3 or 4 moths she has loved Uzi and Ari. Uzi and Ari is the band of Mike's friend Ben Shepard. The first song that she liked on the album was the song "Stella," which is a lullaby (for anyone that has seen our video of Meg's first year, it is the last song on the video.) We noticed when one day she was crying in the car and wouldn't stop, but when that song came on she quieted down and listened. Since then she has branched out and now recognizes any song on the album, and even sings along with at least three of them. Now we make sure to have the CD in the car if we are planning on driving for more than a few minutes, because it is a guarantee to put her in a good mood, and keep her entertained. Here is Megan as the background singer for the song "Mountain/Molehill." (By the way, she was not feeling very good when we filmed this, hence the runny nose.)

Happy Birthday Aunt Alisha

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISHA!
We hope you are having a great day. We are thinking of you. I can't wait to celebrate together next week.



Megan and I were kind of singing Happy Birthday together, but when I pulled out the camera she wouldn't sing any more. The video is still pretty cute.
P.S. How do you like your present? Just kidding.

Uncle Steven - The Bats!

Underneath Congress Bridge over Town Lake lives the largest urban bat colony in the United States. There are something like 3 million bats that live there throughout the summer, and they all come flying out at dusk to eat. There is a big grassy spot where you can go sit and watch them come out. We went to see them when we first moved here, and decided to take Steven back. Megan didn't care much about the bats, but she sure had fun running around and chasing other kids.


Here's a picture from a year ago at the same spot, I can't believe it's been a year!

Uncle Steven - Day at the Lake

Uncle Steven came to visit us this weekend. We told Megan about it ahead of time and she said "Steven, Steven" and went and grabbed our family picture and pointed him out. He flew in at night so she was already in bed, but when she woke up Mike got her up and told her that Steven was here in the living room. She went running down the hall to look for him saying "Steven, Steven." It was very cute. She was a little shy with him at first (as usual), but now she wants him to hold her more than she wants us!


We thought we would go swimming at Lake Travis and it was a lot of fun. The lake is really low this year, which has made some nice sandy beaches that aren't always there. Megan loved playing in the dirt (she even tried to eat it a couple times). The water was a nice 75 degrees or so.

Eating with Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa's visit was so fun that it deserves two posts. Most of the trip consisted of eating, waiting to get hungry, and eating again.

First we ate at the Gristmill, a hundred year old cotton gin in Gruene that sits on a hillside over looking the Guadalupe river.

Next we got breakfast tacos at our favorite barbecue joint, Rudy's, which is just down the street from us. The chopped beef tacos were fantastic!


Then we went to Lake Austin and ate at Mike's favorite burger place, Skishores Cafe.



Finally, we finished out the trip eating at Central Market's patio cafe, listening to live Indian music.




Since my parents judge the quality of their vacation based on the food that they ate, we did our best to show them a good time.

Grandma and Grandpa McFadden Visit

Grandma and Grandpa McFadden came to visit for the weekend. It was a quick trip, but it sure was fun! We made sure to drag Grandpa all over the hot Austin outdoors (Megan did most of the dragging.)
She quickly became best friends with Grandma and clung to her the whole trip (she especially liked the new pajamas Grandma brought, and wanted to wear the top right away.)We even went to visit historic Gruene and threw rocks in the Guadalupe river. Our two days together were a lot fun, and we can't wait to see them again.