Home Grown

Kevin's mom visited us this past weekend. She always comes with treats, and this time did not disappoint, as she brought a large bucket of freshly picked vegetables from Kevin's brother's garden. Not one to pass up the opportunity for a buffet, our little vegetarian pounced on the bucket and made sure sure to sample a bit of everything inside.

 he loved playing his favorite apps for his KayKay

The Beggar

 It's hard to resist those pretty, pleading blue eyes when they're staring up at you

But being the offspring of a messy eater has it's consequences...

chocolate shake to the eye!

Fun with the Locks

August went for his second haircut the other day. It went even smoother and faster than the first. I'm happy to report that his hair is starting to grow out of the whispy, thin phase of infancy, and is turning into an actual, manageable head of hair...slowly.

Embrace the Camera

chilly morning swim lessons

Buckethead

Happy Father's Day!

 It was quite a relaxing Father's day for the Gupton household today. While the resident daddy slept in, August and I ran out to gather items for a special breakfast of sorts. When you sleep with two dogs, you can't exactly have breakfast in bed, so we set up a spread for him to see after he was well awake. We compiled a sampling of his favorite breakfast tacos, (always consumed with an ice cold Coke), and an eclair for the second course, as it's always good to have options on your special day. Thankfully we had just enough time to get it all set up before he blessed us with his presence.
  The rest of the day was filled with  glorious napping, video game playing, movie watching, biking, and an outdoor play. Thanks to our sweet new shade which made the 103+ conditions bearable, the three of us were able to pass quite a bit of the afternoon by swimming, sliding, climbing, and blowing bubbles. It was simple, low-key, and relaxing. Just the way we like it.

Hello, Friend!

Our little balcony must serve as a bit of an urban oasis as we tend to receive visitors from all kinds of wild creatures. The past few months we've had our share of peeping squirrels and binging birds of all sorts. But our most recent visitor was this little lizard who made himself at right at home on our window screen. He popped in just long enough to catch Momo reading a story to August, and then he was off again.

Peanuts + Cracker Jacks

My (newly retired!) mom came back home with us after our quick trip to Dallas last weekend. The timing couldn't have worked out better as Kevin had a trip to Virginia, and this was the first week that August and I were without our morning sitter, so the transition was more than helpful.
We kept the week fairly low-key, as it was way too hot to venture out to do much of anything. But on Friday, Kevin's boss had given him his tickets to the local minor league baseball team's game, so we loaded up and head north to cheer on the Round Rock Express. Being August's second game, he was much more aware and involved than he was last year. Though we knew we had our work cut out for ourselves when we decided to take a sleepy, sweaty, teething toddler out to a loud, sizzling baseball game. He was quite the trooper, and allowed us to take in our share of hot dogs and beer before calling it quits during the 7th inning stretch.

  heckler...

Star Wars party...

We had a 'partial' surprise 40th birthday party for my brother this past weekend. Since this was one of the few milestone birthdays, we knew we needed to have a little fun with it. My brother grew up in the age of Star Wars. I remember flipping through one of the pre-Laura photo albums at my parents house, and viewing images of his Star Wars themed 7th birthday. With this childhood obsession in mind,  my mom, sister, and I coordinated with my sister-in-law to create a fun Star Wars flashback party. Though he knew we were having a small gathering, my brother had no idea that we were going to rework part of his house into the Death Star. There were tons of costumes, multiple light sabers, a Darth Vader pinata, an R2D2 cake, a water gun war, and of course a photo booth. A fun time was definitely had by all members of both the Rebel Alliance and the Empire.

The Death Star

Dance, Dance 2011

We traveled up to Dallas for a couple of family events this past weekend. Our niece Emeri's dance school held their annual recital, so naturally we had to go support the only diva of the family. This is not your average performance; the day-long show is run with military-like precision, with each classes performance scheduled down to the minute. Of course Emeri performed superbly in both her ballet and her tap routine on what was the "most important day of her life". It's definitely fun to see our nieces and nephew's skills progress in their various pursuits year after year. And it's always a great time when the whole family gathers to show their support and spend some quality down-time together.

Flash Flloyd the Fish

August has always showed an interest in water, and water related creatures. He goes out of his way to point out a fish if ever one catches his attention. So naturally, we felt it was time to get him a beta of his own. So, Kevin and Augie took a special outting to the local pet store to pick out our latest addition and a few fishy accessories. When they got home, they took the time to acclimate Flash Flloyd to his new space. He enjoyed a nibble of a dinner, performed a few graceful loops for Augie's enjoyment, and idled in the front of his glass home long enough to catch his first (I assume) episode of Elmo's World.

He was dead by morning.

RIP Flash Flloyd I, it was fun for the 12 hours that it lasted...

  

Dry

Our part of the country finds itself in a drought that is categorized as 'exceptional'. On the rare occasion that water actually falls from the sky, it's not too uncommon to find people dancing in the streets.

Ready to Ride!

After 16 months of realizing how little time we actually have to fit exercise back into our routine, we figured it was time to take some practical action. We have the jogging stroller for runs, but we thought August would enjoy his own seat for rides around town. We're pretty sure he approves.