Bastrop State Park

We visited Bastrop State Park to go hiking a couple weeks ago. In September of 2011, Bastrop State Park and the surrounding pine forest were stricken by wildfire that affected 96 percent of the park.  

The park is recovering.

Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!

See the black line in the foreground of the photo? That is burnt trail marker.

Lil'D hiding his face because he did not want to be in the picture!

Riding his hiking stick like a horse and drawing a line in the trail.

February Date Night

For our anniversary two years ago, Nicholas' parents gave us a flex pass to the St. Edwards Theater shows for two seasons. You can go to any shows you want. The one flex pass came with eight tickets, so we could technically see one show with eight people, or 4 shows just the two of us.

For our February Date Night, we saw Measure for Measure. Three of the main characters were Austin Actors, but most of the rest of the cast were St. Ed's students. It was an intimate theater (with a spectacular view of the city skyline).

We had a date with Lil' D for dinner before dropping him off at Nicholas' parents house. Then, after the play, we enjoyed dessert at Kerby Lane. It was a much needed evening together!

Monthly Date #2 = Success

Sweetheart Dance

Lil' D's birthday party was in the morning on February 9th. More on that later. That evening we went to the Valentine's Dinner and Dance at church. We all got spiffy-ed up. 

We enjoyed dancing.

And had a LOT of fun in the photobooth

What a cutie!!!

Lil' D was not interested in the Mother-Son dance. There were a few toddler meltdowns, so we enjoyed just sitting in the middle of the dancefloor!

A Year of Dates + January Date Night

Pinterest is my new best friend. Thanks to a "pin" I found around Christmas time, I put together what I think is the best present ever! I gave Nicholas a "Year of Dates." We have not been great about having regular date nights, and we have also not been so great about using gift cards that other people have given us! I culled through our stack of gifts cards, scoured Groupon for great deals, and racked my brain for creative date nights. The end result was one pre-planned, mostly pre-paid for date night.

For our January date night, we had tickets to the UT Men's basketball game versus West Virginia. This is the first year that West Virginia is in the Big XII. I went to the football game where we lost, and we also lost the basketball game! It was fun, anyway, though. So much fun that while we were at the game, I bought tickets to a family Saturday game to take Lil' D! The attendance at the game was sparse, and as we walked in to find out seats we spotted an older couple from church. We ended up sitting next to them, and watching them enjoy the game was almost as entertaining as the game itself!

An Abundance of Birthdays

We're still here. It has been quite a month. Lots of birthdays. Lots of parties hosted at our house. And LOTS and LOTS of winter sickness for Nicholas and Lil' D. January and February are filled with family and friends birthdays. We helped Beth celebrate her 50th birthday with a "surprise" party. Lil' D enjoyed the balloons.

We helped Julie celebrate her 60th birthday a few days later with a small family dinner at Hyde Park Grill. (Apparently so small there were no pictures!) Nicholas was getting over his first sickness of the year, and wasn't feeling 100%. 

On Nicholas' birthday, he awoke to a fever. We had breakfast at Kerby Lane, and this is the only presentable picture! But isn't Lil' D cute?!?! We had a dinner party at our house. Fajitas! I made a carrot cake, but had an icing fail...so I save the cake for Lil' D's birthday and the boys had a combined birthday cake. It was just as well since Nicholas spent the time between his birthday and Lil' D's birthday on the couch. Nonetheless, Nicholas enjoyed his impromptu birthday celebration. 

A Day with Mom

I had a holiday on MLK Day, and Lil' D was out of school, so we spent the day together doing fun things. Our first stop was the newly renovated LBJ Library and Museum, one of my favorite places in Austin. They just reopened in mid-December after their renovations and started charging admission, but had a "free" day on MLK Day.

How adorable!

Lil' D enjoyed exploring all the displays.

And listening to President Johnson on the phone.

A replica of Lady Bird Johnson's office.

Looking out on Austin/UT.

Having fun on the lawn.

As we walked passed the Bass Concert Hall, Lil' D really enjoyed the posters of the Lion King!

The Art Building where Daddy spent all his time in college.

 

After walking around campus exploring, we visited the Texas Memorial Museum. There was an outdoor classroom with dinosaur bone seats that Lil' D had a blast climbing on.

Laying on the floor checking out the Pteradon.

Exploring the "Beginning of Time" room.

Lil' D really wanted to climb on top of the sabertooth tiger in front of the museum.

After the museums, we met Dad for lunch at his favorite lunch spot. Then we were busy running errands. It was a great day!