More Fun in TX

Peter Pan Mini-Golf. (Lana, this one's for you)




A stroll through an old fashioned ice cream and candy shop on SOCO. Every child's dream.


Some good Mariachi music and tamale making at the Austin Children's Museum.



A run through the park and a ride on the train at Zilker Park.






Hanging out with the cousins.







Dillon out helping my brother plant trees in my parents soon to be orchard.


Finally, a picture of the kids in their Christmas outfits.

Dad Turns 60!!!

Let me tell you, the Bills family knows how to PARTY! My dad turned 60 while we were in TX and we threw him a BIG SURPRISE PARTY. Lots of food, friends and FUN. People were dancing and singing karaoke until the wee hours, and dad was definitely surprised. It was so much fun and I was so glad to be part of it all.






You gotta love my dads new "flair hair" golf hat.


My brothers, getting down.


The lot of us. We put every bit of the word fun in dysfunctional.

Happy Birthday Dad, here's to another fantastic decade.

Dillon and the Spider

Dillon and Charlee came down stairs excited today because they found a spider and were eager to catch it. Dillon got a container with a lid and they both left to get the spider.
A bit of time past and they came running back in and said that they had put a dead fly they found in the container so the spider could eat once they caught it....

Me: Well that's great, but spiders really only eat living flies because they like the fresh blood.

Dillon: Well maybe there's still a little blood left in this fly.

Me: I'm not sure baby, that one's been dead quite a while, you really need a living fly.

Dillon: That's going to be pretty tricky... I guess we'll just have to give it some of Charlee's blood.

Who Says You Need A Man

(although my hands are all blistered and my arms ache just trying to type this....
maybe I do need a man after all) And by the way, all shovel!

Stripping

I've learned a few things while stripping this door...


One, I should have never started to begin with.

Two, the previous owners liked to repaint their door every year, it appears.

Three, when the bottle says it will strip off multiple layers, it lies.

Four, chemicals purchased to strip paint off doors also apparently strip flesh off hands.

And five, I should have never started to begin with. ( or did I mention this already)



I'll let you know what it looks like when/if I finish.

Sledding

Lots of sledding. Even grandma hit the slopes.



Charlee would take the sled down by herself, but she much preferred to belly it.

There's nothing like a few hikes back up to wear you out.

Bringing In 2010/Eggrolls and Chocolate

Last New Years Eve we started a tradition with our friends out here. Eggrolls, fried rice, and the chocolate fountain. Lori brings over the stuffing (SO YUMMY), we all wrap up the rolls, she fries them, I whip out the rice, and we gorge ourselves on chocolate afterwards. A recipe for perfection.


It was hard for the guys to do the fireworks with the kids. Not sure if it was because it was snowing, freezing, or just because the fireworks were leftover from 4th of July 2008, but all most of them would do is smoke. Oh well.


I has to post this picture of Molly which reminded me of the following picture of Dillon from the year before.


Dillon, New Years Eve 2008