Temple & Austin

Andrew took a couple of days off work and we headed back to Temple and on to Austin for a quick visit. It was so much fun to go back and see our Temple friends and get time to hang out with Adam & Heather again. We met up with a group at Temple's new "cool" restaurant called Dead Fish on Lake Belton. (The restaurant is great, but they could have used a little more appetizing of a name!) This is the group minus the Hogg's who left before we got the camera out. It was so fun to be with old friends again!

(Bossens, Bossens, Barkers, & Newmans)

We also made the rounds at Scott & White and McLane to say hi to work friends. Drew was the entertainment of the day. He loved seeing new faces and actually mastered his waving skills that day trying to entertain everyone!

Drew made some new friends in Temple when we stopped by to see our friends KiKi and Dave and their precious new baby Skyla Ann. Skyla has a big sister Harlie who is about Avery's age. Harlie had really fun toys for Drew to play with. While Drew was playing, Harlie raided his diaper bag! I went to change Drew's diaper and there were no diapers in the diaper bag. I thought it was strange, but the trip was so crazy that maybe we ran out and forgot to put more diapers in the bag. Dave said we could use one of theirs and went to Harlie's room. He found all of Drew's diapers on the shelf where Harlie's diapers go!! Smart girl...the diapers go on the shelf, not in the bag! She also found Drew's shoes in his bag and put them with her shoes in her room. We didn't discover that until after we had left town, so we'll be stopping at KiKi & Dave's to retrieve our shoes on our next pass through town! :)

After Temple, we hit the road and went to Austin for 2 nights of "Gram Camp" and to celebrate my birthday. The Poage crew was all there too...so we had a full house! It was a blast (and very busy!) having all the grandkids together. It all went smoothly until we were cooking dinner the second night and heard Julia whaling all of a sudden. I looked over and Drew had her pinned down and was chomping on her head. Poor Jules...he still thinks that the world is his chew toy. Other than that, the kids loved playing with all the fun stuff Gram had on hand.

Drew loved the box of stuffed animals

Pajama party! playing before breakfast

Learning how to make a pretty pie crust (it's my first Thanksgiving to cook...I needed lessons!)

It's too bad Sherman is a long drive away from Temple & Austin. I wish we could do this more often. It was a fun weekend of friends & family!

Fun Morning!

It was cold & rainy outside this morning, so Drew and I decided to take it easy and play inside today! It's nothing new, really. But, he did have a fun new toy to play with. I found this cute pony at Sam's yesterday. It's strong enough for Drew to sit on it eventually (right now, his feet don't reach the ground and he isn't so steady just yet). Drew loved snuggling up with it and pulling on it's mane! Kobe gave the pony a good sniffing. He couldn't figure out whether to bark at the pony or try to play with it!

All that playing worked up a good appetite! I decided it was time Drew ventured into some more 'sophisticated' food choices. So, it was time to try the Gerber Graduates turkey sticks. This food is very nostalgic for me, as I ate it as a snack well into my junior high days. Disgusting, I know. But, they're really not that different from Vienna Sausages. No excuse, right! Anyway, Drew loved them just as much as I did! He gobbled them up. Kobe was patiently waiting below, but Drew wasn't sharing. I had to take pictures to celebrate Drew's move toward 'big people' food!

Daddy Got a Deer!

Drew put on his finest camo to welcome Daddy home after hunting Saturday morning. We were a little sad to see Bambi come home in a bag, but happy that Andrew had a fun (and safe) hunt!

Playdate Fun!

I don't know who had more fun this morning, me or Drew! We had our first playgroup with friends who all go to Mother's Day Out at First Baptist with Drew. There were a total of 5 kiddos...twin girls Avery & Grace, Clay (Drew's best buddy), big Drew, and our little Drew. (hopefully 'Drew' isn't going to be the name like 'Jennifer' was in the 70's!)
We played over at Avery & Grace's house and had big fun. Drew absolutely loves watching the older kids play. And, he had a blast playing with all new toys. I loved making new friends and watching the kids run circles around each other. It was a wonderful morning! Oh, and it just happened to be Clay's 1st Birthday too. Happy Birthday Clay!!!

New Mexico

We took our first airplane trip with Drew to New Mexico at the beginning of October. Drew was such a great traveler, which was a big relief!! I don't know if all parents dread the first plane ride with kiddos, but Andrew & I could barely sleep the night before because we were so nervous about how Drew would handle it. Of course, he was his typical "go with the flow" self and seemed to love every minute!

We spent 2 days in Albuquerque and 2 days in Santa Fe. Our stop in Albuquerque was primarily to see the International Balloon Fiesta. We caught a glimpse of the mass ascension from the highway one morning, but as luck would have it, the events that we actually had tickets for were all cancelled due to wind. Big bummer! But, we went out anyway and enjoyed the atmosphere. We did get to see fireworks one night at the Fiesta, and the last day we were there one hot air balloon got the ok to inflate long enough to film a news report in front of it. So, we didn't leave without seeing a balloon...it just wasn't in the air. Hopefully we can make it back one day to actually see them in flight because the pictures of it are just amazing!

We spent our days in Santa Fe exploring the historic downtown and hiking in the mountains. We stayed at the fun new Hilton Buffalo Thunder Casino & Resort. The hotel had a great indoor pool, which Drew loved swimming in. We also got to stroll Drew through the casino one night. I would have loved to know what was going through his mind when we walked through all the flashing lights of the slots!

It was a great little getaway. Now we know Drew likes traveling as much as we do!