Austin, TX

I went with Nate to Austin, TX for a few days last week.  He needed to measure one job (about 15 minutes is all it took) so we turned it into a little get away.  No kids and no plans.  It was 3 days and 2 nights of whatever the heck we wanted to do (minus the travel).  Sleep was one thing at the top of my list.  I slept in and had naps.  It was glorious.  We did some shopping, went to a couple movies, ate lots of good food (hit a couple Diners, Drive-ins & Dives places) and went to a state park.  Austin is the "Live Music Capital of the World", but that didn't suit our fancy much.  We drove down 6th Street since that's where a lot of it takes place.  We decided bars with bands we don't care about just wasn't our thing.  It didn't seem like there was a lot to do or see there (if you know differently, please, do tell) and it was rainy most of the time (at least it was warm rain), but it was fun to just be with Nate and be somewhere warmer since this spring hasn't given us very enjoyable weather.

I've seen turtles in boxes, yeah, but not out in the wild.  This place was swimming with them.  (Ha, ha!)  It was really fun to see them come up to the surface then they'd disappear again.

 Ahhh.... look at this cute little baby one.  It was my favorite.  Then I started missing my babies.... so we left.

Walking on one big, massive boulder. 

I think this is a Cardinal, but I'm no bird expert.  You don't see many colorful birds like this in our neck of the woods.  I did have a wood pecker try to get through my roof a few times years ago when we first moved in.  Pheasants used to visit too, until we got our dog who LOVES to hunt birds.  He still spots them now and then.  Sometimes I think they taunt him.

California Road Trip

We took a short road trip to Southern California at the end of April.  We had a really fun time and missed all the cold, snowy weather at home.  Couldn't have been timed better. :)  I met Nate in Las Vegas since he was headed home from California for work and his layover was there.  The kids did great.  One potty stop and one Haley-is-freaking-out stop and we were at our hotel with Nate.  We drove the rest of the way the next morning.  On our way we stopped at some outlet shops to buy the boys some new shoes (since they have worn holes completely through the toes of their current pair).  There were tour busses with a bunch of asian tourists.  While we were in the Sketchers store an asian couple saw Haley and kept calling her "beautiful baby".  She was nice and smiled at them at first, but when they tried to touch her hair and get a picture with her she was out... game over.  I just said thank you and wisked her away.  They could tell they upset her and I could tell they felt bad.  We were able to visit family (Eric and Kim) and a friend (Amber)- I totally forgot to get out my camera for those visits. :(  We went to Legoland and the beach and that's about it.... besides the urgent care clinic, but we didn't consider that enjoyable.  (Eliza ended up with a swollen eye so we decided to take her in.  The doctor took our money and said go see your doctor at home if it gets worse.  Nice and thanks a lot.  It was a ridiculous wait so we ended up at a rocky, sea weedy beach because it was close to the urgent care clinic that we had to go back to when it was our turn.  We still had fun, although Nate and Eliza were gone for two hours of it.)

LEGOLAND
We met our neighbors, the Carters, there.  Tye had heard they were going and came home and basically told us that we were going too.  So that's how this trip ended up even being planned.  {Thanks to Josh and Aimee for letting us crash the Legoland party.}

The kids loved Miniland.  Here they are on the strip in "Las Vegas".... it's luckily G rated at Legoland.  Haley decided to climb into the New York City display.  That child was on one.   We even lost her for a minute when she decided to go use the potty by herself.  Luckily a lady saw her walk in alone and could tell I was in a panic.

Rachel is having a melt down because a (mild) roller coaster scared her and the thought of going on another put her over the edge.  She got over it though.  She wouldn't go on the biggest one, but went again on the one that initially scared her.

BEACH

Nate got a nice hot stone massage from Tye and Haley.... minus the hot and massage.

Collecting shells..... mostly broken pieces of shells, really.  Rachel did this for hours.  The other kids joined in for a few minutes.

Headed home.

Welcome to San Francisco

My husband and fellow co-workers (my brother-in-law and brother) just got offered crack in San Francisco. Yikes!  I think that's a first in all Nate's travels..... and hopefully the last proposition he gets.  Sheesh!  What kind of neighborhood is he in anyway???

Misc. April Photos

Here are some sweet, awesome blurry pictures of Rachel and Tye going off a ramp.  A whole 6 inches!  That's impressive. :)

Tye had a meltdown (he didn't wreck), but I can't remember why now.  I must have been very sympathetic because I documented it.  Isn't that a sign of a potential "mother of the year" if you take a picture of your children in their distress???

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in the following pictures are solely those of Haley and no other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Bishop household. 

She says she likes to be "naken".  I say this summer is going to be interesting.  If you see her running down the street "naken" please let me know.  Thanks.

We went to Classic Skating for the PTA sponsored skate night.  My mom watched Haley and Eliza and I was able to sit and watch the rest of the kids have a blast.  It was kind of fun to reminisce about the good ol' days when I would go there as a kid. One of the most memorable ones was my appendix had been ruptured for a while without anyone knowing, but it was at Classic where I must have jarred something loose because I ended up in pain, sick and almost passed out while at a birthday party when I was 8 years old.  I didn't tell anyone.  Endured the rest of the party came home and was so sick.  Anyway, long story short- my parents were out of town and grandma took me to the doctor.  Told him I didn't hurt anywhere. (I was lying because I heard people talking about the hospital and surgery.  My mom was gone... I wasn't about to let that happen without her.)  Came home, was still sick.  Mom came home as soon as she could.   Finally mom pushed super hard on my belly and the pain... Oh the pain!  Rushed me to the doctor, who then rushed me to the hospital.  Appendectomy.  Surgeon said it had been ruptured for probably 3 weeks.  The appendix was surrounded by fat so in a sense that's what saved my life and kept the infection from being worse than it was (although it was really bad), but it also hid the problem and let it fester for 3 weeks.  So it was good and bad I guess.  I survived (obviously and Yay!), but Classic Skating will always bring those memories back. 

This was a little heartbreaking.  Kaden couldn't find a friend to play with and I found him sitting in the backyard all alone.  But he soon found one and all was well.

Our kids have been enjoying our neighbor's sand box.  When I do laundry I usually end up with piles of sand on the floor from everyones pockets.

Here is documentation of how Eliza will sit on my lap so her toes won't touch the grass.  It's really fun to make her touch it, though.  She freaks out and I get a good laugh.  I really am a nice mom.  I promise.

Ponies and Piggies

 Eliza's first little pony tail and piggy tails.  Adorable!  Now if I could just get her to hold still while I put them in and get her to keep them in....

Teeth

Teeth are falling out left and right it seems.  First off, Tye lost his very first tooth on Easter.  {Cheer, clap, shout hooray!}  His new tooth was growing in behind it so Tye worked on it for a couple days, but it eventually came out with his daddy's help.  Unfortunately the Tooth Fairy was a day late coming.  I think it's because she helped the Easter Bunny with his big day and just got behind or was too tired or something. ;)

I just checked his other loose tooth and the new one is also growing up behind.... I hope the Tooth Fairy didn't go too far away.

Rachel also lost a tooth that I finally yanked out after hearing her complain about it everyday for a week.  All that was left of it was like an outer shell covering her new one coming in.  It was interesting.  She left a note for the tooth fairy since she chipped it so it was in two pieces....

Easter 2011

Lucky kids had 3 egg hunts this year.  One at Grandma Swensen's in her family room since it was raining and SNOWING (April 9th).  One at the neighbor's house and one at Nana Bishop's.

Coloring eggs.

Easter Sunday.  (After church.  I made the girls coordinating skirts.  The boys?  Shhhh... don't tell them they didn't get anything new.)

I can't for the life of me get all 5 to look at me at the same time and/or keep their hands to themselves!

My Creation

I took these two ideas....

and painted this....

(Sorry, it's a cell phone photo once again.)

I must say I am a bit proud of this.  I am NOT an artist by any stretch of the word, but got this bug to just go for it.  I used miscellaneous paints we had hanging around and made my own stencils for the birds and leaves (by totally copying what I found online... no free handing here- well, besides the tree trunk, but even then I totally copied the basic shape).  Cost for a vinyl tree: $100 (approx.).  Cost for this tree: $0.00.  Yay for me!  Okay, I'm done tooting my own horn now. :)

Guess Who?

A bit creepy, huh?