Mother's Day

Here we are, fresh off the heels of a very nice Mother's Day weekend...breakfast in bed, an episode of Beverly Hills 90210 rerun, lunch and dinner also made by Daddy, and some really nice gifts! I must be the world's luckiest Mommy!

It's been 25 days since my last post (why does this feel like an AA meeting?) so I'm sure there are some anxious relatives and friends who are itching to see some recent pics of the magnificent Maggie, and her very quickly growing unborn sibling.

Speaking of AA meetings....

We visited a nursery on Friday- not the baby kind- plants. It's a catalog/online business that opens the property to the public once a year. It was more like a botanical garden, with waterfalls and winding paths through thousands of different species of plants and trees. It was really a nice way to spend the morning, especially with Daddy playing hooky from work!!

When you spend time with Daddy, a lot of strange and fun games get invented....Bungee Minnie?

A few weekends ago, our neighborhood pool was gearing up for the season with an open house. They had a jumpoline (bounce house) for the kids. Maggie just turned 2 in February, and she wakes up just about every other day and says "It's my birthday- my party is at the jumpoline!" We celebrate a lot of 'un'birthdays at the Austin house.

Spring Break?

The Austins had a very fun and exciting Easter weekend/Spring Break- if we can call it that, because we didn't have anything to break from, but we'll celebrate with anyone who does!!!  The Daugherty's stopped by on Good Friday on their way to the beach in SC.  (We're hoping the weather was not as ugly for them this week as it looked on the radar pretty much every day.)  We had a great sunny, warm day to play outside, hunt some eggs, color some eggs, and catch up.  Maggie thought it was Christmas- when she woke up she had three friends standing in the kitchen to greet her!  Better than Christmas for this lonely only child- (but not for long- her baby brother or sister will be joining the madness in mid-November!  I'm trying to see who's reading this blog- word is out on the street, but not everywhere, yet!!)

Uncle Donald drove down from Pittsburgh, and Ti-Ti came over, too!  I think they even had more fun than usual since there were more little friends to play with!

On Saturday afternoon, we went over to a little Easter egg hunt/mini carnival.  It was very fun, because they had a 'jumpoline'.  ( Maggie has a fabulous knack of making up words that seem like they really should exist.  Kapow=Ketchup  and a Jumpoline is any kind of blow up fun bag for kids to bounce on.)

Maggie and Uncle Donald on the jumbo slide

The fun with Uncle Donald never stops!!

Easter morning- Ti-Ti and Uncle Donald tried to help her find her basket, she eventually sniffed it out, and had all the candy eaten before naptime!  (There's a reason people go to church on Easter Sunday- to stop the kids from eating candy, if only for 1 hour!)

Ti-Ti's rocking her spring break this week- we met her at the zoo yesterday and had a great time.  It's about halfway for both of us, so it was perfect.  Willy the polar bear is still swimming in circles, the baboons must have been filming 'Primates Gone Wild', and Maggie's favorite thing was the stinking playground.  

So that's what's been happening in the 'peak of good living' lately- we're looking forward to breaking out the t-shirts and shorts this weekend, and hoping that the 70's decide to stick around for the next couple of weeks!  

Good Sunday

So, I hear it's been awhile since I've posted any pics on the blog....the only excuse that I have is that it doesn't seem like we've been taking a whole lot of them recently. We've had an exceptionally wet spring, so we've been having a lot of fun inside. Bounce houses and indoor pools don't necessarily make me want to take any pictures- just imagine all of the fun- you'll get a pretty good picture. Maybe I should be posting pictures of all of the beautiful paintings Maggie creates when we're stuck inside....

Yesterday was a beautiful day! We were outside from the start. Maggie was a really good helper, Daddy was working on some landscaping and Mommy was planting some flower pots. Her favorite part of the day was playing with the sprinkler.

Gamma and Grandpa were in town last weekend. We got to help Gamma celebrate her birthday and we had lots of fun testing out the new playground, which is almost all done, but not quite.

Playing in Daddy's pile of mud- I asked him what the proper term for mud was, since dirt is not the proper term for 'soil'. All he could come up with was 'wet soil'.

"Tree generations" ha ha ha

Cleaning? off the mud.

Helping Gamma blow out the candles.

February Fun

A few weeks ago, we had a couple of days of gorgeous, 70 degree weather. Maggie and Daddy decided to get started on the swingset/playground for the back yard. She is really a good helper.

We discovered that BBQ chicken is a favorite around our house.

Happy Birthday #2!!

"Oh Toodles!!"

Modeling a new bathing suit from TT, while painting on her new easel.

Magical Daze

Maggie and I celebrated Valentine's Day without our Valentine. We met Grandma and GB and the Florida Cheneys down in Orlando. We spent Saturday at the Magic Kingdom and went to Disney's Animal Kingdom on Sunday. And even though we were at 'Disney World' the entire weekend, Maggie only considered it Disney World if she could
a.) see the castle
b.) see a parade
c.) was riding a ride
( and she did not appreciate having to wait her turn in line!)

We didn't want her to keep wanting to come back, so we started the day with one of those 3-D cartoons in a theater. "I don't like the Donald Duck movie!" Then, if we could have kept her on the Haunted Mansion ride, it would have certainly been her last visit. Despite all of our attempts, she had a great time, and didn't even cry when we got up close to Mickey this time!

Watching the parade come down Main St. USA

Dancing in the street!!

Parade and Popsicle- what more can you ask for?

Riding the train

Playing peek-a-boo with Mickey

Maggie's first rollercoaster- she takes after her Mommy, she wanted to go on the big one's, but we forgot to wear our high heals!

Ready to ride the teacups with Grandma and Alice (of Wonderland fame)

We got to stay in Buzz Lightyear's room

King me!!