Artist

Lottie has a new method of using the easel. She is so proud of herself.

Fish Attempt, the Third

Adam: "Nani is too loud. She wakes me up from my good rest. We should get a quieter pet. Like a fish."

Fall Fun

Adam and Lottie having a great time in the leaves.

Sharing a bike is fun!

Cousin Pictures

In the morning, we took the kids for a photo shoot that was a disaster. Two crying kids plus a terrible photographer equals horrible pictures. So we took pictures outside - much better.

Thanksgiving, Day Two

On Friday we had our turkey dinner, since Shane had to work on Thursday. In the morning, Adam had fun playing with Kayleigh.










Then Adam and Lottie jumped on Bapa.

Lottie confiscated Kayleigh's pacifier. Lottie never took one, so she finds them fascinating.

Playing exhausted Kayleigh.

"What's that? I can't hear you?"

Ashley and Uncle Doug with Kayleigh.

Before dinner, we took a stroll down to the Strand, Galveston's historic district. Ashley, Uncle Doug, and Logan on the steps of our vacation rental (a historic Victorian) preparing to walk.

After our delicious dinner, the kids got to open their Christmas presents from the family. Lottie is already a pro.

Adam shows Gram his present.

The aftermath.

Thanksgiving, Day One

After getting a good night's sleep (we got in late Wednesday night), the kids were ready to go on Thursday morning. Uncle Doug was a great jungle gym.

Adam and Lottie helped Daddy with push ups.

After giving the pool time to heat up (although it was still a little cold), the kids couldn't wait any longer. First they just splashed with no pants.

Then they splashed NAKED.

Then we gave up and got out the bathing suits.

Ashley and Kayleigh watched the action.

Happy Thanksgiving

Adam and Lottie are having a great time in Galveston with all the Callicotts. Because we are having our Thanksgiving meal on Friday, their only question is, "Where's our turkey?"

Pictures to come! Happy Thanksgiving!

NOT Thankful

Adam: "I'm NOT thankful. Because I am a Transformer."

Another Pet?

Adam has pets on the brain.

First attempt at sweet talking the parents into getting a new pet is getting them to take him to Petco to "see" the animals. Then talk about the awesome fish. When leaving, mention that, "Nani is sad. She only lays on the couch and sleeps. We need another pet. Can we get a fish?"

Second attempt at sweet talking the parents into getting a new pet is hearing a song on the radio that mentions cats. "TWO CATS! I have TWO pets. Nani and ....a fish! We need a fish for my bowl."

Sad. We may be raising another lawyer.

Street Dancing

Red Sox

Daddy came home from Rhode Island bearing Red Sox cookies. Yankee fans say, "Boo!"

Vacuum Rampage

What happens when the vacuum doesn't get put up right away. It rampages and runs over elephants. Bad vacuum!

Santa's Helpers

Adam: "Hey look, there's Santa! And his helpers. The elvises. Santa and his elvises!"

Nothing can convince him that the plural of elf is elves, not elvises.

Rice Homecoming

After our visit with Karen, Logan, and Kayleigh, we headed to our alma mater. Adam and Lottie had never been, so we gave them a partial tour. Of course, Rice has built so many new buildings, we didn't recognize everything. The main academic quad did look the same, except that the hedges had been scalped from waist height to about knee height. We introduced the kids to Willy (William Marsh Rice, our founder - his ashes are under the statue).

Then we took the obligatory picture in front of Lovett Hall. We're hoping at least one of them ends up here in another 18 years or so.

We also took them to our respective residential colleges. Adam and Lottie hung out on the Hanszen sign.

Then they found Hanszen's beloved swing.

After our tour, we went to the tailgating area near the stadium. We didn't watch the football game, but let the kids try out all the bounce houses that Rice had set up. Adam and Lottie made friends with our college friends' kids, which was fun to see. I didn't get any pictures, but Adam spent over an hour bouncing with his new friends. We did see a few friends from the old days, but never got over to the "young" alumni tent.

Once the kids had napped, we checked out Lot 8, the boutique run by Chloe Dao, the Season 2 Project Runway winner. It was gorgeous - I wanted everything in the store. Chris bought me a dress (Christmas gift). We got to meet Chloe too, who loved Adam and Lottie. Nice to see talent staying in Houston. Then we took the kids to Amy's for some ice cream.

After a good night's rest, we headed to the Houston Ballet Nutcracker Market. Adam and Lottie especially liked this year's theme - Going to the Dogs. We all did some shopping (and Lottie did some napping in Daddy's arms), then we went to our favorite Houston restaurant, Patu, for some delicious Thai food. After gorging ourselves, we headed back to Austin.

On the way home, Lottie fashioned a "toy" out of a jelly candy and a piece of her hair. Yuck! She was super pleased with herself, and Adam also wanted one. Crazy kids.

Hermann Park

We headed to Houston for Rice Homecoming (Chris's 10th reunion - yikes) this weekend. We were lucky enough to stay at Amy and Sebastian's beautiful new Victorian in the Heights, although they weren't there. While they were jetting off to Australia, we made ourselves comfortable. On Friday, we hit a Japanese households store; basically, a small version of a hundred yen store (dollar store). They carried a lot of Daiso (hundred yen store brand in Japan) goods. We were in heaven and picked up a bunch of goodies. The store is surrounded by lots of yummy Asian restaurants, so we picked a Japanese cafe. If they had this when we lived in Houston, we might never have left. Except to move to Japan.

On Saturday morning, we met Aunty Karen, Logan, and Kayleigh at Hermann Park, across from Rice University. While we were waiting for them, we took some sister-mauling pictures by the fountain.

Also, some sister-throttling pictures.

Logan and Lottie had the same idea - let's crawl over this ledge into the water. Lottie almost made it. She's fast.

Then Lottie wanted to check out Kayleigh's nose, eyes, chin, hair.

Then they held hands.

We went to the Japanese garden, where the kids terrorized a poor duck. After a few laps around the azalea bushes, it figured out it could hid IN the bushes, where the kids weren't allowed to go.

We did managed to get a few pictures by the pond. No smiles, but at least they are all standing somewhat still. Kayleigh is not allowed in pictures until she can walk!

Our last stop was the train. It actually went all over the park at a pretty good clip, which delighted the kids. Logan spent half the ride under the seats, and Lottie demanded her own seat away from Adam and Logan, but they had a good time nevertheless. Their favorite past was going through the "tunnel" (train shed). They had a great time hanging out with their cousins and aunty and are now fully geared up to see everyone at Thanksgiving!