Adventures in Austin--a photo explosion

Because of all the photos you're about to see, this post took much longer than most. I go to the trouble of uploading all those photos--five at a time--painstakingly slowly--because Frodo Seven has become a kind of family scrapbook. Scrapbooking as a hobby gradually went away as we welcomed baby after baby and it was harder to deal with all of the "stuff" involved. So, now, Blogger is doing our record-keeping and I have captured much more of our daily life than I ever did before.

Our weekend trip to Austin was so much fun as you will see. It had been a long time since we had last seen Neil and gang and of course, we'd never met Baby Josie. We reveled in all of the family time.

Neil and Martina are in their first year of homeschooling. It was fun to talk about that and I saw a definite change in my nephew Jonathan (9) who, in the past, didn't want a whole lot to do with Mia (8) because she's not a boy. This visit, the two of them played chess, checkers, monopoly and more over and over. It's amazing how much difference the change in environment makes in kids.

We're planning to host Ashley for a week in November and Jonathan sometime after that so we will be seeing more of the Austin Kreitzers very soon.

Saturday, we went to the St. William's fall festival

I think the kids would be happy to do that every weekend

The biggest treat for me was an exposition of Baile Folklórico.

The various dances and costumes were from the different states in Mexico.

It was an impromptu culture lesson, relevant to the girls' Spanish classes.

I see some broken candle holders in my future.

The girls really liked this dance.

The smaller kids were my favorite.

The little guy on the right was clearly having the time of his life.

This is more like it for Sophie.

Fortunately, she did not eat it all!

One-handed fishing

The sack race: Grace, Mia, Paige

I love Grace's expression

On to the three-legged race

At the starting line

We're number one!

The teen-agers

In this photo: everyone who got hair dye!

We got up early for Mass Sunday morning. Jonathan was serving which made it exciting for everyone. Sophie spent the whole Mass craning to see him. I really enjoy Mass at St. William's because it is such a beautiful church. Its large hispanic population also has a big influence on the decor and the environment. The statue of the Holy Family above is one of my favorites ever.

The four evangelists and their symbols

The girls and I took a close look at this one because we have been talking about the evangelists and the specific people each one wrote to.

And this has always had special meaning for me.

Good buddies

Me and my god-daughter, Paige

photo by Sophie (I think the camera's a little heavy for her but she does a good job)

In the afternoon, we took all of the ice cream coupons Mia won at the festival to Sonic.

Free ice cream for everyone!

Strike a pose

Ice cream bath

Then we went to the playground

I see you, Drew

So that's all. Whew! Ta-ta till next time!