SXSW Interactive

I've lived in Texas for almost 16 years but still never done any of the SXSW stuff. I guess I just don't want to deal with the crowds and craziness although one of these years, I will.

However, this year we did go downtown for the SXSW Interactive exhibit with the kids (as I'd heard it was pretty cool).  It actually wasn't too bad with crowds and the kids had a great time!

The highlight for sure was meeting a real R2D2 droid that moved and danced. Ryan was in Star Wars heaven as he LOVES R2D2 and all robots. 

Another neat activity was this huge wall/floor/space where the kids could just color. As you can see below, you could color pretty much everything - perfect for a 3 year old!

And perfect for this artist who LOVES to create. Each kid also got this cool scarf they could color.

 

 Team Stacer in the house!

While those two were coloring, Evan had fun building with Legos!

 

And last but not least was my absolute favorite activity! Here, the kids had to go to a computer and program this robot to move forward and grab that coke can you see. I loved it because it's just like my job in some ways.  And the nerdy engineer in me wants my kids to see how awesome and fun engineering is!  

The best part is that they did enjoy it! You would plug in your robot, write your "code", then go see if your code worked.  When it didn't, you took it back and changed the code to try and fix whatever was wrong. So cool!!  I hope my kids enjoyed it as much as I did watching them.

March Happenings

March is always a favorite month - lots of things going on, Spring Break, birthdays, and Spring! It's a great time to be in Austin.  Caitlin started playing soccer this Spring (surprisingly!).  She played on a team with her friend Charlotte but had lots of friends on another team. Below is a pic of the Old Town Kinder kids when they played each other!

Evan and Bryce have enjoyed being in Boy Scouts - it's a lot of work actually, but the activities are well worth it. This is from the annual Blue/Gold banquet where the boys received their Wolf Badges!

Picture of the whole Den 6

We also got to celebrate Papa's birthday in person since they spent the winter here in Texas again with us. It was a big one... 65!

Ryan and Chelsea also had their Spring Musical at school. They did such a great job! I'd heard them singing a lot at home so I knew they would rock it :)

 

Also, Caitlin has been participating in a research study for UT's brain lab. It required her to go take some tests and practice for an MRI. They are looking at their brains while they answer some questions to measure language development in 5 year olds.

Here she is actually getting an MRI in the "Rocket Ship!".  She did so great! It is actually very loud and kind of scary but she did awesome.

I'm so glad she was able to experience this! We even got a copy of her MRI so that she could show her friends. 

Happy 3rd Birthday Ryan!

Ryan officially turned 3 on March 5th.  He really knew it was his birthday this year and LOVED celebrating.

We started off the day with birthday pancakes of course!

Fortunately, his birthday was on a Saturday so everyone got to have them!

We brought cookies to school to share with our friends the day before.

We went to dinner at Hat Creek where he got to run and play and eat cake!

This boy is so sweet. He is quite the Mama's boy but I love getting to snuggle with him. He has grown so much this year. He still is a rambunctious boy who is constantly on the move. BUT, he has done so much better at school with listening and sitting still.  He loves to jump on and off everything, ride his bike, put things in his pockets, eat bizarre things (like packets of oatmeal without any form of liquid involved)... however, he also loves to snuggle and gives the best hugs and kisses and is always checking if people are okay. We love you so much Ryan!

Caitlin/Ryan's Birthday Party

This year, I did a joint birthday party for Caitlin and Ryan. Caitlin wanted a gymnastics party anyway and Ryan LOVES to jump. Plus, we'd invite about half the same people to both parties so why not just combine them (since their birthdays are only 6 weeks apart!).  It turned out great! We had it at Capital Gymnastics where Caitlin (and now Ryan) take gymnastics.

Ready to do an obstacle course starting on the trampoline

Caitlin jumping

Ryan jumping - his favorite!

All the kids running through the obstacle course

I think Ryan's having fun, what do you think??

 

Caitlin and two of her good friends (Maggie and Marjorie)

Mema throwing Ryan into the foam blocks

Evan taking a leap into the foam pit

More trampoline time for Ryan

Silly girls

Doing the zipline - Ryan was not such a fan of this

Enjoying pizza and snacks

Ryan LOVES Paw Patrol so we had to get him this cake!

Caitlin picked  out a girly one of course

Happy 6th Birthday to my only daughter!

First we sang to Caitlin

Then we sang for Ryan

Happy Birthday to these two! We loved celebrating them with friends and family. It was a great time for everyone (and easy on the Mom!). 

Random February Pics

Here are a few more random pics from February.  Caitlin LOVES to bake with Oma so they tried out a new recipe from the cookbook she got for her birthday!

Tada! A blueberry cake.

Ryan had Rodeo day at school. Here is my little cowboy all dressed up!

Evan went with his swim team to the Big 12 Championship Swim Meet to watch. Here is he is with Coach Adam enjoying some great swims!

My little soccer player getting ready for a game.

And here Caitlin is practicing with Daddy - doesn't everyone play soccer in an Elsa dress? That takes some skill!

More February Fun

Like I said, our winter this year was pretty mild.  We got to enjoy a lot of the outdoors at a time most of the country is deep in snow. It made training for my half marathon much easier too!

My favorite cheerleaders! This year, it was pretty tough but I still beat my goal of 2 hours and was the 3rd fastest woman in NXP! 

We taught the kids how to play quarters (or as the boy scouts call it, coin basketball).  It was for one of Evan's Wolf requirements!

Evan played flag football over the winter months. Here he is (center, snapping the ball). His team was the Chargers! He even scored two touchdowns in their tournament and his team made it to the Championship game (falling to the Colts). It was a fun season though!

Team photo

Both kids also started soccer in February. Caitlin decided she wanted to play again so we signed her up for Lonestar Rec.

Practicing at home

 

First practice! Caitlin and her good friend Charlotte were on the same team.

Game day!  These girls were ready to play! It was fun to watch Caitlin progress since she had not played in about 3 years. She was really tentative to start the season but by the end, she was really getting in there!

Since the weather was so nice, one day we met some friends at the Midway Trailer park for food and fun. These girls had a blast playing together (while the boys played football). As you can see, Texas is a good place to be in the winter months so come and visit!!