Austin... not SO weird.

Over Memorial Day weekend Jorge and I (and Lori) were able to get to take a trip up to Austin TX, with our good friends Trey and Mandy Barrow. They both went to UT (University of Texas) so we were able to get a tour of the whole city. It was really fun. We started off with a visit to the state capital. Not only is it the tallest building in Austin (it's actually against the law to build anything taller the capital.) but it's also taller than the Nation's Capital, if you include the basement, which of course, Texans do!

It's virtually impossible to get the whole thing in to a picture. Trey and I both tried. This was the best we could get.
















Lori enjoyed walking around the grounds and exploring in her squeaky shoes!



We went in to the Capital building just to look around

Here's a shot of the underside of the capital dome.
I thought the details were amazing.

The floor underneath the dome,
I like that it says "Republic of Texas"













and no Texas State building would be complete without this gem! TAA DAA!












We toured the University of Texas campus. I was really excited to see Bevo, the UT mascot. I was able to get pretty close, I'm pretty sure he looked at me!! This is Bevo XIV, so it is by no means the original, but I was still really happy to see him.

Can you see him??

Who does this statue look like?



Here's a cute one of Lori and her Aunt Mandy!

Our very good looking tour guides. They were both in the UT marking band.
Here they are with the marching band statue.

We walked ALL around campus and found a 7-ELEVEN!!!! We used to live within walking distance of two 7-elevens and since moving to Houston we've been very, very deprived!




There was an artsy fartsy art piece on the campus of thick rubber tubes. We let Lori walk through them, and I think she liked it, but her taste in art might be a little more less "abstract".


I was able to get this pretty "artsy" picture of her, which ended up being my favorite picture of the weekend!


Last shot of the UT campus I got was of the infamous UT Tower. The site of the 1966 shooting by Charles Whitman.

She was a little tuckered out after our day in Austin! She took a little cat nap in the car on our way to get some drinks and see a view of Lake Travis.









We technically stole this picture. They were charging 15 bucks to get your picture taken ON the back of the Longhorn, so we waited until the guy was distracted and snapped the shot. We had to move quickly, AND cautiously cause I did NOT want to startle that beast in ANY way! His horns were freaky large!!

Happy to not be walking! We did LOTS of walking!


Checkin' out the view!

Some of Lake Travis. It had just started raining, so the pictures aren't THAT great, but you get the idea!

The next place we went was called the Hula Hut. The Hula Hut is a very yummy mexican restaurant with some hawaian undertones. We arrived there at 5:45 but because it was a Saturday night, we didn't actually get seated until close to 7:30 and didn't get our food until around 8:00! Despite the LONG day and all the rain, Lori was still her happy, happy self!

Where's Lori?


THERE SHE IS!

The last stop on our Austin tour was The Saltlick. And OH MY GOSH, if you are ever in Austin, this is a must!! Jorge and I had seen an episode of Man vs. Food where the host goes to Austin and eats at The Saltlick, and just watching it made our mouths water. We were telling Trey and Mandy about it and they said that they used to go there all the time! So we put it on the list! It lived up to the hype FOR SURE! We plan to go back someday!



Our last picture is kinda blury but we had to post it!

*note Lori's new shirt... she looks cute in UT orange!

Father's Day...

So this is slightly late BUT really, is it ever too late to say how much you love the Dads in your life? I don't think so.

First of all, My dad, David Barnes. The dad of two girls, he really took interest in things that my sister and I liked and that couldn't have been easy. He always made me feel special and important. When I was 8 or so I started to take interest in things that he liked, tools and music to be specific. He taught me everything I know about tools, he taught me how to identify each of the Beatles by there voices and WHY they sounded the way they did. (Something that I'm sure will come in handy some day.) He introduced me to Archie and the Fantastic Four, two of the best comics of all time. Now he's a grandfather or "Papa" as Lori calls him. And he is the only other person, beside Jorge and I, who's name she says. He walks up and she says "Papa". He's obviously still very special to us.

We love you Dad! Thanks for everything!






The next of course is Jorge. Everyday he impresses me more and more. He has taken to being a dad more than I could even have imagined. I am blessed to have them both. When she hears the garage door open she gets so excited and starts saying "Dada! Dada!" If she's playing in the living room and she hears the "click" of the key in the front door she stops what she's doing and runs to the hallway (sometimes falling over in the process, which is pretty funny) saying "Dada. Dada."

He is her hero! And she is his pride and "Joy"

This is my new favorite picture, taken by a friend at a church event. It's Jorge and Lori with our friend Ben and his son Ryan. To me it captures pure joy between everyone in the picture. Fathers and their kids, a relationship that is probably one of the most important ever, one that is SO important to me because of who my father was and is and who my husband is to our daughter.

THE Party!

So here is the post I have promised many people about Lori's big party. I've been dreading it because I CAN'T STAND the dragging of pictures that is required for such a big post! But, nevertheless, here it is...

So we held Lori's party on May 2nd so that my family could help me get everything ready. It was going to be a fiesta (since it was close to Cinco de Mayo, and since Lori's our little Mexican jumping bean) We went ALL OUT! Ok, lets be honest here, it was me, I went all out. In my own defense, I don't usually decorate when we throw parties but this time was special!! We did A LOT of work on our backyard in preporation and I really think it paid
off!

Jorge and my dad doing some of the aforementioned prep work...

Here's a shot of the backyard "all done up"

and a family shot, with a little more of the decorations in the background.

Lori and her "papapapapa" (said in a whisper only)

We had a WONDERFUL spread of food! (is it still called a spread when it's Mexian food?) Jorge grilled up the Carne Asada for us, which took a lot longer than expected. I made my "famous" Mexican rice and guacamole, and Lori's "Uncle" Trey was nice enough to bring his equally, if not more, famous homemade salsa! It was fabulous! The food was SO good, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

Our friend Tim Petru and "Uncle" Trey Barrow keeping Jorge company at the grill.

Another shot of the backyard... note the bubble machine... I was very proud of that. And the blow up cactus... a must for EVERY fiesta.













T Doug and Corin playing cornhole... (hold all jokes until you've played it... it's fun!!)



This is one of my favorites from the day! Lori coming over to say Hola to her daddy who's grillin' up the food for her party!

BUBBLES!


BLOW UP CACTUS!

Chasing her buddy Ryan on his bike...

"I got it Mamma!"

Then it was time for cake! Our friend Shannon Gleditch made Lori's cake for us. It looked, and tasted AMAZING!!! She made it in the shape of two maracas to go with out fiesta theme. It was perfect!!

And of course we had to sing Happy Birthday... which Lori seemed to like.





Lori didn't really know what to do at first, but eventually she caught on.




















Happy girl on her birthday!!














Time for gifts...



Thanks for everything everyone! We had such a special day!!