Pumpkin Patch 2009

On Saturday we finally found an opportunity to take Claire to a pumpkin patch, so we decided to visit two! We first went to one near our house. Somebody was a little sleepy and not in the mood to take pictures, but we still got a few good ones.

It was about lunchtime, so we decided to head to the Dodging Duck in Boerne. We really like the Duck and go whenever we have plenty of time (food is good but not especially fast). We had fed Claire before we left the house, but she had a little nap on the way and was ready for something else when we arrived. We were surprised by how much she enjoyed the German-style potato salad (and the dried cranberries from our salad). The restaurant is right on the river, so we walked across the street to look at the ducks and turtles. Someone was nice enough to share some bread with Claire, and she had a good time dropping pieces into the water for the ducks.

We found another pumpkin patch in Boerne, and Claire was so excited. They had a lot of little pumpkins that she enjoyed carrying around. It was a great day to get some pictures of our "little pumpkin" enjoying the fall weather.

Click here for pictures from last year's pumpkin patch visit!

Photos for Class

I posted these on my other blog but wanted to share them here, too, due to the subject. I was practicing taking photos of people and took Claire out into the yard to see what we could come up with. My favorite one is the one of her running to her Daddy. I know there are some technical elements that could be better, but I love how it shows their relationship. Glad I got it, even if it's not "perfect"!

Rest of State Fair Weekend

Note - I'm trying out a new way to post photos and know that these aren't exactly right but am too tired to fix it right now. :)

Visiting the State Fair wasn't the only activity we enjoyed during our weekend in Dallas/Fort Worth. On Saturday we went to Corner Bakery for breakfast with the B grandparents. Oh, how I miss Corner Bakery! They were out of cinnamon rolls, which was a little disappointing, but I was still able to have my usual Swiss oatmeal, and Claire ate most of my cinnamon muffin.

We left Fort Worth and headed over to Dallas, stopping for a couple of errands along the way. We met my friend Kristy for lunch at Village Burger Bar and had a great time catching up with her. Afterwards we went over to the mall for a little shopping and Orange Cup, and then headed up to Ikea. Claire made out like a little bandit, scoring a table and chairs, an easel, some play kitchen utensils, a little apron, and a few other things. Pictures from our trip are below.

The Crawfords were able to meet us for dinner at Tin Star (yes, we basically ate our way across the Metroplex). Lindsay and I do a good job of staying in touch through our blogs, Facebook, etc., but it's definitely not the same as being able to see each other in person. As Lindsay said, I think we've been able to see each other as frequently since we moved as we did before.

The fun still wasn't over as we headed over to see Courtney, Jared and Pierce Henry and stay with them for the night. The highlight of the evening was watching (or participating in) the car races. Claire and Pierce just laughed and laughed.

We tried to get a good picture of the two of them together - this is the best one I got:

Most were like this,

or this,

or this.

Eighteen month olds - what can you do? :)

The next morning we all went to Breadwinners for breakfast before we headed back to San Antonio. It was a packed weekend, but it was so nice to see so many of our friends - and visit some of the restaurants we miss the most!

Phone Photo Friday

It's "Phone Photo Friday" at Laura's Mommy Journal! I took these last week at the Ikea in Frisco. Claire has become very interested in helping lately (love it!), and she was very pleased with herself for helping Robert push the cart. She actually was doing a really good job, pushing as hard as she could with those little arms and legs. Maybe she realized that the easel, table and chairs, storage bins, and various other little items were all for her? :)

State Fair - Year Two

Claire made her second trip to the State Fair in Dallas last weekend. (To see pictures from our first trip, click here.) Robert and I love the Fair and are glad we're able to share it with Claire. We left San Antonio Thursday evening and stayed in Fort Worth with Robert's grandparents. On Friday we were able to take the Trinity Railway Express from FW to Dallas and then take the DART rail directly to Fair Park. It took a little longer than driving, but we didn't have to deal with traffic or parking - plus Claire was able to move around a little. We all enjoyed the train - Claire got excited looking out the window and just squealed with delight at everything passing by.


Once we got to the Fair, we made our usual rounds:

Auto Show

Said "Hi" to Big Tex


Fletcher's Corny Dogs

Picture with the lion

(Lion - Then & Now)

Relaxing in the Food & Fiber Pavilion

Petting area

Nap in the stroller

See you next year, Big Tex!

New Blog

You may have noticed a new link in my sidebar. I've realized lately that there are a lot of topics I'd like to blog about, but I want to keep our main blog focused on our family. I was inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Laura C, to create a separate blog for things of interest me - TV, books, photography, crafty projects, and other random thoughts. Cute pictures of Claire will still be found here on our family blog. :)

More from Ma & Bob's visit

I realized that I never finished posting photos from Ma & Bob's visit a couple of weeks ago.

Claire's aunt Carol (Robert's sister) and soon-to-be uncle Jeremy were in Austin for a wedding and were able to spend an afternoon with us while Ma and Bob were here. We cooked fajitas & corn on the grill and had homemade black bean salsa - one of our favorite meals. Claire had so much fun playing with them!



She also enjoyed reading stories with Ma - Claire still loves her books.

Since their visit was close to my birthday, Ma and Bob brought me a terrific red devils food cake, and Claire got her very own cupcake. She wasn't sure about the first bite, but after a taste she gobbled it up.

We ended the day as usual with bathtime where Claire showed off her arranging skills. She loves to line up her bath toys on the edge of the tub before knocking them all down.

Glad you were able to visit - we had a fun time!

Phone Photo Friday

Laura C started doing "Phone Photo Friday" several weeks ago and invited others to play along. This is the most recent photo on my iPhone, taken in the car last weekend. Once again, Claire was cramming peanut butter crackers in as quickly as I would allow. So ladylike. :)

Little Helper

I left the broom out the other day, and when Claire found it, she showed us that she knows exactly how it should be used. Now if she'd just figure out the dustpan...

Gruene

Robert's grandparents are visiting us this weekend, and we had a full day today. We began with breakfast at Texas Farm to Table in the Pearl Brewery complex, a visit to the farmer's market, home for Claire's nap, and then a short trip to Gruene for lunch at the Gristmill (love their beef tenderloin sandwiches and chicken fried steak!) and a little shopping. I finally remembered to bring my camera and got some pictures in Gruene.

Pretty eyes

Love these two shots of Claire being silly with her Daddy!

This is the new face she started making this week - so funny!

Helping with the check - I am a little frightened by how interested she is in wallets and credit cards.

Daddy's cap makes a good arm rest.

One of her favorite spots

Hiding

One of Claire's favorite little games right now is her own version of hide & seek. It usually involves running over to a small space, like between the fireplace & entertainment center or between her crib and the wall and either facing the wall or slowly backing in...


Then she quietly stands very still while we act like we don't know where she is. We'll walk around the room saying "Where's Claire? Have you seen Claire? I don't know where she went!"

This goes on until she can't stand it anymore and either comes out or starts giggling. She usually dissolves into peals of laughter when we "find" her, although this time she was a little surprised by the camera.

I love her little game - I'm going to be sad when this phase ends.

Playing in the rain

After Sea World on Saturday, we were pleasantly surprised by a light rain (we are currently in one of the worst droughts in San Antonio history). Claire was pretty amused by the little drops of water falling on her head.



Then she got interested in the water coming out of the gutters and pranced over for a closer look.

Her daddy helped her examine it.

Hopefully it won't be long before rain doesn't seem completely foreign to her!