Deep in the Heart of Texas

Our friends, Chris and Lindsay, were recently married in Austin. We were so excited to share this special moment with them, and also excited to finally have an excuse to visit Ira’s Aunt Drew in San Antonio. We look kinda gross in some of our pictures, but, hey, Texas is hot!

Austin

Ira and Mommy pose in front of the cutest graffiti in the Live Music Capital of the World.

Takin’ a dip fully clothed at the uber hip Hotel San Jose

I love the minimal look of the hotel. Ira’s post-nap surliness made for a pretty photo.

Ira at Chris and Lindsay’s rehearsal dinner. This was Ira’s first name card. We saved it for his scrapbook.

The next morning we went to Zilker Park. Here Ira and Daddy play on a fire truck in the park.

We do have slides in Nashville but I just thought this picture was really sweet.

We rode two trains while in Texas. Here Mommy and Ira prepare for their ride around the park.

And of course, our main reason for being in Texas, celebrating the Big Day with great friends.

San Antonio

We started our San Antonio trip with a stroll down the River Walk. Ira and Jesse admired the fountains . . .

and Kyle and Aunt Drew humored the tourists.

No trip to San Antonio is complete without a family photo in front of the Alamo.

Next tourist destination, The San Antonio Zoo.

Ira really enjoyed the butterfly garden...

and this butterfly really enjoyed Ira.

Although I am pretty sure this cat would eat Ira if given the chance.

And this crocodile would probably eat him too.

What a great little lion!

Train ride number two. This time we rode a train around the zoo. It amazes me how Ira never tires of trains.

Aunt Drew threw a birthday party for Ira. She made these adorable pink cupcakes.

All of her friends helped him celebrate.

Ira obviously enjoyed the cupcakes very much...

and Aunt Drew was graciously rewarded.

While at the backyard birthday bash, Ira and a couple young Texans played in Kyle and Aunt Drew’s chicken pen.

Ira almost caught one.

We went to the Witte Museum on our last day in Texas. Daddy and Ira flattened a penny...

and Ira was very proud of it.

Aunt Drew taught Ira about water power.

I really wanted this picture of Ira in front of Texas. He would not cooperate.

We played with this really cool water feature...

and banged on this awesome percussion wall.

And lastly, we took our picture in front of a gigantic Tyrannosaurus just for fun.

Summer Hijinks Part 2

So I just sat here and selected a bunch of pictures from the Holley/Summers living room camp out from last month and wrote some really hilarious, sarcastic captions for them. And then Kirsten pointed out that I'd already blogged about that last month. Oh, man, it's been a long, hot summer. So here's some other stuff that we've been doing lately . . .

We made our annual trip to the East Nashville Tomato Arts Festival. This is a crazy van parked at the fest.

That's one sweet tomato.

The best part of Tomato Fest is the red and green hair paint.

Kirsten and Ira live dangerously, taking the plunge on an inflatable water slide.

After the Tomato Festival, we headed to the zoo with some friends. We are wild and crazy.

Avery and Ira ain't scared of no crocagators. They'll sit right on the head of that beast.

Ira and I took a lovely cruise on the Cumberland River with a few folks from the library.

Of course, everyone loved Ira.

Hopefully Phil enjoyed his time with Ira, despite Ira's best efforts.

And, finally, Ira was surprisingly brave volunteering to ride a little car down a ramp at a birthday party. We were very proud.