Campus tour (Austin, TX)

My friend John wanted to take his nephew (high school student) to the University of Texas for a campus tour and invited Jacob and I to come along. We've been on campus a few times when the kids were smaller (they don't remember much) so it was good exposure now that he's only a few years away from college. The timing of our visit was good since class was still in session so the high school boys got a glimpse of life on campus.

But man, the campus has changed so much since the time I attended classes there... 20+ years ago. New buildings. Old buildings newly renovated. Walking around UT made me want to go back to school. Well... hmmm... nevermind... I don't like school, studying, exams, and sleepless nights... but the atmosphere is really nice.

Nutcracker Market

Holiday shopping madness.

Random pictures from the week

On Andrew's final game, we finally got a picture with him.

Halloween 2021

Karasuno High volleyball team (from the manga and anime Haikyu!!)

School pictures 2021

Elliot (K), Tyson (5), Andrew (8), Jacob (10)

Pumpkin patch

Expensive digital cosmetic

Time to cash in...

My genius

Look who just killed his AP exam.

Elliot's birthday weekend

My big girl is now 6 years old. 😭

Tuesday night lights

We officially have our first (and probably only) football player of the family, Andrew. He's on the school's 8th grade football team. Granted, he's only a kicker but a football player nonetheless. 

My main concern was him getting hurt. First of all, he's not a football player. Second, he's pretty small  when compared to the other players. But being that he's a kicker, it's not likely that he'll have any contact... or so I thought... 😧

September rain

(source: KPRC)

For the third September in a row, school was canceled due to heavy rain. In 2019, school was canceled for Tropical Storm Imelda. In 2020, it was for Tropical Storm Beta... which was actually the second cancellation of that year (school was canceled in August for Hurricane Laura). This year, it was for Tropical Storm Hurricane Nicholas. 

And now I have to deal with a leaky roof... 😩

Labor Day weekend

The return of the ghost face.

Dinner (no kids invited)

I've missed going out to eat... like really going out to eat, i.e. "fancy" dinners. We used to dine out frequently (sans kids) but that came to a halt when Elliot came into our lives. Not counting the Mother's Day dinner this year, the last time we ate at a really nice restaurant was a month before Elliot's arrival... six years ago! But when she was old enough to be left at home with her brothers (or other family), the pandemic hit. 

Now that things are essentially back to normal, we're back at it. Saturday night we went out to Eddie V's to celebrate my brother-in-law Dat's birthday.

Elliot's first day of school

First day of kindergarten.

National parks trip II (Colorado)

We spent a week in Colorado to continue our National Parks journey (and to also vacation in my favorite state not named Texas) but this trip was rough. I'm usually okay with long road trips (we've already went on seven road trips to CO) but maybe I overextended myself this time around. In the beginning, it definitely didn't feel like a vacation. It was exhausting. I might have to reconsider these long road trips... or at least not do two 2,000+ mile trips in one year.