Fun in the Sun

I have a bunch of random pictures, so thought I'd do a post about some things we were up to this summer. Ty and I took a Babymoon to Tampa, FL, while our parents watched the kids. It was AWESOME! I really needed a vacation from my 24/7 job! I ate like a queen, which probably attributed to my 7 pound weight gain (yikes!). Don't worry though, I've hit the gym since then and only gained one pound in the last 2 weeks. I enjoyed laying out at the pool, reading and visiting with some friends in Tampa. Of course, what trip would be complete without seeing the Rays in action? We watched them play New York and Ty enjoyed getting to see Lance Berkman's first at-bat for the Yankees. We even ran into James Shields in the mall and could've met Evan Longoria, who was signing autographs at the cigar bar next door to our restaurant, but I didn't want to inhale all that smoke while preggers. 

We've also enjoyed spending much time in our blow-up swimming pool in the backyard. A friend suggested that we put our slide into the pool (Thanks Sunee!), so Colt has been loving the new ride. Unfortunately, Colt also likes to splash Levi, so Levi doesn't spend much time in the pool. He just walks around it putting toys in and out. 

Colt celebrated his 3rd birthday in July. I still need to post pics from his party, but for now I'll post the mess that was supposed to be his birthday cake. I attempted to make a Thomas the Tank Engine Cake from scratch. I started about a week before the party and made/froze the 3 layers of cake. A few days before the party I made the fondant Thomas face. Then the night before, I put the whole thing together. Thing is, the 3 layers were so tall, the cake started to fall apart. My dad and I tried to balance and support the cake, but as I kept frosting, the situation looked more and more dire. The dowel rods I used were making the situation worse :( Anyway, about 10pm, the front of the cake fell apart from the back, and the cake was completely lost :( I ate a yummy piece, took pictures, then threw it in the trash. The next day we made cupcakes and had the kids frost their own cupcakes at the party with all the leftover frosting! 

The Austin Symphony puts on an event every week in the summer called Austin Art Park. We went a few times to enjoy the music, story time, balloons, face painting and snacks. Here's Colt watching the musician sing silly songs, a picture of me with the kids (just cause I don't have many pics of me with them), and one of Levi eating his first popsicle (love the face!). 

Here's a common view of Levi from my perspective. He loves to be held! :) 

We also frequented some indoor Bounce Houses since the weather got hot. Colt likes to bounce and slide, while Levi is perfectly content just climbing up and down the stairs. 

Colt got a turn hitting a pinata at a birthday party and loved it, especially gathering up the candy. He loves birthday parties and will talk about them in detail for weeks/months afterwards.  

Colt is starting to enjoy pretend play a bit more. Here he put Levi's training potty on a chair and said it was his "treasure." Then he climbed on top, put on a "pirate hat," grabbed a sword we colored earlier in the day, and played pirate. Ahoy, Matey!