Bridges in Austin: April 2011

Since we've been traveling and had a lot going on lately, we decided to stick close to home for Easter this year. Since we couldn't be with our families, we decided to try out some new traditions for Eli.

Our weekend didn't go exactly as planned, we had to skip a much anticipated Easter Eggstraveganza at a friend's house because Eli developed a cough late last week. I was looking forward to seeing him "find" his first egg, but with the cough (it sounded like a smokers cough) and the unknown of whether/not it was contagious, I decided to keep him home to avoid the glaring eyes and instant scooping up of the children that I knew would come if he started coughing in the midst of (and most likely all over) all the kids. Saturday wasn't a total bummer, though, Eli took his first trip to Rudy's:

He loved the turkey, cole slaw, potatoes, and cheese.

We hung low on Saturday night, decorated Easter eggs for our boy, and got his Easter basket ready. Payton is so creative, and while I thought I would have some great ideas for Bug's first Easter eggs, I drew a blank, but Payton's eggs all turned out awesome, naturally. Mine looked like they had been decorated by a 5th grader, Payton's had swirls, 3d looking designs, and his name spelled out all scripty and stuff, jerk! I may have to claim them as my own if Eli ever looks back on his first Easter and comments on how "rad" his first Easter eggs were (I'm only assuming this word will come back in style in 15 years).

We've now decided that Eli needs his own logo, yes folks, we're going to brand our son, that's what happens when dad is a graphic designer. Thinking this might be the direction we go in (I say "we" because I'm ALWAYS the Art Director, and Payton ALWAYS loves it).

Sunday we woke up and headed to Driftwood Winery with a picnic lunch. Driftwood Winery is about an hour from our house and a beautiful drive. It's a sweet little winery with some great Texas wine and a large deck with a covered area perfect for a picnic lunch, and we're members of their wine club. We set up with some food and our blanket and had a great time. I definitely think this will be a new tradition for us (but I did hear that the Four Seasons had a great brunch and Easter egg hunt on their back lawn, we may have to try that one year when Eli is old enough to run with the big dogs, I mean hunt for Easter eggs).

Bug and I at Driftwood in our Sunday best...

debuting my new "mom" haircut

This kid lights up when he is with his daddy - they are
absolute peas in a pod!

Flower for YOU!

And flower for ME!

After the incident last weekend when we tried to "smell" a flower

and he started crying, I'm really proud that he's willingly holding a flower here!

Beautiful view from the winery.

He was having so much fun, I think he forgot he had a hat on!

He would start slowly, his "I'm just hanging out, chewing on the table" look...

Then he'd go up a level...

And he's mastered the table pull-up...

We didn't have time for the big Easter basket reveal that morning, so we did it that night before bed. Here is Eli trying to figure out what the heck was going on with the toys, the candy he couldn't eat, and all of the green grass:

(I realize he's not looking, but this is the only picture we have of his two Easter baskets -

one for him with toys, the other for us with candy).

The thing Eli loved most from his Easter baskets was the plastic egg container filled

with jelly beans, wa la, an instant maraca.

We had another great weekend in Carmine at Meme and Pawpaw's house. We are huge fans of the Roundtop Antique Festival not just for the antiques, but the time to be outside in the gorgeous Texas weather, time to visit with friends and family, and time to relax. This was Eli's 2nd trip to Round Top. His first was when he was just a couple of months old. It was a low-key weekend, but a very successful weekend when it comes to antique finds (I'll post those later) and relaxing!

Here are some pictures from our weekend...