Visitors from the Great Northwest

On top of Enchanted Rock with the whole clan

Uncle Chip and Aunt Sara came for a nice long visit from the Seattle area and we were so glad to have them! It has been a while since we saw them, which was last at their beautiful wedding this past March. Chip is getting ready to be deployed  for the next 6 or so months with the Navy. He will be leaving in the next few weeks, so we were so thankful to get to see him before he leaves. As usual, it is always a fun time when they are around with lots of good conversations,  laughing, eating and enjoying each others company. As they are both very self sufficient, they were able to take off on day trips to explore Austin and down to San Antonio to check out the River Walk and Alamo, as Quinn and I had to work a few days. And with any Holub get together, there is always lots of hiking, cave exploring and general mayhem involving the dog and whoopee cushions. Thanks Chip for leaving that here, Quinn has put it to a lot of good use. 

Aunt Sara reading to Sam. He loved all the
  attention and spoiling he got from his Auntie and Uncle!

And Uncle Chip reading to Odelia-seems like a fair trade off.
 She does love Curious George!

Uncle Chip read more than a few bedtime stories to the Sam.
So sweet. Thanks Uncle Chippy-whippy

Adults night out and enjoying downtown Austin and some delicious Sushi!

Soaking up some couple time

Here is the new screen door for my birthday. A few
adjustments had to be made, so  here are the men working hard
on a Saturday morning.  Sam seems to be the supervisor.

Such goof balls, but we love them! Taking down some brisket at
 Rudy's BBQ. The best gas station BBQ in the world. 

Playing airplane and actually standing on a large rock,
which isn't seen in the picture. Oh, silly Uncle Chip.

Pretty Sara, taking a little breather from hiking. 

Family picture. Trying to figure out which side of this gigantic rock to scale down.
Thank goodness for our little dog to lead the way. 

I love this picture and Sam LOVED this rock. My little outdoors man. 

"Daddy, help me up." He is always needing to be right where Quinn is.
 Already scaling rocks at Barton Creek with a little help for Daddy-O

Sam got passed around like a football in the hike pack. It was Uncle Chip's turn
and Sam gives an continuous stream of commentary (babbling, singing, bubble noises)
as you are carry him and give little pats on the shoulder for moral support. 

Us in motion and Odelia on high alert, check out her ears.

So Austin. Found this and Sam decided to add his own adjustments. 

Oh my boys....climbing mountains. Big rocks anyways. 

ACL Festival 2012 with the St. Louis folks

 Ashley and Jonathan came in from Saint Louis for the annual Austin City Limits festival. We've been going to this festival for the past 8 years, except for 2007, the year we both got married, and last year, as Sam was only 6 weeks old. It's always so wonderful to see these guys and we all had so much fun and Sam adores them both. ACL is a 3 day festival and we took Sam just on Friday, the quietest day of them all, and he LOVED it. As all kids his age, he was just so intranced in what was going on around him and was happy to run and play in the big grassy park. It was great for Quinn and I because there were 4 adults to one kid, and Ashley and Jonathan were happy to take turns chasing. 

We always get to see lots of great music from bands that have never been heard of, and then also some big names. This year, the head liners were the Black Keys, Neil Young and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. All were great shows, especially the Chili Peppers, who are close to my heart. We were lucky enough to have Debbie and Lance keep Sam one night and then Jennifer and Even the next. Babies and music festivals can only mix together for so long, especially  at 3 day festivals. As for next year Jonathan was a stud and already got early bird tickets. ACL year 2013, ready or not!

Sweet Aunt Ashley chasing the Sam

Overview of the crowds...nuts. 

Enjoying the sunshine and music

"Really, do I have to wear this. Ok then, lets rock!!"

King and Queen

At the Salt Lick, like usual. Sam is very excited to eat his
peach cobbler.  But then, who wouldn't be. 

Checking out the crowds and other bands with Dad.

Family photo op. This picture cracks me up because
Sam looks like a monkey digging for bugs in Quinn's hair. 

Passed out....Finally. Never mind the thousands of people and music playing.

Chilling with Uncle J.

These guys were good buddies. They both had a fun time playing
and goofing around, which is Uncle J's specialty.

Such a sweet picture of these two. Just talking and
 enjoying each other. Makes me smile. 

"Come on Uncle J, let's play legos!"

Morning book reading with Auntie Ash. 

Day at the Pumpkin Patch

"Oh my gosh, it's a big orange ball, I LOVE it!!"

 So when the weather drops in to the 60 degree range in early October, it is very odd to say the least. Usually it is still in the 90's, and we're wearing shorts and flip-flops past Thanksgiving time. So this weekend we took advantage of the Fall like weather and went to Sweet Berry Farms. They have this amazing pumpkin patch and tons of family and kid activities. Sam had so much fun running around, playing in the dirt, picking flowers, running through a corn maze, feeding goats/donkeys/horses/Sam's, playing with his friends, and riding a hay rack ride. And we had lots of fun doing the same things and chasing after him. Grandpa Duane  and Grandma Pauline gave Sam a pair of overalls when he was 3 months old, and they were size 18 months. So it was time to pull them out and get them dirty, which he did very well. We really look forward to Halloween and the month of October. So many good things happen in October, Austin City Limits music festival with Ashley and Jonathon is this coming weekend, and we will celebrate our 5 year anniversary!!! 

Any stationary pictures were very difficult to capture. Since he started
 walking, that's all he wants to do. Quinn and I were reminiscing about
 how we often miss the days of him being more easily contained at times. 

RUNNING! Yup, that's what I was walking about.

I think this is Quinn's airplane move.  At least that's
what his motor making lip noises mean, I think. 

So many cute photo opportunities. Quinn is shouting at  me while he's
 holding up Sam to hurry up, this kid is going to crawl through the hole. 

I couldn't see them running around for a long time. But I could hear them
laughing and cracking up. Quinn was using Sam as a periscope
to find our way out of the corn maze. 

What a great day!

Sam LOVES all motorized things. The bigger the better. Even though this tractor
didn't make noises, he was all over it. He jumped right on and knew just what to do.  Now we just need to go visit Grandpa for some real combine and harvesting action. That would really blow his little mind. 

Feeding time. One for the goat, one for Sam.
I wish I could say it didn't happen. 

Picking flowers. Rows and rows of flowers to pick and walk through.

Seriously, how funny is this. Pumpkin's for eyes. 

Look at the little piggy square bales. 

Hay rack ride time!

Mini Family Reunion-Part 2

Super sweet Fin and Phi, munching on some Gold Fish. 

So here are some additional photos of our mini-family reunion. It was crazy baby filled fun, but we managed to squeeze in some good adult relaxation time in as well. Yes, there was a spa day, pedicures (for the girls of course), Batman movies (for the boys) and adult afternoon lunches without having to stop midway through your conversation to catch a flying sippy cup or piece of food being launched, and then pick up your conversation mid-word. After having a week of everyone together, it was super quiet when everyone went home. It always makes me so sad to see our family leave, but we look forward to another get together, hopefully sooner than later!

Boy cousins...this is how they roll. Biting feet and dog-piling
 each other. It was a lot of fun watching them interact. 

There was this crazy cut out in the wall and all the kids loved peeking through and playing. Griffin was claiming his territory and poor Phoenix isn't to happy about it.

Daddy and Phoenix just chilling and looking sweet. 

Both the kids just loved laying on Mom and Dad. So content to just be.

Silly Aunt Anna and tickle time with the boys. 

Grandpa and Sam, probably looking for some ice cream to eat.

Lovely baby Phi and Aunt Katie.

Dish duty, both the twins and Odelia. All the ordinary house stuff just intrigues the kids.  From pushing the swiffer mop to the utensil tray in the dish washer.

Phi is shhhh'ing someone. Probably one of the boys.
She was the rule keeper and would shake her finger and head  at
 anyone misbehaving and say, "no-no"

Hanging out by the pool, but not to interested in jumping in yet. 

Family time. Poor Californian's, came all the way to Texas
 for some serious 100 degree heat. Sorry guys, next time we'll have to head somewhere cooler.

A true twin Mom! She can hold them both and still
make dinner!! She is truely amazing!

Just chilling, not ready to get in the baby pool, but getting some cool down. 

And the Salt Lick...of course we had to have some BBQ and Pecan pie.

My sweet Pappy, love him!

So the kids probably ate the BBQ the best out of all the food we made that week.
Phi took down some smoked turkey like a true Texan.
We finally had to cut them off for fear of upset bellies. 

Playing pee-a-boo with Aunt Katie across the table.

Bedtime story with Grandpa. Reading Three Billy Goats Gruff.
A story I remember Papa reading to us when we were little. 

Good Morning!! Rise and shine around 6:30am!!
Auntie Verna drinking some coffee and directing story time. 

More views through the wall, just love how excited they were about this place. 

Pool time with Gramps. Just drying out on the big open deck, so nice!