A Beautiful Place

Lucas loves the peacocks, and I love the tranquil gardens and photographing my frolicking, smiley boy!

Morning Hike

Smithville

A little family vacation out in the boonies. It's nice to get away from the city for a weekend...
While sitting on our little patio one afternoon, we noticed that for 30 min straight we didn't hear a single man-made noise. No motors, airplanes, yelling, doors slamming, etc. Just the wind rustling through the trees and the birds singing. SO relaxing.

You know the town is tiny when the water tower looks like this!

Lucas sees a big tanker truck:




I found a rock. It's pretty.I think I'll keep it. I can put it in my pocket!

Lucas' First Hike (without a carrier)

Lucas has been such the little walker lately and also has been enjoying exploring the natural world (walking through last fall's leaf piles that I finally raked last week :) , collecting rocks, and pointing at bugs) so what better time to take him on his first hiking trail! I picked the shortest trail in Austin so that if he got tired I could carry him. However, he walked the whole thing (half a mile) by himself and had a great time poking around and enjoying nature.
These are camera-phone photos so excuse the pixelation.

San Francisco

Laith, Lucas and I flew to San Francisco over Memorial Day weekend to attend the wedding of one of my college friends. It was great to catch up with Peter and Andrea and we were also soooo excited about staying in a hotel right next to Golden Gate park. We were able to walk everywhere for meals and go hiking right out the door. It was cool enough out (50s-60s) that we weren't sweating out of every pore like we do in Austin and Lucas was very comfortable in his carrier. It was almost like we had our old pre-baby life back because Lucas was totally content to be carried everywhere and we could really check out the city without hearing a peep.

Lucas has been spending too much time in the Haight Ashbury area and flashes us the peace sign. :)
Hiking at Buena Vista Park. At the top there's a view of the city and the Golden Gate Bridge.

It really wasn't hot enough for a tank top but walking these San Francisco hills was a workout for this flat-lander!
Lucas LOVES display cases- especially if there's food inside.
Peter and Lucas at Golden Gate Park

Peter and Andrea's wedding was beautiful and I had the honor of being their photographer! I posted my favorites below.

Visit to Knoxville

The last weekend of March I flew down to surprise my best friend Karen with an unexpected visit. Her husband, Matt and I planned it all out and arranged to have Karen's parents pick me up from the airport.

Here we are on the tarmac, delayed for an hour. Luckily, we have an empty seat next to us and Lucas is familiar with the plane since this is his 3rd round-trip flight!
When we arrived in Knoxville, Karen's parents (Bill and Pat) picked me up. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of them but they enjoyed meeting Lucas! They dropped me off around the side of Hortons' house and I snuck around to the front door and hid from the peep hole while I rang the bell. Karen was really happy and surprised to see me standing there. It was so great to see her again and have these next 2 days to spend time together!
Here Lucas is experiencing his first live recording on a local radio station! This was a great folk/bluegrass band and we all loved hearing them play.
We also went to a nature center that had extensive trails and a beautiful lake. The weather was perfect for hiking and enjoying the springtime. Lucas slept the entire time while Karen and I walked and chatted.

My sister-in-law Laila, brother-in-law Doug, and niece Gabby all live in Knoxville as well so one morning we met at Panera to catch up. Gabby was so cute and well-behaved the whole time. We must have sat there for almost 2 hours and she was happy just playing with my cell phone and Lucas' car seat. :)


Here's Lucas playing with a new stuffed toy from Karen and Matt. A Horton Elephant! He loves the nose-- perfect for teething on!
We had a great visit and hope to come back again soon!
We miss you Karen, Matt and the Yoders!