Magic Bus

Hey there! Yes, I am still here. Busy, busy - it's just that time of year. Last week we decided to join in a big ol' Austin tradition and take the boys down to the Trail of Lights. We've never been before, and now that Kiddo is old enough to appreciate something like that (or so we thought) we decided to make the trek down town and see what all the fuss was about.

We chose a nasty, dreary night to be out. The fog was thick and the air heavy. Traffic into the city was awful, but we made it out there and parked near the capitol so we could take the shuttle bus out.

Kiddo and Port LOVED the bus. I'm not sure why - I guess it was a big, car seat free adventure for them. It made me really nervous; the no car seat thing combined with a brake happy bus driver and molasses thick fog - but we made it there safely.

[photos courtesy of Hubby]
"Look Daddy! I'm on a BUS!"

~peek-a-boo!~

We discovered last week that Port enjoys riding in a backpack carrier we have. I assisted on a photo shoot one Saturday morning for Mollie and Hubby took the kids to the annual TORCH Christmas party. As the story goes, he put Port in the carrier and he sat there happily the entire time. So when we decided to go to the trail of lights, we took the carrier with us in the hopes that for once I could walk around and enjoy something with empty arms. Port sat in the carrier on Hubby's back for a little bit, but having Mommy close by was apparently too much and we eventually had to take him out.
~These lights are so cool!!~

Kiddo enjoyed the display for a little while, but about half way through the trail he figured out that there wasn't going to be a place to play and that the whole outing involved walking and looking. And then he was done.

We made it through though and walked over to the Zilker tree at the end. Then back on the bus we went. By then, Port's baby mohawk was totally rockin'. ;)

~gimme that camera!~

Kiddo decided it was story hour and entertained us by making up stories about "the sky".

"Once upon a time, there was... THE SKY!!!!!"
"And suddenly, pennies fell down"
{Us: And then what happened?}
"And the pennies fell down on top of the GIANT!"
{oh no! Then what happened?}
"Den, the Giant smashed up the pennies and smushed them into dollars."
{WOW!}
"And den he took the dollars and he bought a giant POTTY!!!"
*blink* *blink*

[Ok, so I guess I should give some back story here. Earlier that day, Kiddo had used the potty and had slammed the potty seat and the lid down pretty hard. I fussed at him and told him that he needed to do it gently next time and that if he slams it like that he might break it. I told him that if he broke my potty I was going to take all the pennies out of his piggy bank and use them to buy a new potty. So I guess that's where the whole buying the potty came from. The rest was, well, all him.]

We enjoyed the bus ride back and the walk to the car. I thought for sure both kids would crash out on the way home. We drove Hubby back to his office to pick up his car and the boys and I traveled home. Port screamed the whole way and Kiddo talked up a storm. So much for car naps!

Overall it was a nice night, and something I think we will enjoy in the coming years.

Until,
D :)