They're Back

So we've lived here about 3 years now and I should know better than to go to the grocery store the Sunday before school starts, but against my best judgment I went anyway. I will never make that mistake again. I did go with the expectation that things would be crazy so that helped. And I normally don't like to take kids shopping with me but this time Evelyn helped me score the "Parent with child" parking spot. HEB was swarming with people. I felt like I had to wait in line just to get some milk. Not only did you have to navigate through packed aisles, but you also had to work your way around the workers who were re-stocking the shelves. It wasn't even the end of the day and they were already running out of things. Many of you know all this and stayed away from the stores this weekend...in the future I will too.



More pics to come of the kids soon.

My Wife is Awesome

Dear Friends,

Aren't the pictures that Stacy takes great!?! My children are fed and clothed; our house is pleasure to come home to, and I eat like a king when she cooks. Among the many other incredible things my wife is and does let me just say...my wife is awesome.

Gabe

August

So not a lot going on since our trip. We recently celebrated 4 years of marriage, rearranged the furniture in our living room, and I sprained my wrist shoveling dirt in our flower bed. Gabe spends time in the evenings working on his papers. Maeve is starting to surprise us with sleeping through the night. It's not all night or even every night but I'll take it when it comes. Evelyn is surprising us daily with her 2-3 word sentences. I can't believe she will be 2 in a month. I'm feeling better about life with 2 kids. It's amazing how a good night's sleep changes your outlook on the day.

Getting pics of the girls has not been easy but I've taken a few recently.

Enjoy.

Maeve thinking about smiling

Not much of a smile but the only one I've been able to capture.
She is not smiling a whole lot yet.

Wide awake

Head shot

"This bow is doing nothing for me. I demand it to be removed!"


"I'll tolerate the flower but I'm not smiling."

Evelyn taking a bite out of her chalk in her playhouse.
I do feed her food.

My art project for the girls room.

My Favorite Restaurant

Ok, so I completely forgot to write about what I considered the highlight of our trip. A 4 hour, 23 course meal at my favorite restaurant. If humans have the ability and creativity to prepare meals that look and taste as fantastic as these, then I can't wait to have dinner in heaven.

Yes, I realize it may be a little weird to take pictures of your food and then blog about it but I don't care. Don't worry I didn't post a picture of them all, just some of our favorites.

This dish was called RHUBARB with goat milk and onion, on a pillow filled with lavender infused air which slowly leaked out

WATERMELLON with lime and nasturgium. You inhaled it all in one sweet bite.

We called this "Carney Food." On the left is a mustard sorbe with passionfruit and allspice. Doesn't taste weird at all. In the middle was a smoldering cinnamon stick with a fried sweet potato on the end. On the left was bacon cooked in butterscotch, apple and thyme.

SOFT SHELL CRAB with carrot, five spice, and duck

PIGEONNEAU a la Saint Clair (a famous french dish made from the original early 1900 recipe) mazing, and not surprising since Chef Achatz worked at the French Laundry.

Home Again

We are back from Chicago. We got smart on the way back and instead of driving the entire 15 hours in one day we broke up our drive and spent the night in St. Louis visiting some very good friends. The visit was all too short but refreshing.

Our last day in Chicago was spent doing some tourist things. We took an architectural boat tour along the river that runs through the city. We learned a lot about the city's buildings and history. Highly recommend it. A tour with no walking is always nice. Then we went to Millennium Park and walked around some.

The break was nice but we are glad to be home and together again as a family.

Some building from the tour. I've already forgotten but I like the reflection the of other buildings from across the river in this building.

The "Bean" in Millennium park

A flower garden in the park

View of downtown buildings from across the street at the park

Chicago

While in Chicago I thought I would get caught up on some reading and hit the hotel gym everyday. Neither of those have happened but I have scored some great deals while shopping and covered many miles walking up and down Michigan Ave. We've eaten at our favorite restaurant and even took a short trip to South Bend, IN to hang out with some close friends. It has been so nice to have a bit of a break from "normal life." Thanks mom, dad and Marcus for helping to take care of Evelyn.

More pics to come later.

Us at Notre Dame

Maeve sleeping

Maeve in her cute hat that a friend made

4 Weeks Old

I'm not sure if there is anything more "American" than spending the 4th of July going to a baseball game and watching fireworks. (Although I'm pretty sure the fireworks thing came from China.)

It could have been a real disaster but we took the kids to a Rangers game in Arlington on the 4th and had a wonderful time. We were 10 rows up from third base so we had a great view and thankfully we had a whole team of family there to help us entertain Evelyn. (Thanks Gigi, Poppy, Uncle Ed, Aunt Debbie, and Uncle Greg.) Evie was a real trooper and made it to the 7th inning. She didn't get to see the fireworks at the end but I don't think she cared. Maeve slept the entire time and didn't seem to mind the heat or the noise.

Having fun at the Game

A picture with Poppy right before her meltdown. She is really wanting the Rangers to win.

The Neal Family

A visit from Poppy and few weeks ago