Nora attended the Zilker Garden Festival with my folks this past weekend… Thanks to the recent rains, there were actual flowers out. They had lots of fun making art projects like a caterpillar from an egg crate and a butterfly mask. This was the first time Nora actually allowed someone to paint on her cheek.
Now that Instagram is available for Android, Amanda has the phone picture taking bug… You can check out her Instagram feed under the user name mandajbloom and see the pic above. Unfortunately, the lens on my phone is scratched and I’m not eligible for an upgrade at work until October. We are also occasionally sending out stuff via twitter @mandajbloom and @ebinaustin. Not necessarily Nora related and probably not useful, but sometimes entertaining.
Sara bought Nora a keyboard (with microphone) that is the frontrunner for favorite birthday gift so far. This could change at any time though. Her tendency to dress in “crazy outfits” is still going strong by the way.
It looks like Nora had lots of fun and adventure with Nana & Papa while we were out in Big Bend. She is fascinated with baby chicks/chickens so I’m glad she got to spend time with them at Melanie’s house. I don’t think she remembers the first time she was at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, so I’m happy she got to visit under happy circumstances this time.
We left town this past week to escape SXSW and drove to Big Bend. Nora spent the week at Nana and Papa’s house while we enjoyed ourselves in the desert. We hiked around, sat in the hot springs, visited Mexico briefly, and spent an afternoon in Terlingua. The last pic is the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Terlingua that we got stuck driving in. It didn’t take too long though since you can see the entire parade in the picture. It was our first test of the truck has an RV and it worked great. It was nice to just pull up to a backcountry spot, pull out our chairs, and watch the sunset until bedtime.
We had a Spring themed birthday party for Nora with my parents, Nana & Papa, and Uncle Chris and Aunt B. I think all the adults had fun and I know Nora had a great time.
Another birthday already here… I can’t believe it has been three years since I first saw your face. It doesn’t seem like too many Saturdays ago that I was cheering you on as you struggled to take your first steps. This Saturday I find myself clapping as you learn to pedal your first bike. The time is flying by and we are so happy to have you in our lives.
Love, Mom & Dad
There’s no story to this pic… just took a couple random pictures this morning and I thought she looked really cute in this one.
We played with Legos this weekend and made some pretty cool glasses for Nora. I’m used to them after 20+ years, but I really hope she doesn’t have to wear them. She has also started walking around the house looking through a blue Nalgene bottle and talking about how everything is blue.
Nora and I went to the kite festival this past weekend and met up with Uncle Chris and Aunt B. The line for the shuttle buses looked to be an hour or two long so I called a cab and Nora got to take her first cab ride. Also her first ride not in a car seat which made me a little nervous but compared to going 70mph down the freeway in a school bus without a seatbelt, maybe a 25mph ride through downtown Austin was the better idea after all. We all had fun checking out the kites and Uncle Chris got to fly his Dad’s kite as well. The wind cooperated but I think it was Nora’s help that got the kite so high up.
