2 years old = 2 trips to the ER

Well, never a dull moment with a kid around.

About a month ago, Kyle was out of town the whole week. On that Wednesday nite Zoe's lying on the ground, w/o a diaper on. We've already very successfully and happily gone potty (yes! potty training has started!), brushed our teeth, and said good nite to Lola and Sophie. I'm already in my pjs cause it's sort of been a long day and I'm sore from lifting 600 pounds of bathroom tiles. I'm envisioning hot cocoa and some crap on TV, or the other book I just started (I can't seem to get anywhere on this historical fiction Civil War book). We're laughing and having fun. I pick Zoe up by her wrists and 'fly' her over to the dresser so we can put on a night-time diaper. She lands, looks at me confusedly, and starts crying. "Elbow! Icy!"
Again. I hate those unstable joints. Ugh.
Put diaper on Zoe. Put real clothes on both of us. Convince Zoe not to move her left arm during all of this. Call pedi nurse hotline. They call back one minute later and say to go ahead and take her to Dell Children's Hospital, thankfully only 5 minutes away. Ugh.
She was awesome in the car and the waiting room. Not crying at all, just watching everything and not moving her left arm. It was busy there - barely an open seat. She only started crying again when they wanted to weigh her and take her temp. Dr came in, did her rotating elbow magic, and said this will likely keep happening til she's about 5. Ugh.
Zoe said she didn't want to go home, she wanted to stay at the doctor's (the hospital).
We came home around 11pm to dogs that needed to pee, a daughter that wanted noodles (she got yogurt), and a bag full of odiferous diapers and human waste, which I had left in the hallway in my rush to get out. The next day was trash day.

Note that she did not in fact play with Aidan
the previous nite, but the previous week. Ah well.
Understanding time is hard.

Wurstfest 2010

Zoe sampling some of Mom's turkey leg while

Dad the vegetarian looks the other way

Though these weekends lately seem ridiculously packed, we were able to fit in a few visits to Wurstfest the first weekend and a Saturday day visit the second weekend. Unfortunately, this year on the first weekend I managed to completely forget my dirndl at home, on the bed, ready to be packed in the car. I remembered the petticoat, shirt, socks, shoes, but not the actual dress. Argh. Still had a great time, of course. We actually hired a babysitter that Zoe had never met before (a first) to watch her at Omi and Pop's house Saturday night. She certainly wasn't pleased with us, but thankfully was only awake for about an hour before crashing to sleep.

'Hey Dad! I want a try!'

getting every last kernel

On Sunday, like the previous day's activities at Tour de Fat, we were able to meet up with the Walters for a slight overlap pre-nap time, and there was amazingly gorgeous weather. Yeah for fall in Texas! Headed back to Austin during nap-time after a very busy weekend.

happily trying on her new dirndl,
courtesy of Elke and Christian

The second weekend we were able to try on Zoe's new dress courtesy of Christian and Elke's recent trip home to Germany. We also met up with them on the Wurstfest grounds. Again, gorgeous weather, but much more packed - I think everyone was finally realizing that it was the last weekend of Wurstfest.

a really happy Christian and Elke

round two of Zoe vs. The Corn

Meanwhile, this year Wurstfest introduced a local brew to the tap wall: Shiner Oktoberfest. Kyle spoke with one of the Wurstfest Opas, and apparently Shiner and Wurstfest worked closely together to make sure that it was a true to original Oktoberfest. They certainly have done a great job; the beer was awarded a gold medal at a European beer event. And best of all, a pitcher costs the same as the other domestic brews such as that mass-market beers made of rice. We didn't have to spend on the imports this year, and were able to enjoy Shiner, which is a great brew anyways.

Windows and Exterior Painting

yes, it looks like a cedar log cabin right now, but just wait...

Construction continues! Windows arrived, just in time for installation before a small bit of rain. Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC rough-ins, as well as framing, are all complete, primarily awaiting inspections (boy, does Austin have a crazy amount of inspections!). Exterior painting; we chose not to choose, and just matched the existing color. So goes it. Exterior doors should be finished soon, and then we can make that break through to the existing house and insulation and sheetrock can begin!

Ta-da! No more log cabin

In search of the yellow brick road

How many Dorothys do you know with two black dogs?

posing with a mummified teddy bear

For Halloween this year the Rodeo Gang dressed up at the foursome from the Wizard of Oz: Aidan was the Tin Man, Fletcher the Lion, Quinn the Scarecrow, and Zoe was Dorothy.

the Rodeo Gang

We were able to get them together twice to try for some group shots, though now that they are all two with minds and opinions of their own they're not as willing to follow their parents' every wish. It was really a cute group of kiddos. Now to brainstorm for next year!

Hey guys - where did the lion go?

Ah! He got the witch for us!
Maybe he'll defend us against the flying monkey as well...
now the girl never leaves home without
her red shoes and Toto

Thank you for your help!

getting ready that morning

With help from a lot of very generous people, we were able to raise nearly $1000 this year for Austin's Race for the Cure! What an amazing amount of help this will be towards treatment and support for those affected by breast cancer in Central Texas. Zoe was awesome race morning - she was convinced that pink was the color of the day, from top to bottom, including our special Race for the Cure leggings. And though we did lose one of the shoes on the walk (shoes rarely stay on her these days since she's learned how to put them on and take them off herself), it was a very successful outing. We again joined the Luthers, as we have for the previous two years, and continued our tradition of heading over to Waterloo for breakfast afterwards.
Thank you again to everyone for your help and support to this cause!

Zoe and me pre-race

Return of Tour de Fat

Again this year we attended New Belgium's Tour De Fat stop in Austin. Absolutely perfect weather for the event. A slightly different schedule than last year, to accommodate the Bird's mid-afternoon nap, though we were able to meet up with the Walters for a bit of an overlap.