The Aggen Family: June 2015

June 30, 2015

2

My baby girl is 2 today and I cannot believe it! This year went by much quicker than the first year, and I solely attribute that to all of us finally getting a full nights sleep every night :) I've been trying to think of just one word to describe Addie at this age and honestly I'm stumped. She has such a big personality already and I have yet to find one word that captures all of her - how the first thing she often says to me when she wakes up in the morning is "cookies?!" or how she already is so opinionated and wants to pick out her own cereal and clothes in the mornings, or how she grabs our finger and determinedly leads us to wherever she is wanting to go, or how excited she'll get to go outside and play that she'll "hop" up and down although her feet barely (if at all) leave the floor, or the way she snuggles into my side when we're reading a book and will ask to get all tucked into her blanket, or how much she loves music and singing and will twirl endlessly whenever she hears it, or the concentrated and serious scrunchy look she gets on her face when she is trying something new, or the way her eyes twinkle when she knows she doing something mischievous (like drinking bathwater) but wants you to catch her so she can laugh and just do it all over again, or the tender way she treats her stuffed animals making sure they are lovingly fed, burped, and wrapped in a blanket before pushing them in a toy stroller in her princess high-heeled play shoes. And maybe the only word to describe all that is just 'Addie' because if you know her you know that she is all of those things and so much more.
So my Rice Krispie loving, always running, slobbery kiss giving, old-man laughing, super goofy, totally girly-girl, Mommy and Daddy love you SO much and hope that you have a wonderful birthday and a wonderful year.

Photographs by: Siri Cooper Powell Photography

June 27, 2015

Blanton Musuem of Art

The Blanton Museum of Art has a free admission day so we decided to go check it out. We ended up arriving a few minutes before it opened so took a couple pictures in front of the star at the Bullock Texas State History Museum across the street. Does that make us true Texans yet?!
Our experience at the Blanton wasn't the greatest, but that was solely because we took a little girl who loves to touch everything to a place where nothing can be touched. She did however love looking at two pieces in particular, one that was a porcelain-type sculpture of a cowboy roping a steer that had a bunch of animals on it, and another of a painting with animals (animals are big in our house these days). And in between chasing and trying to keep up with her, Alex and I both enjoyed looking at the art in different moments too. Afterwards we went outside and ate a snack on the patio and we were joined by a very friendly squirrel that came right up to our table. Before we could stop her Addie decided to share one of her fruit snacks with our new friend, and so if there's a report in the newspaper about local squirrels acquiring diabetes it's probably because of us. I also don't know how to measure the happiness of squirrels, but this squirrel seemed to be pretty happy after Addie shared her treat because after it was done eating it came back to our table looking for more. Instead, Addie decided to chase it up a tree.

Main lobby at the Blanton

Pointing out the animals to Dad

Our squirrel friend

Begging for more food- it was so cute!

Squirrel at the Blanton from The Aggen Family on Vimeo.

Lake Pflugerville

Originally we thought we were going to try to get down to Galveston so we could have a true beach experience on the gulf, but upon further research realized it was going to be pretty tricky to manage with a toddler who needs naps and doesn't like to be in the car for too long. So, the next best thing was Lake Pflugerville which is just a short drive away from us and still gave us a fun beach day. It's a man-made lake with a slightly pebbly beach and water that was the perfect temperature. Addie is a total beach babe - she loved sitting in the water and having the little waves bob her back and forth. She also had fun with Alex digging in the sand, and Alex even dug a pit that was big enough for her to have her own little pool that she had a blast jumping in. This was definitely a hit for all of us, and I'm sure we'll be back again this summer.

Making sandcastles together

Her little pool that was full of muddy water :)

Chasing the duck

Mayfield Park and Laguna Gloria

One of our morning outings was to Mayfield Park and Laguna Gloria. Mayfield Park is this old house with a beautiful garden and a dozen peacocks wandering around. Addie was once again enthralled by all the peacocks, but these ones were a lot more aggressive than the ones by our house as these get fed frequently by visitors and will come right up to you looking for food. The flowers on the grounds were beautiful, and we even saw a turtle in one of the lily pad ponds. Down the street from Mayfield Park is Laguna Gloria, which is a contemporary art museum with outdoor sculptures. We enjoyed walking around and taking in the art, the beautiful building, and the lakeside scenery along the walking trail. We even ran into another turtle, this one a baby, and Addie shared a green Fruit Loop with it because obviously that's a turtle's favorite food.

A peacock at Mayfield Park

A turtle!

More peacocks!

Imitating the art at Laguna Gloria

Laguna Gloria

The baby turtle we found in the middle of the trail and Addie shared a green Fruit Loop with

My favorite piece

June 26, 2015

UT Campus and Harry Ransom Center

One morning we drove downtown and walked around UT campus. It had some really cool architecture and we saw the UT tower too. We then went into the Harry Ransom Center on campus as they had an Alice in Wonderland exhibit. It was totally kid-friendly, and even had a space where you could have your own Mad Hatter Tea Party which Addie loved!

Lego Replica of the Stadium we saw in the Student Center

UT Tower in the background

By a water fountain

Snuggling Daddy

Tea Party Time!

It got a little out of hand- what's in this stuff?!

Cool pop-up book we saw

June 16, 2015

San Antonio Day Trip

Our first Saturday in Texas we drove an hour and a half to San Antonio and spent the entire day there. And boy, did we sure fit a lot of things into one day! First we went to the Farmer's Market and walked around, sampled some yummy food, and ended up buying an empanada, a ham and cheese kolache, and strawberry shortcake topped with basil whipped cream-yum! Then we headed over to The Alamo and toured that. It was an interesting place but Addie got bored quickly and so we didn't spend too much time there. We then went over to El Mercado, which is a Mexican market square, and browsed the stores while sipping mango agua fresca. We also ate lunch there at a place called Mi Tierra, and while the kitschy Christmas lights decor was fun to look at, their Mexican food was not that great. We then zipped back over to the river and Addie napped in her stroller while we walked along San Antonio's picturesque river walk. It was gorgeous! And a plus was that Addie woke up just as we were finishing walking the loop. We then drove across town to go and see the Toilet Seat Art Museum. And yes, you read that right. Barney Smith, a retired plumber, started decorating toilet seats as hobby and it just kept growing. He has them all displayed in a garage by his house and you can give him a call to go and see them all and he will give you a personal tour. Barney himself is 95 years old now, and is just the sweetest thing! He talked Alex's ear off and Addie even gave him a high five at the end of the tour. After that we went to this place called Kiddie Park which has a bunch of old-school amusement rides. We bought tickets for Addie to ride 6 rides, and that ended up working out perfectly because as we were finishing off a huge thunderstorm started and they closed down the park. Addie's favorite rides without a doubt were the carousel and a bus that rode around a track. Undeterred by the rain we decided we would still go check out the last place on our list, the Japanese Tea Gardens, and I am so glad we did! Even though it was raining we were able to stand underneath the shelter and take in this breathtaking place. We finished off our day by eating hamburger's at Chunky's Burgers, and then headed back home to Austin. We had so much fun in San Antonio, it was definitely a great day spent together!