There's Nothing Like BBQ

You're not a Texan if you don't like barbecue. And you're not a Carvajal unless you like Carvajal barbecue and can eat without thinking twice about what you may look like. It was a beautiful evening, not a mosquito in sight, a cool breeze was blowing, the smell of a charcoal barbecue was still lingering in the air...and these two clowns were sitting across from me.

Happy Valentine's Day

Well, Mark and I didn't officially have a Valentine's date, but we were able to get away for a night in Galveston where Mark was doing a sermon the next day. Thank you soooooooo much to Rick and Brisa and the boys for taking care of our girls. I don't think they missed us at all!!

On the actual holiday, the four of us enjoyed a candlelit dinner, pasta and wine (or milk) followed by some yummy heart cookies. I am so blessed to have three valentines that "I love more than ten thousand snakes"!

P.S. The extra nappy hair is due to swim lessons earlier in the evening. I have no excuse for the extra messy faces :)

The "Things" I Love

My Thing 1 and Thing 2 are ready for swimming lessons.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Last year when our gym was hosting a Daddy Daughter Dance, Mark and I watched as dressed up dads and their dolled up daughters arrived excitedly. At that time, Isabella was 18 months and Victoria was 6 months. Not a good age for dancing :) So this year, Mark was excited to take the oldest of his two beautiful girls. Isabella waiting impatiently all day! She couldn't wait to look and feel like a princess with her twirly dress, black shiny shoes, tights, and even a pearl bracelet. And Mark looked super handsome in his suit and tie. (He had to watch a YouTube video to remember how to tie a tie....shhh, don't tell him I told you.) Anyway, they arrived at the gym to find out that the dance was the NEXT day! My bad. Poor Isabella was in tears, so her daddy treated her to a night out at our local ice-cream shop. Not such a bad deal. So the next day, the did it all over again, but this time they had a great time dancing the night away.

Gorgeous!

Showing her latina moves.

I have no idea who or what this is with our daughter.

Snow Day

It's been 7 years since the last time it snowed here in Austin. I remember I was a junior in college and I had just come back from the holidays and was waiting for the Spring semester to start. Classes were postponed and everyone was ecstatic that we were all able to sleep in for a few more days.

Boy, how things have changed in 7 years! I now have a family and even if I wanted to sleep in on a snow day, no can do. The girls were up and at 'em just like any other day, except today it took much longer to get dressed.

"Come on! Let's go play outside!"

"Wait for me!!! I'm almost ready!"

Plotting who her first victim will be.

Taking it all in...cautiously.

First face-plant of the day. Ouch!

This is how Texans slide down snowy hills. Wheee!

When your thumbs are useless in mittens, use what you have.

The best part of the morning...snow drinks. Mix a little snow, sugar, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Yummy!

Lions and Tigers and Peacocks...Oh My!

Nana came to visit last weekend and one of our adventures was the zoo. None of us had ever been to the zoo, so expectations weren't high, but I had a blast! It was the perfect size, a beautiful day, and practically empty! We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. The girls got their first looks at lions, tigers, peacocks, tortoises, monkeys and a gigantic pig! We ate our lunches and even had time for a train ride. We all had a great time. Thank you Nana for spending the week with us.