May

 May is a fun and busy month but here are some highlights...One Fest at ADS.

 My birthday, after a great picnic with family on Sunday, Caleb planned an Austin walking tour and night out with friends.

 Other birthdays, like this friend party at Kiddie Acres.

The pool opened!!

Camping before the floods

 We took the first part of Memorial weekend to go camping at Lake Somerville in Caleb's new truck, see we fit us, the dog, firewood and bikes!

 Campfire.

 Lydia dancing with light.

 Our campsite before the night of rain

 Enjoying the already super full lake.

After the night of rain, fortunately the tents were high so we didn't get wet and we were mostly packed up so we just ate breakfast and headed home, having no idea how crazy things were in Central Texas.

April

 I love spring, therefore I love April!!  I went on one of Gloria's class hikes.  Here we are with Hazel.

 At an egg hunt at Hyde Park.  Lydia was less than impressed with posing with the bunny but she did it!

 Good Friday was a school day (they had a two week spring break) so we took their teachers Easter lilies.  Since they have two teachers each, our carpool buddies got to hold one on the drive as well.

 Passover, family came to celebrate with us.

Gloria's class had a field trip to see the 3 Little Pigs musical and I got to go!

 We visited Nana & Grandpa the same time as Bill & family and got a cute grandkid pic.  And the girls had a blast being the Queens of Spring!

 I also went on one of Lydia's class hikes.

 Easter rainy picnic with some friends.  We had an egg hunt and enjoyed the afternoon.  It was the first time in a long time that we didn't travel on Easter.

Book Club.  Its one of the highlights of my month so I should document it.  Mary & I are eating gourmet ice cream at Lick.
Caleb traveled and worked a bunch this month, so he only got in one photo!

Rockport Beach

 Caleb had a class so we joined him on the beach in Rockport for a weekend in April  This crab is a famous spot to take pictures.

 The girls and I enjoyed a cool calm morning on the beach.

 When it rained we headed to the small but fun aquarium.

 And then met up with Lari Jo & Samantha for an early dinner and walks on the beach.

 Next morning was dummy so we enjoyed the beach for a bit more...

 as well as the awesome hotel swimming pool before heading home.

March

 Catching up on the last few months.  Girls got to do one of their favorite things-petting animals from Tiny Tales.  We went to the Episcopal Seminary fundraiser.

 Weekend in Salado (while Caleb was working) and we dyed Easter eggs.

 Saying good-bye to good friends who were moving back home to Kuwait after he got his phD from UT.  We watched Cinderella movie, the babies didn't go but Maryam, Pam, Gloria, Lydia & I really enjoyed it.

 Lydia's school field trip to the Austin Rodeo!

Caleb took me to see Lyle Lovett & Robert Earl King, along with a fancy buffet out on the town.

Natureful Spring!

 Now that today is going to be 90, I am reflecting on our wonderful spring of 2015.  Our neighborhood water retention pond has been rumored to have an alligator but this year we finally saw it ourselves and several times, both on the grass and in the water (above)

This became the big excitement, our family would ride our bikes around the pond almost every day, and when we had guest like my parents and Kathy for Passover and Global Austin visitors (above, photo credit, our buddy who fishes and first pointed out the gator to us) we would go look for it.  This time we were successful.  

On our first neighborhood friend Wednesday afternoon playgroup, a news crew was also at the park.  People from the neighborhood were concerned about the gator and had called.  Our kids got to be the examples of how close children play next to alligator habitat, I was interviewed and it was very exciting. The news crew never spotted it though.

 One day when we were trying to take family bluebonnet pics in a different park, this little killdeer bird make a bunch of noise and tried to get us away from her nest.  The girls really wanted to find her eggs but we didn't let them because we knew we wouldn't be able to see them in the grass.  A few days later at our park, we came along another killdeer doing the same thing.  We stepped carefully and Lydia spotted her nest of 4 tiny eggs!

 For about two weeks we would go check on it daily.  The mama never was too sure about us but didn't always do her fake hurt flying away.  At the LBJWC Gloria got to pretend to be mama killdeer.

 Then one day we arrived and there were four perfect little babies in the nest!!

 "Get away from my babies"

Like deer, since they are ground birds they hatch ready to walk.  We saw them that afternoon, again that evening, the next day and then the third day the whole family was gone.

 In addition to baby birds and gators, this has been a great spring for bugs.  Flower trees were covered with bees and butterflies (like this one at church) and one day at the pond, all of our bluebonnets were covered with ladybugs. The girls also found a little turtle at the pond, which we have now in our fish tank~new pet!

Back to the gator, the TPWD game warden was tired of getting calls about people who didn't want it there and about kids harassing it, so he decided it needed to be caught and relocated.  The HOA had a meeting but the decision had already been made.  Gloria's head got on the news again from that one.  So currently there are two traps out (which are huge hooks with chicken on them) but no word on if the gator has been caught and taken away.  This was unsuccessfully attempted last year. 

Goliad Camping

Here we go, week two of Spring Break, off to Goliad State Park and camping.  It sprinkled on us the drive there and we quickly set up our tent.

The rain stopped and we enjoyed exploring their short trails, the mission and riding bikes again as a family of four!!

Dinner and s'mores.

The edge of the highway had beautiful bluebonnets and our first large groups to see of the season.  

We woke up to an amazing green world on St. Patrick's day.  Other years, we had really learned about the cultural and history of the holiday but this year we focused on the color green.

We went birding as a family and the girls were able to sit still and observe.  They were excited about the cardinals which is a good reminder to be excited about common yet beautiful things.

Then we hiked around and did a second day of crafts at the mission with the rangers.

Inside, they got to ring the bell (once per hour) and light candles.  After missing the inside of the Alamo, it was great to spend time in here.

The nightly rain forecast was 100% and we were the only people in our tent circle.  They had open shelters so we decided to move and it was a good decision.  It poured all night long!

It is so great to all be biking and we went down to the river for some fishing.  Caleb caught a whooper!

We got Junior Ranger backpacks that had id books as well as journals to record your experiences and leave for others.  We had fun reading what others wrote and were proud of Gloria's writing!

"Gloria, 6. March 17, 2015 (a butterfly creating a beautiful oops) My caught a catfish and we saw a tree with a bee hive"

Back at the campsite we had dinner including green peeps.  We stayed dry from the rain in our nice shelter.  Next morning, we rode around, rang the bell and packed up.  A great camping trip!