New foster puppies.... again

We have new foster puppies... I think these might be the cutest we've had so far.

(sorry for the glamor shot... but I was all alone when I took these)

A visit to Austin!

Sorry for the long delay in posts... it seems like I start every blog with an apology. We went from great bloggers to terrible bloggers. I don't think people even come check this blog anymore! We have a few things to post... and I'll make sure to put them out this week!

One of the reasons we've been so bad about the blog is the constant race we're in. If we're not on our way somewhere then we're doing home projects. Madelyn has been busy getting ready for her finals... which are done! Madelyn is down to one class a week and is SO close to finally being done with her program... hopefully things will settle down and get back to normal.

We've also been busy getting ready for Madelyn's sister and nieces to visit. First we were busy getting things ready for their arrival, then we were busy showing our awesome city off in only a few days!

The girls were moderately excited to see Madelyn and me, but the real attraction was our dogs. Rocky and Sugar have never gotten so many pets, kisses, hugs, and playing then when the girls were here. One afternoon I stayed home with the dogs while the girls went swimming and the dogs literally collapsed from exhaustion. They are not used to having kids in the house... and that goes for Madelyn and me too! While the girls were here we came to he realization that kids would completely flip our lives around... and it put things into perspective!

Besides the dogs, the main attraction was swimming. The girls swam everyday they were here. When they showed up Lily was a wall hanger and shallow end kid... but by the end of the trip she was swimming everywhere! The water wings came off and that girl just started swimming everywhere - jumping off the side, voluntarily putting her face under. She can even egg-beater! (Future water-polo player!?) We couldn't get her out of the water! I was happy that Lily now has the story of learning to swim in Austin TX at Barton Springs.... I mean, how "Austin" is that?

Enough words... lets get down to some pictures!

Sugar was allowed on the girls bed...and she took full advantage of it!

Within an hour of the girls landing in Austin we were at the pool!

The first night we took the girls out for pizza. The food was amazing, but the wait and crowds might have been too much for the girls. After this it was only restaurants with playgrounds! Luckily... Austin has a lot of them!

While waiting for our table we hung out at the toy store where Lily showed off her hula hoop skills.

Sugar is a giant dog!

Everyone hanging out in our new backyard!

The girls even got Rocky up on the bed... he was hesitant because he knew getting on furniture is against the rules (even though the dogs are allowed on the futon)! He's such a good dog....

Lily was happy as long as she was climbing!

Madelyn and Keri at Red Bud Isle dog park.... or "dog island" as I called it for the girls.

After "dog island" we went to Freddie's Place, aka, the "Dog Restaurant". The girls were excited to go to a restaurant where you could take your dogs, but were disappointed that we had to eat outside. They thought the dogs would be sitting in chairs at the table and ordering off the menu.

We've been experiencing record highs in Austin this summer...11 straight days over 100 degrees... which is unheard of here in town. So, to beat the heat we swam every day and hung out in the backyard in the evenings.

Another day, another dog park. The black dog in the picture stole Emma's shoe and had a great time while Emma tried to get it back. It had everyone laughing!

A quick snap of me and Madelyn before heading to another pool! Someone needs some whitestrips!

We found this awesome pool in Round Rock that had a lazy river and water slides... it was a blast!

Emma coming out of the water slide...

This was also Lily's favorite!

Today after the girls left Madelyn reported that Sugar was still lying on their bed with the bear that they gave her as a gift... I'm thinking she's missing the girls.

On the girls' last night I took them to Mayfield Park and Mt Bonnell on a last minute fun adventure. Lily and Emma didn't quite know what to think of the Peacocks...

I even got them to act like they liked each other for one picture! ha ha!

Emma and Lily both had the same reaction I did on my first visit to Mayfield park.... "How did the Peacocks get into the trees"?

Austin's highest point! 700 feet above sea level! I couldn't get the girls to take a serious picture... but they were having a great time!

Their trip ended with a sunset over a view of Austin... perfect!

Do you like what you see here? Then come and visit us!

Dallas Weekend Trip!

This past weekend I (Cody) went up to Dallas to spend some time with my family and my little brother who was in town. Madelyn stayed home to get some studying done and make sure Jackson (my brother) and I got to spend a lot of time together.

Saturday we went to Six Flags. There were no lines! It was crazy, we rode every ride (some twice) in the park in 3 hours. We were out of the park by lunchtime!

Here we are in front of the park.

Jackson was very proud of all the loop rides he road. He wanted pictures to show to his friends at school.

Here we are waiting for the last loop ride of the day. My equilibrium is not what it used to be... I was all sorts of dizzy after getting tossed around, but it was all worth it.

The orange roller coaster in this picture is called The Titan. It was CRAZY! I was seriously weightless for 3-4 seconds. The first drop is nuts. In the background is the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. The biggest indoor stadium in the country!

After Six Flags we went and drove around the new stadium to get a better look. I snapped this picture of Jackson right before we were kicked off the property by the guy in the orange vest.

Since we were done with Six Flags so quickly me and my grandpa went and played some golf. I played TERRIBLE, but a bad day of golf is still a great day!

Jackson loved hanging out with his cousins. Here they all are watching a movie.