When Mommy is away, Daddy will play . . . . with three kids that is! I was so excited to leave Thursday night knowing that Brian would have to take care of all three kiddos the next day and then Madison Saturday and most of Sunday! Don't get me wrong-I didn't hope for disaster for him-I just knew the loads of appreciation that would follow. Sure enough-he survived but was indeed in awe of the amount of patience, time, planning, energy, etc. that goes into an ordinary day with kids. I on the other hand got to experience a weekend of paradise in Spicewood, TX with Jamie, Brittani, Jolynne, and The Eckersley's (they live in a beautiful home on Lake Travis). Our first activity occured at their styrofoam business. I cannot believe everything that can and is made out of styrofoam including a lot of architecture on buildings. Here we are in the back of the shop getting ready to create our own masterpieces.
Here are some of the crafts they make
We got to choose a pattern and then glue our kid's name on and paint them. These are some of the finished products. We used a dolphin for Madison and only did a base coat-I'm going to let Brian get creative with it.
That afternoon we ate at a delicious little restaurant called "Tealicious" and later headed to The Oasis for dinner. I hadn't been since the rebuilding and it is huge. One worker told us that it could seat 3,000 people. It was so beautiful eating right on Lake Travis and watching the sun set. Here is a portion of the restaurant from a lower floor.
Bruce was such a good sport putting up with all of us all weekend-although I think he looks like he is enjoying himself as well!
The food was delicious but nothing compared to the view!
I think I have watched Finding Nemo way too many times with Madison and got really excited about this picture outside the restaurant!
On Saturday we all loaded up on Bruce & Marilyn's beautiful boat and toured the lake.
We were living it up on the boat-they even had a bean bag chair to lay out on-Brittani is living it up in this picture-little does she know that in about 24 hours we would all pay for our fun in the sun!
Swimming in the lake-it was really nice-cold at first but so refreshing in the heat. We mainly just lounged on life jackets and tried not to get too far from the boat-I couldn't believe there was actually a current (or so I think that is what was dragging us around)!
That night we went back and played games-my favorite being red neck golf. Brittani was on my team and did a great job contributing her point at the end of the game!
The object of the game was to throw the golf balls (attached by a swing) at the opposite three tiered pipes and wrap them around one of the levels in order to get points. It was so different but so much fun!
Me and the "Black Beauties!"
We had so much fun and it was so nice to get away from everything for a couple days. Thanks so much Jolynne for planning and also to the Eckersley's for creating paradise for us!
He does such a great job with Madison and we are so excited to see him more the next two years. It is so crazy to think that we will be having another one in just a few months. Today we had our ultrasound and now Brian feels like it is actually real. This was a 3D sonogram that looks kinda cool but the baby kept getting too close to the placenta to get a great picture. 
Brian's favorite Father's Day gift didn't come until today: finding out that we are having a BOY! 
I couldn't believe how clearly you could see his parts! Brian is so excited and already calling him Jackson. We haven't decided on a middle name yet so feel free to throw out some ideas. I can't wait to see how Madison will respond to a little brother-I think she'll be amazing. I'm hoping the hugging and kissing phase will last that long. I was also very excited but thought that it was a girl. Now thinking about it, this really is nice having one of each already! We are thrilled!
