snuggle bunny

after our trip to the museum and some lunch, we dropped joe off for one last meeting and then headed back to the hotel for a nap. i was busy getting things ready for naptime when i overheard greta saying, "snuggle bunny" over and over again. i looked under the table and this is what i saw.



now, don't get me wrong. greta of course loves her little brother. but she still mostly ignores him....or gets frustrated with him when he gets her things. so to see her displaying this unprovoked affection was quite nice. even though it bordered a little bit on 'tough love'. but otto didn't seem to mind. he just sat there and let her hug and love on him. look back through those photos....she is definitely being affectionate towards him and he seems to be okay with it. maybe spending all this time together in the car has been good for them. they have been making each other laugh a ton, and "talking" to each other too. the other day they "sang" for a good few minutes, just looking back and forth at each other from their respective carseats.

children's museum

with today's rain, we headed to check out austin's children's museum. it was pretty cool, but i have to admit that cincinnati's children's museum is much cooler. regardless, the kids had a fun time!

shady grove

after playing we headed to shady grove for dinner. our friends jesse and holly introduced us to this place years ago, and we keep coming back. the outdoor dining is so fantastic and the vibe is laidback....we love it and so did the kids!

sliding

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we've enjoyed some great weather so far in austin. well, today it rained but every other day so far has been beautiful. yesterday when joe's meetings were over, we headed to zilker park to play on their playscape. it was huge and tons of fun.

hotel livin'

we left for sxsw on wednesday morning, a little off schedule but not too bad. joe took our van in for an oil change on monday and discovered that the air conditioner wasn't working. not a good idea for a trip to the south. so they ordered the part and fixed it wednesday morning. we headed to memphis on wednesday, where we spent the night. thurday we made it to dallas, where greta discovered (both to her surprise and ours) that she could climb in and out of the pack and play. luckily, she hasn't attempted this again. :) and friday we rolled into the great city of austin, texas!!
i might jinx it by saying this, but the kids have been AMAZING! they have been such troopers about riding in the car and have slept fantastically in the hotel. i think they secretly like "living" out of a hotel. otto likes the mirrored closet doors, while greta thinks it's pretty cool to ride the elevator a few times a day. she likes to remind us to "step back and wait to see if anyone is coming off".

shiner

otto took a little tumble in the learning tower. this big bump under his eye turned into a nice shiner that is still there. what a bruiser....