Owen's AMAZING 9th birthday = Meet Vader + Gigem Aggies

I feel like this was a big birthday for our firstborn. Partly because 9 is halfway to 18 and oh-my-goodness-he'll-leave-us-for-college (deep breaths) but also because the stuff we did to celebrate just seemed so BIG! 

Silly boy wanted root beer floats as his birthday treat for his class (you know, instead of boring ol' cupcakes).

 

Just a couple of days before his birthday Kyle and I still didn't have any ideas for a gift for him. He said he just wanted more legos and nerf guns but I'm so tired of giving him both...so Kyle and I are sitting on the couch and he says nonchalantly we could get him a hampster. And I laughed. Be real. Oh wow - you're serious!?! A few texts later to a friend (with Kids Owen's age that has a hamster named Pine Cone), some online research, and more deep breaths, and we were in. Kyle was off the next morning so we made plans to go to the pet store (before I lost my nerve). 

Meet (temporary name) SIRI. Our (blurry) short-haired syrian hamster. Oh boy - what have we done?

 

She lived at Nana's house from Wednesday to Saturday so we could reveal him to Owen on his actual birthday (Saturday). Here she is Friday night back at our place.

He was shocked. More pics to come. Such fun. The girls didn't get to meet her until Sunday later afternoon (they were with Bee/JoJo, then Dahdo/Pam) so Owen could have a boy-only sleepover, and then go to the game (more below). Oh, Owen named her VADER. Because her little ball looks like the Death Star. Actually, her full name is VADER TOT. Because she also looks like a little potato (tater tot).

The big part of Owen's birthday that was actually planned (unlike Vader) was tickets to the A&M vs. Tennessee game. We had awesome tickets through a friend of a friend and given their rankings (A&M #8 and TN #9) we knew it was going to a huge game. Plus we found out ESPN GameDay was going to be filming from there that day. So Kate gave me the idea of making a sign and trying to get on TV with O. So, while I made O's sign...she played with the girls.

Pretty good, right?

Fast forward, mini-slumber party with Nathan and Dane. Oliver couldn't come because it is our school's fall break and he and Clay were out of town visiting family in Florida. 

Owen and Rebecca helped me make BB's "famous" chocolate cake. (He said - wait, you have to make it? Yes Owen - its your great-grandmother's "famous" cake recipe.)

Getting ready for game-day!

Didn't get there in time for GameDay (boo) but I was more excited about that than he was anyways so no big deal.

Bussing over.

I don't even mind wearing maroon for this guy anymore. :) In fact, since Vandy is not much fun to cheer for (and I still have residual hatred for Tennessee from being at Vandy) it was AWESOME to wear maroon this day. I'm basically going to start claiming A&M - no one will even notice since they kind of assume its where we met anyways. :)

 

Our fun crew and our awesome photo-bomber.

Our seats were about 20 rows up on the first deck, on the alumni side, on the north end (where the band comes out). Its the corner that gets shade first - whoop! So perfect for a 2:30 game on a beautiful but super sunny day.

To begin to describe how much fun this game was...well, you just need to watch the highlights. It was the best and worst of football. Crazy plays, bad calls, lots of injuries. At the end of the first quarter we were up by two touchdowns and somehow we had to go into TWO overtimes to win with an amazing interception. It was a total emotional roller coaster and SO MUCH STINKING FUN. We were literally loosing our minds. Owen and Nathan hang in there so well for the LONG game, kept up pretty well with what was going on, and CHEERED THEIR HEARTS OUT, waved their little towels. It was PERFECT. #bthotennessee #gigem

Post-game selfie

Class of 2030 (and 2031) with a current Yell Leader.

Even ran into Carlos and Bronwyn (not that you can tell by the photo).

On our buss on the way back to our car.

I don't even know what time we got home - 11? - but these guys were total troopers. Nathan had to be carried upstairs and said the next morning he didn't even remember coming home. Owen walked in but also wandered into the laundry room and said he needed to go to the bathroom - I quickly redirected him to an actual bathroom. 

I had been texting with Kate during the game - she (of course) is an Aggie and was watching the game with some other Aggie friends at home. She was up when we got home so we spent a good time "processing" the game (as if we had all been through something emotionally traumatic)...and watching videos we took and comparing them to the game as aired on TV. We were in full-on crazy-fan mode. Last night after the (AWFUL) presidential debeate (I.can't.even) Kyle and I even watched the last few minutes of the game AGAIN because it was just that good and we needed to redirect our minds from depressing 2016 politics. Gigem Aggies! And Happy Birthday Owen! We love you more than you can ever possibly know. 

ACL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This year, 2016, was the 15th Austin City Limits Festival, so that puts it starting in 2001 when I was away in Nashville for college. When we moved back to Austin in the summer of 2009 we were in full-on young family mode with an almost two-year old and a newborn. The next couple of years included a third baby, building a house, and then several years to catch our breath. I guess our breath is officially caught, because we broke our never-been-to-ACL streak this year. 

Kyle actually started the convo which is crazy. :) He found out one of my fave bands (Mumford & Sons) was playing. He just mentioned it and then I looked into it. It probalby would have stopped there...except Kate Terry lives with us. And when a twenty-something with a 4 year all-weekened attendance record makes you think you could actually pull off a day at the festival and you invite yourself to join her fun group of friends to pull do it...it actually happens! It was actually all really easy. Super-cheap 1-day pass on stub-hub. I rode w/ Kate & Co, we got dropped off. And she gave Kyle the scoop on easy-ish parking (if you're willing to pay a little) so he could join us later after working the night before. 

Here we are about to enter the park. Marissa, Jaclyn, me, Dylan and Kate.

 

It was less overwhelming than I thought - big yes, but totally manageable.

We had near perfect weather. We were there on Sunday of weekend one. Friday and Saturday had been even shadier/cooler but we couldn't complain - low/mid 80s and sunny. I had heard stories from the years it was a rainy/mud fest - I would have totally bailed.

The Skyline.

They knew the schedule of the bands they wanted to see and I was happy to tag along. We started with Wild Child - an Austin band I had never heard of (a theme, until Mumford & Sons) - that I really enjoyed! They were folksy and fun. Quintessential Austin hippie music.

Then we heard the Local Natives - different style but also fun. 

Then two country acts - Kasey Musgraves and Chris Stapleton, aka that guy who sings Tennessee Whiskey, or the new Willey Nelson. One highlight - the crazy hipster cowboys in Musgraves' band with retro western suites bedazzled with LED lights.

A little break - not from the sun, but at least from being on our feet.

 

My best photo-bomb ever.

Our group (with the addition of Chelsea, and some spouses) was pretty good at mosying up close to the stages...something I am certain Kyle and I would not have done had we been there on our own.

Mumford was on from 8-10 and Kyle made it right about 7. He said 30 minutes from the time he left our house, to park, get in the park and find us using find-a-friend - I was honestly not expecting it to be that easy. So...we staked out our place in the grace and waited for the hour between the Chris Stapleton show and Mumford. We definitely weren't the oldest ones there for them. :)

 Even ran into some other friends (my age group!) so that was encouraging. :)

The M&S show was SO good. All day I remembered how much I enjoy live music, especially when its a band I actually know/love. Seriously - such a fun show. Loved how the main guys kept trading instruments (actually several of the bands that day did that - so impressive) and the lead guy also had quite the "Dane Doo" (a la Owen with his sweaty hair). Most fun two hours I've had in a while.

But then there is the next day. Man, I felt my age. All of the sun and pollin (and let's be honest, 2nd hand smoke of a variety of sources I am sure) made me feel like I was having serious hay fever. Ugh. Luckily it didn't last long and Kyle agreed he had fun to and we're already hoping there is a good day next year with some bands we would enjoy...might try to get some friends to tag along, but if not, I'm sure I'll invite ourselves into the KPTerry group again, you know, as chaperones.

Dove Hunting

All year long the kids talk about how they want to go hunting with daddy, and specifically dove hunting (because you get to run around and you don't have to be quiet). Rebecca and Owen had both gone before, Maggie had not and neither had I. So....we ALL loaded up (plus Miss Kate!) and headed to the Honeymoon Ranch outside Marble Falls for an evening of shooting Kyle's (two) birthday handguns and then some dove hunting at dusk. 

Car selfie. Please notice the matching camo. This is what city folk look like when we go to the country. True country people can pick us out a mile away.

Outside selfie.

First target practice with the little rifle (I really should know what it is - a 22?).

Then we moved on to the handguns. One is very gangstery. The other is very wild-westy.

Maggie's pic of me. I was a lot happier than this one looks.

Girl group selfie.

The Mags.

Miss Rebecca.

Owen. (I am guessing I didn't get as many pics of him as the girls because I was busy keeping the girls out of the gun range.)

Miss Kate's turn.

We shot cans, then targets. So much fun! Then it started to get dusky and it was time for the menfolk (with hunting licenses aka only Kyle) to try to get some dove. Ended up being an extra fun weekend because Kyle's cousin Jason and his two boys from Houston were also out at the ranch (his mom, Kyle's Aunt Cynthia lives just down the road). So between Jason, his oldest son, and Kyle, they got about 12? dove. Not a super great evening, but acceptable, I'm told. Jason and his boys were hunting the next day too so they graciously let us take the whole lot. Definitely fun to watch. And the kids had a great time running around and trying to find where the bird landed if they got one.

And then there is the dressing of the little guys. (Or undressing, really.) Those little guys come apart in a surprisingly easy way - it was a little gross but mostly fascinating.

Girls helping out.

Beautiful sunset over the water as our backdrop.

Other than the fact that next time Kate is packing the cooler, we wouldn't have changed a thing about the evening. :)