Disowned!

Four months after she visited from Boston, I am just now posting pictures of the great times we had while Wendy was here. Such a loser, I know! Anyway, here they are!

Wendy flew into Austin on Father's Day (June 15th.) Since that was just a week after Zachary's 4th birthday, I decided we had to have a celebration that included her. Here's a picture of the birthday boy--happy about the cool Lightning McQueen cake his dad made for him and even more so because his "Chia" came for a visit.


Ready, Set, Play!





There were just a few mandatory things that Wendy really had to do while she was back in Austin. One of those included a trip to Rudy's for the "Worst BBQ in Texas."




Schlitterbahn Waterpark was another mandatory stop. The kids and I went down with Grandma, Wendy, and her friend, Yi Jeng, to New Braunfels for a day of fun in the sun. We got there right about when the park opened and found the perfect spot to stake our claim on picnic tables--right by a nice new kiddie area that was put in since the last time we visited. I was happy to notice that along with these and other improvements, the park, in general, was looking significantly cleaner, and it was not nearly as crowded as it has been on other past trips. We got to go on lots of rides and didn't have to wait in lines much. Grandma, Wendy, and Yi Jeng were a huge help with Zachary and Ashley, and the kids loved hanging out with them, too. Ashley went on a couple major tube rides (White Water and Cliffhanger) just to say she did. :) She pretty much spent the rest of her time in the kiddie areas. We took Zachary on just about everything, and even though some of the rides were a little scary for him, it was fun that he would brave them all for us. (I got some pictures with some disposable water cameras we bought, but there was no way I was taking my digital camera near the water, so you will just have to imagine the fun we had.)

Time to (Watch Them) Make the Doughnuts!

Zachary loves to see how our favorite foods are made, and since I hadn't gotten any pictures the first time we visited Krispy Kreme, we took Wendy along for our second trip. Wendy suggested we conduct a taste test to see who makes the better Boston Cream doughnut: Krispy Kreme vs. Dunkin Donuts. I'm pretty sure I remember Dunkin Donuts winning that one.







Halfway through the week, we drove to Houston. My mom had agreed to keep Zachary and Ashley's cousins (Scott and Karen's kids) while their parents went to San Francisco for Scott's business trip and a vacation. That had been pre-arranged before Wendy had her vacation time approved, so she had booked a return flight to Boston from Houston. I was either going to go down, too, or get cheated out of half of my time with my sister. Unacceptable! So why not make the trip a bit more fun?

I had always wanted to visit the Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham, TX where they make the "Best Ice Cream in the Country." I sort felt like I needed to do that at least once before I die. We were born and raised in Texas (on Blue Bell ice cream!) and yet we had never been. It was time for us to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. For a small fee, we got some complimentary paper hats and got to see how our favorite ice cream is made.

Blue Bell's Top Five Selling Flavors:
5) Cookies & Cream,
4) Dutch Chocolate
3) The Great Divide (half Dutch Chocolate, half Mexican Vanilla),
2) Buttered Pecan,
1) Homemade Vanilla

None of the above are my favorite flavors...and just so I don't keep you wondering:

Robin's (Current) Top Five Blue Bell Flavors:
5) Peppermint,
4) Banana Split,
3) Chocolate Almond Marshmallow,
2) Banana Pudding,
1) Chocolate Brownie Overload.

The best part of all came after the tour when we got to enjoy some of the "fruits" of their labors. The tour included a generous scoop of delicious Blue Bell ice cream in their nostalgic ice cream shop. Yum!








After a day or so in Houston, it was time for Wendy to go home. We were sad for her to have to leave, but Zachary and Ashley enjoyed hanging out with their cousins for several days before we, too, went home.