First Family Camping Trip

A few weeks ago we went on our first family camping trip.  Kyle & Knox went camping last spring, but this was the first time that Isla & I came along in the VW camper van.  We went to Inks Lake which is about an hour from Austin.  

It was a group car-camping site so it was full of people and not very nature-y really but it was still fun to take the kids and get to be outdoors a little.  We went canoeing all in one canoe- that was dicey but we all stayed in the canoe! The only difficult part was actually going to sleep at night.  Isla was HYPED to be with the whole family and didn't go to bed until after 11pm and then Knox woke everyone up at 6am the next morning. But that is the joy of family camping! 

getting ready to head out!

setting up camp

hanging out on top of the bus

making s'mores- Knox's favorite part of camping (mine too) 

Healthy breakfast of donuts in the bus

Isla using my toothbrush the next morning

Hopefully this will be the first of many family camping trips in our bus- Gloria!

-Stacie

Dance Recital

A few weeks ago Knox went to two of his little friend's dance recitals.  It was possibly the cutest thing that I have ever seen- both the dancing and Knox giving both little girls flowers at the end. I mean my heart could have broken from the cuteness.  

how cute is he?

Knox giving Blythe her rose

Knox & his girls

the Three Musketeers- these guys have been buddies since the were tiny!

These three have been friends since the beginning and they are both the main reason why I am so sad to leave Austin. It is so special to me to have people that have known Knox since the beginning and it will be very hard to say goodbye to Avery & Blythe in a few weeks.

-Stacie

a curve ball

 When Kyle & I moved to Austin almost 5 years ago we didn't think we would stay, we thought it would be a temporary move. But the Lord blessed us with great friends and a church that we loved. We had two kids, bought a house and thought that Austin was a done deal.  And then God threw us a curve ball.  Back in March Kyle started talking to a company in Boise about a job opportunity and approximately 16 interviews later they offered him a job.  We were shocked and not prepared to even think about moving away from Austin- what we thought was the last stop on our moving train.  But the Lord works in mysterious ways and the Sale family is moving to Boise, ID in about 3 weeks.  I still can't really wrap my head around the fact that it is actually happening.  We are very sad to say goodbye to the wonderful friends that we made here in Austin and the place that our children were born.  But I think that Boise will be a good fit for our family long-term so we are gearing up for our first adventure with kids!

Once the job offer came about a month ago, it has been a whirlwind of selling our house and flying out to Boise to try and find a new house, find movers, ship our cars, etc, etc.

Butler Splash Pad

Today was one of those days that you know you will look back and always remember as a mother.  Isla & I dropped Knox off at Vacation Bible School and then headed downtown with a friend to Butler splash pad.  I was very excited about this trip because I made the exact same trip with Knox two years ago and it was so sweet to be there with Isla and her little girlfriend today and have the same pictures to look back on.  I cannot believe that she is already this old!  Everyone says that, I know, but man is it true!  

Isla has such a very sweet personality that it is so fun to get to spend one-on-one time with her!  She loves to laugh and have fun and give lots of hugs and kisses. However,  to be fair she also loves to throw her toys and scream in the car almost 100% of the time so she is not all rainbows and lollipops, I assure you. 

Here are the pictures of Isla and her buddy Molly today at the splash pad: 

can't you just see the personality spilling out of her?!

she loves being naked!

I was chasing her to get her diaper on...

These pictures are of almost two years ago exactly when I brought Knox to the same splash pad...

I mean the side rolls are too much...

I love the belly hanging over the swimsuit

There is lots more to share about our lives right now but I'll save it for another blog post. For now I just wanted to share today's pictures of Isla at the splash pad. 

Stacie 

Strawberries and a zipline

This is kind of a random post but it's what we've been up to in the last week that is noteworthy!  On Monday I took the kids to a local berry farm to pick strawberries.  Knox had been when he was little but we didn't make it out last year with Isla so this was the first time that he remembers it.  He was really excited to pick strawberries and did good with figuring out which ones were ripe and which ones weren't.  Isla just kind of walked around and looked at the strawberries. The farm also has goats that you can feed and a bounce area so it was a fun day and the weather was beautiful!

the master picker

Now on to the zip line. Last Saturday we went over a friends house for a BBQ.  They live way out in Dripping Springs on a few acres and have chickens, a miniature horse, goats, trampoline, fire pit, etc, etc. It's basically a kids dream yard.  Knox has been there once before and was HYPED to go back!  Little did he know was he was getting into.  The family had recently installed a zip line for their daughter's 5th birthday.  It ran across the yard from a perch up on a tree, maybe 20 feet up, and ended on a platform.  Knox was excited to try and after a little coaching he even jumped out of the tree all by himself. I was shocked and so proud of him! Now every day he tells me how brave he is, it's adorable.

Knox on the hipline

Kyle hoisting him up

We even got Isla in on the action. She was not too keen on it because she was too small for the harness so it looked uncomfortable for her. But she was a trooper and didn't put up too much of a fight. 

It's getting warm here pretty consistently so we've been able to go the in pool a few times. Knox & Isla are loving it and I'm ready for summer when we can swim every day! It's close!

this girl is ready!

-Stacie

Virginia Visit

The main reason for our visit to Virginia was for a surprise 40th Wedding Anniversary party that my brothers & I threw for our parents.  It went amazingly well but that is it's own blog post that I will definitely revisit once I'm done sorting through all the photos!

We flew to Virginia late Friday night and the anniversary party was on Saturday evening. Once the excitement/stress of that was over we had the rest of the week to just relax and spend time with family.  This trip was especially great because we got to spend lots of time with lots of family.  We saw both of my brothers and their wives and my grandparents multiple times over the week and it was really special for me to get to see Knox & Isla interacting with them all.

Here are some picture highlights of the week:

Swinging at Great-Grandma Charlotte's house

Knox getting a much needed haircut! 

Real Fireman boots at the Children's Museum

Knox wrote and painted this all by himself for Uncle Jonathan & Aunt Valerie

Knox likes lots and lots of tattoos

Isla LOVED Moses!

My mom & I took Isla to get new shoes, she had a blast! 

playing at the Children's Museum

Knox painting, I had forgotten about wearing old shirts to paint in but this totally reminded me of my childhood! 

This was my attempt at making Knox at Ninja Turtle costume

 The week was a huge success and Knox & Isla were inundated with attention, gifts and fun activities.  I am so thankful that they will both have such wonderful memories of their visits to Virginia and staying at Mana & Grandpa's house.

-Stacie

Sally's Visit

Well it's happened again, time has gotten away from me. But I am back prepared to make it up to whoever is still out there and reads this blog. Anyone?  Anyway. Last month we had a lot going on.  First thing on the agenda was Kyle's mom came to visit. It was her spring back so she came and spent the week with us. Knox & Isla love having Nana in town and its always an opportunity to do lots of fun Austin-y things!

Riding the Zilker Zephyr- I love Isla's face, ha! 

Sally had her birthday while she was here so we tried to make it a special day for her since it may or may not have been a noteworthy one…We went and did a few of her favorite Austin things, like walking around Town Lake, and then we got a babysitter for the evening so the adults could have a nice birthday dinner. Knox even helped me decorate a cake for Sally, bless our hearts we tried but it was ugly. At least it tasted good! 

I should have gone to baking school...

blowing out the candles... 

walking around Town Lake

The rest of the week we tried to be fairly laid back and just enjoy each other's company but we did manage to get to the Botanical Gardens and to Knox's favorite place 'Kiddie Acres'. 

the best picture I could get

Isla LOVED the carousel

Knox & Isla riding the cars at Kiddie Acres

It was a great visit and we were all sad to see Sally go.  We all left for the airport at the same time- Sally to Spokane and the rest of us to Virginia for a visit.

-Stacie