Thursday, November 19, 2009

Balloon Animals


A blue tiger? Yup that's what he asked the girl making balloon animals recently at a restaurant we went to. So she did. Afterward he explained it's the school mascot. So there.

Ty was a bit bummed though that the animal had a short lifespan of a few days before it lost most of the air and looked all deformed. Luckily we have this picture to preserve both of them at their finest.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

I Lost My Toof


Another milestone in the life of Ty. He lost his first tooth on the top (3 already gone on the bottom). It was super loose all week and then we got a little assistance on the removal. Ty had a dentist appointment Thursday morning and they agreed with Dad that the tooth needed to go. A little bit of numbing of the gum and Ty didn't feel a thing. It was so cute too because they polished the tooth and stuck it in a tiny treasure chest all ready for the tooth fairy to pick up.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Fall Awards Ceremony at School

Ty's school recently held an assembly to honor the Kindergarten kids for their first nine weeks of progress. Personally I don't remember this type of thing when I was little, but hey we give kids ribbons and trophies these days for just showing up.

Ty was so excited to get his little dog tag with 2 additional recognitions attached. The lighting was pretty bad in the room and Dad did his best to get some good shots. Here he is coming down off the stage holding his prize.

Congratulations little guy from all your family. Keep up the good work.

Thursday, November 05, 2009

The Spurs and KD



Ty and I recently went to an NBA exhibition game held right here in Austin. It featured the San Antonio Spurs against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Being down the road from San Antonio, it should have been a home game for the Spurs, but the Thunder were the "home" team because of their star, Kevin Durant. Durant was a former Texas Longhorn basketball star whose jersey is retired in the rafters.

Ty and I rooted for the Spurs (who won) and it was awesome to see all the stars like Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili so close. We happened to be sitting just a few rows off the floor and behind the Thunder bench. Here's a close up of Durant from warm-ups and also a shot of Ty with some bangers I brought along from a previous Spurs game.

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Trick or Treat



Halloween in Austin this year provided perfect weather and a full moon for the kids to cruise the neighborhood. Now that Ty is attending the local school, he has more friends who live nearby.

This year he dressed up as a Jedi knight (Anakin Skywalker, but without the mask). The real reason he chose this was for the light saber, rather than his knowledge or fanaticism over the Star Wars characters.

We hooked up with a large group of kids and the parents strolled along as they went from door to door. The second picture shows Ty with one of his classmates. Our readers can supply their own funny caption in the comment section if they would like.

Monday, October 26, 2009

UT Football Backstage Tour - Part Three


Standing midfield at the stadium. It is pretty awesome to think you are out there and over 100,000 eyes stare down at your every move. This really was a special day for us.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

UT Football Backstage Tour - Part Two


Ty in the players lounge with the customized burnt orange pool table. Anyone who watched the College Game Day broadcast on ESPN before the OU game might have seen an interview with Colt McCoy playing at this very table. (watch the video here)

The players lounge is huge and includes large leather seats for watching TV or playing XBox games. Another unique feature is a wall of NFL helmets that have plaques below each one listing former UT players that played for that team.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

UT Football Backstage Tour - Part One


Just yesterday, the college football world was focused on Dallas, Texas for the annual Red River Rivalry. The burnt orange nation migrated North on IH35 out of Austin for the game. (Texas eeked that out luckily) This led to a magical opportunity for Ty and myself.

A family friend (thanks David!) happens to work on a project at the UT Football Stadium and gave us exclusive access behind the scenes while no one else was there. We got to go in the players lounge, see some suites, walk out onto the field and some other amazing places.

Here Ty stands at the top of the ramp that leads out onto the field. This is where the players line up on game day and run through the smoke tunnel onto the field. Pretty awesome.

More pictures on the next post.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Working on the backswing


Our well rounded athlete Ty is also spending some of his free time learning the finer points of the game of golf. A game that his Dad, G-Pop and Papa all enjoy. Our hope is that soon he can ride around in the cart and hit a few balls with us.

I started pretty young too and won a father/son tournament once. After that I retired from competitive play at the top of my game. (I was about 12 perhaps at the time).

Friday, October 09, 2009

A Sweaty Profile


It still feels like summer when the kids have mid afternoon games here in Texas during September and October. Our little soccer player was working hard on this day.