Zoe pics

 They've been draining parts of the lakes around here to fight back the growth of some parasitic weeds, and a few weeks ago Zoe and I went to Richard Garriott's place to help clean up the shore line.  She wandered down into the muddy edge of the water despite my warnings and got pretty well stuck.  Our friend Domino tried to help her out, and got stuck herself.  Zoe got clear of the quagmire, but it took me some time and a long leaver to pry Domino's shoe out of the mire.  Above we see Zoe (AKA Madam Mud-Butt) getting hosed off by Domino.

Stef suggested we take a walk around town lake, and we had a great time.  If you look closely, Zoe is pointing at a line of turtles on the log.

 We found a bunch of folks playing kayak polo.  Just another reason to love Austin.

 

Zoe found some  swans down by the docks.

Not expert work, but even a stinky old dad like me can sculpt a hair do on occasion.

 And of course the next weekend it snowed!

 Only barely enough to go sledding, but we don't get it often, so we tried.  My laundry basket made a surprisingly good sled, but not as good as the real deal.

 The nature center has a bunch of neat bits and pieces of animals and plants you can check out.  Zoe loves it.

Zoe at the nature center at Zilker park.  They have a small and quirky collection of animals.

 It was warm and the kiddo wanted to play in the stream.

Pics of the family

A couple shots of us from Megan and Joe's wedding. Dad wasn't really as drunk as he looked in the picture, just got unlucky with the timing.

Several months in pictures

My aunt Mary asked for pictures for Christmas, which gave me the nudge to post a bunch of backlogged shots.  A few months ago my cousin Megan got married in upstate New York.  In the Austin airport.

At the wedding. Stef and Zoe, Rhonda, Ryan, Mom and Dad.

Zoe took this one of me.

Ryan looking dapper

Matthew escorted his sister down the isle wearing his dad's boots.

Megan and Joe

Me, Ryan, Matthew and Dad.

It took us about an hour to figure out where we were going on our family trip. The big plan was to see Niagara falls, but there are a few other things in the area to check out.

We hit the aquarium first. Lots of penguins, seals and fishies.

Niagara falls.

Zoe's birthday.

Halloween

Zoe turning a pot

Baking

This year Zoe really got a strong handle on using chopsticks. This was the night I managed to convince her to try calamari, which she ended up loving. This shot was from Mama Fu's, which is a new family favorite because of their extensive gluten free menu and the crazy Japanese game shows they constantly have on their TVs.

In December I was in the bridal party for my buddy Jason's wedding, and played bagpipes for the ceremony. They had the wedding at Castle Falkenstein, which was clearly a very cool place.

My buds- Jason, Bernie and Kevin.

Zoe got a bit bored in the chapel, so we started playing with my phone.

Zoe honestly likes sushi of pretty much every type, even the stuff here at the mall. She had a rainbow roll, and a piece of my unagi.

We took Moe and Bluebell (who we were dog sitting) to the dog park. It got a bit rainy, but we all had a good time.

Christmas!

Zoe got and MP3 player and some speakers. She's really digging them.

Stef has declared the inventor of the snuggie "a genius."