Summer Family Updates

I'll be writing a longer travel post that details the trips we took, but I thought I'd fill in some of the gaps since the last time I posted with some family and friend updates.

Beautiful Downtown Austin

GoPros are AMAZING

As I went through my favorite, non-travel photos so far this summer, the common theme was water. It seems like all of our best moments, all of our local activities, revolve around those two elements.

Sara and the boys swimming in Town Lake

From swimming in our backyard, from flying my drone around Town Lake (Ladybird Lake) in Austin, running around the Lake, swimming in Barton Springs, or just finding a swimming hole to keep cool in, water is our everything.

The boys have become such confident swimmers and it's just awesome to see their independence growing as they play with friends, as they explore the Springs and the Lake, and as they converse with adults on their deep thoughts.

Tater's vocabulary is also growing exponentially and we've started keeping a journal of the crazy things that he's said to us. Here's a sampling:

• Tate was tubing down the San Marcos river with his grand parents last week and later told Sara and I, "I was in my tube and saw two baby deers. And then my tube became detached and some dude pushed me forward."
• Tate had his shirt off and told us, "I don't know how I eat so much and stay so thin."
• Henry was upset about something and Tate told him, "Stay calm, sweetie pie."

Tate made himself into a robot in a leftover Amazon box

It makes me so happy to read through those again!

The boys are also super-into crafting and their "crafting" is responsible for so many paint marks on the kitchen table, tape stuck to the floor, and scissors left on the ground. Tate has also found our expensive breast cancer stamps and has begun sticking them onto envelopes that he never intends to send.

Runners crossing the bridge on Town Lake

I've also been shooting quite a few photographs of the Lake for the amazing Trail Foundation. The Trail Foundation is the FANTASTIC organization that works in partnership with the Austin Parks and Recreation department to maintain and build additional infrastructure around Town Lake. In my mind, Town Lake is the absolute gem of the city providing a huge boost to our quality of life in the form of running, biking, and walking trails, green spaces, water recreation, habitat for our wildlife, and beauty for the city. I can't say enough about this awesome organization, but, please, check out all the amazing projects that they're planning for the near-future. They're a non-profit and they're always in need of volunteers and donations (if you're able).

There are several more images below that I wasn't content leaving out. I'll be back with another update soon. If I'm missing something awesome about Austin that I need to take the kids to do, please let me know in the comments! 

Have a great day and a great rest of your July!

Views of downtown Austin for The Trail Foundation

Mariah and I are in love <3

Indiana Adventures - Part 2 - Sadness and Hope

I'm simultaneously nostalgic and relieved to be back in Austin after that whirlwind trip to the Midwest. In Part 1 of our Indiana Adventures™ to Camp Palawopec, I was super excited to share some of the special moments that happened at a place that was so meaningful to my development. What I omitted in acknowledging, and also what is omitted from the photos below in this post, Part 2, are my feelings of exhaustion, sleeplessness, and sadness.

Before I get started, I apologize for temporarily turning a photo blog into a journal entry. For those that don't see our day-to-day life, I don't feel like it's fair to only post photos that are happy and weird, but don't say much about how I'm feeling behind the camera and how that's affecting my abilities to be a good husband, dad, and friend.

Henry playing in the rain in Carmel, Indiana

I've been in quite a funk lately and I'm troubleshooting how to dance my way out of it. Since the inauguration of our president in January I've had feelings of being overwhelmed and of being helpless. It often feels like the wars that many in the GOP are waging are against the innate Christian values that I was raised with*. Instead of inviting the most-vulnerable to the table to share in our feast, our politicians (and at least 46% of voters) have decided that the most-vulnerable in our communities should be condemned to the fringes of our societies, to jails, and detention facilities. That they should be robbed of medical care, voting rights, family planning, economic assistance, education assistance, school lunch programs, protections against hate crimes, and no longer allowed to dream of citizenship.

These two just own my heart

It's felt like the incremental gains in the rights of people of color, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, and people without economic opportunities are being tossed away like the chaff from the wheat. And all my feelings of helplessness, and sadness, and fear just came to a head two weeks ago (...and I know that as a white, married, cisgender, educated, insured, man of economic privilege I'm the least vulnerable to the current administration's policies).  

Keep on climbing

In a lot of ways, volunteering my photography over the past 7 months has been my way out of my sadness hole. It's allowed me to interact with just FRIGGIN' AWESOME people like the folks at Central Texas Pig Rescue (blog post), Healing with Horses, Caritas of Austin, Austin Justice Coalition, Muslim families in Houston (additional blog post), immigrant families in Austin, LGBTQ families in Austin, The Trail Foundation, The Blanton Museum (blog post coming soon), Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, and Casa Marianella. Opportunities I most-likely wouldn't have sought out without feeling the clouds of oppression that this administration has held over our vulnerable communities.

So, I guess that this is a two-pronged post: 1) I want to acknowledge that I'm profoundly sad on a day-to-day basis for the folks whose livelihoods, rights, opportunities, and families are under attack; and 2) that the best way I've found to bring myself out of my funk is to volunteer and get involved with awesome people and organizations.

I love you all. Thanks for reading! Keep making the world a better place for the people in your communities!

Super focused on his squirt gunning

This was actually a lot riskier than it looks

Taters enjoying the rain, too

Henry doing more sprints with grandma and papa watching

Henry doing his sprints after breakfast

Danny working on his synchronized swimming

Taters guarding lives at the swimming pool

Awesome limestone hill at West Park in Carmel

All photos in this blog post are available as prints. Just fill out the print request form and we will work together to get one created to fit your space and needs!

I'm also available for hire. Just fill out my contact form and we will kick off the process!

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*I was raised Catholic until middle school when I dropped out of the church all together. However, culturally, I still feel very attached to Catholicism (like going to sanctuary, volunteering, helping the most-vulnerable, and giving what you can to those that need it most) though I'm sure many would not find what I practice to be Catholic/Christian. I hope that I embody a good portion of Catholic ideals like selflessness, humility, and helpfulness on a daily basis.