McGuire Dean 2015

We took our 4th annual McGuire/Dean Summer Family Vacation this year with a quick trip to Austin.  We rented a house in a lovely, child-friendly neighborhood that had a pool and literally the neighborhood park in the back yard.  It was the perfect venue for lots of fun, food, and family.  I've said it before, but time with the McGuires is just good for the Dean soul and through the years, these friends have become family that we absolutely adore.  Trips are easy, stress-free and always include lots of laughter, the solving of the world's problems, and full bellies!

Plus, watching Olivia and Harris grow up and now play with each other is about the best thing ever.  I don't have a brother, but I think that their relationship is about as close as we will get to the brother/sister one.  I think their relationship is best summed up by this exchange:

Kids playing quietly/nicely with balls
Olivia: Harris - can I have the purple ball?
Harris: Will you give it back to me when you're done?
Olivia: No, I will never give it back to you (dead serious)
Harris: Well then I'm not giving you the purple ball
Some wrestling/fighting ensues and each kid is ordered to their own corner for a break
2 minutes later....
Olivia: Harris!  Harris!  The strangers are back!  Let's go to the window and watch them (as they stand next to each other at the window laughing) (Note - we do not condone or encourage the "watching of strangers" as play time activities.  We aren't sure where this game came from and we are concerned!)

For those of you who know Matt, you know his tendency to rile kids up.  And, that love of wildness knows no greater joy than Olivia and Harris.  And, lucky for him, Olivia and Harris are about 2 of the most "rile-able" kids I know.  The favorite game for the weekend was one Harris dubbed "Uncle Bye Bye" -- wherein he and Olivia dunk Uncle Matt under the water.  (Note that "Mommy Bye Bye" and "Aunt Persis Bye Bye" were quickly shot down).

  

The nice back patio provided the perfect place for lunches and snack-time

And we always eat well on these trips!

We planned the trip around the Austin Ice Cream festival.  And, I couldn't pass up the chance to get the kiddos matching shirts.  I mean.  That is just TOO MUCH.

The hot Texas sun made this event a real scorcher, but once we got some ice cream in all our bellies, everyone was a lot happier.

The Festival had a huge covered pavilion that provided a temporary break from the heat and we made that our "home base" while the adults took turns getting samples for everyone.

They also had about 1 million popsicle sticks for the kids to play with.  Some serious work going on here...

And, much to my delight, this marked the day when Miss Olivia's love for sno cones really was born (Its about time by the way!)

And Sunday morning, we headed up to Georgetown to show the kids where it all began.  We treated them to Monument Cafe which is even more delicious than I remembered it being!

And then, of course, good ol' SU!

And the visit ended with a little fun on the Academic Mall.  (Note that I tried to imagine our college selves and whether we would have been able to picture that this would be our future.  Nope.  I don't think we could have ever dreamed this.  I can't think of a better way to end the trip.)

And Olivia has only asked about next year's trip 1 million times since then!