And play with the telephoto. Sometimes saying “thank you” for a gift means going out and having fun with it.

So off we went to the Nature Center so we could take a look at the animals and then go for a little hike. The boys wanted to go off on the hike right away, but I have a hard time passing up the animals so we spent a little time there.

This is just one reason why:

Grey fox. Isn’t it cute? This is a barn owl, one of my favorite birds just because of how it looks:

After the animals we went on the actual hike. We saw many signs that spring is on it’s way to Austin, like this:

If you click on the photo you’ll see where the camera found a bee and a butterfly. Happy accident!

Enough of taking pictures. We need to go up there!

Boys are fast!

At the overlook, we were rewarded with views of the Capitol building. This really got J excited. He really loves visiting “the city” and enjoyed seeing it from this perspective.

The rest of “the city” seen from our vantage point. The tallest building is the Austonian, a condo complex. It’s evidence of how rapidly the Austin skyline is changing since it was just beginning to form when we moved here.

Of course, the cranes show how much change is still happening.

While at the overlook, the boys found this tag:

We saw it at several points along the trail.

Keeping Austin weird? I suppose. I guess I should be happy it’s a non-obtrusive green. This one was much, much less obtrusive. Modern day petroglyph?

After we got back down, the boys went hunting for rocks to skip on the water. Catching skipping rocks on water is hard! Boys are easier.

We had a great time enjoying the outdoors. The nice thing was that by the end of our walk, we were tired and didn’t notice how grey and cold the wind was.

Lots more in the way of photos over here at Flickr.

Hubby and I got to take turns with the camera. Irony: I took wide shots while he took up-close shots. Ironic because he wants a wide angle lens and I want a macro. Want, want, want…we’ll be wanting for a good long while. But let me share some of what we did manage to capture because the boys were being very indulgent towards us shutterbugs:

First, hubby told them to stop so he could take his picture and this is what happened:

After mom said something like “no smiling” the smile did make it to his eyes:

NM is just as silly sometimes:

But he has such a sweet smile:

And when he complained about getting closer to the ground like I asked him to, his Abba told him a silly story that made him give this look:

Now this is a look I was afraid we would never get on camera:

This is the face he makes when he gets shy and happy at the same time, like when you call his attention to the fact that he’s really cute and you just have to take his picture. Yes, yes, yes, there’s food all over the front of his shirt but that’s his privilege as a boy.

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing them like this.