Today is the last day of my twenties. As I reluctantly notice the time creeping dangerously close to tomorrow, I have been reflecting on this past decade.

In 2001, I turned 20.  I was a junior at Baylor University, living with my best friend, Ashley.  I have zero recollection (a curse of the 29th year) of what I did for that 20th birthday.  Regardless of the events, that day kicked off my third decade. Here are a few decade highlights that I do remember…

I have traveled to Australia, Brazil, Uganda and Switzerland.
I celebrated my 21st birthday in the Australian Outback.
I went alligator hunting in the Amazon River.
I drove a van within 30 feet of a lion in the Uganda bush.
I bungee jumped into the Nile River.
I graduated from Baylor University with my Bachelor’s degree and University of Texas with my Master’s degree.
I moved to Austin and never left.
I became a partner of Austin Stone Community Church.
I have had two real (paying) jobs.
I have run 13 marathons in 12 states and DC.
I have had 10 addresses.
I lived through my darkest season so far.
I experienced forgiveness and restoration like I wouldn’t have dared to dream.

And if that’s not enough for 10 years…

I met the man of my dreams.
I got engaged and married.
I gave birth to the best kid in the world.

The 20s weren’t so bad.  Here’s to you, 30s.  I hope you are better than I can imagine.

Because most of my time in August (and the two months prior) was spent complaining about the heat, I neglected to chronicle the life of our firstborn and the events of August 2011.  Therefore, a photographic account of the month follows.

We took Rhett to The Big Bounce – an indoor inflatable playground.  I had taken him months ago, and he hated it.  This time, all it took was Doug and me getting into the bouncy inflatables with him (mildly humiliating).  Once he saw that we were okay with plastic inflated dogs, mountains and hammers, he seemed cool with it.  Because he can go for free until he’s two, we went there several times to get some energy out before naptime.

June 8 was not a good day for us.  Turns out that we weren’t in the clear yet.  Rhett has become pretty clever in taking his clothes off at night…even the pajamas that zip up and snap.  I asked for some advice from friends, and we have started to dress Rhett like this for bed. So far, baby Houdini hasn’t cracked our code.

The Barnum & Bailey and Ringling Brothers Circus was in town this month.  So, for some family fun before Doug left town for a week for work, we treated ourselves to a night of wildly entertaining acts – the highlights were the 7 motorcycles riding in the globe and the man with stilts  being bounced off a seesaw and doing a flip in mid-air.  A lowlight was the incredibly tense tiger act – picture a man in a cage with 10 very uncooperative and seemingly angry (or hungry) tigers.  We were sure we were about to witness murder.  A picture from the pre-show.

Doug was in San Francisco for a week, so Rhett, Bagby and I went to Waco.  Take that, San Fran.  Rhett, Memaw Hudson and I went to Pittsburg, Texas for a day to visit another set of Rhett’s great-grandparents.  Memaw and Pepaw Finnell hadn’t seen Rhett since his first birthday, so it was quite a treat.

If I haven’t made my position clear on the heat this summer, I haven’t done my job.  I am miserable.  I am at least 15 lbs heavier and I am burning from the insides.  Which means bad news for Rhett.  I am certain he must think we are the most boring family ever, as most of our time is spent at home with the windows closed.  So, finding indoor activities has been crucial this summer.  While we were in Waco, we hit the jackpot.  Memaw and Pepaw Hudson have an annual membership to the Mayborn Children’s Museum.  If you’re ever in or near the City of Dreams and you have littles, you must stop.  It was gold.

Our friends, Ryan and Allison, have a little miss named Blythe.   She turned one in August and we celebrated big at her fiesta.  Looks like Rhett is all kinds of ready for college date parties.  He had no problem trying all kinds of costumes.

And finally, I got a little help around the house.