The Walburg Boys~Some of Our Favorite Germans :-)

This past weekend, we went to one of our favorite "localish" spots, the Walburg Restaurant, a great German restaurant in Walburg, Texas, about 30 minutes away. We have a great time in the summer when the biergarten is open and we can go outside to hear the Walburg Boys play. They play great alpine music, with an impressive yodeler as their lead. My little girl LOVES to dance to their polkas, waltzes, and *especially* the chicken dance! Here's a taste of their music if you're not close enough to stop by in person. Caution--this video may cause cravings for German fried potatoes, sauerkraut, sausage, and a Spaten!

Do Little Fish Pee Pee in the Ocean?

The first bed time story tonight was Ten Little Fish, a wonderfully vivid picture book. We love it in all of its sing-songy glory. Tonight, as we read the last line on the final page, "Just ten little fish swimming in a row," I encouraged my daughter to count the ten fish swimming. She firmed up her pointer finger, "One, two, three....{GASP}...do little fish pee pee in the ocean?"

So is the thought process of a potty training 3-year old...and someone who is NOT allowed to pee pee in her grandparents' pools! :-) In life there are teachable moments and laughable moments, and this was a "yes" to both.

[Solution: Yes, fish really do pee pee in the ocean. Try not to let it gross you out too much!]

[The second book we read: Naughty Little Monkeys. We don't even want to get into discussions of bathroom habits of naughty little monkeys!]

Beep, Beep...Roadrunners Need to Relax, Too!

This summer is just getting more and more interesting. As if making my first okra pickles wasn't Texan enough, this week we saw a roadrunner drinking out of Nana's pool. It seems the roadrunner might need a little drinky out by the pool too, given the outrageous 100+ degree days we've been having here since May. For those who don't know, the roadrunner is the Texas State bird. That alone elevates its lot in life from being a pretty strange bird (a member of the Cuckoo family, nonetheless...shhhhhh...) to being a state treasure. Amazing what a title can do for a creature.

If you also went to The School of 1970's Saturday Morning Cartoons, you too may have some opinions about the clever roadrunner for whom, apparently, the coyote is no match. These birds have been illustrated correctly in the speed with which they run (and a very odd, lower-body-only type of run the roadrunner has). But, contrary to popular belief, they don't say "beep, beep" as they zoom past. I found the call of the roadrunner linked through Wikipedia for anyone who might want to know what a real one sounds like.

And, while absorbing some Wikipedian info, I found that the Texas roadrunner's Latin name is the Geococcyx. Impressive sounding. Even better, the type of roadrunner found in our area is the Greater Roadrunner...and, yes, the other type of roadrunner is called a "lesser roadrunner". Back to my original thought; it's amazing what a title can do for a creature. For the great and powerful Greater Roadrunner, that's Mr. Geococcyx to you, is a noble beast which deserves to relax by the pool too. And so he shall.

Curly Red Okra

This red okra was part of our CSA produce a few weeks ago. I won't say much more about it other than it brought to mind my previous post about never judging a veggie by its looks!



I made okra pickles out of it, if you can believe that! This was my first foray into the world of pickling okra...or pickling anything for that matter. I used a recipe out of an old vintage cookbook I scored at Half Price Books, and the recipe contributor was Former First Lady Ladybird Johnson. After 26 years in Texas, perhaps I'm finally turning into a Texan! I've also discovered this summer, after all those years, that okra is delicious raw on its own or dipped in ranch dressing for a treat. Hmmm...who'd have thought? And there's something particularly satisfying about eating it fresh from the farm on the way home and flicking the okra tops out the window. Organic littering--just doing my part.

Hide & Seek

Life as a child is hard—people telling you what to do, so many places to explore, things to do, and so many limits, boundaries, rules. But nothing can beat that feeling of confidence you get when you’re a child with a family who thinks you’re just great at everything. You’re witty and smart, a very fast runner, a great ball kicker, hole digger, artist.

LT is my older child who just turned 3. She is a master hider. When we play hide and seek, no one can seem to find her! Here she is a couple of weeks ago at Grandma Wendy and Grandpa Phil’s house, hiding as Grandpa looks high and low for her.

Having nearly mastered the technique of under-table hiding, she tried it again last week at Nana Lee & Grandpa Steve’s house. The face-under-the-rug maneuver was a last minute addition. Very tricky! Nana and I had a very difficult time…stifling our giggles!

"NEVER Judge a Vegetable...

...by the way it looks," said Farmer Skip a couple of weeks ago. What a reminder. Apparently my skills of application of one concept to a new situation didn't pan out so well this time. I know the whole "book by its cover" mantra, but vegetable by its looks?? With two young children, I knew the farm would be full of life lessons; I just didn't realize that I was going to be the one learning something new.

Truth be told, I had been avoiding the curly q's of the Suyo Long Japanese cucumbers for a couple of weeks. They just looked so wild with their nonuniform shape and rough complexion, so unfamiliar and unknown. I admit it. I judged the cucumber. And I selected the one that looked to me to be what a cucumber aught to be, somewhat straight and smooth skinned. I knew what to do with this type of cucumber!

But a couple of weeks ago, as Skip from Green Gate Farms walked us through the CSA share for the week, he said we had a choice of cucumbers, either the more typical one or the Japanese variety. Then he said that the Suyo Longs were very good and that he liked them better than the "regular" kind. Suddenly they were like a diamond in the rough. A rarity that I had finagled my way into having access to. And, by golly, I was going to get that unusual cucumber! When I admitted that I had been kind of avoiding those strange cucumbers with the slightly-rumpled, "hey-who-woke-me-up?" appearance, Farmer Skip reminded me, "Oh, never judge a vegetable by the way it looks!"

It was just a small comment, but big enough that I've been thinking about it for several weeks now. I've become so used to eating the bounty available at the grocery store, shipped in from every direction in a seemingly never-ending supply. Grapefruit and tomatoes in December? Lettuce in July? Not a problem! Uniformly sized potatoes, categorized and boxed by size, waxy red apples, and other unblemished fruits and veggies, this I have come to expect. But again I find things put back into perspective. Perhaps we should be considering eating locally, eating in season, and eating what nature offers rather than what man engineers. I hold nothing against the convenience and beauty of grocery store produce. I've just started thinking...maybe we should eat more mindfully and judge by taste, freshness, and just plain knowing where your food is coming from. But, for heaven's sake, NEVER judge a vegetable by the way it looks!

The RARE and astounding Suyo Long Japanese cucumber on top with
your average, ordinary, ho hum (but still pretty great) cucumber on the bottom

Don't judge, don't judge! I didn't let this cone-headed cabbage steer me away! I admit, I did let it provoke a couple of chuckles and antics around the kitchen as we pretended that it was part of our silly cone-head family. But we still enjoyed its lovely cabbagey goodness.

Dinosaur Picnic in the Park

Digging in Dinosaur Park

Let me start by saying that my children's first birthday party together was in the theme of "Dinosaur Picnic in the Park". I know their party was Saturday...and today is Tuesday...and I'm just now posting about it. But it took that long for me to recover! :-) We celebrated Baby D's 1st and LT's 3rd birthday with family and friends at a nearby park that we've dubbed The Dinosaur Park. It's a fantastic park that has large dinosaur bone replicas buried in a sand pit for the kids to discover. Cool, right?

We met in the late afternoon and started with play time. Who could eat first with the sirens' call of a SAND PIT in the distance? We buried about 50 little plastic dinos for the kids to dig up in the sand. We had 1, 2, and 3 year olds on the job as excavators, so I'm guessing we didn't collect all of the little toys. That'll be fun for the next, more-diligent child who comes along and happens to start finding random dinosaurs in the sand.

After we tired of playing in the pits, we washed the kids off and had a nice picnic under the pavilion. We moved on to dinosaur cake (yum) and finished with gifts. By this time, we had lost most of our audience to random running-around-in-the-great-outdoors and the lure of that sand pit. That was fine with us! The lack of audience didn't keep us from loving every moment of opening the pink guitar with metallic flames, play vehicles, dino-themed fun, and more. We all enjoyed our day.

At the end of the afternoon, Grandma W suggested that we let go of the balloons for my children to see what happens. Thankfully, we have yet to avoid the nasty surprise of losing our grip on a cherished balloon. At first, I was firmly against the idea--seems like a bizarro way of making littering fun! But then our friend, Julie, also suggested letting the balloons go...just one. I caved and one turned into three or four. I must admit that I was impressed with the height the balloons achieved. And I was also so pleased with the sweet picture I captured of LT studying the soaring balloons, though I secretly was hoping just a bit that the wind would carry the balloons all the way to Grandma W's big cedar so she could cuss and fret over the trash in her trees! Just like the balloons soaring away, so are the years going as the kids are growing so quickly, one, two, three...

Baby D and Daddy Playing in the Sand (and half of them ingesting it too!)

Soaring away...1, 2, 3...

Fly, Fly Away...

The Transfer

Last night it was time to say goodbye to our friend formerly known as "Mr. Caterpillar" who now insists on being addressed as "Mr. Moth". We don't know what kind of moth he is, other than he looks like he'd be comfortable on the back of a Harley. If you remember from his surprise appearance, he also seems to like organic broccoli greens. Perhaps he's a bit of a Renaissance moth....But I digress.

We had a hail storm a couple of years ago that ravaged our roof, and we finally committed to fixing it this month. The roofers were here for a couple of days, and we didn't want to set Mr. Moth free in an unsafe environment, so that bought him a couple of extra days living indoors with us in his Butterfly Hilton. At long last, the roof is done, and we have decided that outside would be better approximate the natural habitat for this sort of creature than a mesh cylinder on our kitchen table does. So, we took his little house outdoors and gently broke the news of his eviction to him. He took it rather well.

While LT was ready to pluck him right out of his home, I did the honors, and he climbed right on my hand with his little wings beginning to buzz frenetically. He behaved himself as I transferred him to LT's petite hand, and she was delighted to say the least. I kid you not, she said, "I LOVE this moth. He's my favorite one! I'm going to give him a kiss." Go ahead. Moth germs are the least of our worries.

Mr. Moth did survive the kissing ceremony and then gingerly flew off to investigate the area under one of our Live Oaks. We were able to snap a couple more photos of him, and then he seemed to realize his freedom. With a double loop, he disappeared from sight. Fly, fly away...

Almost Butterfly Kisses

Camo moth buzzing in the leaves

Sprung

No doubt spring has sprung in Texas. The bluebonnets have bloomed, the wildflowers are out in ever-diminishing forces, the birds have built a nest and laid eggs under our porch overhang. The temperatures are starting to climb, 70s, 80s, 90s, and those spring showers keep passing through, encouraging both our spring veggies and our ever-present weeds to grow.

But you'll never believe what else has sprung. The caterpillar, now a moth, has sprung from the confines of its chrysalis. There in a toss-away, Ziploc bowl on the counter top, this evening I noticed a flutter of wings. I'm a tad bit disappointed to have missed the emergence, but SO pleased that we actually have nurtured something (or even left it alone long enough) to flourish. That doesn't always happen at our house....Just ask the plants that have come here to die.

Believe it or not, I was prepared. We bought a pop-up butterfly house a week or so ago. We eventually plan to send off for those painted butterfly larvae so we can watch them grow and morph too. But, for tonight, the butterfly house is home to one happy moth. At least he looks happy to us!

BEFORE (the little one)

AFTER

I... LOVE... C-A-K-E!

"They" always say to treasure each moment with your child, as the moments pass so quickly and your children are grown up before you know it. I'm sure this is easy to understand once you've been there...but not so much when you're in the moment. What I'm beginning to understand is that it IS true; they DO grow up fast. It's just hard to see it while it's happening, while the days sometimes drag on so slowly, though the years fly by.

Having said that, it seems that this year has gone whizzing past me! A year ago last Thursday, May 1st, I was at the hospital waiting to welcome our second child, our son, into our family. And now he's already one year old. How did that happen?

He's a wonderful child. Pretty much laid back...unless something doesn't go the way he anticipated. Then he lets you know how he really feels. It might be that he takes after his mother that way, kind of low key with surprising spikes of passion and emotion thrown in for good measure. This is very different than my daughter and husband's approach to life, which is kind of full steam ahead until you crash, rinse, and repeat.

To celebrate his first birthday, we invited the 4 grandparents and our good friends Brad & Jen to join us for a Mexican dinner. It's become a sort of family tradition for us to go to a local Mexican restaurant, eat good food, get free fried ice cream, and be embarrassed by wearing a sombrero and being serenaded with a wild version of happy birthday. Afterwards, we went back to my parents' house for cake and gifts.

Let's just say WE LOVE CAKE. We bought a sheet cake for us to share and a small, round "smash cake" for Baby D to have all to himself. My daughter had her finger in the big cake before the candle was even lit. :-) Baby D found the cake quite delightful, starting slowly and picking up speed. The final result was...well...a little messy. And Grandma NeatFreak nearly had a heart attack with the voluminous crumbs! But the celebration was enjoyed by all, and we loved sharing the special occasion with close family & friends. We did miss Auntie Anne & family in California, but we'll look forward to their move back to Austin in a couple years. :-)


Happy birthday, Sweet Baby D! We're looking forward to the next wonderful year watching you grow and learn. We love you! ~Mom

Do Clydesdales Eat Tums?

My nearly-3-year-old is what we refer to as "energetic"! She has a hard time slowing down enough to even sleep, since she might miss something during those few hours of rejuvenation...or reinvigoration. Last night, she was popping out of bed every 5 or 10 minutes with a new excuse--I need softer pants, more water, one more book, a cookie (?), etc. I thought she was finally in bed for good, and my husband and I were downstairs watching a comedian on TV.

I hear subtle thumps on the stairs, bump, thump, bump. Immediately I recognize the noise and the little person the noises belong to, and, without even turning to look, I say, "get yourself back upstairs and into bed NOW!" A little voice chimes in, "but I have a question, Mama." Well, not being one to ignore the pressing questions of children, I ask what this very important question is that is keeping her awake and making her get out of bed. Taking that as a green light, she finishes her way down the stairs and stands right in front of me. And this is what she says:

Ummmmmmmmmm...do Clydesdales eat Tums?

I'm not quite sure I heard that right, so I ask for it to be repeated. Indeed the important question was "Do Clydesdales eat Tums?" As irritated as I was for yet another escape from bed, I couldn't help but dissolve into giggles. She just couldn't sleep because she was wondering if Clydesdales DON'T eat Tums, then what do they do when they get a tummy ache?! An interesting discussion ensued; I'm sure it will be one of many unpredictable discussions that I will have with this curious child of mine!

We went last week to see the Budweiser Clydesdales at the Dell Diamond, so I'm sure that's what got her thinking about the horse bellies. They are AMAZING animals to see in person, so I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of our visit to see them. I'm sure you'd rather I share those than a photo of the look of disbelief on my face when I got that 10-PM question last night!

Solstice Schmolstice!

The summer solstice on June 20, 2008 is *officially* the first day of summer. If you've ever been a Texan or known one, you'll know that Texas does things it's own way on it's own time. June 20th--the first day of summer--in Central Texas? Bah, we'll be cursing the relentless summer heat by then! My theory is that a Texas summer runs about 7 months long, from April to October. The way I see it, we're almost a month into summer. If you don't believe me that we're already rockin' into summer here, just take a look at some of my pics from the last couple of days.

My daughter rolling in the fresh-cut, green grass.


Pick-your-own strawberries--YES, please!


Moss roses ready to be planted in our front flower beds


A chameleon climbing up the front face of our house. I just love these little guys!

Bee postcard from Eya in Finland through Postcrossing

Can we all agree? It's summer here already! Really I'm not gloating. I would just like a few moments to revel in the beauty of the season before Texas does it up too big once again and makes us all beg for the onset of fall. For those of you in cooler climates, I wish you a swiftly-approaching, happy summer. And for those of you also enduring a Southwestern summer, may your air conditioning run efficiently all the days of your lives!

Picked a Peck of Perky Poppers

Don't tell me you expected pickled peppers? Nooooo...this little surprise was far better! My parents dropped by yesterday with a large basket of fresh-picked strawberries from Sweet Berry Farm. Fresh strawberries might as well be considered little, red bites of summer. Delicious! I adore them, and yesterday I adored my parents' spontaneity in driving 50 miles to go pick strawberries and then come share them with me!

You must see how pretty they looked in the basket, so ripe and fragrant. I couldn't resist snapping this photo...and my 3 year old couldn't resist popping some in her mouth right away! Hello, Summer, thanks for stopping by. Hope you'll stay awhile.

Hello Play Scape, Good Bye Lazy Mornings!

Poor Daddy. Sunday morning greeted him bright and early with the help of our daughter, being nudged in bed, handed his shoes and socks, and getting ushered outdoors. We had an eventful weekend! Our children will be 1 and 3 in the upcoming weeks, and Nana and Grandpa had a surprise. On Saturday, some friends assembled in our yard to erect a play scape that Grandpa Steve had spent the previous months completely refurbishing. An early birthday gift. Something EXCITING!

So, it was no surprise that our nearly-3-year-old thought of the play scape as soon as she woke up the next day. And who would be the one to tell her no and squash her delight? Not us! Not this time. By 7:30 Sunday morning, there we were. In our PJs, outside with the kids as they thrilled in playing on their new toy. And, though my husband and I consider ourselves much more as night owls than early birds, we couldn't help but smile and take in the happiness that is getting a new toy. Thanks Nana & Grandpa!

Hungry Little Caterpillar!

Did you really think you would escape my caterpillar photos? We go each Friday to pick up locally-grown produce from a farm outside of Austin called Green Gate Farms. We belong to their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group. They are a nice group of people, and their produce is grown organically and certified all-natural. We could definitely attest to this link to nature when we arrived home last Friday toting more nature than we intended.

As I was divvying up our bountiful haul, half for my family and half for my parents, I glanced down and found this hungry little caterpillar on the strap of my bag. While some might have sent Mr. Hungry on a little trip down the drain, we couldn't resist capturing him and starting him off on a diet of broccoli greens and carrot tops.

The next morning, I opened the lid of the container (ventilated, mind you...we'd hate to asphyxiate the poor little thing!) and went searching for him. To my surprise, he was much smaller than I remembered. As I started sorting through the foliage, I came across the original caterpillar! It seems the small one I found had been too little to notice on day one, but he has been growing steadily ever since. So, Mr. Hungry has found some company...or competition...in Mr. Hungry, Jr.

I will spare you further details other than to mention that, while the enormous input of a hungry little caterpillar waiting to grow fat and spin his cocoon is most often noted...it is worth mentioning that a little caterpillar's OUTPUT is also outrageous! Hopefully we can nurture these two until they shape shift and give our little ones an up-close lesson on metamorphosis. I guess our other option will be a life cycle discussion. Time will tell, and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for a pleasant outcome!