IMG_0840

Originally uploaded by Phisch

Boy, are we all tired! More photos here.

I got up really late. Please don’t ask me what time it was, the only sign was that the sun was glaring right at me. “Get up, lazy bones!” it seemed to be saying. It didn’t know that I was up really late finishing up some knitting, so I have an excuse.

Hubby made us all breakfast which was great. He’s been making eggs with bits of corn tortillas scrambled along with the cheese and I actually like them that way. Normally, I really, really don’t like eggs. But these were yummy!

We decided to go hiking around Town Lake instead of Barton Creek. It was pretty crowded, owing to the fact that we were hitting the tail end of the big triathlon of the year (a friend from church was in it). We were not taking part in the triathlon. Just in case you were wondering.

Our walk was wonderful. It wasn’t that hot at all and the crowds weren’t so bad that we were elbowing each other. J wasn’t too excited because he wanted to hike a different path. Eventually, he gave in and decided to enjoy himself. Sprocket was great, she was focused on the walk. I’m guessing this was due to the sheer number of people and dogs (too many to say hi to each one) and the large number of bicyclists (she’s really scared of those). Hubby threw her in the water twice to help her cool off and was paid with a scowl from a bystander. Oh well! She didn’t have a hot dog. Heh. J had gotten a blister so we had to head back. Hubby carried him half way back to the car on his shoulders. J didn’t like that to begin with, but it didn’t take him long to realize the benefits of that form of travel.

We went home then had lunch. After the food settled we went for a swim. Yep, “we”! I even went in (it took much prodding though). The kids had a blast. Never a question about that, though.

Hubby tried to fix the bbq but that thing decided to break on us. So steak was pan-fried but no less delicious. All in all a great day. We’re hoping most of our Saturdays this summer will be just as fun (and tiring)!

Originally uploaded by Phisch

More photos on Flickr here.

Field trip today! I still can’t get over how much cool stuff is in and around Austin.

The boys and I packed up bright and all-too-early and headed north by north west to Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. We made it there! Amazing because I got lost in Cedar Park when I ran out of State Hwy. 183. Technically, it went on but it turned into a—shudder!—toll road. Hubby kindly checked Mapquest for me and we re-routed and made it.

What a drive! Cedar Park is pretty but beyond that, we saw some real Hill Country. It was so gorgeous since the recent rains have brought us so many wildflowers. Our bluebonnets have gone and been replaced by swathes of yellow, orange and red against green grass. I really, really missed my Miata!

We did get there late but we still enjoyed all the stations that the US Fish and Wildlife Service people had set up. The kids learned insects were arthropods, what kinds are beneficial, how to catch them, all about birds, the endangered ones the Refuge was set up for, bird songs and calls, and what kinds of creatures live in the streams in the area.

That was the highlight.

Where my boys were very hesitant to participate in the discussions at the stations (at first, but they did warm up eventually), they were so excited about their stream expedition. What boy wouldn’t want to get in galoshes and traipse up a stream with a net? J, with mom’s help, caught a big pollywog and almost caught a froglet. N caught a water skipper but, with mom’s help, it managed to jump out of the net. Another in our party managed to catch a pollywog AND a water skipper, but one at the other. Predation in action!

After getting the galoshes off and soaking, socked feet in sneakers, the boys and I headed out on a short hike. They examined the corn crib of the old homestead that was built there and we got to hang out around another creek.

The drive home was just as fun but J missed most of it since he fell asleep after he was done eating his snack.

NM’s favorite part: going in the water.

J’s favorite part: going in the water.

Should we get them some mud boots?

* * *

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made…” Rom. 1:20

2009-02-06 Bastrop State Park

Originally uploaded by Phisch

In celebration of our birthdays this week (our = hubby and mine), we thought it would be fun to get outside and go find more letterboxes. Rather than stay in our own neighborhood, so to speak, we wanted to get a little further out.

After checking letterboxing.org, we found out that there are two big parks in nearby Bastrop that have several letterboxes. I decided to pick Bastrop State Park as opposed to the other one since we’d seen it on the way to Houston when we drove there last year.

Parks of the state park can be seen from Highway 71 and it’s curious because there are groves of loblolly pines where you’d think pine trees didn’t belong. They even call the area “Lost Pines.” We didn’t get to read on why these lost pines ended up picking this spot to call home, but it’s so pretty there we’ll be heading back to find out.

Of the six letterboxes in the park, we tried to find four but managed to track down only two which isn’t bad.

We tried for the first two which were on a trail near one of the campground areas. That got our camping bug going again, but J had a good point: “We can’t go camping because we don’t have a tent!” Details, details!

We didn’t have much luck on this short hike. One letterbox was missing, one had clues that didn’t line up. It could be that landmarks like “natural bench” were moved in the rains from two years ago. That, and we couldn’t find it when part of the clue reads “go 8 paces at 80 degrees.” The compass was in the glove compartment…good place for it to be, don’t you think?

We drove to the head of the Lost Pines trail which is a pretty long one at 8.2 miles. We only had to head up .6 miles of it then walk back. The boys did great! It was mostly uphill, though gentle, but they are troopers. We found both of the boxes we were looking for in that area and those were pretty neat.

We’re looking forward to more searching soon!

Last Friday, after realizing what the date was, I took the boys to the Wildflower Center. Each January, the Center offers free admission. Now granted, it’s winter so most of the trees are bare and there aren’t a whole lot of wildflowers actually in bloom. But that doesn’t stop the boys from enjoying hikes on the trails and watching for butterflies and pretending to be secret agents on a hunt for some imagined perpetrator.

Afterwards, we searched out one of two letterboxes in the area. That was a neat one! We do try to keep our stamp, book and list of Austin area letterboxes in the car at all times but we’ve not done anything with it since last August!

Saturday was fun for me. I got to go to a baby shower and I made the little one a red beanie (since it’s near Valentine’s Day). I was going to make booties, but I didn’t have enough yarn. So sad! I found a pattern for a really cute pair. I will probably still try to make it. I ended up getting onsies and red socks to match the hat instead.

Later that day, we decided to take Sprocket for a walk and a hunt for another letterbox. Sans camera this time, but that’s ok. We did see a woodpecker, pointed out to us by another family hiking near us. It looked a lot like this one here, though the site says it’s habitat is further east of us. We also found a deer leg—yuck, I know—with bits of sinew, fur and one “nail” left on a toe bone. No real “meat” left though Sprocket got really excited about it. We’ll be taking that to the nature center some time soon so the boys can trade it for something else (probably another bone).

Yesterday afternoon we had to go and do more hiking. What can I say? The weather has been gorgeous and it would have been a shame to waste it indoors. I wanted to go visit the Umlauf sculpture garden, but it turns out that was closed. We did find ourselves on the back side of Barton Springs Pool, however. We ended up on the side where the water lets out and people bring their dogs to swim. The kids asked—begged, pleaded—to wade in the water and hubby relented and said yes. NM was charged with bringing Sprocket into the water so she could get used to it (she’s still chicken around water). She only thrashed about for a little bit. She was happy because she got to meet a bunch of other dogs.

She’s so funny: she barks at people and other dogs because they won’t pay attention to her and goes into instant submissive mode if another dog capitulates and says hi. If a person says hi, she jumps all over them. Can you say extrovert?

Pics of happy boys and not-so-happy dog are here.

We would have stayed longer except that what hubby was worried about happened: J fell a couple of times on the slippery, mossy rocks and got his clothes soaking wet. Eventually, the cool breeze and waning sunlight got to him and we headed home to a yummy dinner of bagels, cream cheese and lox!

If interested, more photos here.

Busy Saturdays are the best because they make the weekends seem so much longer than they really are. Don’t you think?

This morning, the boys left me at church at the bright and early hour of 8 a.m. I volunteered to help make curtains to put up so that we can hide the supply cabinets on either side of the podium area (feels odd to call it a stage for some reason, though that is what it is). That was kind of fun and the breakfast taco and Krispy Kreme donut didn’t hurt. I remembered I don’t like Krispy Kreme coffee though. Technically, I don’t like KK coffee half an hour after brewing because just out of the machine it’s ok. That is a very short time period for “ok” though.

While I was gone, hubby took the boys and—for the first time evah—Sprocket for a hike at Town Lake/Lady Bird Lake hike and bike trails. Yay for second set of shots!* Apparently, she had a blast. She did have a hard time not chasing the boys and heeling but still did ok. Hubby told me she did bark at some dog for a reason that was apparent to no one but her (and maybe that dog).

At close to lunch, they picked me up, we went home and all had lunch and well-deserved naps. Did I say nap? I crashed, dead to the world. Took forever to get up, but get up I did and we all got ready to go swimming. Yes, it was overcast but that’s ok, it was still hot enough to swim. Only we didn’t because the pool was closed again. Was it the bad bacteria from Houston? Was it the threatening cloud cover? Bah. That’s all they do is threaten. Lightning, thunder, grey clouds. But rain? I wish! These clouds lately are all threat and no follow through. No pool either way.

Zilker park again? Sure! I get to go this time. We went for a longer hike than the one they took this morning and the puppy did so well. The boys were a little cranky because they were hungry by now and the promise of a dinner at Chipotle was hard to wait for. Troopers that they are, they walked and it was for quite a while. Sprocket was going at it, too.

At the place we determined was our half way point, I stopped to take photos of a flock of swans that people were feeding. Nearby, we watched two canoes full of what can only be described at college students who have taken the liberty of imbibing in fluids that can affect one’s motor skills. One canoe had rammed another and the rammed was capsized. The rammers stayed to help their friends (with friends like these…yada, yada, yada).

As they got close, they asked me “does it look like we sprung a leak?” Just a little one. The smell of the special fluid was very present; I didn’t need to see the cans still floating in the water. College students, end of summer…fill in the blanks. NM wanted to know the why but J just watched curiously, perhaps knowing better than to ask or just worried that it could happen to him since we were just talking about maybe getting a kayak and doing the same thing. Only with out the part about falling in the water.

We had our dinner and went home. You know how we know that the puppy had fun? She cried when we took her out of the car. It could be that or that she really had to, you know, go, because she did only not in the car. When hubby tried to get her from outside where she was fast asleep to bring her in, she cried again as if to complain about having to get up (“c’mon, girl, it’s gonna rain buckets”).

^_^

So, the boys and I took Sprocket to the vet for her second set of shots. Again, she did very well in spite of being “more aware” of what’s going on as the vet put it. She got three shots and he forgot that he wasn’t supposed to give her topical anti-flea stuff so he had to wash it off. I commented on her biting and he said not to worry, that’s still just puppy stuff. I was glad the boys heard that because, as I told the vet, the biting was kind of hard for the boys to deal with. She’s mellowing out, though. He also mentioned that he thought our training collar (nylon kind, not a chain!) was a little early for her and he was surprised to hear that she took to it so well so soon. He said he hardly ever heard of a dog so young being completely leash trained. He was also surprised to see her sit so well and hear that she “goes” on command and—as long as hubby or I are around—will mostly go in our designated dog run. He said she has to be pretty smart and we like to think so, too. The vet was right about people stopping to look at her, too. We had someone ask if she were a corgi and went on to wax sentimental about one she saw at the pound way back when. Awww.