Thankful Again

We are thankful for our 15th annual (though some of us have missed a few years here and there) turkey trot. And silly hat family photos.


We are thankful for picnics on the beach. And a nap afterward.


We are thankful for frog rain boots so that we can splash in the lake even when it is 60 degrees outside.
We are thankful for bike rides with the Super Grands.


And little girl neighbors that loan us a pink bike with a basket on front for Mooberry.


And country boys.


And a fish. Finally!


And one for Ace too (finally!).


We are thankful for impromptu family photos that turn out great...


in spite of certain members of our family that just want to lay down on the city sidewalk and cry.


Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Thankful

I'm thankful for two wild boys who are willing to do art projects with me, even when they'd rather play at the park with their friends.

(Click on the images to make them larger.)

Wild Basin Nature Preserve

This morning, we took a field trip to Wild Basin Nature Preserve, a preserve that was founded and is maintained by seven "little old ladies in tennis shoes". It "exists to protect and maintain its urban wilderness, and to promote the importance of environmental education, research, conservation and preservation." The buddies and their little friends learned about acorns and squirrels and lots of other things that Tour Guide Sally pointed out along the way.



Some of the fun tidbits from our day:

* Squirrels are little foresters. They bury acorns that eventually grow into oak trees.

* Molly Mold and Alex Algae got together and had a baby: Larry Lichen!

* If you rub a juniper berry in your hands and say "Abracadabra!" you'll magically remove the blue from it.

* Oak galls look like acorns but are actually little houses (and food!) for gall wasps.

*Golden Cheeked Warblers are an endangered species of bird that require a unique habitat only found in Central Texas. To nest, they must find an oak tree near an ashe juniper.

* If it has leaves of three, let it be! (Ace touched it any way.)

*Native Americans once made lemonade from sumac berries. If you rub a sumac berry between your fingers and then lick your fingers, you can taste the lemon.

Thanks Tour Guide Sally for the fabulous tour! We'll be back for another of your Tiny Footprints tours soon!

It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Calls the Police

We were just having a good time, honestly. I mean, what kid wouldn't cause a ruckus at a place like this:

It was our encore visit to the Cathedral of Junk. We had such a fabulous time with our cousins 6 weeks ago, that we invited lots and lots of our playgroup friends on an outing this morning. Apparently, 11 wee children running around in a pile of junk, clanging metal, screeching, shouting, and just being generally joyful was too much for the unfortunate homeowner next door.

It definitely wasn't the first time that the kind police officers that sent us on our way had been called to this location. And we're sure it won't be the last.

But really, Grumpy Man Next Door, next time, just tell us to keep it down. We're understanding people and we would have happily toned down the commotion, had we known we were bothering you. Regardless, you didn't spoil our fun. You see, today's adventure had a Part II. When the 5-0 arrived, we were already planning our exit strategy. Because we wanted to stuff our faces with tacos.



From a trailer.


Only in Austin.

Hockey Fans

While at Race for the Cure this morning, I scored a set of free tickets to the Texas Stars game this evening. The Texas Stars, an American Hockey League team, are the top affiliate to the NHL Dallas Stars and their arena isn't too far from our home. A work deadline prevented Steve from joining us, but the buddies and I just couldn't pass on the opportunity to see a hockey game...free!

The buddies loved everything about hockey. The skates, the dramatic smashing into the glass wall, the hockey sticks, the loud music, the clapping and cheering, the silly games played between periods, and most of all, the zambonies.

And, oh how they asked questions. Why are there two goalies? Why is that goalie wearing all of that stuff? Why are their circles on the ice? What do those words (the advertisements) say? What are advertisements? Why don't those three guys (the referees) have hockey sticks? Why do we want the black team to win? Why are there two zambonies? Where did the zambonies go? Why are those guys jumping over that fence? Luckily, I had answers for most of their questions.

They cheered and they clapped and they celebrated the goals. They even fist-pumped a few of the fans around us when the Stars scored a goal with 2 seconds remaining. And the home team won, 3-1.