More Bluebonnets...

Took a drive out to Mule Shoe Bend State Park in Spicewood, TX yesterday.  The park is about an hour away, on Lake Travis.  We are right at the height of bluebonnet season.  Some of the flowers are already starting to go to seed.  There were reports of huge fields of bluebonnets out at this park.

My plan had been to take a little drive out there last week while the kids were at school and Mike was at work.  I figured I had more interest in the flowers than they did and I had already insisted on flower pictures with the boys last week.  Well, I never made it and Mike thought it would be fun to go too, so that became our plan for the weekend.

We left early - much to the dismay of the boys (oops, we didn't have breakfast, well we would get something on the way... oops, too much fussing and fighting and nonsense, so we'll just go and come back quickly and will just have a late breakfast...)  Anyway, it was really foggy yesterday morning, but I figured at the park the fog would hang out over the water and not the flowers and I really didn't care anyway.  I did want to go and be done early because the forecast called for heavy rains most of the day.   Long story even longer, it was even more beautiful than I imagined.  Bluebonnets as far as you could see.  Prettiest bluebonnets I have ever seen.  As I hoped there was no fog at the park.  We ended up staying for quite awhile, that late breakfast ended up being a quite on-time lunch several hours later.  The forecast was wrong, we got a few light showers, but no heavy rains.

Here are a couple of pictures. I'll load them all up to a site and link to it eventually.  But for now... enjoy these...

April 12, 2015

There is sad news that has been on my mind for the last week, particularly so today.  When Ben was in kindergarten last year his teacher was diagnosed with cancer midway through the school year.  By the time school let out she was doing very well and had finally gotten a clear scan and was finishing treatments in June.  When this school year started in September she was still all clear.  Sadly, by October the cancer had returned.  After an extended leave for treatment, the cancer proved to be very aggressive and Fran ultimately had to retire as the job of a kindergarten teacher was too demanding for her health.

I was supposed to spend some time last week making a video of Fran's former students, just letting her know she was missed and everyone was wishing her well.  We never got to do the project. Fran passed away April 2nd.

She was a lovely woman and will be dearly missed. Fran was not only a teacher to both of the boys, she had also become a friend.  Today is the memorial service.

http://www.beckchapels.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1554259

Trail Running

It's no secret that I frequent the gym on a regular basis, as many days a week as I can swing it.  Usually I spend my time in the actual gym facility doing all sorts of silly things like lifting lots of very heavy things, or playing on some of the equipment that tests my balance skills (which, for the record, are horrible).  It has it's moments, and I work out with a trio of other lovely ladies so it can be quite fun, and a fairly good way to kill a morning. On occasion I get out and go for a run. Today was such a day.

There is a (mostly) paved path that starts at the Y and ends at a park way out in Round Rock 7 or 8 miles away.  I have biked the whole trail from end to end and back again, run and/or walked large sections of it.  It's very pretty, winding past big fields that are currently full of wildflowers, past several parks, by a little lake, very nice path.  But, it's mostly flat.  And flat running can be just ridiculously tedious and boring, too easy to watch the distance markers every quarter mile seem to get further and further apart.  The real beauty of this path is the miles and miles and miles of trails that break off and wind through the woods all along the path.  So every now and then my little workout group goes out and runs the trails.  Up and down hills, rocky paths, along creek beds, and on and on and on.

The thing about running along the trails is it is very easy to lose track of the distance.  That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.  Thinking of running any distance on the flats is mentally draining before the run even starts.  The trails, it's fun.  Today we ended up running just over 6 miles in about an hour.  The bad part about the trails is you get on one and by the time you are really tired of it and ready for a break you realize you are just past the halfway point and have no choice but to keep plugging away until it breaks out of the woods and back to the paved path.  Turning back is generally longer and harder then plugging on.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from todays run.

 

Bluebonnets, Snakes, and Pollen

Must be spring time!  All the cars are the same greenish yellow color, you can hear it raining pollen.  Every central Texan is engaging in the requisite bluebonnet photo sessions (us too).

All the critters are again making their presence known.  We have a bunny frequenting our backyard, the boys have named him or her Clover. The dogs found a garter snake enjoying its dinner the other night.

Spring just sort of makes an explosive appearance in all manners here.  It's lovely and colorful and exciting.

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light and winter in the shade." - Charles Dickens

March 27, 2015

I survived the post-Spring Break week.  Monday was admittedly lonely, but as I had to work the front desk at school all afternoon it wasn't too bad. I ended up having to do a few extra projects at school so I was up there a bit more than usual. The weather has been gorgeous, we've spent long afternoons at the park.  The boys were both able to have some playdates with friends. Mike traveled for a couple of days, not too long though.  I spent time at the gym, even doing yoga today.  Probably the highlight of the week though, is this beautiful picture...

We weren't expecting the glasses to come in for another week or so, but they came on Wednesday. It's so very cool for me to see him so happy over something that can make many feel awkward or uncomfortable.  Nothing negative about these specs at all.  A smooth, easy adjustment, even his friends think he looks cool.

I am still picking away at the guitar, I am working on the finger picking method (I just don't like playing with a pick). I picked up a book to help with that and a book on classical style playing as that is what I would like to do eventually.  So very much to learn, but it's fun and my fingers are now sufficiently calloused so the strings don't hurt anymore.

As for the weekend ahead, looks like we'll be raking leaves - the oaks drop twice a year here (spring and fall). Probably we'll squeeze in a bike ride or two, maybe a hike, maybe a hunt for some bluebonnets.  We are dog sitting as well.  Never a dull moment (well, never a quiet moment anyway).

So Long Spring Break

Sad sad day :-( It's officially the end of Spring Break.  I remember looking forward to Spring Break when I was growing up.  It always coincided with Easter, which usually meant a visit from Grandma and Grandpa, and all the fun stuff that happens at Easter time.  Once in awhile we would trek up to D.C. to check out the cherry blossoms, usually there was a day trip to Monticello or Mount Vernon or some other cool historic place.  In college I only took one spring break trip, and that was with Mike to Florida.  Always good memories, always sad to see it end.  Now, I long for the break because it's just that much more time I get to spend with the boys.

Here's a brief recap of the week.  It wasn't the best weather wise, but it wasn't a total washout either.  We managed a few bike rides, went swimming once, had lunch with daddy.  Alex had his annual well check which meant Ben got to spend the afternoon with his best buddy.  Friday and Saturday were a wash with rain.  Today the weather was beautiful but everything is sopping wet still, so the kids got hair cuts and played a very rousing game of monopoly with dad for the afternoon.  Not the most memorable break ever.  We usually trek up to Waco for a trip to the zoo, or to Marble Falls for strawberry picking, or to parks we haven't visited in a very long time.  We didn't manage any of those things this time.

We didn't manage  much, yet I am still so very sad that it's over.  It's so great to watch the boys relax and enjoy being boys and running around shouting Harry Potter curses at each other.  It was nice that Mike had a 3 day weekend. It was nice not having to get up early, not having a schedule to stick to, not having to deal with people, homework, school, any of it.  Tomorrow the house will be stupid quiet and it's back to the routine and I am back to volunteering at school and I am already counting the days until summer break and 3 glorious months without school.

Spring Break!

No School!  Woohoo!! Happy mom, happy kids.  Need I say more?

No plans for the week.  Hoping for some bike rides if the weather holds, movies if it's rainy.  Who cares?  Not having to stick to the school schedule is the best break of all.