Day Three Hundred Forty-Seven: Katy Trail Ice House

A few months ago, while hiking on the Katy Trail in downtown Dallas, we learned about the Katy Trail Ice House and vowed to come back sometime to enjoy a burger in the expansive outdoor eating area. At the time, I didn't imgine we would choose one of the very hottest days of the year for that little outing. But, we did. It really wasn't that bad since the patio is very shaded and the restaurant runs mister fans everywhere. We had a great time, though we missed having our younger guys with us!

Day Three Hundred Forty-Four: Sewing Machine Lesson

My mother-in-law has some amazing sewing skills. She can repair anything, and she creates and produces beautiful quilts and many other things. I have always thought of myself as a non-sewer, and frankly, I have never even really been interested in learning the skill. But on this visit to my in-laws' house, I decided that was faulty thinking, and on a lark, I ask my mother-in-law if she would teach me how to sew something on the sewing machine. She was more than happy to give me a lesson, and I'm so proud that, after practicing several stitches and getting a feel for the machine, I attached several squares of fabric together with some nice, straight(ish) seams. And, I didn't tear up any of the equipment or end up with a needle through my finger! And rather than feeling the overwhelming stress that permeated the estimated two sewing projects of my childhood 4H days, which caused me to completely swear off the activity, I actually really enjoyed it!

Playing around with the machine
and learning the different stitches

So thankful for such a great teacher

Day Three Hundred Thirty-Nine: Ice Cream for Lunch on National Ice Cream Day

In my opinion, every day should be National Ice Cream Day, but today actually is, which we found out quite by accident. But we certainly weren't going to let it go uncelebrated, so we popped in to Clear River, a super cute retro ice cream parlor, to do it right. We had a late breakfast, so the ice cream ended up being lunch, which was perfectly fine with me! I tried a flavor I had never had: peach amaretto pecan. So, so good! It was the perfect end to the perfect Girls' Weekend!

Happy National Ice Cream Day!

Day Three Hundred Thirty-Seven: Girls' Weekend in Fredericksburg

I was home for less than 36 hours when I hopped in the car and headed to Fredericksburg to meet up with my mom and my sister for our first-ever Girls' Weekend. Seriously, the three of us have not spent time alone together since my sister and I have been grown-ups! Isn't that crazy?! I love these lovely ladies, and I'm so thankful that the stars finally aligned so we could do this!

First-ever Girls' Weekend with two of my favorite women

Day Three Hundred Twenty-Seven: Pentagon Swingset

We went back to the Parque Metropolitano today to do a little hiking and to explore the botanical garden we missed yesterday. While we were there, we stopped by the Gabriela Mistral playground again because the kids loved it so much and didn't get enough of it yesterday. We had the whole thing to ourselves since it wasn't a weekend or holiday, and the kids asked me to join them on the pentagon swingset so we could fill it up. Swinging sometimes makes me a bit dizzy, so I usually avoid it, but I couldn't resist playing with my kiddos on the super-awesome swingset. The really fun part of this particular swingset is trying not to run your feet into everyone else's since you are all swinging to the middle. We laughed so hard and had such a great time!

Pentagon Swingset

Day Two Hundred Seventy-Four: Dune Buggy and Sandboarding

Oh what a fun day! After an amazing aerial tour of the Nazca lines and a wonderful lunch at Hotel El Huacachinero, we hopped in a dune buggy and headed off into the massive dunes of the Atacama Desert in Ica. Bumping over the dunes was a grand adventure, but it got even better when our driver stopped and got the sandboards out. We cruised down massive hills, sometimes on our rears and sometimes head first, covering ourselves from head to toe with sand and making memories that will last a life time!

First dune buggy experience

Sandboarding in style

Day Two Hundred Fifty-Eight: Non-Stay-At-Home Mom

Well, it wasn't really a First-filled day, but it was more eventful than usual. I dropped Jeff off at the airport at 8:00, so he could head to D.C. for his third round of FSO (Foreign Service Officer) testing and his in-person interviews. By 9:00, I had Ruth at the dentist's office to get her wisdom teeth removed. The procedure went well, and we were back at the house by 10:30. I was picking up the meals for my Meals on Wheels deliveries by 11:00. There was a little downtime in the afternoon before I had to take Max and Clay to their activities at 4:30. But before I brought them home, I stopped by the library to pick up a book for Weston. Finally, at the end of the day, I took myself to yoga, where I attempted to coax my body out of its almost permanent "driver position." It was a day that really made the moniker "stay-at-home mom" seem ridiculous!

Day Two Hundred Fifty-Six: CAP Promotion Ceremony

Ruth had her second promotion with CAP tonight. I had to miss the first one, so I was really glad it worked out for me to be there tonight. Jeff and I got to pin her new ranks on her during the ceremony, and we couldn't be more proud of our Cadet Airman First Class!

Day Two Hundred Fifty-Five: Celebrating Mom's 66th Birthday

Well, of course we've celebrated birthdays with my mom before, but never her 66th! 😃 It was so fun to get to spend the day with her, along with my sister and her family. I'm very thankful for this wonderful woman!

Clay did an oil pastel drawing for Nana's birthday

Day Two Hundred Fifty-One: Meals on Wheels with Mom

It was so fun to have my mom ride along with me while I did my Meals on Wheels deliveries today. Afterwards we were able to have lunch together at Mena Grill. I don't get to spend much one-on-one time with her these days, so it was a special day.

Day Two Hundred Thirty-Two: Wind in the Willows Picnic

Yesterday while we were picnicking during our hike, everyone started talking about what the best picnic was they had been on and what would be the greatest picnic of all time. Ruth mentioned that her dream picnic would be a Wind in the Willows picnic (which is to say a very elaborate, fancy, excessive picnic), and the boys readily agreed.

Parents aren't always able to give their children everything they want, nor should they, in my opinion. But when it is within your power to fulfill a simple dream and create memories that will last a lifetime, you do it when you can. So, with the Wind in the Willows picnic as a our starting point, everyone contributed ideas to create the most epic picnic ever. We heard things like, "We need to find a big shade tree to spread our red-checkered blanket under," "We have to have a layer cake," "We need to use nice dishes," and "We have to pack everything in a real basket," in addition to a multitude of food and drink requests. We certainly modified the contents of the picnic (because, cold tongue?!?!), but the spirit was right on, and we felt Mole and Ratty would have approved.

The original Wind in the Willows picnic

Our version of the Wind in the Willows picnic

Day Two Hundred Thirty-One: Urban Hike and Cidercade

We wanted to enjoy this beautiful day with a hike, but we wanted to try a trail we had never done before. Our research revealed the Katy Trail in downtown Dallas, which we were eager to try since we had never really done a true urban hike. It was such a lovely day and a wonderful trail, and we took our sweet time getting from one end of the three-mile trail to the other and then back again, stopping for a picnic and some play time along the way.

Fun along the Katy Trail

After our hike, we headed over to the Bishop Cider Co. which is better known as Cidercade. Talk about a unique venue! This brewery only serves cider, but they have about 30 choices. They also have more than 100 vintage arcade games. For the price of the $10 cover charge, you have unlimited access to all the games. We had a blast sipping cider (and non-alcoholic drinks for the kids) and playing all the games, some of which Jeff and I haven't played since we were kids.

Bishop Cider Co. (Cidercade)

Day Two Hundred Eighteen: Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge

Our goal for this gorgeous day was to find a nice hiking spot, and we definitely succeeded with a visit to the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. We did two very easy one-mile hikes that took us through forests, along rivers, and around lakes. We spotted some turtles sunning and swimming, an eagle catching a fish, and lots of ducks along the way. We even found a beaver dam, though the beaver itself stayed hidden from view. Clay was a little concerned we might see a "water neckison" snake, but, thankfully, we did not. We had a picnic and collected an untold amount of sticks, rocks, and seeds. It was an absolutely lovely adventure!

Day Two Hundred Sixteen: Pie for Every Meal

Pi Day is one of our family's favorite holidays and we've been celebrating it in various forms for years. But this year, Ruth had a vision to mix things up by having a different kind of pie for every meal, and she made that vision a reality by making four amazing pies for us. We started the day with an fantastic egg pie, with a bacon lattice top, and a delicious apple pie. For lunch we had a wonderful chicken, mushroom, and leek pot pie. And for dinner, a delectable pot roast pot pie. This Pi Day ended with store bought sweet pies in chocolate, pecan, and cherry to match everyone's preference. Celebrating some of the silly holidays is one of the ways our family has found to bond and make special memories, and I'm so glad we got to enjoy so much of a good thing this Pi Day!

Breakfast Pie

Backup Breakfast Pie

Chicken, Mushroom and Leek Pot Pie

Pot Roast Pot Pie

Happy Pi Day, from our family to yours!

Day Two Hundred Eleven: Cards at Kimzey's

After we dropped Weston off at his Scout campout in Denton, we stopped at Kimzey's Coffee in Argyle on our way home. It is housed in a whimsical cottage reminiscent of something from a fairy tale. We had coffees and teas and played cards for a couple of hours. We always enjoy finding new and interesting places to hang out, and Kimzey's is a jewel!

Kimzey's is full of whimsy!

A hot game of Hearts

Day One Hundred Ninety-Four: Invitation-Only Team

Max has been participating in a Ninja Warrior class since right after the new year, and tonight his coach approached me to express how much he loves having Max in class and to tell me what a hard worker Max is. Then, the coach extended an invitation for Max to join the Ninja Warrior team. This is obviously more about Max than me, but it was the first time I've been approached with an offer for any of the kids to join an invitation-only team, and I'm very proud of Mr. Max.

So proud of my Ninja Warrior!

Day One Hundred Seventy-Six: Groundhog Day Party

When the kids realized that today was Groundhog Day and that it was a Friday, they decided the only thing to do was to have a party. Obviously, the movie Groundhog Day would be the main event. But we took it a couple of steps further with Fuzzy's fajitas and a groundhog cookie cake. I've been to all kinds of parties in my forty years, but I can honestly say I've never been to a Groundhog Day party! We had a blast and made some wonderful memories!

Packing in some extra calories to get us through six more weeks of winter!

It's Groundhog Day!

Jeff and Ruth produced this adorable and delicious groundhog cookie cake for our party.

Day One Hundred Sixty-Three: Korean Dessert

After dinner, I announced I wanted to take everyone on an outing. I didn't tell them where we were going, but I insisted it would be fun, so they all dutifully loaded up and off we went. I took them to Snow Village Cafe, a Korean dessert place we had never visited. In fact, we had never visited any place where Korean desserts were available, so it was a completely new experience. Once inside, the Firsts kept coming as we ordered three versions of bingsu (Korean shaved ice made with sweetened condensed milk and topped with all kinds of goodness) and an avocado smoothie with boba (tapioca pearls). We enjoyed all the treats and were thrilled to have so many Firsts included in one evening. 

Avocado smoothie with boba

Cake Bingsu

Day One Hundred Fifty-Five: Legoland Discovery Center

We have been talking about taking the kids to Legoland Discovery Center since we moved here, but it never has worked out. This morning, for his birthday, we surprised Max with tickets and a day off from school to go hang out there. We all had a blast!

Lego Dallas

Kingdom Quest ride with my crazy guys

 

4D Movie Time

Day One Hundred Fifty: Positivity Packet

In this new year, we are trying to be intentional about infusing our home with positivity. Ruth came up with an idea for Positivity Packets, which is a sort of mailbox system that allows us to leave encouraging notes and little gifts for each other whenever inspiration strikes. We all decorated our own and hung them on our bedroom doors, which has had the bonus effect of giving a visual boost to an otherwise uninteresting hallway. We are all so excited about sharing the love!

My Positivity Packet