First Bike Ride

Too cool for you...

Today is September 25th, the 19 month mark for Max, and his very first bike ride! It was 100+ degrees again outside today (after nearly a week of cooler temps) but we braved the heat this evening to try out Mom's new bike with a very awesome seat for Max. He sits up front, attached to the handle bars in a very comfy Dutch designed baby seat. You can see the specs here at REI if you're interested in this sturdy engineered bike seat option for your little ones. It's called a YEPP Mini. They also make a larger one for the back.

Mama's new bike with a seat for me!

A big special thanks and We Love You, Daddy, for buying Mama a new bicycle (Schwinn for the win!) that's comfy, sturdy and safe for Max to ride on around town!

Stylin' in my helmet and shades

Here is the awesome Schwinn World 21 bicycle Mom got yesterday. Great end of summer deals at Performance Bicycles.

Our Little Garden

The view looking out from our back door

We're finally getting settled in our new apartment. It's been about a week, and I'm so far behind on my blog, I'll be back-blogging stuff from weeks past playing catch up so check back often for July and August updates I failed to upload!

One of the main selling points for the apartment that convinced me it was the perfect little habitat for Max and I was this awesome fenced in patio garden.



The owner (its actually a privately owned apartment building) had some custom built flower boxes and benches put in that are very nice. She encouraged me to rejuvinate and plant new things. I'm looking forward to it.

The opposite view, towards the back door, with Max!

There's a blue bench seat with flower box, and a blue rain-catcher barrel with faucet attached to the downspout so we can re-use rain water ... ok well providing it ever RAINS here again! ;)

She put some pea gravel down, and some tiles and loose rocks, but I think it needs some softening up and beautification. Maybe a small bubbling fountain, some greenery along the base of the flower boxes...

Nice custom made flower boxes, and artistic tile stones

I could use some help on ideas for fall planting in Texas (hint hint Uncle Russ!).

The flower beds get partial sun throughout the day, but they are somewhat shallow so I have to water frequently especially with the record 100+ temps and drought here.

Maximus 'digs' his garden!


Max is very happy with his own little shady outdoor play area. He likes to sit and dig in the pebbles (pea gravel). Every day he gets his bucket and stands by the door. He knows the front door means 'go to the playground' and the back door means 'go out in the garden' so he's particular about which one he wants.


Finally, for the comedy component, here's a video interview I did of Max on the back patio - he will tell you how much he likes his new place, and a short tour of our garden... enjoy!

Friday Night Drive Around Town

http://www.bouldincreekproperties.com/Bouldin-Creek-Neighborhood.html

What do you do on a Friday night when you're stuck at home with a crabby toddler and no money? You go out driving around, that's what! We went out and ended up driving around the Bouldin Creek area of South Austin, in the heart of "Bubba Land" as my Uncle says it's called down there. I really like the funky houses nestled in throughout the greenbelt creek and small hills of this neighborhood. It would have been a top choice for new residence except it slid a bit on the desirable scale because of the commute time from north Austin where Nox works.



I wanted to stop and watch the famous bats (on my list of things-to-do) coming up from under the Congress St. bridge as we crossed back over Ladybird Lake into downtown just before sunset, but Nox was on a mission to find some funky old decrepit properties in need of rescue - so we continued on around the Red River and Rainey St. corner of downtown. This little pocket of old houses is odd. Most of them are being bought up and turned into trendy little cafes and bars, but some are still run down and privately owned houses. Nox found an abandoned / boarded up old four square type house that looks like it might have been apartments at one time. That's the kind of weird places he likes to live in, haha!

We ventured east across I-35 and then Nox spotted a giant corrugated steel fence that ended up being the security fence for Austin Pipe & Supply Co., a scrap metal salvage yard on 5th st. He was in love! (no, I don't think you can live in the scrap yard honey)... ;)

image credit:  tender buttons

Finally we ended up at East Side Drive In, a strange little plot of land a block or two away near the rail yard that had been turned into a trailer eatery... these are popular little hodgepodge spots that sprout up around Austin. And yes, this one has a funny drive-in theater (large projection screen mounted on an old school bus).

Nox gives the fish and chips a thumbs up

We ate Fish and Chips, done authentic English-style wrapped in paper with lots of vinegar!

The "Pig Vicious" trailer nearby held bragging rights to a menu of odd sandwiches, everything overloaded with BACON!

Gimme more dreamsicle float!

Maximus had a pretty good time, despite doing a complete face-plant in the dirt while running around. His favorite thing was an orange Fanta dreamsicle float!

It was a great Friday night date with my two favorite men. <3

Central Market - HEB

HEB Central Market on Lamar Ave.

Another new venue adventure for Max and Mom.

We stopped at the Central Market grocery on our way back home from a shopping trip downtown. I kept hearing it was as good as Whole Foods for fresh natural/organic only food, but less expensive. I finally made a point to stop by since its located on 40th and Lamar, which is just a mile or so from our soon-to-be new apartment in Hyde Park.

They even have special parking for us!

We only bought a few things, so I can't say much for price comparison yet, but the selection was really really good. They manage to cram a lot more items into a smaller space. A lot of your 'experience' at Whole Foods is the large open airy space and fancy displays - more like a showroom of food whereas Central Market seems to just get down to the business of stocking shelves. The aisles are a little narrow and the layout of the store was a bit confusing at first. While its 'warehouse' style made sense - seems to me they could make it a little easier to get from one section to the other, especially to the checkout area - only a few small entry aisles to the more than adequate number of cashier lanes.

Max enjoying some 'Pro Bugs' brand Kefir' for kids

The bakery was phenomenal, more selection than Whole Foods I think.

Overall it was a good experience and I definitely recommend this place if you're a 'central' Austin resident like us. We've been going to this tired run down HEB out here on Lamar north of 183 for so long I forgot what a nice fresh grocery should be like. Whole Foods always felt like a special trip because its a longer trip downtown for us and the prices are pretty steep.

We'll be back here next week for the annual Central Market Hatch Festival that runs from the 17th through the 30th. I love green chiles, and have never experienced the way they are roasted here, so this will be yummy!

Improvising with food

Step 1: Dip peanut butter covered stick into cheerios

Anyone with toddlers knows they can sometimes be quite picky about what they eat, and getting them to try new foods can be a challenge. It's also a long process for them to learn to use utensils to eat.








Today at lunch Max discovered a way to improvise with his food items that I thought was clever, so I expanded it a bit and provided him with some practice foods. He took a toddler snack stick and with peanut butter stuck to it from his sandwich, stuck it in his cheese and cheerios as a handy utensil to pick up bits and eat them.

Step 2: Enjoy tasty treat!

I added more peanut butter and cheerios to the plate and let him go to town 'fishing' for his tasty snack.

He's a happy toddler with his clever tool usage!

And for humorous comparison, this reminded me of the wild chimpanzees who were discovered to be using grass twigs to 'fish' for termites in their mounds... I guess termites are to chimp toddlers what cheerios and peanut butter are to the Max! 

I 

Young chimps fish for termites

Japanese Tapas

Max looking swanky for his sushi dinner date

We went to dinner at AFin Japanese Tapas sushi restaurant tonight. Yum! They have a combination of sushi and seafood dishes done tapas style. Tapas is a way of eating rather than a style of food. It focuses around traditionally smaller portions, like appetizers but are neither appetizers or main dishes. Rather, a tapas is meant to be enjoyed slowly over the course of your dining experience. Many small dishes of tasty foods. This is a really great way to eat when its super hot outside and you don't want to eat a huge filling plate that will not settle or digest well. I had a couple nice sushi rolls and an amazing seared tuna with peppercorn mushroom sauce and asparagus. It was delicious!


Here's my Yelp review.

Dad's got beer, I've got a sippy cup. NOT beer!

It's TOO HOT!

According to this site, there's no end in sight to the drought in Texas that's keeping the temperatures 100+ every day and all of us baking like biscuits down here in Austin.

"A record-breaking stretch of scorching weather is keeping Texas and the lower Colorado River basin firmly in the grips of severe drought.

The 10 months from October 2010 through July 2011 have been the driest for that 10-month period in Texas since 1895, when the state began keeping rainfall records. Across most of the Hill Country and the Austin area, rainfall since last October is between 16 and 20 inches below normal. Across the eastern counties of Central Texas and the middle Texas coast, rainfall is running more than 20 inches below normal."

I like these colors together, I think I'll make an oven mitt out of it for opening my car doors....

When the heat is to-the-Max, Max goes to-the-heat! 

Staying cool playing in water with a 'mister' hose Daddy bought :)

We shaved Max's head again. He looks so funny but it keeps him cool. This time he resisted a bit and has a more patchy chemo-kid look haha!

KEEP COOL AUSTIN!

"Giggles Baby" to-the-Max

Product Endorsement from Mom and Max!

Max really loves Giggles Baby software. We started him out with 'Shapes and Colors' several months ago, on his tiny computer (set up on a shelf just his height in the bookshelf next to my desk). Our budding computer geek took to it right away. I tried to find other baby geared software that would hold his attention including a few online sites that boasted a wide variety of activities, but still Max wanted his Giggles Baby. So we just bought another in the series, the musical themed one, and he loves it even more.

Max 'working' - head shaved to help with the 105 degree Austin heat!
(if you want an awesome keyboard for baby like ours, see the amazon link)

Giggles Baby is a definite two Max thumbs up from us if you're looking for fun interactive software for babies and toddlers.

The Cow Parade

Seems like every day we go out we learn something new and really cool about Austin. It's definitely to-the-Max fun!

A few days ago we were driving around and I said to my husband "I've never seen those cow art exhibits out in that park before" and then, in front of Whole Foods "hey another one of those cows!" I said it must be some event, and he said (teasingly) "no, those have always been there you just never noticed them!"

This is the 2011 Austin Cow Parade!

Cows on Parade for a Cause

"This week, colorful cows will be taking over the streets of Austin. Roughly 100 large cow sculptures, painted by local artists, will be installed. The cow parade is the self-proclaimed largest and most recognized public art event in the world. It began in Chicago in 1999 and featured 340 cow installations. New York followed and the event has since gone global.

On October 30 the Austin cows will be auctioned off at a gala at The Driskill Hotel. Proceeds will benefit the Super Hero Kids Fund (of Dell Children's Medical Center). Each cow is expected to bring in $7,500-$10,000. The Super Hero Kids Fund helps families of children in treatment."  - from austinist.com

I finally found one to check out while walking to an office building downtown for my lease paperwork:

Meet "Flowerida" ... sadly these are the only bluebonnets we saw this year...

There Goes the Neighborhood

Look out Hyde Park, Max is on his way ... There goes the neighborhood!

All About Hyde Park

We signed the lease on a condo today. I'm so excited! This is after exhaustively researching many areas of Austin, checking out numerous neighborhoods and getting a lot of suggestions from friends and long time residents of this cool city.

My Uncle suggested taking a look at Hyde Park, with our base of operations starting at Hyde Park Bar & Grill. Hubby and I had a great 'date' there and absolutely loved it. Great food, great small town atmosphere.

Just north of University of Texas campus area, Hyde Park is minutes from downtown but maintains a quiet small-town atmosphere.

I've been camping craigslist (which has turned into mostly agent spam nowadays), padmapper, rental management company listings and the classifieds for months. But finally I found us the perfect little apartment, and it was amazingly available even this late in the 'college' rush season.

We'll be a block away from Shipe Playground and only a few more blocks away from the popular venues at the 43rd and Duval 'town center' with so many nice little restaurants, a deli, bakery and Fresh Plus grocery.

We move in the first of September. Can't wait to begin more Max adventures in our new neighborhood!

Bull Creek Park

Yet another accidental cool find in Austin. Someone on a Mom's group I'm a member of suggested meeting up at 'Bull Creek' to let the little ones wade in the shallows. I missed the meetup, but one day we were out riding around after a family outing and I realized we were right near the place so we stopped just to take a look. It ended up being a very very neat experience that we've not been able to reproduce since the drought and summer heat have completely dried up this unique creek bed.

Bull Creek Park is a 3.5 mile long, 48 acre 'greebelt' section of the Bull Creek watershed. Very centrally located its easy to get to from just about every part of Austin.

This is a definite must see for anyone who likes trails, water, hidden creek beds and natural swimming holes. If you have dogs, its also popular with the four legged friends.

Here are some great photos from our family adventure in the waterfalls just off N. Capital of Texas highway where it crosses over the creek, at the Lakewood Dr. entrance.

The base of the waterfall, a hidden grotto

 Max isn't too sure about the rushing waterfall

This was the Max spot - splashing in the shallows 

Sporting a sexy speedo - wading in the creek

A beautiful creek bed with lots of exploration potential

Mothers Day with the Grandmas

We got an unexpected invitation to visit my Mother and Grandmother who were up visiting my Uncle who lives in beautiful Lago Vista TX. Max and I took the scenic drive to Lake Travis on a beautiful Mother's Day Sunday.

Here's the great photos of our visit:

"Grandma Pie" & Max (15 mo. old) - May 8th, 2011

Uncle Russ feeding his local deer friends

 "The Girls" 

Reading a new book with Great Grandma Charlotte

Goofing around with Grandma!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL MAMAS EVERYWHERE!

Whole Foods Austin

Another pleasant discovery awhile back was the amazing Whole Foods Flagship Store on Lamar and 6th St. Downtown.

Miles of cheese and chocolate!

I also learned their Global Headquarters are there as well as the sometimes relatively unknown rooftop park they have open to the public. We visited again on a nice, but windy March day to enjoy some good food and a little playscape for Max. He wasn't as interested in the slides and climbing, but sat and enjoyed digging in the mulch.

14 mo. -  Mulch is fun!

Enjoying a rabbit shaped sweet bun

Here's a funny video of Max learning about Grackles, another critter of Austin that's somewhat of a pest here...

Grackle_Con!

Monkey Max must Climb!

Fun Baby Toy Endorsement Time!

We had to find something for Max to climb on ... he's climbing boxes of books, drawers, bookshelves, coffee tables ... everything!

I did some researching on the best indoor playset for toddlers and settled on this simple little slide and climb from Little Tikes. We have some nice foam floor playmats that take up more than half the livingroom, so there's plenty of safe play space for Max to climb on his new toy.

Proud King of the Castle

April Fools Day @ the Park

Max is walking pretty well now, at 13 months. We've started our big neighborhood Park exploration project. This was at Ramsey Park, in the Rosedale neighborhood of Austin.

Toddler-to-the-Max!

Barton Springs

We visited Zilker Park with all the kids today. Our original plan was to play on the extensive playground and ride the famous train ride, but the kids spied a creek at the bottom of some steps leading down from the playground and we discovered one of Austin's treasures - Barton Creek and Barton Springs Pool.

According to the history on the Austin parks site:

"Within Zilker Park's 358 acres, lies one of the crown jewels of Austin, Barton Springs Pool. Three acres in size, the pool is fed from under ground springs and is on average 68 degrees year round. Over the years, Barton Springs Pool has drawn people from all walks of life, from legislators who have concocted state laws there to free-spirited topless sunbathers who turned heads in the seventies. Even Robert Redford learned to swim at the pool when he was five years old while visiting his mother's relative in Austin. Today, Barton Springs still attracts a diverse crowd of people."  - Barton Springs Pool


We decided not to venture into the pool since we had Max along and the water is a very chilly 68 degrees. No one had a swimming suit along either. But the kids insisted on 'wading' in the creek that the springs spills over into where lots of folks were hanging out and enjoying the lovely early spring sunshine.

Well, wading turned into full out swimming as you can see ...

That's Laz in the red shirt, and Lily behind him. The water was COLD! Seb in the foreground

Lazarus is really not drowning, we promise - though his sister would like to help him I'm sure

A toothless, happy 7 year old

Austin has amazing parks

We've been out exploring a few neighborhoods near our rental house. While the neighborhood we live in isn't that great, just a few minutes away are some really great ones with great parks and places to visit.

I recently found out Austin has one of the most abundant public park and playground systems in the country.

251 Parks to be exact... WOW!

Austin seems to really care about its 'green spaces' and providing great ways for people to enjoy it too.

You can visit the official Austin Parks and Recreation site to explore one of the many parks in Austin. Another one I found even more useful is the Austin Parks site. I use this one a lot to find new places for us to visit. It gives a nice directory of every park and what amenities it offers visitors plus photos.

One of our favorites right now is Ramsey Park in the historic Rosedale district west of Lamar and 45th St. I've taken the Max there a few times and we have Lily and Laz here for spring break visit and playing at a few parks.

Hangin' out in the tunnels with my sister Lily 

Playgrounds are even fun for 6ft tall 13 year olds! (Sebastian and Laz)

Spring has Sprung!

One thing we're getting used to about Austin is how mild the winters are, and how early spring comes here. We're a week or so into March and already the trees and flowers are blooming. This is even earlier than Memphis by a few weeks, which as the midsouth goes, is fairly mild and the seasons are not that noticeable.

Enjoying the early spring sun with blooming pear trees!

Max is finally walking at13 months!

We're looking forward to experiencing one of the popular 'flower watching' events in Austin which usually includes lots of Bluebonnets! The Wildflower Report helps predict the best places to see this annual display of color and beauty. 

Wow.