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!