Rock formations at Enchanted Rock

This rock reminds me of Venus carvings / fertility carvings from the Paleolithic Period although it's obvious whoever placed the rocks on top for a head thought the same thing!

The rock formation in the center of the photo looked like a hooded cobra to me and mom. I have included a blown up copy so you can see the snake better! So many of the rocks looked like animals or people, it was almost like cloud watching.

Mom and I liked this rock formation. It looked like three clay jugs perched atop a well.

I think this one looks like a clay model of a face. I included a blow up so you can see him better. I took way to many photos on our four mile scenic hike around the base of Enchanted rock. There was so much to look at. The trail was a lot more challenging that we originally believed but I'll get to that in subsequent posts...

Here is the Rooster head!

We have house guests!

We have a 'volunteer' grape vine on the side of the house in front. The weight of the vine has made the trellis lean over. I reached into the grape vine the other day to pull it back up and a bird flew out which scared the heck out of me!

It was after that I discovered the beautiful nest and eggs! I'm not sure what kind of bird we've got nesting in our grape vine but the momma bird is grey and white on her wings while her eggs are light blue with brown speckels.

Upon returning from our camping trip to Enchanted Rock I peeked at the nest for an update and we've got three fuzzy baby birds! I didn't take a photo because of the flash...I didn't think that would be very nice. Besides, I think I'm pushing my limits with momma bird and I don't want to endanger the babies.

My Gerber Daisies are back in full bloom. On either side you can see that my Begonias made it through another winter.


The folks at the Austin Nature Center said that birds re-use nests so I'm suppose to leave it alone once the birds fly away.

Babysitting Eli

Dan and I spent a lovely Saturday evening with Eli when John and Darby went to their friends' wedding a few weeks ago. The weather was awesome so we played outside for a bit.

Eli's truck had already zoomed out of the frame for this photo but he was having a grand old time zooming the truck back and forth across the patio.

Uncle Dan and Eli had a great time showing each other the cool noises they can make.

A little explanation is necessary for this photo...

Eli needed to potty so he dropped his drawers, whipped off the diaper and made water...He was just going about his business so confidently that we just assumed he was doing an everyday duty. This is his independent attempt to put his jeans back on and I scooped him up right after this photo so we could go in for bath and bed time.

I took a super cute video but am having difficulties getting it uploaded...perhaps I'll figure that out at a future time...

Eli's 2nd Birthday

Elaiden (Eli's buddy and co-guest of honor) got wings and a wand and she flitted around the house like a fairy princess for the day. As you can see she was just too tickled! Eli isn't too sure about this photo is he?
I don't know who this is but isn't she just adorable! I didn't realize until now that I actually capture some of her spit-up on film...




Eli had Dump-Truck Cake. The gluten-free chocolate cake had TWO dump trucks loaded with cake crumbs on top with lots of yummy little candy bites. In the second photo you can see Eli almost not able to wait till the Duck cake candles were lit so we could sing to both him and Elaiden. He did a great job blowing out his candles.


I got to meet Darby's cousin Jaime, her little girl Payton and her baby Miles. The photo with Eli in the middle cracked me up because that would be Payton if she had three little ones! I got to hold Miles while Payton played on the play scape in Elaiden's backyard.

By the end of the party the clear favorite toy was a little firetruck that Eli got. He did such a great job of sharing with Elaiden. I had total camera envy at the birthday celebration as everyone there had fabulous cameras and were just snapping away. 8+ mega pixel cameras are getting more reasonable...hmmm

Inks Lake 04/08

Oh we had fun at Inks Lake and here are some photos that we want to share. Aren't our boys cute! We hiked, we swam, we lounged. What a wonderful weekend! We've got to book more weekends before they fill up!






We stopped at a BBQ place on our way into Burnet to pick up dinner. We stopped there because last year when we camped Inks Lake the BBQ place was OUT of food by the time we pulled out of town on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately the BBQ place had changed hands since then and well, the BBQ wasn't all that...






Our first night was really chilly so we drove to Marble Falls the next day to pick up some blankets and some other items we discovered we needed on night one...like starter logs to get the damp firewood started. I just loved this jumble of rocks topped with the gnarled tree. My picture just cannot do this view justice.




Check out this sleepy boy! The neighboring campsite couldn't get over how good Reese & AJ were because they didn't bark the entire weekend. They wanted to know our secret...exhaustion!




When I was broadcasting the dishwater I noticed this small herd of deer behind our campsite. Aren't they delicate? They weren't too sure of me and sprung away into the thick once I tried to get closer.







John, Darby & Eli were camping at Inks Lake the same weekend with their small prayer group from their church. Eli visited our campsite several times and liked visiting with the boys.







Eli took this photo of me. Isn't he a burgeoning little shutterbug!

Night two rocked out with bratwurst & sauerkraut with potato salad and Shiner Blond. One of the brats jumped into the coals but we rescued, rinsed and replaced on the grill top. It was a close one but all ended well.





Breakfast both days included scrambled eggs, hash, toast, OJ and coffee. Yum :) I don't know why I find the challenge of putting together a meal in the great outdoors such fun!

Connor's First Tri

Well, not actually...! Dan had a triathlon in Galveston and we drove down to Houston to visit Becca, Grant & Connor before the triathlon. Dan drove down to Galveston on Saturday to meet up with his friend Mace. Becca and I packed Connor up and drove to Galveston on Sunday morning to catch a glimpse of Dan running in the Tri. Well, we didn't see him running the Tri but we did see him walking up to the conference center after he walked six miles back from a double flat tire and had to drop out of the race.

It was a very nice weekend and we look forward to visiting Pearland again and again and again :)

Happy Birthday Danno!

On Sunday the 16th Dan celebrated his (drum roll please...) 38th Birthday! It was an unusual birthday celebration that started the night before at Sherlock's for fish & chips. Then the party continued over at Alamo Draft House to see Pulp Fiction on the big screen. The movie started at midnight (happy birthday!!!) and we didn't get home till after 3am! Talk about tired!
The next morning, after much sleeping in, I made brunch and Dan opened his basket-o-bike-gear and as you can see from the photo he got a new jersey and some new socks. The socks have a little tricycle like a hot wheel on them.

After brunch we moved outside so Dan could detail his bikes and I sanded the coffee table. I only got about 60% finished but I'm well on my way to having a coffee table that matches the end tables.

My sister Wendy celebrated her birthday on St. Paddy's. Oh, and Dan's twin Steve had his birthday on Sunday as well!