When I hear the names of some of these smaller towns outside of Austin they amuse me. There are some wierd pronunciations of different areas of town and street names.. For instance the city we live in is Manor but it's pronounced MAYnor.
When I mentioned this observation to Toby he reminded me that Mobile is often pronounced MoBILE with a long I, and that Gautier Mississippi is in no way pronounced the way it is spelled. I guess when you live in a city all your life you don't really notice pronunciations because that's what you have always known them to be.
Anyway, on with the day. There's literally not much to write about but for the sake of blogging here goes.
We visited Lake Pflugerville today. Of course it extremely hot and dry here so there is not much to do but stay indoors or go swimming. I have always prided myself on loving the heat....and I do, as long as the temps don't go over 95 degrees.
The lake was pretty cool. There is a jogging/biking trail that runs around the whole perimeter of the lake. I left Toby and Summer to swimming while I started to explore the area by walking the trail. The heat was just too much for me to enjoy my walk so I headed back and hung out in the water with the family.
We were going to walk around the lake in the water but just as we were starting our walk Summer stepped on a needle. A needle of all things at the lake. Anyway, it wasn't all that bad of a stick but being the dramatic child Summer is this kind of ruined it for her and she was ready to leave. So, as usual I only get to see part of an area I go to explore.
The worst part of this day is that I somehow deleted the pics I took before they were downloaded onto my computer. So no personal pics. Here are some pics from off the web if you want to take an impersonal look at the lake. http://tx-pflugerville2.civicplus.com/index.asp?nid=824
After the lake we had to go do Toby chores. That's never fun to me so I was really glad when we got back to the house. We swam in our yard pool for a little while and that was that for the day.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
My Birthday!
I just turned a ripe 44 years old! Although I feel somewhat physically older, my mind feels to be that of a young woman. I wish that I had only had the insight I do now when I was younger. My mind goes one hundred miles an hour. I don't remember ever feeling so alive as I have the past several months.
We actually celebrated my birthday while Toby was playing hookie on Monday. Summer made me a card, styled my hair and gave me a massage. Toby was extra sweet and bought me an ipod. That was my incentive to start walking again once this oppressive heat subsides. Unfortunately, I don't like swimming enough to use that as a form of excercise. My main goal in a swimming pool is to relax and enjoy the sun.
Today was also playdate day. Angela and I took the girls to Radijazz playnasium. It was really cool. There was a fake volcano with a foam lava play pit and some other kid oriented structures. There were plenty of comfy seats for the parents to sit back and relax too. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so no pics.
After the playnasium we took the girls to the bakery a few doors down and ate some bakery items. I was surprised they were very reasonably priced. I was expecting to pay more than I wanted to.
We actually celebrated my birthday while Toby was playing hookie on Monday. Summer made me a card, styled my hair and gave me a massage. Toby was extra sweet and bought me an ipod. That was my incentive to start walking again once this oppressive heat subsides. Unfortunately, I don't like swimming enough to use that as a form of excercise. My main goal in a swimming pool is to relax and enjoy the sun.
Today was also playdate day. Angela and I took the girls to Radijazz playnasium. It was really cool. There was a fake volcano with a foam lava play pit and some other kid oriented structures. There were plenty of comfy seats for the parents to sit back and relax too. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so no pics.
After the playnasium we took the girls to the bakery a few doors down and ate some bakery items. I was surprised they were very reasonably priced. I was expecting to pay more than I wanted to.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Playing Hookie
Working two jobs takes a toll on a man so Toby decided to play hookie today. We took advantage of the day by doing some sightseeing. Our first destination was to the Loop 360 Pennybacker Bridge. The drive to the bridge has beautiful scenery so we stopped off to the side of the road and took some snapshots. That in itself is a feat. The roads are really winding and hilly but that doesn't seem to stop these Austinites from driving 100 miles an hour around the curves.
Here are some shots at the lookout over Pennybacker:
Our next stop was Emma Long Park which is nearby. We put it on our list of favorite parks. There was actually some "sand", which was mostly dirt, at the beach area.
There seemed to be some kind of vulture fest going on here. Click on the pic and look in the top of the tree:
Summer found some "sand" playmates:
After we left the park we headed home to our own park/pool and took advantage of some swim time.
One of the things I love most about this city is there is so much to do that no one place is ever overcrowded. There are enough different activities to entertain the masses of people.
Here are some shots at the lookout over Pennybacker:
Our next stop was Emma Long Park which is nearby. We put it on our list of favorite parks. There was actually some "sand", which was mostly dirt, at the beach area.
There seemed to be some kind of vulture fest going on here. Click on the pic and look in the top of the tree:
Summer found some "sand" playmates:
After we left the park we headed home to our own park/pool and took advantage of some swim time.
One of the things I love most about this city is there is so much to do that no one place is ever overcrowded. There are enough different activities to entertain the masses of people.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Family Day
My mind works in overdrive here. There are SO many things to see and do in not only Austin but in the whole central Texas area. My hobby these days is researching interesting sites and logging them on a list of "my 1000 places to see before I die".
Unfortunately with Toby's one off day a week comes certain chores.....like getting him a haircut and some other tid bit stuff he had to do that could not be done during the week.
After we got our "chores" done in Austin we grabbed a bite to eat and headed back home. What better thing to do on a hot Texas day but swim in the neighborhood pool. Evertime I go to that pool I love it more. It is never crowded and it's 3 minutes from our house.
On the way to the pool I wanted to get a little sightseeing in so we took the "long way" to the pool.
Here is a pic of a "Ghost Town" here in Manor. Toby and I haven't quite figured out what this really is yet. They advertise food, music, and special events but we can't seem to find any info on it. And of course, everytime we stop in to ask questions, there is no one there......just like a ghost town.
Here is a pic of some Texas longhorns. The longhorn is a very popular symbol here. It's all over T-shirts and cars. I think it has something to do with the UT sports team.
This pic is of a place that is very intrigueing to me. Unless you were raised in a family that was very car oriented it would probably not strike your attention. It's a junkyard on Hog Eye Road. What makes it unusual to me is that most of the cars here are very old vehicles. I couldn't really get a good pic without tresspassing so hopefully you can see a glimpse of the yard.
A little while after we got to the pool our neighbors on the other side of us arrived.......not to be mistaken as the neighbors of the two kids that Summer usually plays with. It was nice to have some company at the pool.
After a couple of hours I felt myself scorching so it was time to go home and enjoy the evening.
Unfortunately with Toby's one off day a week comes certain chores.....like getting him a haircut and some other tid bit stuff he had to do that could not be done during the week.
After we got our "chores" done in Austin we grabbed a bite to eat and headed back home. What better thing to do on a hot Texas day but swim in the neighborhood pool. Evertime I go to that pool I love it more. It is never crowded and it's 3 minutes from our house.
On the way to the pool I wanted to get a little sightseeing in so we took the "long way" to the pool.
Here is a pic of a "Ghost Town" here in Manor. Toby and I haven't quite figured out what this really is yet. They advertise food, music, and special events but we can't seem to find any info on it. And of course, everytime we stop in to ask questions, there is no one there......just like a ghost town.
Here is a pic of some Texas longhorns. The longhorn is a very popular symbol here. It's all over T-shirts and cars. I think it has something to do with the UT sports team.
This pic is of a place that is very intrigueing to me. Unless you were raised in a family that was very car oriented it would probably not strike your attention. It's a junkyard on Hog Eye Road. What makes it unusual to me is that most of the cars here are very old vehicles. I couldn't really get a good pic without tresspassing so hopefully you can see a glimpse of the yard.
A little while after we got to the pool our neighbors on the other side of us arrived.......not to be mistaken as the neighbors of the two kids that Summer usually plays with. It was nice to have some company at the pool.
After a couple of hours I felt myself scorching so it was time to go home and enjoy the evening.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Saturday
I took Toby to work today for the sole intention of making it to the Umlauf Gardens. The gardens don't open until 1:00 so we had about 30 min to kill before heading there.
After getting to the shop we just hung out with Toby for a little while. Since we don't see him much anymore, we were enjoying his company. Once the other artist got to the shop we convinced Toby to walk a couple of blocks down to the museum and convention center that we never made it to a couple of weeks ago. It's easy for him to walk around close by the shop with us because they can call us on the cell if the shop gets busy.
Of course it's 100 plus degress so it's not really all that pleasant to walk around but I really wanted to get some sights in. The museum itself is just an old house of some historical person that used to live there.....O'Henry or something like that. It was a really small house and not all that interesting (I'm glad it was free) so we moved on to the convention center.
On the way to the convention center we spotted a little blue jay that obviously had just flew the coup. He was in the little small park behind the museum flapping around. I didn't have much faith that before long he wouldn't end up in the busy streets of downtown not to mention being lunch for the huge German Shepard that was being walked in this park spotting him.
The convention center was nothing to be noted other than it was HUGE like everything else here......and of course air conditioned,so we hung out there till the sweat dried off of us.
As we were walking back to the shop I took a shot of the Frost Bank building. Don't you think that it's a very close resemblence to the RSA building in downtown Mobile?
In the end I decided that it was much to hot to be visiting an outside garden. I think I will wait until our temps go down for the garden venture.
Summer's allowance has been burning a whole in her pocket so we decided to go to Target. My full intention was to also buy me something new for my wardrobe. I have a birthday coming up and I always take pleasure in buying something that I outherwise would not. Unfortunately, I did not see anything that struck my fancy.
After getting to the shop we just hung out with Toby for a little while. Since we don't see him much anymore, we were enjoying his company. Once the other artist got to the shop we convinced Toby to walk a couple of blocks down to the museum and convention center that we never made it to a couple of weeks ago. It's easy for him to walk around close by the shop with us because they can call us on the cell if the shop gets busy.
Of course it's 100 plus degress so it's not really all that pleasant to walk around but I really wanted to get some sights in. The museum itself is just an old house of some historical person that used to live there.....O'Henry or something like that. It was a really small house and not all that interesting (I'm glad it was free) so we moved on to the convention center.
On the way to the convention center we spotted a little blue jay that obviously had just flew the coup. He was in the little small park behind the museum flapping around. I didn't have much faith that before long he wouldn't end up in the busy streets of downtown not to mention being lunch for the huge German Shepard that was being walked in this park spotting him.
The convention center was nothing to be noted other than it was HUGE like everything else here......and of course air conditioned,so we hung out there till the sweat dried off of us.
As we were walking back to the shop I took a shot of the Frost Bank building. Don't you think that it's a very close resemblence to the RSA building in downtown Mobile?
In the end I decided that it was much to hot to be visiting an outside garden. I think I will wait until our temps go down for the garden venture.
Summer's allowance has been burning a whole in her pocket so we decided to go to Target. My full intention was to also buy me something new for my wardrobe. I have a birthday coming up and I always take pleasure in buying something that I outherwise would not. Unfortunately, I did not see anything that struck my fancy.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Symphony Square
It was Children's Day at the Square today. It's kind of like Kid's Day in Bienville but a little more elaborate and without the undesireables. :-) The focus was on musical instruments and there were samples and explanations for all the musical instruments in an orchestra. It's also held in Symphony Square which is a pretty cool area of downtown Austin that I have not checked out yet. I put the area on my list of places to venture because I noticed there are some trails that lead off from the square.
After the "show" we took the kids to the Art Park where they had crafts, face painting and other activities.
Since it was an overcast day and the weather was comfortable, Angela and I decided to take the kids and walk down towards the Capitol. There is a Bakers Emporium that I have tried to check out a few times but they are closed on the weekends.
The Emporium was nothing like I thought it was. The place was filled with 2 stories of homemade craft items. Senior citizens ran the place. It's very rare to see old people in this city... especially downtown, so it was a little nice to see the old folks. There was also a dining area in the back where they served food like your grandmother would cook. If it had been just Summer and I we probably would have stayed and ate lunch, but Angela's baby was starting to "voice" her disapproval of being out and about past her naptime.
After the Emporium the girls wanted some Jamba Juice. It was just a few blocks down from the Emporium......you can't go downtown without getting Jamba Juice.
Summer wanted Jordan to come home with us so Jordan just rode back to the house with us. After we got back to the house the girls played in the pool the rest of the afternoon.
After the "show" we took the kids to the Art Park where they had crafts, face painting and other activities.
Since it was an overcast day and the weather was comfortable, Angela and I decided to take the kids and walk down towards the Capitol. There is a Bakers Emporium that I have tried to check out a few times but they are closed on the weekends.
The Emporium was nothing like I thought it was. The place was filled with 2 stories of homemade craft items. Senior citizens ran the place. It's very rare to see old people in this city... especially downtown, so it was a little nice to see the old folks. There was also a dining area in the back where they served food like your grandmother would cook. If it had been just Summer and I we probably would have stayed and ate lunch, but Angela's baby was starting to "voice" her disapproval of being out and about past her naptime.
After the Emporium the girls wanted some Jamba Juice. It was just a few blocks down from the Emporium......you can't go downtown without getting Jamba Juice.
Summer wanted Jordan to come home with us so Jordan just rode back to the house with us. After we got back to the house the girls played in the pool the rest of the afternoon.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Granger Lake
Our weekly destination this week was to Granger Lake. Someone Toby works with had told him about it so I did a little research and we headed out. The drive there was new scenery to me and since I have taken up driving again I didn't really get to "sightsee" as much as I would have liked.
The lake was only about an hour away. We drove through a new town called Taylor. They had a really nice park/pool there. I have noticed that even the smaller towns outside of Austin have pools/waterparks in their towns. There is an endless amount of water play here.
When we got to the lake we were quite pleased. The lake was huge and there is camping, hiking trails, canoeing, swimming, etc. Again, we didn't get to see but a portion of the park. It's one of those places that we will be back to......probably to camp.
I found it funny that there were signs pointing to the "beach" within the park. I was a little excited that I may see some sand, but to no avail. The "beach" was rocks. Even though, it was still nice clean, swimable water.
We had a really good day at the "beach".
The lake was only about an hour away. We drove through a new town called Taylor. They had a really nice park/pool there. I have noticed that even the smaller towns outside of Austin have pools/waterparks in their towns. There is an endless amount of water play here.
When we got to the lake we were quite pleased. The lake was huge and there is camping, hiking trails, canoeing, swimming, etc. Again, we didn't get to see but a portion of the park. It's one of those places that we will be back to......probably to camp.
I found it funny that there were signs pointing to the "beach" within the park. I was a little excited that I may see some sand, but to no avail. The "beach" was rocks. Even though, it was still nice clean, swimable water.
We had a really good day at the "beach".
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