On Sunday, we took the kids to Town Lake Lady Bird Lake for a little kayaking adventure. I have plenty of experience with canoes, but always assumed that kayaks were those tiny little boats that you had to squeeze your legs down into. I had visions of flipping over as soon as I got into the water, and not being able to disentangle myself in order to escape. I’m hyperventilating just imagining that whole scenario.
But – I’ve always loved canoeing, and I kept thinking that it would be fun to do with the kids. And kayaks are supposed to be even easier to maneuver than canoes. So when my friend Rachel told me she went kayaking all by herself a while ago – I was intrigued. I took a look at the Rowing Dock’s website, noticed that the kayakers did not appear to be trapped and/or panicky, and decided that kayaking sounded like a lot more fun than doing 8 loads of laundry.
I carefully read over the FAQ and determined that I:
A) would stay relatively dry; and
B) should bring my tiny Flip video camera along to document the occasion (I wasn’t going to take any chances with the digital Rebel).
I was waaaay wrong on A), which made B) somewhat of a bad decision as well. One of our paddles was missing a stopper, which is supposed to keep the water from pouring off the paddle and down into your lap. I thought it seemed odd that I was getting a thorough soaking, while Neil was perfectly dry, but I wrote it off to his clearly superior kayaking skills. I filmed a few seconds at the beginning of the trip, then stuck the camera in the little fabric pouch, and put it behind the seat, which was nice and dry. For the first minute anyway.
When we caught up with Neil and Abby the first time, Neil asked about the camera, and I said “Oh yeah – I was worried about it getting wet in my lap, so I stuck it behind the seat where it’s nice and dr……… What the *&%#@?!?! Where did all this water come from?!!?”
I pulled out the now sopping wet camera, wrung out the bag, and handed it over to Neil for safe(r) keeping. Amazingly, it still worked, despite sloshing around in 3 inches of water for almost 15 minutes! (Actually, I knew exactly how long my beloved Flip video had been sloshing around, as I had neglected to turn the thing off before I stuck it back in the bag and behind the seat).
What you can’t tell from the video was how very different our two paths were. Neil and Abby’s route went something like this:
While Travis’ and mine went more like this:
See that one straight part on the return trip? That’s where Neil and Abby took pity on us, and kept us somewhat on track by rowing along one side. Notice that it didn’t last very long.
I think there was definitely some sort of rudder on the bottom of our kayak, sabotaging our every attempt to go in a straight line. It made for a pretty long trip, and I got to hear plenty about how Travis “KNEW he should have gone with dad!” And also “They’re going to beat us! We’ll never catch up now!” And “MOM!!!!! STEER!!!” Good times, let me tell you!
I tried to explain that we were getting so much more exercise this way, and also we could also see more of the ducks and turtles close-up, while Neil and Abby just zoomed right on by. I think I heard growling from the front seat, but I’m not sure.
Despite the crazy steering issue, and the soaked shorts, we really did have fun. And once my arms have recovered, I’d like to go again. I’m definitely going with Neil this time though.
P.S. – Several of you have let me know that you can’t comment, and I finally figured out the problem – it should be fixed now, so please feel free to comment away!
While Neil and Abby were at the Father-Daughter dance, Travis and I participated in Earth Hour, and turned off all the lights, TVs, and computers (gasp!) in the house. Since it was still twilight when it started at 8 PM, we went outside for a bit and played around. I tried a bit of nightime photography on my overgrown antique roses.
This is one I picked up with my friend Sheri when we took at trip out to the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham. I basically threw the thing in a hole in the backyard about 7 years ago, and forgot about it. It’s already covered in large, six-inch blooms, and has taken over about 6 feet of the fence. This particular rose is Souvenir de la Malmaison – you’d think that a plant with such a snooty-sounding name would be a little more persnickity. But the beautiful thing about antique roses is that they behave kind of like native plants. They don’t require the same kind of diligence that hybrid teas do – perfect for lazy gardeners like me.
Travis spent a while doing his best to get airborne by jumping off the swing. He managed pretty well.
After he had acheived maximum vertical swingitude, we decided to go on a walk around the neighborhood. We couldn’t have had better weather for a late-night walk, and we headed over to Aunt Diane’s. Unfortunately, no one had clued them in on Earth Hour, and we didn’t want to cheat by hanging out and using their electricity, so we chatted for a bit and walked back home. Then we grabbed a blanket and went outside to lie on the trampoline and look at the stars. Maybe by the next Earth Hour, we’ll be able to see a few more…
Friday night at our house only means one thing. Ok, two things. Here’s the first:
Because we’re so hi-class. See how it says 1 box = 4 bottles? I think Target must be lying.
And the 2nd thing?
What does it say about you when your pizza is classier than your wine?
We don’t do this exact pizza every Friday night – we like to change it up. I make a batch of pizza dough in the bread machine, and split it up 3 ways (not exactly equal – Neil and I share, and the kids make their own). Normally, we grill them outside on our Big Green Egg, but Neil was gone tonight, and I didn’t want to deal with running back and forth between a raging fire and the kitchen, so I just threw them in a 500 degree oven on top of the trusty pizza stone. I definitely prefer the grill – we can crank it up to about 650, and it really makes for an outstanding crackly, bubbly crust.
This one was brushed with truffle oil, and topped with crumbled bacon, goat cheese, and caramelized onions. I wanted to put some arugula on there, but forgot to buy it. I did have some leftover green onions, so I sprinkled those on just for a little color. And for something completely different, I added a few tiny dolllops of fig preserves on a slice. I wasn’t sure how that would turn out, but North makes a similar pizza that I LOVE, so I figured it was worth a shot. Ohhhhh…and was it ever delicious! I loved the unexpected sweetness paired with the salty bacon and goat cheese. It just doesn’t get much better than that.
The kids like to shape their own dough, and they usually come up with some interesting creations. Sadly, the dough designs don’t always translate well once the pizzas are cooked. Take, for example, Travis’ pizza from tonight:
You might be thinking – that’s a pretty tasty looking…um…fish? Well, it started out as a baseball trophy, including the little dude on top holding the ball. I know, it’s hard to see it now, but believe me – it looked just like that before I threw it in the oven.
Little League is back in full swing (no pun intended – really), and our team moved up to Machine Pitch this year. It’s been a bit of a transition, but they’re making steady improvements every time they play, and they won their game tonight 4-0 (and left bases loaded in 2 innings). So far they’d only played against teams who had moved up last year, so they already had a full year of Machine Pitch under their belts. It’s a lot more fun to play when you’re evenly matched.
Travis got some good hits and caught a pop-fly, so he was pretty happy with that.
Gum addiction courtesy of mom, “micro-butt” and ginormous chompers by dad.
The belly-itcher pitcher is pretty incredible this year. He throws around 40 mph.
I just hope this doesn’t cause another baseball-related injury, like that time during practice last year when he pulled a hamstring bending over to pick a ball up off the ground. Something tells me that the chance of injury in this position is pretty low…
The main goal of neighborball is to kick a soccer ball back and forth over the fence until one or both players get sick of it. Hands are absolutely not allowed, and you foul if you hit the fence.
Our neighbors are moving in a few weeks – I’m sure we drove them out with our incessant all-night partying, wine boxes, and heathen children. We’ll be sad to see them go – we’re not close friends or anything, but they are the nicest family, and the kids play together pretty much every day (we even occasionally let them socialize without a fence between them). And they’re taking their basketball goal with them. Travis will miss that basketball goal.
Neil and I will miss the fence repairs, and the occasional freshly-raked lawn, courtesy of the kids next door (our kids usually return the favor).
Tanner approves of neighborball.
Filed under: holidays, kids, music | Tags: easter, kids, parenting, Pat Green
Smart girls DO rule! And so does the Easter Bunny. Even for the skeptical.
Easter started early at our house, after Neil and I got home from the Pat Green concert at Nutty Brown. What a great show – it was a perfect spring night, with a full moon right over the stage. Nutty Brown is a step above The Backyard IMO, but like every other concert venue, they could use a few more bathrooms and a more efficient will-call line to pick up tickets. Still, there was plenty of room (even for Neil’s jumbo-sized UT camp chair), and the sound was perfect.
Most of my pictures turned out crummy (we were about halfway back from the stage, and being somewhat vertically challenged doesn’t help). But when Brandon pointed out the full moon over the stage, and I managed to elbow my way up a few rows to get a decent shot.
That’s Django Walker on the left (Jerry Jeff’s son), who wrote Texas On My Mind. I will say that Pat Green puts on an entertaining show, despite (because of?) being drunk as a skunk. And he doesn’t look constipated in all of the photos, just most of them.
I really dislike country music as a rule, but I make an exception for Texas singers and songwriters. And Hank Williams Jr.
Anyway, after we finally got home and put a couple of exhausted kiddos to bed, we got hoppin’ with the Easter Bunny goods. Sara and I came up with the scavenger hunt clues this year, and she designed these stinkin’ cute clues. I printed them out, stuck them in plastic eggs, and hid them all over the house. This takes more brain power than one might think, since you kind of have to work your way backwards, starting with the Easter baskets (hidden behind the shower curtain), and putting the clue to that spot in the egg that you’re hiding somewhere else. Ok, it doesn’t sound all that complicated now, but at 1 AM, it took some concentration!
By all accounts, the scavenger hunt was a huge success. And it let us stay in bed for at least 10 more minutes. Win-win all around.
