Happy Father's Day!

J and I tried to make Father's Day as relaxing as we could for Daddy. We started off this morning by giving him some extra time to sleep. J and I headed to the grocery store as soon as it opened because I decided I wanted to cook breakfast instead of going out. We picked up what we needed (all but the New York Times-- apparently Texas is too far away to get that in all of the stores... I was pretty bummed about that) and headed home to prepare.

J played with some spices in the pantry while I mixed up the batter for crepes. Then I got some bacon cooking and got a tray ready with a mimosa and french crueller (not homemade, but B loves them from anywhere). J carried the gift bag while I had the tray and we woke up Daddy. He was surprised by the service, but was more surprised that he had slept about 10 hours. He loved his token grill tool (a large spatula-- What's Father's Day without a big grill tool?) We also got him a book called I LOVE DADDY BECAUSE... and a gift certificate to a barber shop in Austin (he's been dying for a good cut and a shave). We sat down to a yummy breakfast of crepes, berries, bacon and mimosas (plural until my placemat slipped and my glass broke... now we only have one wedding flute left Oops. Glad it wasn't Waterford!)

In the morning we took a walk at a local duck pond. There are so many varieties of ducks there. J almost ended up in the water because he has no fear and just kept on going. Thank goodness B wasn't too far behind. J loved seeing all of the ducks and yelling, "DUCK DUCK!" as he made the sign for duck at the same time.

We spent a nice time this afternoon at a local park. I love this park because there is plenty of shade and J is mesmerized by all of the gravel rocks. He loves to pick them up in his bucket. We could spend hours here. Today, J decided he wanted to eat one, and he swallowed it before I could get it out. So, we'll be on poop patrol for the next few days to make sure it didn't get in his lungs. F-U-N!

Who do you think was having more fun at the park?

For dinner we decided to grill some scallops, shrimp, mini peppers, and sirloin burgers. We also cooked up some balsamic onions, which have become a staple whenever we have burgers. They're so easy, but it always amazes me how much onion you lose as you cook them down. J also loves these onions. For dessert, we grilled some peaches and strawberries that were basted in a little balsamic vinegar. I didn't grill these long enough because they were falling off the skewers. Next time I have to play with them less and just be patient.

The day ended with a light rainshower and a beautiful rainbow afterwards! I think it was a pretty successful Father's Day. J is so lucky to have B for a daddy. We look forward to many Happy Father's days together!

Day Trip

Every boy wants his own tractor

This Saturday we took a trip to Blanco for their Lavender Festival. It's about an hour and a half away in the hill country. We packed up all of our Raffi cds and headed out the door. J was pretty well behaved in the car, a first for a longer ride. There was one point where we thought he may have felt a little car sick, but he was good most of the time. Once we got there, he showed no fear of crowds or lavender. He just took off towards the nearest dog and vendor and we just followed him. It was a little unnerving at first to watch how willing he was to just take off. Makes you realize how easy it is to lose your kid. Of course, we were like helicopters and didn't let him go as far as he thought he did. Aside from all sorts of lavender vendors set up in the town square, you can also take tours of the local lavender farms. We stopped at one on our way home so that we could get the token photo of the toddler in the fields.

It's so much fun to pull up all of the lavender stakes

Unfortunately we picked the farm that didn't grow that type of lavender that gets totally purple. Either that, or it just hasn't happened yet. In any case, we had a great time and have made a vow to take more little daytrips to break the monotony that has become a part of our weekends.

Because the trip to the farm was an afterthought, we had changed J out of this outfit because he was so sweaty, and we threw it on over his other onesie. Somewhere in between changing his diaper in the car (real fun with a 33 inch kid in your hubby's lap while you do the deed) and getting him situated in the carseat, we lost the shirt. We have no idea where it is. Hmm...

Iron Chef

J turned 16 months today. 16 months! Where has the time gone? In the past few days he has decided he likes to wear hats (we couldn't keep one on his head for more than 5 seconds). He also likes to yell (hat-d!) to everyone he sees wearing a hat. Very cute.

J is also preparing himself to be The Next Food Network Star. Today's secret ingredient is Brio blocks. He had the idea of putting his wooden shapes from his shape sorter toy into a pot. He loves playing with the pots. Next, he ran over to the stove and started begging for a spoon. I will often give J a spoon to stir his empty pot while I am cooking. He brought the spoon over to the pot and began stirring. Then he went in search of a lid and came back with two. He decided one was too big and then put on the other one which fit just right. He picked up the pot and moved it over to our small ottoman, which I think he was pretending was his stove. After a few seconds, I asked J if I could have some of his soup. He happily took off the lid, gave me a red cube and I pretended to eat it. He laughed hysterically as if this were the best thing we had ever done. I told him he should try his food, so he took out green cylinder and shoved it in his mouth, literally. This went on for nearly twenty minutes, which is a great deal of time for a toddler to stick to one task. He also fed B the same soup later on. What fun!