Bens field trip to Austin Nature centre

So Mum and I offered to be adult help on the field trip for the first graders. It was to Austin Nature centre which I had not been too before, so that was interesting.

we spent a morning there and had lunch at a different park.

The kids enjoyed finding out about nature, they have just finished a section on pond life and habitats, so seeing the place deer slept last night, and pond dipping, watching for birds etc was great for them. the guide was great with the kids, he understood how to talk to them and keep them interested.

the sign about the snakes is always interesting...we had a field trip earlier this year in West cave preserve..must check if I put that on the blog...and the two classes that had gone the day before had a snake on the path down..and it did not move out of the way..which is unusual..so i have learnt to be on the look out for snakes now..I did think the sign was a good way to remind the kids that this is actually the snakes habitat and they need to respect that..and of course a very good reminder to the adults to keep an eye!!

I am on two field trips next week..Austin zoo with Ben and Austin cemetery with Alex..so more photos to follow..

The wildflowere centre

Mum , Jo and I went to the Lady Bird Johnston wildflower centre..it was beautiful. It is very close to where we live and is dedicated to wildflowers of Texas.

When we came here, we had heard many times how Austin was famous for its wildflowers..we could not understand why, and then the drought of the last three years ended, and we had good rain this winter...and the transformation of the road sides, gardens, school areas..it was amazing..so beautiful and fresh..the colours are amazing and the shear number of wildflowers is lovely...if you like plants you need to visit from march until mid ,may, we have plenty of them then, before it get too hot for flowers to survive.

Arriving in Austin

Our flight from NY was delayed by 4 hours, so Allan collected us at 2am..not great but we were all in good spirits, and the children still cam e rushing into see us at 0630hrs, as they got ready for school..I made then wait to say Hi to Mum until just before they left for school at 0710hrs...

once here mum has relaxed and enjoyed the brilliant weather..spring has truly sprung for us, all the trees are out, the flowers are popping up every where and the lows are in the 50 or 60's and the highs are above 75f every day..fantastic..mum is tanning, reading and the boys are reminding her how loud they can be...which is pretty loud actually.

We have done some shopping, mum came with me to a card class on my birthday, and we have been grilling as well. As we visit places I will get them on the blog as well.

I have a few more NY photo's to put up and a class trip Ben went on, so hopefully you will get more photo's soon.

Mum's leaving this afternoon -but lunch first

At Alex and Ben's school you can join your children for lunch, you have to sit on the stage, which the kids love, they can look loftily down on their classes and get to eat what ever you bring for them- it does not have to be school food.
So for mum's last lunchtime in Texas she went out in style down at Baranoff elementary school and had lunch, Ben's lunch time is 10.43am until 11.12, and Alex's is 12.12 until 12.43, so we were up and down from the school, around final packing, filling the car with petrol( or gas!!!) and putting all mum's visit photo's on a memory stick for her. benjamin wanted a pack lunch with a jam sandwich, Alex's wanted a KFC, so had to fit collecting that as well.

Mum's last day -Sunday 1st March

This is some bats flying at sunset. I am getting better at doing the blog than I am photography. The Congress Avenue Bridge spans Town Lake in downtown Austin and is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America. The colony is estimated at 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats. Each night from early March to November, the bats emerge from under the bridge at dusk to blanket the sky as they head out to forage for food. This event has become one of the most spectacular and unusual tourist attractions in Texas. The most spectacular bat flights are during hot, dry August nights, when multiple columns of bats emerge. There are several points from which to view the event, and an information kiosk is located on the north bank of the river, just east of the bridge. As you can see we went on a boat, and were the only people on it, so a private tour was had . derek our captain gave us a great narrative on Austin, let the younger ones steer the boat and as you can see, let us drink wine.

I am trying to be a budding photographer here- sunset looking down Town lake
Alex and Ben steering the boat - Allan watching- just in case. our boys have spirit!!!
Still aiming for photographer of the year- Downtown Austin at Sun set.
There's that picture of mum and I with wine!
Before we went on the boat, we had a family meal at Texas Land and Cattle at Zilker, so we were full and ready for a cool boat trip. That is Texas cool by the way. jack had his normal- a 20oz steak. i think he will look like one soon.

more photos from the leaving party

The outside playscape was used earlier in the afternoon, not all children need technology to be happy.

Victoria , in the white coat, was 21 again, so we sang to her. the Lush ladies of Austins children choir led the way.
Texas size kebab's-called kabobs here
braving our cold front, Andrew( who Cara babysits for twice a week-well his two girls actually) Christie and Thomas.
Alfred- who wear's a uniform!!

can you see I like labeling photo's

Mum's good bye party

Me conducting a happy Birthday for Victoria, who's birthday was the following day, Sunday

Alan Hunter enjoying, just enjoying. He does it so quietly compared to my noisy

Mum, Sandi and I. Emily was trying to take photo's of me and mum, and found that I do not stand still for long- so I posed for this!! a rare occurrence when sober
Diana's husband John chatting to mum- please note all the food- it was Texas Awesome, all dips kindly provided by friends, and the cookies and muffins as well.
Charlotte and mum. Mum and I had been to coffee with Emily( Charlotte's daughter), the day before at 9am, remember we start our school days earlier, so mum and Charlotte had already met and were happy to keep chatting.

Well the aprty was set for 4pm, started well, got better and over 40 people came. we had children running around, the Wii going in the family room, Rockband in the drawing room, Allan outside cooking on the grill( getting quiet cold as a cold front came in on the saturday) the men seemed to collect out there, and us ladies stayed near the wine and food. It shows a lot of common sense. We let the upstairs play area open up as well, as the temperatures outside did drop down into the low 60's and high 50's by the time we had finished, with the wind as well, we needed to allow inside play!! I am getting soft.

A real American Hamburger

Mum was fascinated with this buffalo, so I thought I would include a picture, we were sititng facing it during the meal!!

Our side of half and half( fries and onion rings), we only needed one portion between the three of us

To help you gauge the size of the rings, mum is holding one for you!!

And then there is the drinks!! Everything is bigger in Texas

Mum had asked to try and American hamburger, so Jo and Alan recommended 'Huts', a very popular spot for hamburgers, great memorabilia on the walls, and freshly cooked food. It was great. Huts is downtown, so off we went one lunchtime( after mum had bought me herbs for my birthday present, to replace all the ones I had to leave behind) so we were ready for some food. The icing on the cake was Cara paid for lunch as well- Go Cara!!

The Capital building, Downtown Austin

Mum and I went down to see the Capitol building on Wednesday 25th February, and had a delightful time. They were actually in session so we were not able to see in the House of the Senate , but we went in to the house of representatives, it was beautiful inside and we went on a tour so we saw a variety of areas and got alot of the history as well. The picture above is from the extension, they needed more space so built an underground office block, with sky lights and this open area, so it does not feel like you are underground at all. very well constructed. we then went to the Visitors centre, which is one of the oldest buildings in Austin, but by then we needed to head home for the children coming out of school, so we will be going back again when mum next visits.

An update on Mum's visit

I have been taking mum around more tourist sites this week, as we have more time since the marathon is over. On Thursday we went to ladybird Johnson wild flower park. The wild flowers are not really out yet, there will be more on display from March, but it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed popping down there. I had not been and it is very close to where we live, so was good to know for all you future visitors.
On Friday I took mum down to San Antonio to see The Alamo and River walk, it was once again a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun, went on a riverboat tour, we had lunch at one restaurant and then dessert and coffee at another. Lots of fun. It was more steps than mum has had to encounter here and I think her knees were glad of the Pinot Grigio we drank during the day. Certainly a more civilizes day than when we took all four children in July last year.

Our ladies Luncheon

Today we went to The Salt Lick, a one of a kind Texan barbecue restaurant. It is famous for its huge barbecue pit that they cook all the meat on, in the picture you can see the 'stoker' putting more wood on the fire. It is a simple layout, huge tables, simple service and a limited menu- great place to go and enjoy yourself and have excellent food. I had arranged for a group of us to meet for lunch there, which was a lot of fun. The Salt Lick is a dry restaurant so we took our own beer and wine, and then ate a lot of meat with sides of coleslaw and potato salad. being Texan portions, we shared two desserts of cobblers-peach and blackberry between the seven of us!!
Cara was not allowed to drink-Texan law not her mothers!, so she kindly drove mum, Jo and I home- we, you see, can drink!!!! next time we might need to car pool more as Londa, Diana and Victoria all drove! We had to make this an early lunch as most of us had children to collect from school, but the day was fun, great company and the conversation flowed like the wine.

The Birthday Party

We held a small gathering for mum, so she was able meet neighbours and friends( not that our neighbours are not our friends!!). The evening was a lot of fun and hopefully rounded of mums day to help her feel special, which she is of course.