The perfect picture oppertunity?

If you have ever lived in Texas in the spring

Then you know that the bluebonnet is the state flower.

And if you ever lived in Texas in the spring, with your kids

Then you know that in order to be a good parent you absolutely MUST take pictures of said kids in said flowers.

If you do not do this you have failed utterly and have become a disgrace that must be shunned and you will be forced to take pictures with some secondary wildflower instead. Shudder!

Now this is how it works. You grab the kids in their Sunday best.

Plop them in the middle of the flowers with out stomping on all of them. After all it is against the law to pick a bluebonnet and the bigger kids will panic every time the younger kids do so because now they will all go to jail. It is worth mentioning that I have never actually known any kids that went to jail for picking flowers.

Now the easy part.

Just take the picture while all 4 are looking at the camera and smiling.

just like that! Oh, never mind let's try that again.

OK again.

not to worry digital cameras do not run out of film.

hmmm, so it's getting worse not better.

AAAAAAAAAAaaah almost! just one more time kids and I think we'll get it!

Oh well there is always next year!

Caught in a net

Here is a lovely map of our lake. It's a 3 mile hike around. We've only done it once and we ended up carrying/dragging the kids the last 1.5 of it. I think we all have to work our lazy out of shape bottoms up for this. It really should not be a big deal.

The beach is right there on the right of the trail. The parking lot and very necessary bathrooms are just up to the left, and straight ahead, much to our squealing delight when we first saw it after they put it up.....

The ginormous molecular wannabe ball of shear climbing gratification.

Can I just say how awesome this picture is?

That is why you get another one just like it.

I might have to do something cool with this picture, I'm just not sure what yet.

Who ever came up with this kind of play scape was simply brilliant.

It is so much fun. Trust me I would know. The kids like to race me to the top.

Even though I'm much bigger than they are, it does not always play to my advantage.

I love feeling the Wind in my Hair

Another favorite of ours when going to Lake Pflugerville is the docks.

Often times people are out here fishing.

Hopefully after our camping trip, the kids will be a little more comfortable with their fishing poles.

Maybe then they will be ready to go fishing from the docks.

We also like to look for cool spiderwebs.

We have so many fishermen in the family.

I kind of feel like it is my duty to pass on the passion to the next generation.

My Morfar used to go fishing almost everyday.

Linda (my super sister) went with him a few years ago.

She told me how he would talk to the other fishermen about how good my grandmother was at cleaning and cooking the fish.

It just makes me feel so happy inside because my grandparents were very private with their love for each other.

It made the little glimpses you got very special.

Ian here is named after my Morfar.

Brandon Sanderson

(Friend helping Ivy read)

My wonderful mother in law send us the 2 first books in the mistborn series 

and I inhaled them!

Then I had to RUN to the library and borrow the last book. This series in fun, original, intelligent, and IMPOSSIBLE to put down!












Before I was introduced to Mistborn I was already interested in reading Brandon Sanderson. The reason being that since shortly after Jed and I got married, we have been reading the wheel of time Series













This is a very long series and Robert Jordan passed away before he had a chance to finish it. He did however leave detailed notes and instructions as to how the story was to proceed and with that in hand Brandon Sanderson was asked to complete the wheel of time.
When I read book 12, The Gathering Storm, this last fall, I noticed that I really liked the narrative that Brandon Sanderson brought to the story. I'm really excited for him to finish the last 2 books. Book 13 is being released this fall.











Having been so impressed by both series I was very interested in reading more by the same author so I found Alcatraz versus the evil librarians at the library and once again loved it. This book is aimed at middle schoolers but just so much fun. This series is still in the works. The second book is out and does not disappoint.











At this point I was thoroughly impressed by Mr. Sanderson so I found his homepage and on this homepage I found  THIS!!!! a FREE downloadable copy of his novel Warbreaker And of course it totally rocks and I hope he writes more to go with it.












Right now I waiting until I get closer to an Austin Public Library so I can check out Elantris, since the Pflugerville library does not have a copy.

Land locked beach of joy!

Lake Pflugerville is a man made wonder a 10 minute drive from the house. 

We love going there. It's big enough that there are waves coming in on the little artificial beach.

The area is still being developed and I was thrilled when I discovered the beach last year.

I grew up going to the beach and I have really missed it living this far inland.

Even though we went swimming in the lake last summer it was before the beach was open and I'm really looking forward to taking a dip here soon.

because this is just a few minutes from major shopping we sometimes swing by on the way home if we do not have anything in the car that will spoil.

There is a bit of a current so they have a safety zone marked off by the beach. You can still go swimming in the rest of the lake if you want to. I think the safety zone is an excellent idea when you have kids along though.

The only problem I have with going there is that even if we just stopped by for a quick walk, it is nearly impossible to keep the kids from getting at the very least very dirty shoes.

So far one of their favorite activities is to toss stuff in the water. I wonder why there is such satisfaction found in chucking rocks and sticks at the waves. I seem to remember spending hours throwing rocks in Dronningborg harbor as a teen myself

Sand seems to work just fine for them as well.

My only request for upgrading this fine designer piece of natural bliss would be a skipping stone beach somewhere else along the trail.

I would love to teach the kids to skip rocks. I have fond memories of my moms older brothers skipping bricks by Vesterhavet (the western ocean in Denmark).

The boat dock is just next to the beach. I think I will add a paddle boat to my list of stuff I want. How much fun would that be!

We'll have to bring some buckets next time so the kids can build a real sand castle. Of course it will be a lot more difficult to decorate with out all the oceanic treasures that we normally use. Seaweed. Seashells. random stuff you find on the beach.