Spring Excursions

We've been enjoying a gorgeous spring here in central Texas. Spring is by far my favorite season in Texas-- and we only get 6-8 weeks of it before the relentless summer heat sets in and I become an angry, bitter person who hates Austin-- make that the entire state of Texas-- most of the people in it, and the sun itself. I have the opposite of winter seasonal affective disorder. Or maybe I should call it seasonal angry disorder. But that is neither here nor there. We've still got a little bit of spring left, and we've really made the most of the past few weekends. I don't know if it's the fact that we're more cooped up during the week than we were pre-baby, but since Nicholas reached the two month mark we've really made an effort to get out and do fun activities once the weekend rolls around.

At the end of March we took him on his first wine tasting trip. Yes, we're starting him young. He slept through much of it, but Mom and Dad loved checking out some wineries and enjoying a picnic lunch in nearby Driftwood. In the past, we've driven all the way out to Fredericksburg to visit our favorite local winery, Pedernales Cellars. But, with Nicholas in tow, we decided to stay a little closer to home and visited Duchman Family Winery, Driftwood Estate Winery, and Bell Springs Winery for the first time. We enjoyed all three, and found a few bottles to bring home with us.

Our spring has been a wet one by Texas standards, meaning that we had a bumper crop of wildflowers. Bluebonnet photos are an annual must for Texan families, so we spent a couple weeks scoping out the perfect location to set up a little photo shoot for Nicholas. We found a shady patch of flowers along the road behind a nearby housing development, set out a blanket, and got a little trigger happy with the camera. He was a little unsure about the whole thing, but we got some cute photos to help us remember his first spring.

(And our personal favorite...)

And this past weekend, we made a little trek out to Boggy Creek Farms to check out their farmer's market. We showed up around 11:30am, but unfortunately all the good stuff was sold out. Since I'm not yet at the stage with a baby where I have the time or inclination to conjure up meals with, say, Brussels sprouts greens, we walked away empty handed. But, we did stroll around the farm a little bit, checking out the flower gardens and chicken coops. Afterward., we enjoyed a tasty lunch at East Austin's Hillside Farmacy.

The coming months will undoubtedly include a lot of time spent parked indoors, on the couch, in the AC, but I'm glad we enjoyed some quality family time outdoors this spring. Maybe when the 78th consecutive day over 100 degrees hits this summer, I can take a look at these photos and feel just a little bit better...