Austin Art Yard Tour

Austin recently held its annual Art Yard Tour, a couple of days where "yardists" open up their yards and sometimes their homes to the public so we can see what kind of artistic scenes they've created on their property. Sometimes the yards are silly, sometimes funny, and sometimes a little creepy.

I found this front yard extremely cheerful.

The yard that goes by "Smut Putt Heaven," on the other hand, sorta creeped me out!

I think this yardist has a mild fetish for doll heads.

Ya think?

The woman who lives here, Florence, was really cool. She explained that, living in a low-income area, she wanted to create a safe space for the neighborhood children to come and play and learn. She is also a mosaic artist.

Her yard contained a playscape, classroom-type area, garden, and other fun stuff for kids to. 

I wish I had time to visit more yards on the tour. I know there are dozens of awesomely weird art yards in this town. The Cathedral of Junk is my favorite. It's even interactive -- you can climb on it!

After the tour, Tony took Olivia to run some errands, and I had some one-on-one time with my little dude. We went to Sweet Ritual for vegan ice cream. We sampled their salted caramel soft serve at VegFest a few weeks ago and I was excited to visit their ice cream parlor and see what else they offer.

I tried to guide Jackson towards a bowl, but he insisted on a cone. He definitely needed a change of clothes by the time he was finished! But he loved every messy, drippy bite of that chocolate cone.

I had a mint cookie shake with Oreo bits crushed up in it. Mint chocolate chip ice cream is my favorite. This shake was so good. Minty perfection, the perfect cap on a fun Austin afternoon.

Have a great weekend!