Lucky Robot

Tony had been telling me how great Lucky Robot is. He goes there for lunch sometimes since it is near his office. Finally we all got to try it. He was right! Can't wait to go back. The decor is kitschy and fun and adorable.

Jasmine tea, I'm obsessed with you right now! Who doesn't want to drink flowers?

I started with some miso soup, slurp slurp!

Then I had the Veggiepillar sushi roll, with eggplant, carrot, cucumber, avocado, and serrano pepper, with yuzu jelly for dipping (as well as the usual wasabi, ginger and soy sauce.) 

Jackson and Olivia shared a veggie udon bowl with tofu, with lots of crispy seared broccoli. It was delicious as well!

For dessert we shared a chocolate cupcake with white chocolate frosting and a white chocolate heart on top. Love.

These two. So much love.

All the Cookies

This past Christmas we started a new tradition of baking cookies to give to teachers and support staff at Jackson and Olivia's school. The kids picked which cookies to make (all recipes were from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar) and we ended up with a great assortment.

Linzertorte Thumbprint Cookies, filled with luscious raspberry jam.

Cherry Almond Cookies, packed full of fruit and nuts.

Can't go wrong with cinnamon-dusted Snickerdoodles!

I love the appearance of these Chocolaty Crinkle Cookies when they come out of the oven.

The Macacamia Ginger Crunch Drops were my personal favorite. The nuts, ginger, and coconut extract give them a unique, tropical flavor.

Finally, our Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows turned out a little weird. I misread the directions and used all black cocoa powder, instead of a mix of black and regular cocoas. The cookies came out a little oily. We kept them and didn't include them in the gift boxes! 

In addition to the cookies, we made a bunch of vanilla mini-cupcakes for the school's winter fundraiser.

After all that baking, it was nice to clean up and put on some fancy clothes for Tony's work holiday party.

This is really the last of my holiday posts, haha! The elves send their best until next year.

Urban Air

A new trampoline place called Urban Air recently opened in our neighborhood. Naturally, Jackson and Olivia dove right in.

Just a blur of unlimited energy.

Dodgeball!

Obstacle course!

They are such monkeys.

After working up an appetite, we met my parents at 600 Degrees Pizzeria in Georgetown. They do pizza by the slice, and there are a ton of specialty pizzas to choose from. I went with with the "Georgetown" featuring smoked gouda, portabella mushroom, tomato, spinach, and pesto. The slices are huge! Look how tiny my fork looked in comparison!

Snow Day, Texas-Style

Since we don't get actual, natural snow here except once in a blue moon, there are companies, like this one, that specialize in providing "snow day" experiences to snow-deprived Texan children. We attended one this year at the Galleria, an outdoor mall. 

It was slushy and cold and snowballs were flying fast and hard. We parent spectators kept having to step back further away from the snow, to avoid getting nailed in the face by our frenzied, snow-crazed offspring.

Showing off his biggest creation.

Ready to unleash a face full of white vengeance.

Afterwards we tracked our soggy, chilled kiddos into the nearby Buenos Aires Cafe for a clothing change and a warm meal. I started with a verdura empanada, filled with spinach and ricotta.

I also enjoyed a mixta salad, with greens, tomatoes, carrots, pickled onions, and citrus vinaigrette.

The desserts were all on display that, naturally, caught my kids' attention. We ended up sharing a couple of them: the strawberry-and-whipped-cream-laden pionono, and the tart and wonderful meringue-topped lemon pie.

Will I Ever Catch Up

Time for another holiday post, will I ever get through my old pictures? It is possible. Some day. Goals are important to have.

"Show me how much you love Christmas."

Over the winter break, we visited an art gallery in Round Rock that gets taken over by model train enthusiasts each holiday season.

Their vignettes are so detailed, it is pretty neat to see how much time and effort they put into constructing them. And of course, Jackson and Olivia loved taking turns playing conductor.

Winter village.

Carnival.

The roller coaster had a little car that ran along the tracks, although you can't see it here.

One of the first meals I ever learned to make was pasta with tofu, broccoli, and peanut sauce. Here it is many years later, still in regular rotation. It is a good way to use up those last few ounces in different boxes of pasta that you may have lying around.

White Tree

My goodness, how is it February already? It seems like we were just getting ready for Christmas. So...that's how I segue into another old-but-unpublished post about the holidays. Smooth, right? 

Tony really wanted a new Christmas tree this year and he wanted a white one. Our former tree had been with us since we got married but it looked so puny in our current home with its high ceilings. So, off to Home Depot he went, and came home with the white tree of his dreams.

It was so tall, he underestimated the amount of ornaments he needed and had to go back and buy more the next day!  As you can see, one whole side was not covered.

All hail the tree!

It matches her Frozen jammies.

Dinner was tacos with roasted tofu, lettuce, tomato, and salsa.

Dessert was pumpkin chia pudding from Plant-Powered Families, recipe available online here.

Hiding from doing homework, ha!

Round Rock Rock'n Lights

I think the reason I have so many holiday posts is because we really went all-out this year, in terms of  trying out as many new Christmas activities as we could find time for, while also continuing with our favorite activities that have become traditions. One new-to-us event was the Round Rock Rock'n Lights, a drive-through lights display.

The scenes were pretty cool and varied. Christmas under the sea? Why not.

Elf throwing snowballs at annoyed yeti? Of course.

O phallic tree, o phallic tree...I don't even know why.

Jackson and Olivia were impressed with the lights, and they are always excited when they get to go out and ride around after their bedtime. So it will probably be a tradition that we continue.

The next morning we met my parents for lunch at Star Coffee in Round Rock. Now, I never, ever eat eggs. I ate them all the time when I was pregnant with Olivia, but ever since she was born, I've had an aversion to them. However, this particular morning, I thought breakfast tacos with eggs, potato and cheese sounded good. And they were pretty good, but I think I have completely fulfilled my egg quota for the next 5 years or more. 

Zen Olivia, starting the day off right.