Sloth Time

Winter involves lots of lying around. As humans we don't hibernate, but we try to come very close.

And the food must be warm and comforting, which Dimassi's buffet certainly is. Hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, Persian salad, dolmades, lima beans, spinach, rice, and green beans. Oh, and a bowl of soul-warming lentil soup.

We make exception to the "warm and comforting" rule when it comes to ice cream. When Jackson and Olivia saw these "snowman sundaes" on Sweet Ritual's Instagram, they begged for sweet snowmen of their own.

Hope you are staying warm wherever you are!

Kids Close Up

Today I thought I would sit down and interview Jackson and Olivia. They are only going to be 7 and 5 1/2 for a short while. Most of the time, I wish I could freeze time. Yet I also love watching them grow and develop their interests and personalities.

Olivia:

The thing I'm best at is dressing up and being a fashionista. Also being a good friend.
My favorite things about school are recess and meeting new friends.
My favorite things to do on the weekend are playing dress up and coloring.
When I grow up I want to be a fashion designer.
If I could change my name it would be Rarity.
My favorite colors are pink, purple, blue, orange, green, gold and silver.
My best friends are Sophia and Halley.
My favorite toys are my Anna and Elsa dolls and My Little Ponies.
My favorite book is Tiny Titans.
My favorite movies are Rapunzel and Tinkerbell.
My favorite season is winter because I can throw snowballs at Jackson.
My favorite holidays are Halloween and Christmas.
My favorite shows are My Little Pony and Teen Titans.
My favorite food is watermelon.
My favorite animal is a chihuahua.
My favorite sport is soccer.

Jackson:

The thing I'm best at is kung fu. (Jackson has never done kung fu.)
My favorite thing about school is that you get to write in a notebook. (?)
My favorite thing to do on the weekend is sleep.
When I grow up I want to be a restaurant owner.
If I could change my name it would be Explosive. (!)
My favorite color is red.
My best friend is Hudson.
My favorite toy is Legos.
My favorite book is comic books.
My favorite movie is Jurassic World.
My favorite season is fall so we can throw leaves.
My favorite holiday is Christmas.
My favorite show is Teen Titans.
My favorite food is burgers.
My favorite animal is a gorilla.
My favorite sport is football.

We ate dinner at Dimassi's, their Mediterranean buffet is the best in town (OK, it is the only Mediterranean buffet, but it is so good that we don't need any others.) I had hummus, tabouli, falafel, baba ganoush, spinach, green beans, dolmas, and chickpea dill yogurt salad.

Christmas in Fredericksburg

I am still going through my photos from the holidays. Almost done!

Over the winter break, we did a day trip to Fredericksburg, to see how the Germans decorate for Christmas. On our way, we stopped at Dimassi's for the lunch buffet. Let's see, what made my belly happy this time around? Baba ganoush, hummus, spice bread, dolmades, spinach, green beans, skordalia, tabouli, tahini dip, cucumber dip. So much goodness.

Fredericksburg's town square was indeed beautifully decorated, with an enormous tree (see tiny Olivia for scale.)

There was also a wooden tree with intricately carved figures, pretty cool.

After an hour and a half in the car, we were grateful for the children's gingerbread village that allowed Jackson and Olivia to run off some energy.

My sweet little cookies.

Olivia got involved with a little street performance of "Jingle Bells."

Then she was distracted by bubbles.

Jackson halfheartedly posed with Santa. "There are like five Santas in this town," he informed me. "They're not real. The real Santa only comes on Christmas Eve."

At Earthbound Trading, my favorite store in F'burg for hippie goodness, I picked up some scented bath salts.

On the way home, we went through Johnson City and they had their own Christmas display on the town square.

The courthouse was all fancy.

I think this was just a private residence, but they had seven Christmas trees. Seven.

We also drove through a sparkly forest. So pretty.

Renaissance Fair

Last weekend, our neighborhood was visited a brave knights and a fair princess.

Several of them, actually. It was a Renaissance Fair!

Jackson and Olivia followed their ears to find the source of the clanging metal sounds, and stood rooted to the spot until all the duels were over. 

There were a lot of duels.

There was also a blacksmith. Which meant more clanging metal! And fire!

There was also a little dog attached to a cart. Not sure what that was about. Were dogs kind of like ponies, in Renaissance times?

There was also dancing, which Olivia happily joined in.

I love our new neighborhood so much. There's always some family-friendly event going on. I also love our close proximity to Dimassi's Mediterranean buffet. This was Tony's first time trying it, and now he is also a huge fan. Let's see, what's all this goodness on my plate? Hummus, falafel, baba ganoush, spinach, green beans, okra, stuffed grape leaves, tabouli, spicy green sauce, pita. I think that covers it. So much to choose from. Baklava for dessert, not pictured because I was too busy stuffing my face!

Dimassi's

Olivia is in the midst of her second summer of swim lessons. Jackson is swimming on his own at this point, after three years of lessons, so now it's sister's turn. Being a Piscean water baby, she is loving it so far.

While Tony was working at the convention center, I took the kids to dinner at Dimassi's, a Mediterranean buffet. As soon as I saw the huge trough of hummus, I was like, "Why haven't I been here until now?"

It was all delicious. It didn't taste like "buffet food" can sometimes taste...you know, like it's been reheated too many times and picked up weird flavors. Everything tasted fresh and seemed pretty healthy, not greasy. Let me see if I can name off everything I sampled: hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, tabouli, spinach, green beans, okra, cauliflower, dolmades, and pita bread with some kind of herb/seed topping. I could have just eaten that bread with a bowl of hummus and been happy, but it was all great.

We had to try all the desserts: rice pudding, apricot shortbread, and baklava. Man, I love baklava. I need to make some at home, soon.

Now I feel the responsibility to bring Tony to Dimassi's, because ever since our trip to Detroit he has been lamenting the lack of good Greek/Mediterranean eats in Austin. So we will return soon!