Chalk Walk 2014

On Saturday we craved pizza, so we decided to try Original Brooklyn Pie Co. It's a chain with locations all around Austin, including one by our new home. We started out by sharing a Greek salad, which arrived at our table deconstructed. Jackson and Olivia preferred it that way, since it made it easier to avoid the dreaded onions.

Thanks to a buy-one-get-one special, the kids shared a small pizza of their own, and Tony and I had this giant margherita all to ourselves. It was so good! Just the right amount of sauce, cheese, tomatoes, and basil. I could eat pizza every day, but I do have standards, and this pizza totally met and exceeded them.

Afterwards, we headed up to Round Rock for the Chalk Walk festival. As the name implies, you stroll around the plaza while artists work on their sidewalk art designs.

When we went last year, the artists were just getting started, so it was cool to see some finished creations this time around!

Jackson and Olivia also got to be pavement artists.

Jackson, of course, drew a complex laser-firing robot.

A hand/face washing station would be a nice addition to this festival next year. Chalk is quite a messy medium.

After working hard on their masterpieces in the direct sun, my gang needed strawberry shave ices to cool down.

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

Detroit 2014: Day 2

We spent the second day of our vacation at the Detroit Zoo. Jackson and Olivia were ready to tour the zoo with their baby cousin Isabella and discuss the various animals with her.

We started out in the butterfly garden, both the flowers and butterflies were so gorgeous!

Next, the aviary...well, hello there, bright little guy!

Jackson and Olivia were able to communicate up close and personal with the prairie dogs.

On our way into the polar bear exhibit, this chipper dancing walrus sculpture made me smile.

We thought the underwater tunnel was a nice place to take a family photo.

Then a polar bear walked over our heads.

Afterwards we stopped for dinner at the Leo's Coney Island near our hotel. I had a Greek salad.

Tomorrow: art on the streets of Detroit.

Orange Belt

Jackson completed another round of karate lessons last week, which meant it was time for a belt test. The leader of the dojo came to class to test all the students.

Jackson lined up with his fellow yellow belts and was tested on all the moves he was supposed to have mastered.

He passed! His yellow belt was tied into a knot, never to be worn again, and the orange belt was presented to him.

To celebrate, we went out for pizza at Craig O's in Lakeway. We do not normally drive that far for pizza, but we had a Groupon. We sat out on the deck, which overlooks the giant playscape.

We started with a big Greek salad for all of us to share.

We ordered the veggie pizza with tomatoes, green pepper, red onion, black olives, and mushrooms. The crust was exellent. I appreciate it when the crust doesn't sag and become soggy from the weight of a bunch of veggie toppings. Please excuse Tony's pepperoni slice edging its way into the photo.

So proud of my dedicated little karate kid!

Central Market Lunch

We took advantage of nice weather and headed to Central Market, with its outdoor patio, for lunch. While we waited in line to order food, Olivia decided that a photo with the chef statue's big ol' butt would be absolutely hilarious.

Greek salad with hummus and dolmades, my usual.

Jackson couldn't wait to finish eating his mini-pizza and get up a tree.

"Look Mom, I'm like a sloth."

Mr. Turtle was sunning himself on the beach, but retreated into the water when we approached.

Just a beautiful February day in Texas.

Central Market

Today we met some friends for lunch at Central Market. They make a tasty Greek salad, complete with stuffed grape leaves and plenty of kalamata olives.

Jackson and Olivia shared a pizza, also with kalamatas.

This evening we messed around with the ice cream maker some more. This time I followed the vanilla ice cream recipe from The Vegan Scoop, which uses a soy creamer base.

 I added dark chocolate balsamic vinegar and fresh blackberries. The result had a better texture than the frozen yogurt we made before, but it had a sort of plastic-y flavor that I did not care for. I think this came from the soy creamer, so I'll need to try out some other brands or maybe try coconut creamer next time.

The kids had no complaints, and experimenting is fun. By summer, we will have perfected our homemade ice cream recipe!

Creek Exploration

This morning we met up with some friends at a creek. There was a little waterfall that Jackson enjoyed climbing up and over.

He also practiced his "swimming." I just signed him up for swim lessons, he is going to love it. He is my water baby. Olivia is getting that way, too. She gets a little braver every time I take her around water. 

On the way home, the kids asked if we could stop at Sonic and get "blue lemonade." They must have seen a commercial. I promised them we could make blue lemonade at home. They acted like they didn't believe it was possible, haha. But this mama can do anything Sonic can do!

For dinner I made a huge Greek salad with romaine lettuce, cherry tomato, cucumber, feta, and a few kalamata olives. I made a quick dressing with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and oregano. I served it with Cedars stuffed grape leaves.

I also made Muhamarra, a red bell pepper and walnut dip. The recipe is from Celebrate Vegan. We ate this with pita chips and baby carrots. Tony loved this rich, slightly sweet dip.

Hope you've had a great weekend!