McKinney Falls

Today we headed out to McKinney Falls State Park for some recharging in nature.

We parked near the Upper Falls, just gorgeous.

The kids explored for a bit, noticing how the running water had left all kinds of cool indentations in the rocks over time.

Then we took a short, scenic hike...

past some 1800's ruins...

through fields of wildflowers...

to the Lower Falls.

The rocks were super slippery!

We found a little swimmin' hole to cool down in. Next time we will bring our swimsuits, haha!

It felt so good to sit and soak my feet and listen to the rushing water. Do you believe in the benefits of earthing? I do!

When we got home, I made a pot of hearty vegetable soup with red quinoa, barley, chickpeas, carrots and zucchini.

Where is your favorite spot in nature?

Let the Splashing Commence

Breakfast was oats with cherries, almond butter and cinnamon. A good combination.

The Austin splash pads are open! We love this time of year when we can splash and swim every day, before it gets too unbearably hot.

Strawberry snacktime.

For dinner I made the Tofu Mushroom Stroganoff from Isa Does It. Delicious pasta dish, terrible pic. Much better one here. Sometimes hunger outweighs food staging.

Bowling, We Have Missed You

Summer is here (or close enough), which means we will be spending many hot afternoons soaking in the refreshing air-conditioned environment of the bowling alley.

We have only bowled once or twice since last summer, so Jackson and Olivia were eager to knock down some pins.

Olivia has a unique bowling style.

It works for her.

After two games, Miss O was the day's champion. "I am victorious!" she cried. We love big vocabulary words.

For dinner I made tacos. For "taco meat" I combine a can of lentils with half a packet of taco seasoning. Lazy but effective.

We also had avocado and tomato "quesadillas". I was really trying to use up the avocados I bought at Costco. You can never have too much avocado...except, you can.

Missions and Vegeria

Last weekend we took a day trip down to San Antonio to travel the mission trail. Everyone has probably heard of the Alamo, but San Antonio actually has four other missions dating from the 1700s. I'm not religious and I have some issues with the whole philosophy of the missions, but I am also fascinated by history and architecture, so this was a trip I had been wanting to make for quite some time!

After soaking in some Texas history and exhausting Jackson and Olivia's tiny leg muscles, we had dinner at Vegeria. On Saturdays they offer an all-day totally vegan brunch buffet. So much to choose from! Clockwise on my plate from top left: beet and potato ranchera tacos, "chicken salad" quinoa, maple ginger kale salad, "cheezy" grits, and tofu scramble with summer squash.

I also had pozole, and watermelon lime chia pudding. When we went to New Mexico last year, all the restaurants had pozole on their menu, but I could never find a vegetarian version, so I was excited to try something new! It's a delicious soup made with hominy and a broth that tastes like enchilada sauce. Olivia loved the chia pudding! She had three helpings!

Jackson went straight for the black beans and chocolate chip waffles. The kid loves his beans.

Everything was so good. I was kind of blown away, and really wishing Austin had its own Vegeria! Vegan, organic, gluten-free, local, non-GMO...everything you could want in a brunch! 

For dessert, we bought some peanut butter chocolate cupcakes from the bakery case. They had about a 2:1 ratio of frosting to cupcake...my kind of cupcake! I seriously can't wait to go back and try Vegeria's regular weekday menu...or eat their fab brunch again!

Big Stacy Pool

The red yuccas are in full bloom in our front yard. I know summer's not officially here, but it feels like it is!

Smoothie bowl to start the day...kale, avocado, cherries, almond milk, raw cacao protein powder, chlorella, maca powder, topped with raw chocolate granola. The avo made it super creamy like a pudding. 

The Austin pools are starting to open. Big Stacy pool (yeah, there's also a Little Stacy pool) opened earlier than most of the others, for some reason. Some don't open until next week. We couldn't wait to cool off in the water!

We came home to find a package on the porch from Graze, a snack box delivery service. I had the opportunity to sample a free box.

You can go on their website and customize your box. They offer over 90 different snack selections. If you sign up for their delivery, each box costs $6 and comes with four different snacks. I received a savory snack mix (similar to Chex Mix), dried apples with caramel dip, black pepper cashews, and a chocolate orange "flapjack" (oatmeal bar). All the snacks were delish and I liked that the nutritional information was on each individual package.

For dinner I made Roasted Potato and Fennel Soup from Isa Does It. Simple, understated roasted veggie flavor. Kind of gloopy texture...I overblended it, maybe? I threw some Bac-O's on top cause I'm classy like that.

Big Day for J

Jackson graduated from pre-K today.

He was a little excited!

We are so proud of our buddy, who has learned so much and had so many fun experiences in his three years of preschool. In the fall, he is off to kindergarten, and Olivia will start pre-K with the same wonderful teacher Jackson had.

After the graduation ceremony and luncheon, we were off to karate class, where Jackson tested for his green belt.

For all his hard work, we went out to dinner to celebrate. We were in the mood for pizza and decided to try Sagra. We started with some bread and olive oil.

Sagra has an entire separate vegan menu. I had the veggie pizza topped with their own vegan cheese that they make in-house. Our knowledgeable server said it's made with cashews and soy. I liked it -- it reminded me of buffalo mozzarella. 

Steeping Room Revisited

My parents wanted to get together for dinner over the weekend, so I suggested the Steeping Room, because it's awesome, and I'd only eaten there once before.

I ordered the Tao of Green salad...napa, purple, and green cabbage, carrots, daikon, peanuts, cilantro and scallions in a sesame dressing. I also had them add tofu, pictured on the side. This was a feast of a salad, and I took half of it home for Tony. FWIW, I love it when salad greens are finely shredded like this, rather than chopped in big, unwieldy pieces.

The kids shared edamame (not pictured) and the Mediterranean sampler plate, with hummus, pita, dolmas, feta, and olives. Yay, finger foods.

We also attended a wedding this weekend, and the kids ate cake and cupcakes and thus couldn't sit still at all, but I did get one non-blurred shot of Jackson in his festive shirt.