Being Present and Some Modern Art

I have a tendency to be overly sentimental about time passing.  I think I started worrying about getting old when I was about 15.  I was not one of those kids who wanted to grow up; I knew being a kid was where it’s at.

Anyway, I spend a lot of time fondly remembering (romanticizing?) the past and wondering what the future will be like.  I am not always great about being in the moment.

When I stop to think about it though, this time, this particular moment, is definitely one I will be remembering fondly some day.  This is an especially enjoyable stage of life and I’m going to really try to stay focused on that and not worry too much about what’s to come.  Any tips?

James is at a really fun stage where he is still largely accepting of anywhere we take him, but has long enough stretches of awake time that we can really go do stuff.  It’s pretty great.

Saturday was one of the most relaxing days I can remember since he was born.  I read outside in the morning with a giant cup of coffee, and I read at night before bed with a glass of red wine.  The in between parts were pretty great too.

James took two, hour-plus naps.  I only did one productive thing during these naps (made James some healthified zucchini bread), and spent the rest of the time reading.  Sure, this was vaguely irresponsible, but so, so worth it.

We also went on a little adventure.  One of my goals for the month is to go somewhere new every week.  When looking for places to go, I came upon this excellent list of baby / toddler friendly places in Austin.  A bunch of them look great, but the first one to call my name was the sculpture garden at The Contemporary.  I’m glad I listened.

So I feel kind of like an idiot for not knowing this place existed, but it was super uncrowded even on a sunny Saturday, so maybe it’s not that well known?  I don’t know.  Anyway, Austin’s modern art museum apparently has a couple of satelite locations, one of which is an art school with a large, woodsy sculpture garden.  There are also indoor exhibits, but we didn’t do that part this time.

This is not a big open garden, but rather consists of little winding trails through the woods and along Lake Austin where you’ll be walking and then discover a big sculpture.

I think it’s the feeling of exploring and discovery that make this place particularly delightful.  It reminded me of a time my freshman year of college where I went to the National Cathedral at night with some new friends – totally different place, but it gave me the same feeling of entering a different world.

For those familiar with Austin, this place is right by Mount Bonnell.  I highly recommend it if you feel like wandering, contemplating, or staring off into space and looking like you have a purpose.

As a bonus, it was right next to a great looking park and nature preserve that may be next on my list of new places!  It has a peacock crossing so that has to be a good sign.

Thanks to my husband for many of the pictures in this post 🙂

What was the best part of your weekend?

Do you ever play tourist in your own city?

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Out and About 2 – The Farmers’ Market

This weekend was kind of rough.  Actually much of last week was kind of rough to be honest.  James has been taking very short naps for some reason, which understandably puts him in a less than stellar mood.  He is generally a very happy baby, but he needs his naps.  Don’t we all.

Focusing on the positive though, we did have a lot of fun Sunday morning.  After a very short nap, we took advantage of the extra time in the morning and went to a new to us Farmers’ Market.

His face accurately reflects how he feels about being in the carrier (or contained in any way…).

We used to always go to the downtown Austin farmers’ market before we moved – it was a long walk or short drive away.  I love farmers markets and my husband tolerates them because they make me happy.  Last week at story time, the librarian mentioned that they do story time at the Mueller Farmers’ Market, so we thought we’d check it out.

It was great!  They have many of the same produce / hot food stands as the downtown market, in addition to some other ones.  They also had story time, a little petting zoo, and live children’s music.  I could definitely see us going regularly with little James for years to come.

We didn’t get too much because I just went grocery shopping on Friday, but I did get a GIANT stroopwafel (those little dutch cookies with caramel inside).  The ones I’ve had in the past were maybe the size of a half dollar…this one was maybe the size of my head?  They make them hot and ours had strawberries and nutella inside, in addition to the standard caramel.  It was so good.  I did feel kind of sick after though…that was a lot of sugar on an empty stomach.  Whoops.

James was reaching for it big time.  He knows what’s up.

Did you have a good weekend?  What was the best part?  Eat any cookies the size of your head?

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Out and About

Good morning!

I’m still trying to get in the habit of taking more pictures when we do fun things, but I actually have photos of two outings we went on recently, so wanted to share.

Pizza Farm

Jester King Brewery and Stanleys’s Farmhouse Pizza together form what I fondly refer to as the pizza farm.  Less than thirty minutes outside of town, this farm feels like it’s completely out in the country.  It’s been one of my favorite places ever since we moved to Austin, but this was the first time we made it there with James.

We had a friend visiting from Wisconsin, so it was a good excuse to go.  It was cloudy, but nice out, and it turned out to be a great day to go because it wasn’t too crowded.

 

I failed to get any pictures of the pizza, but it was delicious.  My favorite thing about this place though is the atmosphere.

There are always lots of families and kids running around.  There are lawn games and sometimes live music.  You sit outside at picnic tables in the sunshine.  It is pretty much the best.  We stayed as long as James could stand it, and then went home so he could nap.

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

James and I celebrated the first day of spring with a visit to the nearby Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center.

My husband and I first went here the week before James was due and I remember thinking how fun it would be to come back with the little guy in tow.  That day finally came!

Bluebonnets and other wildflowers have been popping up all over Austin so i figured this would be a particularly nice time to go.  The wildflower center has lots of nature trails, an outdoor cafe, a lookout tower, and a super fun area for kids and families.

In case you missed the sea of blue flowers….

As expected, the bluebonnets were everywhere.  It was so pretty and smelled like spring.

My husband and I didn’t check out the children’s area last time we were here, but it was wonderful and I had fun daydreaming about bringing James back when he’s older.

There is a “cave” that you can sit in and look out at a waterfall.

They also have two over-sized bird nest replicas that the children can go in.

Butterfly benches peppered the garden.

The outdoor workout setup would certainly be a way to mix it up from the gym.

They had a spot with little watering cans so the children could water the plants.  There was also a sandbox area with toys and a couple of little teepee type structures in the woods.  I had fun walking with him and watching the families, imagining our future.

The Wildflower Center is only about 15-20 minutes from my house.  I bought a membership and can’t wait to go back many times!  I actually already have plans to go back twice this week – once with a friend and her baby and once with my sister.  I want to spend as much time outside as possible for the summer heat comes.

Have you gone anywhere fun lately?

Is it nice outside yet where you live?

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