Wildflowers forever

This is a fully cliche Texan thing to do, but I could care less. There's this spectacular field of bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes right down the road from us, the kind of field that makes you gasp when you drive past it. The wildflowers this year are phenomenal. So we did what everyone else was doing; parked on the side of the road and wandered into the field for photos. Because a baby is even more a reason to take photos in a field of flowers.

Ideally I would have done this in early morning light, but we went at 5pm so the sun was brutal. As you can tell by all our faces. We did this super quickly since we are all vampires and we catch on fire in the sun, especially that little one. She was over it as soon as we got out of the car. She was like what the heck there's no way I'm opening my eyes. So it was rushed little photo session, but I still love it.

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE.

We carefully chose a little spot with no bluebonnets to sit. Because squashing a bluebonnet is a crime, right?

Our family selfie game is still not strong. But we will never give up.

And omg, these two give me all the heart eyes:

Spring in Texas, y'all! It's a real winner! Every spring I'm like, oh yeah. THIS is why I live here. Texas has its many faults, but it sure is heavenly to look at in the spring time.

Port Aransas 2015

This past weekend Dr. Sexypants (Brendon) and I went to Port Aransas to celebrate his little brother's 14th birthday with his parents. They were sweet enough to invite us and we were so glad to come! This was such a good trip you guys. I always forget how much I enjoy Port A, and every time I go I'm like oh yeah! This is good. This is relaxing. I grew up going to Port Aransas, but I appreciate it more and more with each trip. I told Brendon that we should totally buy a little piece of property down there. One day. In this imaginary world where we are financially flush and have time to scamper down to the beach whenever. Basically when we're 65.

There are A LOT of pictures. Prepare yourself.

When we drove down Friday night and we chased a rain storm the whole way. The next morning it was pretty cloudy for our morning walk on the beach, but by the time we headed back up for breakfast, the sun had appeared! And the weather was perfect all weekend. The recent rain had cooled it down a bit, but it was still lovely and sunny. And man, September is the time to go. It's not crowded, it's cooler, but the ocean is still nice and warm. Perfect swimming temperature.

Hello, Sunshine! Thank you for making our weekend so pretty.

Birthday boy!!! I cannot believe how much AJ has grown in the past year. He's taller than me!!! And like... bulking up. And he's a teenager. This is insanity, because the first time I met him, he was four. HE'LL BE GROWING FACIAL HAIR SOON.

This was AJ's way of seeing his phone screen in the blinding sun. He's very much a teenager in that he's obsessed with technology. He's into "vlogging", and knows WAY more about editing videos than I do. So awesome.

The idea of being buried in sand is pretty much torturous to me, but kids love that nonsense. Crazies.

We all played pretty dang hard in the ocean. Brendon, AJ, Deb, and myself swam A LOT! I loved it! I love swimming in the ocean (when there's not a ton of seaweed, which there wasn't at all!). It was seriously the perfect temperature. It felt so good. OH! And Deb, Brendon, and me were decently far out swimming and apparently a huge fish jumped right behind/over me. I was just chillin' and they both gasp and scream and Brendon goes, "AHHH A FISH!" I didn't see it at all, but oh man, their faces were hilarious. And of course I swam away from that area like my life depended on it. Not that the fish wanted anything to do with me, but you know.

SELFIE STICK! He was cracking me up.

Taking selfies with a big bulky camera is much harder than with your phone.

Preggo belly! I feel like I went from looking not pregnant to pregnant in a week. Although as AJ says, "I just look sort of fat." Kids, man. And I'm flying my homemade kite from last spring, which is still holding up like a boss!

GAH, I love this picture. These silly boys. LOOK HOW BIG AJ IS. Look at him next to Brendon! He'll be taller than his big brother before we know it.

We went for a night walk on the beach, with flashlights and lots of giggling. We saw a few crabs scuttling around, and a little EEL! That guy was cool/creepy.

Please excuse my ridiculous face sans make up plus sunburn, BUT LOOK AT DR. HOGAN! HA!

Birthday boy! (Look at that jawline, still dying.) I made him a chocolate cake with whipped cream icing, by request. He has good taste!

The next morning we went for another morning walk, and I forgot to change the white balance on my camera, thus, blue photos. Shooting in manual backfires sometimes (a lot).

Momma and son. :) And a crane:

Seahorses for the Seahorse, obviously. And no trip to Port A is complete without pictures in The Shark:

And (multiple) trips to Winston's Island Candy. THE COTTON CANDY TAFFY. Heaven.

This trip was so so so so SO good. So relaxing. We are very thankful that we were able to come along! I love the beach. I can't believe I'm saying that, because I've always been kinda meh about the beach and yesss about the mountains, but gosh, I really do love the beach. We'll be at a beach again soon next month in CALIFORNIA, so I'm extra excited to play in some waves again soon!

Trip details! We stayed at La Mirage Condominiums, and it was great! Perfect for a family, big rooms, and easy access to the beach! AJ's dad, Allen cooked up most of our meals (we were so spoiled) and then we had lunch on Sunday at Shell's, the best pasta on the island! And we stopped at Coffee Waves twice for coffee. Because of course.

Here's our 2014 and 2012 trip to Port A, if you're interested. :) Can I be a beach bum now?

Running in the summer

This picture has little to do with this post, aside from the fact that I'm sweaty from running. I was laying on the floor blasting the fan and AC trying to cool down, and it was game on for Sophie. She's licking the sweat off my face. Cats are weird.

So we're about halfway through the summer? Kind of? Lets say yes. I haven't quit running (!!!), which is something I was very scared would happen. However, let me say this has been the mildest summer I've experienced in a long time. I can't remember a summer like this. We haven't hit 100 degrees yet, which is amazing as we are mid July here. We've also had a fair amount of rain (never enough) to keep it relatively cool. It rained last night, and when I ran this morning at 9:30 it was only like 78. Although the humidity was a whole different beast. So it's been a mild summer so far. But still, it's Texas and it's hot. But I've kept up the running.

This is my first summer as a "runner", so I've got nothing to base any of this on. I am also not competitive or hardcore or any sort of expert. I just run because I like seeing myself improve and, well, I love running. But this is what I've learned so far during my first summer of running:

WATER. Dear lord, drink you some water. All day every day. Before running, after running, while running. Take water with you. Brendon and I have a big water bottle that we run with, and he carries it because I'm a huge wiener and can't run with it. So when I run alone I run waterless, and boy does it suck. We've also just about run out of water on our "longer" runs. I've been talking about buying one of the little handheld water bottles, but I've yet to do it. I need to. Water is so so so important, especially in the heat.

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. If you feel like you're going to puke and pass out at the same time, stop running. Get into some shade, drink some water, and cool down. Overheating and dehydration are not playing around. Twice this summer I've come close to losing my cool, literally, and it was very scary. Both times I thought I was going to puke, then my brain was going to explode. Not cool. If you feel ill, stop. If you're dizzy, stop. If you're seeing spots, goodness STOP! Listen to your body!!

SLOW DOWN. You're going to be slower in the heat no matter what, it just comes with the territory. I run about a minute slower now than I did in the spring. And that's okay. But it also helps if I make a conscious effort to run a little slower, especially if I'm trying to run a longer distance. If I'm just running a 5k I'll push myself a little harder because I know I've only got a few miles to do. But if I want to run farther, or run hills, I make sure I stay at comfortable pace. I focus on my breathing and slow down when I feel it's getting out of control (this works well for me in any temperature).

And on that note, IGNORE YOUR MILE TIMES. This is a personal thing for me. At first my slow pace was discouraging, but right now I just focus on getting out there and running. Getting in your run in no matter how slow. We have this Garmin watch that tells you your current speed, and I completely ignore it. It also makes this lovely beep when you wrap up a mile and gives you the mile time, and I also try to ignore that. I focus on, "YES, ANOTHER MILE DOWN", not "oh my god that was almost an 11 minute mile". You're out there doing the damn thing, sweating your ass off. Give yourself credit.

HIDE FROM THE SUN. Seriously. My dad is one of those crazy folks who loves running in the heat of the day because it's a better work out. I did not inherit that gene. I am a vampire, the sun sucks the life out of me. It makes everything more difficult. Run in the mornings or evenings, when the sun isn't high. I am not a morning runner because I'm usually at work by 5:30am and if I'm not, I want to sleep in! So we run in the evenings at like 7 or 8. It's hotter than in the morning, but the sun isn't shining directly on you and man that makes a world of difference. The downside is the mornings and evenings are a bit more humid, but I'll take humidity over the sun any day.

WEAR AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. Seriously. If it's real hot, I'm running in shorts and a sports bra, that's it. Your shorts come with built in undies? Use 'em. Layers are not your friend. Also, swamp ass. No one wants it. On days I do run in a shirt, it's moisture wicking and relatively loose fitting. No cotton. You will sweat all over it and it will get heavy and hot and gross. Also SUNSCREEN! I am not good at this, thus, I have a very prominent runners "tan". By tan I mean freckles.

KEEP POSITIVE AND KEEP RUNNING. The big one, y'all. The heat and humidity are humbling and can be incredibly disheartening. It takes time to acclimate, and during that time you feel like you've never run in your life. I've had runs this summer when I've thought "I wasn't cut out for this, I'm not a runner, I suck I suck I suck, why am I doing this???". But you keep running. And I'm not saying it's easy to run in the heat, but it does get easier. Just keep trucking through. You might not be able to run as fast or as far, but it's a hell of a workout. And although this is my first summer as a runner and this will be my first fall as well, when that first cold snap hits, I'm thinking I'll be feeling pretty damn good. Stronger and faster. And that's what I tell myself when I'm a hot sweaty zombie mess and I feel like if I take another step I'll melt into the pavement and/or burst into flames.

So that's the plan. I can survive a couple more months of this and I WILL be a better runner because of it. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger! (But running in the heat can kill you, so BE CAREFUL! Pace yourself! Water water water!)

Blanco State Park

You guys, we are taking this State Park thing seriously. Clearly. We've more than paid for our state park pass in visits already and I'm loving all the time we're spending outdoors exploring. Although I am not loving how HOT it is getting. And humid, sheesh.

Tuesday we went to Blanco State Park, which is by far the smallest state park we've been to so far. It's just a stretch of river banks, probably less than a mile long. Like, you can see from park border to park border. It's seriously smack dab in the middle of the town of Blanco and a major highway goes over it. The hiking here is seriously lacking, and it's far from being out in the woods, but it's a cute little park with excellent swimming hole opportunities. It would be a lovely thing to have in the middle of your town.

The one hiking trail in the park is maaaaybe a quarter to a half mile long. It's pretty lame to be honest. And we were EATEN ALIVE by mosquitoes. I seriously got at least 10 bites (I'm still finding them). And we found this creepy like shelter thing at the end of the trail that I guess someone is living under?

Creepy. I spotted a back pack and said, let's turn around now.

Although we didn't swim (I have a thing with water I can't see through), it seems like a pretty legit place for a dip. That square little river-infinity-pool-thing was awesome.

Oh, Mr. Hogan. The picnic areas have the coolest rock chairs, tables, and fire pits. They were made during the great depression as a public works project. So cool!

Animal friends!

After exploring the park (which really didn't take long), we checked out downtown Blanco. It's pretty cute! We did a wee bit of antiquing (I got a new dinner plate, woo!), and then had lunch at Redbud Cafe, which might be my new favorite place ever. It's the sweetest little joint with some seriously yummy grub. So many vegetarian options, which in a small Texas town is rare. They also have fantastic cookies. And good beer. And they're super nice. Man, if you're ever in Blanco, eat there!

Thanks for the good times Blanco. You're very cute.