going and going

Today was an adventure!
The first thing I did was sew a patch onto Emily's well-worn pants.

 
Next we headed out to a lovely patch of bluebonnets where a friend took some family pictures for us. I am so excited to see them and kind of sad we didn't take any candid shots on our own camera. I guess that's a future post.
After bluebonnets we rewarded the kids with a trip to a local candy store, Big Top Candy Shop. It is a funky local shop, so it was really fun to look through.

Sorry the picture is so blurry - I could not get Emily to hold still and I didn't even try with Caleb.

The kids each got to choose a piece of candy. Emily chose a Strawberry Shortcake monstrosity of a marshmallow-pop, Caleb chose a battery-operated boxing glove candy contraption, and Elinor chose a Tootsie Pop. It was comically difficult to get Caleb to open his eyes and choose an unusual candy. When we told them they could each choose something, he picked up a single Tootsie Roll and announced that that was what he wanted. It would have been a lot cheaper!

After the candy shop we wandered along South Congress for a while and it was a lot of fun. Joseph and the kids made friends with the firefighters and got a brief tour of the truck and station while I slipped into a yarn shop. Hill Country Weavers was amazing! Every wall covered in shelves, stuffed full of yarn. I am absolutely returning in a week or two when I start my next knitting project.
We walked past at least a dozen food trailers and some really fun flea-market type stands. It was a fun morning to have Joseph with us for.

After returning home for lunch, I made some bread,

 some dishwasher soap, and some laundry soap.
With all the bread and soap making and the patch sewing going on today, I felt like quite the frontierswoman.

 By this point the kids were about ready to die so we headed outside for some fun.

Emily and Caleb have been working on a giant hole for a little while, and today they decided to fill it with water from a nearby leaky spigot. A bunch of the neighborhood kids decided it was a worthwhile project and joined them. It was pretty funny to see a line of children carrying buckets, cups, and shovels full of water across the playground. Then they all took some time to cool their feet. I love the muddy handprints on the stucco that will probably be there all summer.

We had some filthy kids on our hands!

I had to hose them off before allowing them back inside.

It has been lovely weather lately and we are grateful.