Succulents

Did you know that they bloom?  It's a stupid question, because I never even thought about it until one of mine did.  Okay, maybe the question isn't stupid, but I definitely suffer lapses in thought.

They are a huge trend in home decorating and I have never seen one in bloom.  I just kind thought they grew slowly like cactus and didn't really do a whole lot.  They are quite beautiful all on their own. 

One of mine went completely wild and crazy and I just let it go to see what it would do.  It grew a tentacle about 12 inches, long and bloomed! 

He wrapped himself all the way around Prince Charming (a party lite candle holder) and produced some pretty cool flowers.

The kids have also taken a liking to sticking found feathers from the yard in where some of the succulents died off. 

Colorado Vacation: Wildflowers

My husband and I drove our children all the way from Houston, TX to Denver, CO to visit my family to have a vacation, celebrate my birthday, celebrate my niece Jordie's birthday, see my new niece Julia, take the boys on their first real camp out and just have a great time!  All week, I will be posting photos from my vacation, grouped by categories.

It was wildflower time up in the mountains.  On our camping trip, there was beauty all around us.  The weather was mostly great, a few rain showers happened, but that didn't dampen our spirits.  The mountains were in desperate need of the rain and it just helped the wildflowers look even better.

Alpine Yarrow

Aspen Sunflower

Maben blowing a dandelion seed head.

Colorado State Flower: Colorado Columbine

Not sure what flower this is, any ideas?

Paintbrush

Lovage

Thistle

Wild Iris

Most of the photos were taken in Golden Gate Canyon State Park.  The photo of the thistle was taken at Red Rocks Amphitheater. 

I Went Off The Grid

This past weekend my husband, father-in-law, myself and a few other guys all headed out of Houston and ended up at a ranch outside of Kerrville, TX.  No cell phone service, in the middle of a dry, rocky landscape littered with cactus and cedar. 

I enjoyed every moment being out in the middle of pretty much nowhere.  I saw many birds that I have never seen before and encountered many animals I had never seen before either.

Immature Summer Tanager

I did some hunting (don't worry, I am feeding my family with what I kill).  I spent a lot of quality time with my husband sitting in a blind while watching turkeys go by.  There were a lot of turkeys.  There were also a few surprises in this landscape too, like this beautiful spring fed pond that they call blue hole.

I wish I could have jumped in.  It was so crystal clear, none of my photos can do an oasis so beautiful any justice.  Upon a glance, it looked to be only about 5 feet deep, but when you dropped a rock in, it sank, and sank, and sank...over 20 feet, I'm sure in a few spots even deeper. 

It felt great to relax, swap stories, reconnect with nature and just enjoy a great "guys" weekend.  I take pride that I get to go along on guy weekends occasionally. A big thanks to my mother-in-law for watching the kids so we could all enjoy our trip.

Gulf Fritillary

Do you ever feel the need to get away and reconnect with nature?  Or do you prefer the spa?  I would probably kill for a massage right now, but wouldn't trade me weekend away in nature for a spa trip.  Am I crazy?

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

How does your garden grow?

I have found that even though I have a pretty black thumb, it's slowly turning green and I love to garden.  I love flowers.  So here is a peak around my yard right now with what is growing.

My cannas are already waist high and blooming.  I can thank the lack of a winter here in south Texas for my cannas surviving it and now thriving early (very early) in the season.  Usually these beauties don't start flowering until late May.

My recently planted Columbines are just starting to flower.  This is one of my favorite wildflowers when I lived in Colorado, which also happens to be Colorado's state flower.  I was pleasantly surprised when talking to the owner of my favorite nursery that he said they did great in the shade in Texas.  I'm always up for an experiment.  I deem this a success!  This one happens to be maroon and yellow.

My mint, thyme and oregano are taking off on the slate patio.  All of these are suppose to help deter mosquitoes and they are doing a mighty fine job of it.  When we go sit out on the patio, we step (the kids stomp) on these herbs to release the fragrance and the mosquitoes stay at bay!  YAY!!! 

Pink Chintz Thyme

Golden Oregano

Peppermint

On the patio we also have planted thyme, pineapple mint, chocolate mint and ginger mint.  The ginger mint isn't doing too hot, but the thyme, chocolate and pineapple mint are doing great, I just have to keep in it check as it likes to get a little taller than I like.  So far, it doesn't mind the abuse and the cutting that I perform.

Here is my favorite garden art.  This was done by the talented Fred Conlon.  You should check out his work, it's hilarious!

Near these guys is my dwarf chenille.  This has done amazing in a shade area and was the only thing in my garden that thrived during the drought.

My vegetable garden is producing a whole lot of tomatoes right now as well.  I had two of my tomato plants survive winter!  I was told that if they survived they wouldn't fruit and if it did, it wouldn't taste very good.  Those myths are busted!  We have picked at least 30 tomatoes so far and the kids eat them before I can cook with them.

Solar Fire Tomatoes

I am also so happy to say that I planted a Satsuma Mandarin tree.  It's in bloom and has tiny little mandarins already!  They are so cute.

I will update again with my garden as more and more things are coming back and starting to bloom. 

Anyone else able to start gardening yet? 

It's Bluebonnet Time!

I took the kids and went to scout out the bluebonnets.  I have seen them popping up alongside the highway here in Houston, so I packed up the kids and headed to Brenham, TX.  Brenham is famous for two things, Blue Bell Ice Cream and bluebonnets, the Texas state flower. 

The unusual part was all my favorite hot spots this year, very empty.  Hoping the next few weeks brings them out in droves.  A little rain might help, keeping my fingers crossed for that.

There was one spot that I hit that did not disappoint, a field behind a bunch of commercial buildings.  It's behind the La Quinta.

Somehow, Colton turned on the charm for the pictures.  It might have been the promise of ice cream later. 

Overall, a very successful day.  I cannot wait to go out again.  Nothing makes me happier than seeing my boys try to chase butterflies in fields full of flowers.

Bluebonnets...Almost a Bust!

Saturday, my hubby, the kids, my MIL and I all hopped into the car and headed out to Brenham and Chappell Hill, TX.  These towns are notorious for their bluebonnets.  Well, the day was a total bust.  We saw next to nothing.  We are in a severe drought right now so there were hardly even any weeds alive, let alone wildflowers.  Disappointing to say the least.

So, I hit up my friends on Facebook and asked if anyone knew of any good places locally.  I should have done this last weekend, but I got a few leads and found some bluebonnets.  Now, they are not impressive at all...actually, this year's bluebonnets are about half the size they normally are.  So, while hubby had to work and MIL flew home, I packed up the kids with a friend of mine and we hit up the bluebonnets yesterday morning.

I didn't manage to get very many good photos this morning.  Neither one of the kids wanted to look at myself or even up from the ground.  Below is my favorite photo of my boys from this morning.

Maben was trying to show Colton how the flowers smell pretty.  Everytime this happened, Colton would sneeze.  It was cute and quite funny, but didn't make for great photos.

I did manage to snap a few really cute photos of my friend's little girl.  Isn't she a cutie?  Anyways, you can see how disappointing the bluebonnets this year were compared to last shown here.

Since I wasn't totally satisfied with the photos from this morning, after dinner last night I packed up the kids and my hubby and we headed back out.

Much better light, happier kids and the help of a hubby made for much better photos.

My hubby does a great job of making a total fool of himself to get our kiddos to laugh and smile.  We also managed to find a great field of evening primrose nearby.  This field was far more impressive than the bluebonnets.

We all had a great evening together and I am so happy to be able to have that family time together.  It was definitely needed, especially with all the craziness that has ensued around here lately.

Here's to hoping that the bluebonnets are magnificent next year.  As for this year, I will take what I can get and make the best of it.  I love you Matt, Maben and Colton.  You boys are my world!

Eagerly Awaiting

I cannot wait for bluebonnet season here in Texas.  Spring is here, pollen is everywhere, that means bluebonnets are just around the corner.  If you have never experienced it, make it a bucket list item.  It's amazing, like seeing peak fall foliage in the Northeast or freshly fallen snow on the Rocky Mountains or the fields of sunflowers in Kansas.  Just one of mother natures wonderful shows.

I took my kids out last year with a bunch of my friends for a day trip to Brenham, TX (known for it's bluebonnets and where Blue Bell ice cream is made) and the fields of wildflowers that we found did not disappoint.  There are plans in the works to do it again and I am starting to get impatient.

The greatest part about the bluebonnets, EVERYONE is out on the side of the road taking photos.  It inspires everyone to break out their cameras and capture the stunning beauty of nature.  Now, some people aren't as smart as others, not a great idea to take your toddlers out of the car on the side of a massive highway and not keep a great eye on them.  We stayed on the side roads, went down the path less traveled and it paid off.

I have no idea what type of flowers the yellow ones are, but one of my girlfriends scouted everything out ahead of time and found a stunning field filled with them. 

I am trying to see if I will stick with the same theme for clothing or something different this year.  The white shirt and jeans are a classic look, not sure if I should change it, or just stick with the classics.  Input?  Ideas?  I am curious what other ideas anyone has.

I love those chubby little cheeks.  Having boys I was initially worried that them being surrounded by flowers wouldn't turn out well...I was so wrong.

It's sad that the bluebonnets only stay in bloom for a few weeks, their peak (if weather permits) lasts only about 2 weeks.  Definitely not long enough.