feeling snotty today?

maybe this will clear you up.

Snowy Day

So here's the thing about Texas: the weather is predictably unpredictable.

This happened a month ago....
On Sunday evening we all wore short sleeved shirts and walked to the park at 6pm.
The next morning we woke up to this:
Actually, I heard the rain coming down in the night as we slept. And I woke up to Lucy running into our room with, "mom, it's snowing!"
"No sweetie (wishing I was still sleeping), it's just rain."
"No! It's snow! Come see!"

Still not believing her, certain it was "snowing" on her princesses' house or something pretend, I stumbled out of bed, rubbed my eyes, and wow! Sure enough. It was snowing!! I immediately grabbed my camera and ran outside like an idiot in my pjs to capture the white stuff.
I know I posted about our "snow" before. But this time it was the REAL deal. I know, I know. Those of you living in snowy places are laughing at my excitement. But seriously, this is like snow falling in Phoenix. It doesn't really happen here! (at least it's not supposed to. But there's that "predictable unpredictability" thing again).
Falling right out of the sky. I forget how beautifully quiet it is. Not like the racket of rain.
Casey immediately announced that he wished he didn't have to go to work. But since he did, he ran out back and made the tiniest (alien-ish) snowman.....
yep. He's only 5 inches tall.
So Casey went to work and we stayed inside watching the snow fall from the front room; enjoying the white beauty. You can really enjoy it when it only lasts for a day.
Rooftops sure look pretty covered in white. At one point we left the house and I forgot about scraping off my car. I left that memory in my Utah college days. So I grabbed the kitchen broom and went at it. Worked pretty good.
When Casey got back home from work, the snowy fun began. Casey went straight to the garage and grabbed his snowboarding gear. I wrapped the kids up in whatever warm things they owned (not much) and everyone played in the backyard:
Lucy totally loved it. She danced, tromped, galloped,
and learned how to have a snowball fight.
winding up:
and taking a hit:
seriously, don't mess with dad.
Lucy started to hold her own though, after a while.
And then Casey helped the kids build a snowman:
Another adventure Lucy was thrilled about.
Owen however, just tromped back and forth in the snow getting as wet as possible. And the poor kid had no gloves.
I eventually tried to put Casey's on him. But that didn't last long. He was the first one inside for a warm bath. I helped Lucy make a snowman face out of big legos.
Ta da!
our Snowman was complete! Not the finest guy. But he'll do.
And for a neighborhood with not a lot of kids normally playing outside.....everyone came out of the woodwork on the coldest day of the year. Seems that every kid was making a snowman in his front yard. And just over our fence, our neighbor was working on his (with a ball in the middle of the head. clever). A paparazzi lens comes in handy.
To finish off the fun, two snow angels. Casey:
Lucy:
And by the next morning, this is what our snowman looked like:
With his face hanging at his feet.

We love you Texas. You always keep us wondering!

In-N-Out = P. Terry's

Since moving to Austin we've been on the prowl for an In-N-Out replacement. We need more in our Saturday-Lunch routine other than: Chipotle, Firehouse Subs, and Rudys.

Everyone in town has been recommending Mighty Fine. So we tried it. It was.....fine. But it just wasn't that great and was also overpriced ($20 for me and Casey, while In-N-Out is $10.58 for us both).

Then.....the other day the kids and I went south into Austin and on a whim I drove by this place and decided, huh. Let's check it out.
And I'm SOOOO glad we did! It's just what I've been looking for (and more) Delicious, reasonably priced, and has the coolest decor. The kids and I ate there on Wednesday and we drove back today to share it with Casey.
At P. Terry's you'll find.....

Cute kids (one of them happier than the other):
Cool 60's decor with nice lighting:
Ketchup the way all great burger joints do it. In cups.
Yummy fresh, soft-in-the-middle-crunchy-on-the-outside fries (which I think are better than In-N-Out's):
GREAT burgers. The picture looks sloppy, but just believe. It's very tasty. I kind of want another....
Cute kids enjoying their fries (one refusing to look at the camera):
A fabulous color scheme. I know I'm a sucker for cool branding. But I'm not completely shallow. The food has to taste good too.
But seriously.....Cute cups! And perfect soda:
See, I think you're digging the turquoise and orange too....
Mod chairs:
And something we discovered after eating......an outdoor sandbox!
Dude. We should have been sitting out there the whole time! Next time.
Thank you P. Terry's for being my new best friend and making me wish we lived IN Austin, instead of 30 minutes away. We may not see you often enough. But we'll try.