Dallas, Texas

A weekend well spent in Dallas, TX. Family fun time at the Perot museum and Deep Ellum on Saturday, then a solemn Sunday morning spent at the Dealey Plaza. The Perot museum was a multi-floor STEM focused museum. Hunger drove a quicker pace through the final mechanical engineering floor, so if we revisit, we will start from the bottom up on a full stomach.

I recommend visiting Deep Ellum in the daylight hours, it turns into a party area at night, with bar culture that spills into the streets. We ate Tacos, and attempted to ride the bus back to our hotel – but after waiting at the stop, and watching our bus speed past us without a glance in our direction, we chose to walk. Parking in downtown Dallas is reminiscent to any major city, where paying to park at every location can eat into your travel budget in the most frustrating way. I once paid $30 to park for two hours in a parking garage in Los Angeles, never again. When we travel, we walk, or we try to use public transportation to avoid tons of parking fees and sketchy parking situations. Downtown Dallas is more walkable in some areas than others, so just plan accordingly.

The JFK Assassination site and Sixth Floor museum visit was an austere examination of a painful moment in American history. Though a dark and tragic entry point to the life and legacy of JFK, the assassination site experience solidified for us the lasting impact of his work, and provided a meaningful place for reflection on the highs and lows of American potential. Our propensity for both good and evil is expressed to both extremes, often. Explaining this to children in a way that emphasizes the good can be a challenge, but we work hard to highlight the instances of love we see in every bad situation. When witnessing tragedy, it’s prudent to “find the helpers,” as Mr. Rogers says.

We look forward to visiting Dallas again soon, but perhaps Houston should be our next travel destination — I’ll take any travel tips you have for the biggest city in TX!

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White Sands National Park

When we moved from Arizona to Texas at the end of 2020, we made a stop at White Sands National Park. We had a great time sledding down the hills, ascending and descending various peaks, and collecting gypsum in nearly every seam of our clothes. White sands is a misnomer, the powdery substance covering the 115 square miles of the park is gypsum, a fine mineral that resembles sand. Believe me when I say I was vacuuming gypsum out of my car for over a year after this, and it’s still embedded in those shoes.

We were grateful to have an outdoor travel opportunity during our mandatory move amid the Covid-19 pandemic. It was incredibly stressful traveling during a time when vaccines were still in development, and nobody was really sure how susceptible children were, and how risky the symptoms would become. Every trip into the public was rolling the dice. Who else is relieved the darkest days of the pandemic are behind us? We still have not had Covid, and with 3-4 vaccines each, we’re hopeful we will never get it.

I highly recommend a visit if you find yourself in southern New Mexico or West Texas, and strongly suggest you also see Carlsbad Caverns!

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Sierra Vista Living

It’s almost September! Woah!

Time has really been hard to track lately. Sierra Vista has so much to offer, and the kids are just now old enough to jump into activities, so I’ve signed us up for practically everything.

I raced the Hummingbird Triathlon on August 19th, and did better than I thought I would. I hadn’t put in enough practice at the pool, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the swim portion of the race went. The distances were 800m swim, 13 mile bike ride, and a 5k run. It was fun, and I’m now tempted to sign up for the Lake Patagonia triathlon, but I still have other things on my agenda that are more pressing. And open water swims are a terrifying prospect to me right now, I just need to gain more experience.

Hummingbird Triathlon Sierra Vista AZ | Yea Yea Pueblo

We also bought a kayak! It’s a giant sit on top tandem that we can all fit on. We’ve only taken it out once in the two weeks that we’ve had it, but it will certainly get more use this fall.

Kayak | Yea Yea Pueblo  Apple Annie’s Orchard out in Willcox, AZ was a nice excursion. Peaches and apples now gracefully litter my countertops, waiting to be turned into crisps and snacks. Annie's Apple Orchard Willcox, AZ | Yea Yea Pueblo

While it was hot out, the generous scoops of ice cream atop our homemade apple pie slices provided a brief escape from the heat.

Annie's Apple Orchard Willcox, AZ | Yea Yea Pueblo

Annie's Apple Orchard Willcox, AZ | Yea Yea Pueblo

Annie's Apple Orchard Willcox AZ | Yea Yea Pueblo

Kids in the Kitchen | Yea Yea Pueblo

Margot started homeschool preschool this week, and has already enjoyed new forays into interesting subjects. Woody said he was sick and we decided to make him chicken noodle soup. We made the egg noodles from scratch. It was delicious, however the kids wouldn’t eat it, and spoiler alert: Woody wasn’t sick. Either way, we can mark that down as a Home-Economics lesson completed.

Kids in the Kitchen | Yea Yea Pueblo

I’m back into sewing. It’s been a love-hate relationship with the craft, but I think it’s mostly due to the machine I use. It’s got tension issues and I’m not sure if it’s worth servicing or just buying an upgraded machine. I’m still swimming in that conundrum, and my projects are piling up. But my new workspace is helping me stay organized, and it’s just so fun to sit at that I want to work on all the projects!

Craft Table Work Station Sewing Room | Yea Yea Pueblo

Previously, I said that I was not the Halloween-costume-making type, but I’ve had a change of heart (that seems to happen a lot, so take my sweeping proclamations with a grain of salt). I found some halloween costume patterns in my fabric stash and let Margot pick a view. She chose to be a Devil, so I’m like 1/8 done with that project (my machine eats everything, so I’m stuck).

I’m also trying to work on a mini quilt as my first foray into quilting.

My camera is getting a little dusty, but I try to pick it up once in a while when I see something worth documenting. Wildflowers are always worthy subjects and fortunately they’re growing across the street in the foothills.

Wildflowers | Yea Yea Pueblo

My kombucha has also been a continuous project for me. I’ve begun continuous brewing and I enjoy having a large glass or two of it daily. It’s such a fascinating process to watch my SCOBY grow and continue to ferment sweet tea into a bubbly, tangy, probiotic drink. Blueberry Ginger and Pineapple “booch” have definitely been my favorite second ferment flavors. I’m nerding out too much on booch, let’s move on.

I don’t have a lot of downtime outside of Marathon training (Tucson Marathon, Dec 9!) and my household/homeschool/parenting responsibilities. But I have a stack of books, and audiobooks, that I read and listen to piecemeal (I’m a chapter away from finishing In Cold Blood by Truman Capote) and I always seem to knock it out a book here and there. And I have a big crochet project that I’m chipping away at. If anyone knows how to keep 1 lb skeins from turning into a tangled mess halfway through their use, let me know. I’m at my wits end with these giant rats nests of yarn!

This summer has been such a period of growth for us as a family. Margot is developing so many new skill sets and interests, it’s a rewarding experience to oversee. Woody is growing like a weed, and I’ve suddenly got a million new interests on my to-do list (sculpting, cheese making, and so on).  We’ve strengthened friendships and found a church to call home. We are so happy to call Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca our home.

Lifestyle Photography | Yea Yea Pueblo