SEVEN DAYS OF SQUEEDUNK: DAYS 3 and 4

Hubby's holding one of several humorous signs sent by his big brother.

Well, we weren't very far into Day 2's Jammy adventure before we got a call that required my getting dressed and hopping into the car, but at least it was for a happy reason. The Wimberley Cafe called to say "Guess what? We're gonna have that apple pie for you today after all, and it'll be ready in 45 minutes!" I was going to leave John home in his jammies while I ran to get it, but he said "Ah well, we might as well both go, and have brunch while we're there." Great idea Snookems! We did, however, come straight back home afterwards, put our jammies back on, and spent the rest of the day binge-watching a new Netflix series called Virgin River. And, of course, there was pie!

Day 3 ran into snags as well (do you see a pattern forming here?). It was supposed to be "Hanging at the Bookstore Day", using up a gift card I have on the both of us and spending some time in the cafe with our purchases and a hot beverage. However, when I got the call that daughter Lex had developed a case of mastitis, and was running a fever -- on the day her hubby was supposed to head back to work -- we decided instead to go grab Mr. Goobs and bring him to our house for a sleepover, so that she and Rowan could get the rest they needed.

If you have grandkids, or kids, or even pets, you know that the first one is the practice kid. And, ever since Calvin outgrew sleeping in a crib, where we could keep him contained, getting him to go to bed, and stay there, has been a problem. We'd tried every different combination of location and who he slept with, if anyone, until we finally figured out that the key was to wear him to a frazzle first. This time we took him on his first hike at Blue Hole Park, let him play on the playground there, then took him to Wimberley Cafe for his favorite dinner, their grilled cheese sandwich.

While I was waiting for the bill, Papa took Calvin next door to the new candy store, to try his first ever Tootsie Roll Pop. He liked it!

Soon as we got home we all got into our jammies and brushed our teeth, pulled open the sofa bed in the living room, and started up a good movie I had recorded for him. This time it was Paddington, and he was sawing logs within fifteen minutes, and stayed that way for 10 or 11 hours, never even noticing when Papa and I snuck back into our own bed! We started the movie up again the next morning, and boy, was he tickled to death when he discovered that I actually had some Paddington-style marmalade in my fridge for him to have with his breakfast, thanks to a dear friend down in Louisiana who is in his 90s, but still manages to make a batch every year using kumquats picked from his own trees!

So, day four was supposed to be our biggest adventure of the week, but when Hubby discovered that our rain tank was almost empty (we never got the fall rains that usually replenish it after our harsh summers) he had to call and order some water to be delivered, and take whatever day they gave him, since we couldn't risk running out altogether. So, instead of the adventure, he got to sit at home all day long, and of course, they didn't come until the very end of the day.

We're really on a roll now!

 

THE WONDERS OF WONDER WORLD

Little Goobs came over for another sleepover this weekend. So, of course, I felt another Christmas Adventure was in order. This time we took him over to the college town of San Marcos -- the same town where we took him on his first real adventure a good while back, the glass bottom boats. This time we were headed for Wonder World Cave and Adventure Park, home of the Holiday Express!

My first impression left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed. In fact, it reminded me a lot of that movie Adventureland, where the teenagers are working at a derelict amusement park that had seen better days. For one thing, the Holiday Express isn't really a train. It's just several carts hooked together, and there are no tracks. Also, the animal park it drives you through is pret-ty tiny! Then there was the gift shop, which had definitely seen better days.

However, once I started looking at it all through Calvin's eyes, I realized it was just about perfect for him. For one thing, he's not a fan of crowds, long waits, and loud noise. Not a problem here! He's still at the age where you don't even have to put any money in the video game for him to be happy.

And, even Papa and I got pretty excited when we realized our "train" was headed straight for that waterfall you saw above!

Careful on the right, you just might get wet like Calvin did!

Papa was a bit sad that we didn't buy any of the food packets for the animals, but I think Calvin was quite content to let them poke their heads through the bars and pester everyone else, instead of him. Those guys were aggressive, and likely to steal the whole bag right out of your hand if you weren't careful!

Best of all, coming back through the tunnel it was Papa John who got all wet! 

All in all, I think Calvin had a wonderful time. Plus, I think it was only about $6 each for John and I, and Calvin, being only 3 yrs. old, got in free! How's that for a bargain? We will definitely be coming back when he's a bit older, to do the cavern part of the tour.

FRIENDSGIVING: PART II

Wednesday afternoon, after we finished our tour of the Georgetown square, the guys headed off to check out Zodi'x Cigar Lounge , which was right near our hotel. It has a members-only room hidden behind a bookcase, but they let these out-of-towners in with the purchase of 25-dollars-worth of cigars, and gave them a free beer. Talk about happy boys! Meanwhile, Paula and I opted to check out the hike & bike trail behind our hotel.

Feeling self-righteous about all the steps we had got in that day, we then treated ourselves to afternoon tea, and a little sumthin' sweet to share, back at the hotel. Yummy!

One reason this adventure morphed from a day trip into an overnighter was that, not only would all the fun shops be closed on Thursday,  the main restaurant we wanted to try there would be too. If you live anywhere near the Texas Hill Country, you are probably familiar with Monument Cafe in Georgetown (the peach fried pies!), but did you know they've also opened a Mexican restaurant called El Monumento? So that's where we headed for dinner.

I had an amazing Torta Cubana (not Mexican, I know) but after seeing, and hearing, Paula's reaction to the Chile Relleno she'd read rave reviews about, I wished I'd said...

"I'll have what she's having!"

Back at the hotel we enjoyed spending some time around the patio fire pit, reminiscing about the many fun adventures we've had together in the last 40-some-odd years, before heading off to bed.

On Thanksgiving day we had reservations at Gumbo's, in a gorgeous old building on the town square.

 

There were several different main course options, but we all went with the beef tenderloin. Good choice!

Goat Cheese Salad and Melt-In-Your-Mouth Rolls

The Cajun Cornbread Dressing Was To Die For

We ended our Friendsgiving adventure at the movie theater, also right next to our hotel, seeing a really fun movie (one of our favorite things to do together) called Knives Out. Does it get any better?

Why yes, it does! Ordinarily I'm pretty sad when we part, knowing it could be months before we see each other in person again, although the daily texting really helps. This time, however, I had something special to look forward to --  Little Goobs coming over for a sleepover and a Mimi-Papa-Christmas Adventure. Yes, he did head straight for his "Explorer" outfit as soon as he heard me say that word, but this time I managed to convince him that it wasn't really necessary...

FRIENDSGIVING: PART I

Our BFFs have one son, and he always spends Thanksgiving day with his wife's big family, then has a second celebration with Paula and Tim a day or two later. Last year, since both our kids were going to be with their in-laws as well, we decided to meet the Sanford's for lunch at the beautiful Hyatt Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop, which is just about midway between our home and theirs. We had so much fun that we decided to do the same thing again this year. 

 
But then, just a couple of days before Thanksgiving, my hubby casually commented "You know, Georgetown is also midway between us and the Sanfords." Next thing we knew, not only did we have reservations for Thanksgiving lunch in Georgetown, we also had rooms at the lovely Sheraton conference center, and plans to head up there a day ahead, when all the fun shops on the square would actually be open. Turns out, conference centers don't have any conferences going on during the holidays, so not only were we offered a great rate for our rooms, we practically had the place to ourselves!

We met them just in time for lunch at 600 Degrees Pizzaria, then the guys and gals split up to wander the square.  We'd only been in one or two shops when we came upon this place.

Craft Beer and Outfitters in one location? Weird, huh? No, brilliant! When I peered through the window, guess what I found?

Our hubbies! Happy as could be, and in no hurry for us to finish up our shopping.

Can you imagine a better place than this...

in which to watch your all-time favorite Christmas movie every year?

Apparently poppies are a big deal in Georgetown, since we saw them mentioned everywhere, and on everything.

It seems they host a poppy festival here every year, so that must mean there are poppy fields around here somewhere, right? I was so sad that we were never in France when the poppies were in bloom. Wouldn't it be a hoot to discover they've been blooming right here, in my own backyard, all this time?

to be continued...

THE PUMPKIN PATCH ADVENTURE

As soon as I mention the word "adventure", our Calvin immediately heads over to the costume pegs and starts pulling on his explorer outfit. And, whenever he does this, he leaves a trail of formerly grumpy old people, who are suddenly grinning their heads off, wherever he goes! Which is exactly what happened when we took him on a Pumpkin Patch Adventure this weekend.

He should have been pretty grumpy himself, seeing as we were told we'd have a 45 minute wait to get a table at Wimberley Cafe. But, when I took him exploring around the square, we discovered a brand new candy store -- one with blueberry lollipops, his favorite! He was still only halfway through it when he finally got his grilled cheese sandwich.

From there we headed to the big Methodist church on the edge of town, which hosts a tiny little pumpkin patch each year. No big bouncy houses or slides, but just right for a little explorer who's not too crazy about crowds and noise.

He found a big pumpkin for him and Dada to carve, and a little tiny pumpkin that ought to be just about right for his baby sister Rowan.

Plus there were some fun games, just right for someone his size.

All in all, I'd say it was the perfect pumpkin patch adventure!

A KNIGHT'S TALE

Perhaps you remember, long long ago when our grandson was just a baby, how his silly Mimi went out and bought this amazing book about all the wonderful things you can make from cardboard.

Of course, he was nowhere near ready to do anything like that, so I stashed it away in the secret closet and all but forgot about it. Same thing happened when Hubby came home wagging a little box of wooden blocks that you could build castles with. We couldn't even get him interested in the giant colorful baby blocks a friend had passed down, so he'd probably be a tween before he'd be interested in these. Into the closet they went. Then, just this past week, I was in my favorite consignment store -- the one with lots of books and toys -- and saw that they had brought all their Halloween costumes out. Hanging on the end of the rack was a little knight's breastplate and shield set, for only $6.99. I was oh-so-tempted to buy it, but Calvin didn't have a clue what a knight was, what they did, or where they lived, so why bother? Besides, the secret closet (aka the linen closet) was running out of room! So I let it go.

Wouldn't you know, the very next day my daughter sent us a photo of Calvin playing with the little cardboard castle and catapult set he had built from this month's Kiwi Crate (Thank you Aunt Kathy!). He was having a blast using the catapult to knock the castle down, then getting to set it up again, over and over. In the blink of an eye I was running back to the thrift store to see if the armor was still there. It was.

Unfortunately, it didn't come with a sword, so he grabbed a squishy Batman baseball bat to use as his weapon. But then I remembered that amazing cardboard adventures book I had stashed away, and we made our own sword!

Then it was on to some castle-building with Papa John.

Know what I like most about little knights in shining armor? They just love being helpful.

And, speaking of shining armor, I'm thinking that on his next visit, we just might need to make this jousting helmet. Wouldn't you agree?

Papa got me plenty of duct tape on his last excursion to Ace Hardware. Now all I need is some cereal boxes!