October

Hard at work

Fall landed on our front porch while it was still 90º,
but the temperature eventually caught up with the season.

Clay and I spent some time creating a lion mask
for a performance he will do with his dance class in Nov.

I worked a Friday Meals on Wheels route in a different part of town,
which put me quite close to this new market, so I had to check it out.

Ruth attended a homeschool homecoming dance
for all homeschoolers in the DFW area.

We got to spend time with family,
celebrating sweet Charlotte's first birthday.

Weston stepped in as substitute math teacher one day.

The boys read a book called The Martyr of the Catacombs for their
history class and then made clay models of the catacombs.

Clay became a master popsicle maker.

Weston and I watched a local grocery store make all the popcorn.

Max was selected to help with the pledge at Arrow.

Ruth and her besties attended the HSAA homecoming game.

Jeff and I had a date night to Lucile's during Lobstrama.

Jeff and Ruth attended an Air Force Academy information meeting
and happily shared their new-found knowledge with the rest of us.

We attended the Taste of Denton event at the Armadillo Ale Brewery.

Rain, rain, and more rain

Chicken Oil Co. is always a hit with our crew
when we're in College Station.

Ruth and Weston finished up the cross country season
with the homeschool state meet at Texas A&M.
The course was a mess, but at least it wasn't raining.
We're so proud of their hard work this season!

While we were in College Station, we met up with Jeff's
brother's family for a long-overdue visit. 

No trip to A&M would be complete without ring pictures.

Got in on the first day of early voting

Clay taught me how to play Ticket to Ride.

Ruth finished up her public speaking class.
They created vision boards on the last day.

Clay managed to lose another tooth to make himself
look like a vampire just in time for Halloween.

One of my book clubs met at Sloan and Williams Winery
in Grapevine, which was a special treat. 

Max took on another paying job
filling up holes in our yard.

We got to spend a lovely weekend with my MIL at Lake Buchanan.

We had our first-ever online consultation with a physician
when Weston developed a severe rash and a sore throat.

We came up with a reward system for the boys for getting their
schoolwork done, which involved, in part, a large shipment of used Legos,
which had to be washed before I would allow them into circulation.

Ruth rocked her skeleton costume
for her CAP Halloween party.

The boys have a couple of events coming up at Arrow that
necessitated us turning our kitchen into a factory of sorts.
We made homemade marshmallows, homemade chocolates,
homemade brownies, and homemade goat milk soap.

Days when the kids were away

Almost accidentally, Jeff and I ended up childless for several days last week while the kids played with grandparents in the far reaches of Texas and Oklahoma. We made the most of our time and put together a brilliant staycation. On Tuesday, we headed to downtown Dallas, where we checked into the W hotel and then headed over to Happiest Hour for lunch. It was such a cool place, and we definitely want to go back sometime. From there, we braved the intense Texas heat and walked over to the Nasher Sculpture Center for some culture. After that, we went back to the hotel and spent several lazy hours lounging on the awesome pool deck, which has spectacular views of the city. Tuesday evening, we had dinner at The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, a place we have always wanted to visit. We tried the tasting menu with wine pairings. The food was wonderful, the atmosphere was elegant, and it was an overall excellent experience!

W Dallas Victory

Happiest Hour

Nasher Sculpture Center 

Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek

On Wednesday, we came back to Flower Mound in time for me to do my deliveries for Meals on Wheels. It was fun to have Jeff ride along, and I think he enjoyed getting to participate in an activity that is important to me. When the deliveries were done, we made a beeline for McKinney, where we had lunch and visited wineries and shopped around the historic square. Later, we had dinner at Sol and then visited Trader Joe's and Half-Price Books.

McKinney

On Thursday morning, we hopped up before the sun so we could meet our hot air balloon flight crew and check an item off our bucket list. Just as the sun was coming up, we became airborne and flew around for about an hour, enjoying the peace and beauty all around us. It was spectacular! And, with the whole day still before us, we then headed to Jeff's parents' house to pick up our younger boys, stopping for lunch at George's in Waco.

Hot air balloon flight

George's

We love hanging out with our kiddos, but we were definitely glad for a chance to spend some quality one-on-one time together enjoying some of the wonderful things DFW has to offer!

Girls' Weekend

Less than 36 hours after we arrived home from South America, I hopped in the car and headed down to Fredericksburg to meet up with my mom and sister for our first-ever Girls' Weekend. We had so much fun shopping, eating, visiting wineries, catching up, and laughing. I'm so thankful to have such wonderful women in my life!

Fiesta Winery

Lunch at Vaudeville's underground bistro

Samples at Quintessential Chocolates

Four Point Cellars

Pontotoc Winery

Dinner at Rathskeller

It was way too hot to hike, but we enjoyed the drive out to Enchanted Rock.

Celebrating National Ice Cream Day at Clear River

Wine, Olive Oil, and Chocolate Tour

Jeff's school provides all kinds of opportunities for the students to get to know the city and continue practicing their Spanish even outside of class time. And many of these activities are open not only to students but also their families and friends. Today's activity was a tour that visited two wineries (out of some 1200 in the area), an olive oil factory, and a tiny chocolate shop, which was right up our alley, so we signed up right away. Wine is Argentina's second-largest industry (after petroleum) and olive oil is the third, so the tour was a great way to become more familiar with the heart and soul of Argentina, particularly the area around Mendoza, and it was also a delight for our taste buds.

The first winery was a pretty large one called Baudron. In the tasting room, they served us one white wine (a Chardonnay) and one red (a Malbec, for which Mendoza is most well-known). Jeff and I are never much for white wines, but the Malbec was truly wonderful--the best we've tried since we've been here...And we've tried a few!

Baudron Winery

My favorite room on the tour!

For reference as to how big each of those barrels is

The two wines we got to taste.
That Malbec is amazing!

From there we headed over to Pasrai, an olive oil and raisin factory. The name is a blending of the Spanish word for raisin and the English word for raisin because raisins were their first product and first export. They have since added the olive oil component to the business, which is the only part we visited today. We got to see the olives being processed, and then we got to try some of their lotions and sample many of their oils, everything from straight up extra virgin olive oil to many different flavors like lemon, garlic, rosemary, oregano, basil and aji. Our favorite was the aji oil, which is made with a red pepper for a little spice (or a lot of spice if you're Argentinian). We were also able to try some of their raisins, both golden and regular. We thought everything was wonderful!

Pasrai

A batch of olives ready to be processed

The making of olive oil

So many wonderful goodies!

I loved the beautiful murals that lined the entrance.

Then we visited another, smaller winery, Cavas de Don Arturo, that only produces red wine, which is not sold in stores but is only available to purchase on site. We tasted three of their wines, but we did not particularly enjoy any of them, though we did enjoy the experience.

The tasting room at Cavas de Don Arturo

My favorite feature of this winery

The final stop on our tour was a tiny artisanal shop, which could barely hold our entire tour group. It was like someone's grandma had just set up shop selling all her goodies out of a spare room in her house. You had to be going there to get there, so I imagine someone in the tour company knew the owner and made this arrangement. The owner, who claims to use old family recipes for most of her items, was very enthusiastic and charming and had many products for us to sample, including some savory things like balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and spreads, as well as some sweets, which was definitely the focus of the shop. The most unique for me was the spaghetti squash jam. There were all kinds of jams and chocolates and a whole selection of liqueurs. Everything was delicious, and it was such a fun experience!

Sweet treats and liqueurs

Jams, jellies and sweet spreads

Liqueur samples

Final samples at A la Antigua