Slowpoke Farm Day

Over the past few years, our family has been trying to eat more local foods.  We’re definitely concerned about pesticides and hormones in our food, but also about the amounts of fuel used to transport foods and the treatment of animals.  Abilene is in a bit of a food desert, so we were thrilled to discover Slowpoke Farms a couple of years ago and have loved getting our meat and eggs from them — we love how well they treat their animals and that they are grass fed and raised free of hormones.

Every spring, the best farmers in the world (I’m not biased at all), invite their customers out to the farm for lunch and time to wander around.  This year was the first time we’ve been able to go, and it was wonderful.

They made a delicious and entirely local lunch, led us on a tour of their animals, and let us wander the property.  The girls even got a chance to feed slop to the pigs.  I love that the girls know where food comes from AND they know our famers.   I’m looking forward to the Farmer’s Market opening up in a few weeks!

 

 

 

 

(I love this picture of Farmer Joy and Molly)

 

Berlin

I think I’ve mentioned before that my favorite part of Berlin was the Fat Tire Bike Tour.  It’s been something on my list to do for a long time, and I’m so glad that Susan, who doesn’t love to ride her bike, was willing to go with me.  It was about a 5 hour ride and we saw lots of fun things.

A plaque where the Berlin Wall once stood — near Checkpoint Charlie and one of the last remaining pieces of the wall.

The Brandenburg Gate in the rain

Berlin Holocaust Memorial

Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral)

Reichstag

Ampelmann — the East German cross walk symbol (he’s plump and wearing a hat, like all good communists should)

Berlin was an amazing city.  So glad we got to spend a few days there.

Leipzig

Leipzig has been home to Bach and Goethe, but, most importantly, it’s the study abroad home of my dear friend Karen.  We spent most of our time there being shown around by Karen, who was a fabulous tour guide.  We ate at some great restaurants — I think I may have had the best chai latte in the world — shopped at super cute little shops and saw some really interesting sights.  And, for reals, y’all, we laughed and laughed and laughed, which was the best part about the whole trip.

Me, Susan and Karen with Bach (‘s name).  The nice man taking our picture apparently didn’t understand that we wanted Bach in the picture with us.  Oh, and I missed the sunglasses memo.

Thomaskirche, the church where Back was cantor

Goethe

Tuesday morning market in the square

Leipzig Holocaust memorial on the site of the synagogue that was destroyed during Kristallnacht — 140 empty chairs.

The Altes Rathaus, Old Town Hall

I hated leaving Leipzig, partly because Karen didn’t join us in Berlin, so we had to say goodbye (20 more days until I see her), but also because Leipzig was so very charming.  Karen’s love for the city was infectious and I felt like there was so much more to see and explore.  (I’m jealous that Susan gets to come and spend a month here in June.)  I hope we get to go back someday.

Prague

Prague hadn’t ever made my list of top places to visit, but since the Heflins and the Study Abroad group were there, Susan and I decided to meet them in Prague.  And Prague delivered; it was completely charming.

I think my favorite memory of Prague was walking arm in arm with Karen — whom I’d missed so much — over the Charles Bridge.  I was so happy to see her, and just the fact that we were together in this beautiful medieval city felt magical.  I (literally) squealed with delight multiple times.

Friday night, we briefly wandered the market, headed to the Charles Bridge, wandered the city a bit, and then ate a wonderful dinner.

Saturday morning, we met the Heflins again and headed up the funicular to the top of a hill, we climbed a tower to get a view of the city (not my favorite part of the trip — heights aren’t my favorite thing), and then wandered over to the castle complex.  We didn’t go in any of the buildings, but enjoyed marveling at their beauty and stature.  As we wandered down the hill, we found a fun little shop with treasures from all over the Czech Republic and then ate lunch at a fun cafe overlooking the city — another favorite moment.

(This is near the top of the tower.  See how thrilled I am to be there?)

Old Town Square

Trdlo at the market

Sunday we went to the Jerusalem Synagogue and toured a couple exhibits on memorials and Bulgaria’s role in the Holocaust.  Fascinating stuff.

That afternoon, we boarded a train (and made people move from seats that weren’t ours…) for a beautiful ride into Germany.  More on that soon.

First thoughts on Prague and Germany

I’ve been here a week now, and I’ve been trying to write a blog post without much success.  I’ve seen so much, and I’m so tired at the end of the day, that I have been having trouble finding the right words.  So here’s a quick recap — I’m sure I’ll have plenty to say when I get back in a few days and catch up on sleep sometime after that.

It was so good to see Karen and so hard to say goodbye to her (luckily only 31 more days until I see her again!)  She was a fantastic tour guide and host.

I’ve seen some pretty amazing places: Charles Bridge in Prague, Thomaskirche in Leipzig, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, just to name a few.

Going on the Fat Tire Bike Tour was SO fun.

We have one more day in Berlin and then fly our EARLY Saturday morning.  I’ll be sad to leave, but I’m ready to see my sweet family back in Abilene.

A Supercalifragilistic-expialidocious Birthday!

Birthdays are kind of a big deal at our house.

Many months ago, when Jane Anne saw the flyer that Mary Poppins was coming to Dallas on her birthday, she declared that all she wanted for her birthday was to see the show.  Being the Mary Poppins fan(atic) I am, of course, I obliged.  So on Sunday, we drove to Dallas, shopped with money JA had been saving, ate at her favorite places, and saw the wonderful show!

We spent the night in Dallas (and let her skip school on her birthday) and ice skated at the Galleria before coming home.

But that’s not all.  Since it was her 10th(!!) birthday and I knew she wasn’t expecting any kind of party, we threw her a surprise tea party — Mary Poppins-themed, naturally.

Jane Anne was completely surprised!  The girls had a tea party and then made some “stained-glass” kites.

It was a great birthday!  We’re so proud of our 10-year old!!