Postcards from Colorado

16 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by Jenny in The Texas Life, Travel

Tags

colorado, Denver, Hiking, ice skating, Keystone, travel, wall murals, Yoga

We just returned home from an EPIC spring break trip to Keystone with the kids. It wasn’t my first time there, but going with the kids gave me a view through their eyes, so everything felt so fresh. That beginner’s mindset has to be my favorite thing about traveling.

We spent a lot of time hiking, and by hiking I mean climbing trees and rocks…

we actually did do a little bit of walking too, but hiking can be hard to appreciate for kids.

Always trying to be like me. I’m not sure whether to be flattered or concerned.

As long as the only PDA they are into is public displays of asanas then I guess I am okay with it.

I can tell you what is not hard for these girls to appreciate: ice skating! Even Georgia was able to balance and skate around.

We had to keep her little ego in check when she yelled really loudly “that boy is bad!” after this older kid fell down.

We hit up both ice rinks in Keystone, and now the kids are asking if we can go to an indoor rink by our house!

Matt and Minda spent 3 days skiing, while I only tried one day with the little girls. Skiing with really little kids is difficult and exhausting! Also, I let go of Georgia going down the bunny slope and with perfect form she flew down the hill so fast that her dad had to jump out and catch her before she crashed into a net. Next year we will teach her to stop!

We also went to Denver and explored, but I may have to save that for another post. We did have some amazing vegan food there that I want to tell you about (cliff hanger!).

It feels good to be home. I am still basking in that Rocky Mountain high a little bit. My yoga teacher had to leave the room for a few minutes today, so he was like “Jenny, remember what we did on that side? Take the class through that on the other side.” Then I came crashing back to reality pretty fast! Reality isn’t so bad though. And this trip did make me realize that not everything has to be so serious! I love vacations that change my mindset for the better. It makes me think I need to hurry and plan the next adventure.

Speaking of the next adventure, check out my retreat in Austin that I am hosting with one of my yoga besties next month. Get yourself there and we will provide the yoga, meditation, guacamole, rad pad, and rad people!

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Postcards from Caprock Canyons

25 Friday Aug 2017

Posted by Jenny in The Texas Life, Travel

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Greetings! The last weekend of summer we packed up the our RV and hit the road.

I love the wide open plains of west Texas, and I knew that it would be just the right place to reset before the routine of the school year hit. Matt and I had camped out at Caprock Canyons several times in the past before we had kids. It is an outdoor lovers dream with its beautiful red canyon walls and expansive trail system. When we check site availability a couple of days before we wanted to leave there was one site available. I took that as sign from the universe that it was meant to be!

My previous trips to Caprock were always spent hiking to fern cave, a spot where a natural spring that drips out of a shady cliff side creating a magical environment for ferns to grow out of the sandstone wall. It is amazing! I had planned on doing that this trip because I wanted to show the girls, but after half a mile into the four mile trail I realized that it just wasn’t going to happen. The 100 degree August heat had us all wanting to turn around. We did get some pretty awesome canyon views on this trail though.

We also rode the Caprock State Trailway, a rails to trails conversion, one evening in hopes of seeing a colony of Brazilian Freetailed bats fly out of Clarity Tunnel.

We waited around until dark without ever seeing the mass exodus of bat, but the five mile bike ride back in the dark turned out to be a harrowing and unforgettable experience that included a massive swarm of mosquitos, a couple of pop up thunderstorms that had lightning flashing all around us, and an encounter with an angry rattlesnake that I almost ran over on my bike.

The highlight of our trip was definitely the Eagle Point trail. When we arrived at the trail head we were amazed to see a piece of a rainbow streaking through the sky. One of my favorite things about west Texas is that thunderstorms will randomly pop up on the most beautiful summer day, making for backdrops like this..

Hidden under this trail was the most amazing little natural cave that the map called the natural bridge.

After all of the hiking we needed to cool off, so a dip in Lake Theo, a little lake (really more of a pond) in the park was in order.

Not the most beautiful water we have seen this summer, but it was so cool and refreshing!

Oh, did I mention we saw bison?! Lots of bison everywhere. We saw them travelling in groups down to the lake for a drink and walking around the visitors center.

I live for little weekend adventures like this. Being in nature is so fulfilling for my soul. My hope as a mom is that my girls will learn to love and respect mother earth and all of her creatures.

There is more from our trip here in this video!

Wishing you a peaceful and adventure filled weekend!

The DMA and Klyde Warren Park

12 Monday May 2014

Posted by Jenny in Art, The Texas Life, Travel

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Tags

Art, Dallas, DMA, Klyde Warren Park, Museums

The Dallas Museum of Art is one of the gems of our little town. You can browse the the galleries and see work from some of the most famous artists in the world. Everyone from Van Gogh to Picasso, any day, free of charge.

The outside is a work of art in itself. There is a huge mosaic and sculptures to greet you in the courtyard at the entrance.

Once inside, the museum is a incredibly quiet and uncrowded. It is virtually just you and the masters.

Pablo Picasso, The Guitarist-1965

Wassily Kandunsky, Murnau, Burggrabenstrasse 1 1908

Robert Delaunay, Eiffel Tower 1924

Olive Wreath, Greek 4th Century B.C.

Head of a Priest- 150-250 A.D.

A Panda Bear Chair! Say that five times fast!

Nathan Mabry Mosaic Mask (Iced Out)- 2013

The museum also has an emerging artist area. This piece by Los Angeles artist, Nathan Mabry, was done with colored pencil and the teeth were iced out Swarovski Crystal.

Minda said this statue looked just like me. I guess it is true, everyone has a doppelganger out there!

After making our way through the collections we were bursting with inspiration!

We made our way to the Center for Creative Connections where kids of all ages can play and create their own masterpieces.

After the museum we headed back outside. Being the most gloriously sunny day, we crossed the street to Klyde Warren Park. My monkeys could finally be monkeys again.

Playing in fountains are probably the most blissful thing in life to a four year old. As much fun as we were having, I was working up an appetite!

With a row of food trucks we had a tough decision to make, but in the end, tacos from Abe’s Flavor Flave won!

The street tacos are served on warm corn tortillas glistening in oil and pilled up with shredded chicken and grilled onions, topped with cilantro and even more onions. The veggie tacos came with a smear of refried beans topped with cheese, avocado, tomatoes, and lettuce.

And an order of ballpark style nachos with a large cheese to chip ratio. Nothing special, but what can I say, this girl loves nachos!

We strolled through the ball topped arches to soak up a few last moments of this serene scene, and take a few snaps at the BIG sign.

Oh the irony…

XO-Jenny

The Fort Worth Zoo

02 Friday May 2014

Posted by Jenny in The Texas Life, Travel

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Tags

Animals, Attractions, Dallas, DFW, Fort Worth, Zoo

Hi Y’all! A trip to the Fort Worth Zoo has been on my to do list for months now. After pushing all of the excuses why we shouldn’t go (It’s far, there might be traffic, SO MANY SCREAMING KIDS!) to the back of my brain, I packed up a black bean and avocado power bowl and a couple of clementines and we were on our way!

Although most of my fears were realized (it was far, there was traffic, and there were school age kids on field trips by the droves) I loved this zoo from the moment we walked through the gate. The grounds were incredibly lush and green. The sun was shining down on us, and it would have been impossible not to smile.

Just inside the gates we were greeted by the official zoo greeters, the stunning pink flamingos.

The elephants are always a personal favorite, and what could be cuter than a baby elephant? Only two baby elephants of course!

We found your usual suspects like the zebra and giraffes plus this majestic white tiger.

Daddy lion was busy doing what he does best. It must be exhausting having such great hair.

And the Rhinos were enjoying the warm day by taking a dip to cool off. We were getting quite hot ourselves and wished that we could join them. We settled for the next best thing, Blue Bell on a cone.

While we indulged we checked out the tropical birds.

After searching the entire zoo I finally spotted Minda’s favorite animal of all, the elusive painted pony!

After a quick ride we called it a day. I was one tired mama!

XO-Jenny

The Simple Life

28 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by Jenny in Favorite Things, Food and Drink, The Texas Life, Travel

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Tags

Country Life, Intentional Living, Medicine Mound, Rural America, Sunsets, Texas, Yoga

Hi Y’all! I hope you had a fun-filled and relaxing weekend! With my due date looming closer every day, we thought it might be our last chance to get to our farm house for awhile. The city may be where we make a living, but the country is where we live. It is really the best of both worlds. I really never think of how special our country house is until I have been away for awhile. When we got there this weekend it was like my balance was immediately restored. All of my worries and day to day stresses were forgotten.

Saturday morning began with the most beautiful sunrise over the wheat field beside our house. I was so thrilled to see this big ball of fire that I just had to give it a big hug and do my happy dance!

No one loves coming home more that our dog Beau Ty. We try to play fetch in our backyard in Dallas, but nothing compares to running free through the fields.

I went for a morning walk down our red sand road. Walking out here is like a moving meditation. There are no cars or houses to remind you that you are anywhere but the present moment.

This hawk was flying back and forth through the wheat fields putting on an aerial show for me.

We went to town and stopped by the ghost town of Medicine Mound. There is a museum in the old general store that is only open for two hours each Saturday morning. This was news to me, but when we saw the door open we decided to make a pit stop. The entire town was burned in 1933 by a woman who lived there. She had gone mad years after her teenage daughter committed suicide after she was forbidden to see her boyfriend who also happened to be the town school teacher. It was never rebuilt, and all that is still standing is the general store and a gas station. I love playing local tourist!

All of the artifacts in the museum were donated by local families. I was drooling over this old stove and vintage wedding dresses.

It turns out the girls favorite part of the town was the antique merry-go-round.

While in town we picked up the usual: gas, groceries, and a chihuahua. We found this poor girl walking down the road about to have a heat stroke. We took her to town and asked if anyone knew her. You would think in a town of 700 people everyone would know everyone and their dog too. It turned out someone did recognize her, but when they called her owner, he denied that his dog was missing saying “no my dog is in the backyard!” So now this little amiga is home with us. Minda is thrilled to have a girl dog and is dressing her up in ribbons and bows right this moment. We are going to the vet this afternoon; I am praying she is not pregnant!

We also had some resort style pool time aka an old stock tank with a tarp and splashed around to cool off. The stock tanks in the background are actually filled with dirt and were used as raised garden beds, but I am just not around enough to keep anything alive!

By the evening storm clouds were rolling in.

And the sun began to set on our beautiful day. Who says you can never go home?

Wish me luck at the vet with this new dog!

XO-Jenny

Dallas Blooms

09 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by Jenny in Favorite Things, Gardening, The Texas Life, Travel

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Tags

Arboretum, Dallas, Gardens, Inspiration, travel

One of the best things about moving home to Dallas is being able to take my girls to some of the places that I loved growing up. The Dallas Arboretum has been on the to do list for the last couple of months since the Dallas Blooms festival started in February. I am happy to say that yesterday we finally made it, just in time for one of the last day of Dallas Blooms.

It was every bit as beautiful as I remember. There were tulips galore. The Children’s Adventure Garden just opened last year. It is a sort of outdoor interactive science museum for kids.

This is where we started our self-guided tour. Most of the stuff I found to be appropriate for older kids, but we found plenty for the preschool set too.

We checked out the goods in the Incredible Edible Garden.

And the rocks in the geology exhibit.

There was area just for tots, which was our favorite! Kaya explored hidden tunnels,

And met some curious creatures.

We found puddles for splashing and even got swept away in a wind tunnel. We might have spent an entire day here in the children’s garden, but our tummies were grumbling, so we took a break to grab a quick bite.

Spinach Salad with goat cheese for me.

And an eyerolling tounge waggingly good PBJ sandwich for the girls.

Then it was off to explore the main gardens.

A place so zen even the statues are practicing asanas.

We dropped our shoes too and got in on the action.

We had plenty of room to run around and even got a couple of shots of the baby to be.

Only eight more weeks before she makes her appearance!

Each pathway seemed to lead to another enchanting spot.

We even spotted some of the parks wildlife.

And made ourselves at home in a human sized bird nest. I saved perhaps the best for last. A splash in the spitting toads.

Before there was a children’s garden this is what I remember playing in at the Arboretum.

Seeing their joy made my month.

And I hope theirs too. We left completely soaked and blissed out. Minda enjoyed it so much she asked on the way home if we could come back the next day. It was the perfect way to celebrate spring. If you are from the area, I cannot recommend this place enough for both young and old.

XO-Jenny

Rafting the Rio Grande

03 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by Jenny in The Texas Life, Travel

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adventure, Big Bend, Eco Travel, fitness, Hiking, Inspiration, National Parks, rafting, travel

When we were planning our trip to Big Bend, I found a lot of outfitters in the area that led guided floats down the Rio Grande, for a pretty hefty fee. We have a raft, so we decided to take it along and give it a go ourselves. We did have a couple of logistical issues to sort out before we could get our river permit from the park. I have a tendency to dream big and plan little, so this type of occurrence is all too common, but after a long drive to Terlingua for an extra life vest and a patch kit we were good to go.

We started out at the Santa Elena Canyon Trailhead with the intention of doing a boomerang trip by paddling into the canyon and then gently floating our way out.

The first thing we noticed when we got on the water was the wind was at our backs. It was quickly pushing us upstream, so any plans of floating back down were immediately shot.

We only made it about a mile into the canyon before turning around. We usually push ourselves to our physical limits when we are living out a dream like this, but I think Matt was a little scared at the thought of getting stuck up the canyon with two little kids and a pregnant lady in a raft. I can’t blame him. I was secretly relieved too that we turned around early after paddling harder than we ever wanted to on the return out of the canyon. I wouldn’t say it was a complete bust though, the view was splendid!

After that we headed back to the other side of the park to the hot springs to check out the river for the possibility of a float the next day.

While we were there we checked out more old ruins (the park is full of them)

And took in the waters at the hot spring.

Oddly, Minda said that swimming in the slimy springs was the highlight of her trip.

The next morning we returned to the hot springs trail with the raft, ready to take on the roaring rapids.

It turned out to be more of a leisurely float than anything.

We picnicked as we floated and all touched the walls of this canyon so that we would all be able to say we had crossed the border and reached Mexico.

This float was really the highlight of the trip for me. We didn’t have to paddle much at all, and we saw what I would say is some of the best scenery in the park.

After the float we made it back up the nature trail to catch one last sunset over Big Bend.

I will be nostalgic over these views forever.

Hasta Luego Big Bend! We hope to one day return and soak up some more of your majestic simplicity. Back to the real world for now though, whatever that is.

XO-Jenny

Big Bend’s Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive

01 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by Jenny in The Texas Life, Travel

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Big Bend, Eco Travel, Hiking, National Parks, Photography, Sunsets, travel

Day two of our trip we woke up refreshed and ready for a big day of exploration. Big Bend is a huge expanse of majestic mountains and desert landscapes. I think I could spend a couple of weeks exploring the park, and still just scratch the surface. We only had a few days to see as much of it as possible, and it seems that driving the Ross Maxwell Road through the park offers the best opportunity to see a lot of the park in just one day. So our second day that is exactly what we set out to do.

Our first stop was the Blue Creek Trail for a short hike to the Homer Wilson Ranch House

The ruins of this old house were accessible for us to explore. It was just one room with a stone floor and a fireplace.

It also had a covered back porch that ran along the entire length of the house.

Not exactly luxurious, but when you have a view like this, I guess there is little left to be desired.

Except maybe a shed to keep you grain in. Then it was off to the Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail.

The trail follows a dry creek bed to the pouroff. We found some huge conglomerates to climb on along the way. I love how my kids are able to live in the moment and enjoy the opportunity right in front of them versus rushing to find out what awaits at the end of the trail.

When we finally did make our way to the end of the trail we were face to face with the towering pouroff. It doesn’t rain very often in Big Bend, but when it does, flash floods turn this benign dent into a raging 100 foot waterfall.

As we entered the mouth we could see the power of water first hand in this expansive hollow space.

We celebrated at the end of the trail and turned around to head back to the truck.

After all of the hiking in the arroyo we had to stop to shake the sand out of our shoes before heading to our next spot.

We ate lunch at a viewpoint for this formation, creatively dubbed the “Mule Ears.”

Then we made a quick stop at Castonlon to see more ruins and stop in the visitors center.

The final stop along the way was this view of Santa Elena Canyon. This box canyon is the gem of the park. We didn’t go for the hike this day because we planned on seeing it the next day from ground zero, a raft on the river.

We made it back to our campground in Rio Grande Village on the opposite side of the park just in time for a short hike up the nature trail to see the sunset over the river.

A perfect end to another day in paradise.

XO-Jenny

Big Bend’s Boquillas Canyon

31 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by Jenny in Food and Drink, The Texas Life, Travel

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Big Bend, Eco Travel, mexican, National Parks, Texas, travel, Vegetarian

Hi Y’all! Please excuse the radio silence last week. We were camping out in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert at Big Bend National park and completely hands free, no cellphone reception and no internet, just pure bliss!

After what seemed like the longest car ride ever we finally arrived at the park on a beautiful and sunny afternoon. The first thing we did was make our way over to the Boquillas Canyon trail.

Come on we will show you some of the sights!

This short hike is right along the Rio Grande, just a stones throw away from Mexico. Along the trail we saw men cross the border here on horseback to sell their handmade goods to the hikers. I am sure this isn’t legal, but it did add a bit of culture to the mix!

The little town of Boquillas, Mexico in situated just a mile away from the other side of the river. From a viewpoint we could barely make out the town with it’s colorfully painted buildings.

We saw lots of desert plant life too. Just look at those prickly pears! They are absolutely beautiful this time of year with their yellow blooms.

And no hike would be complete without an attempt at one of those cool jump shots everyone else seems to be able to nail.

Thanks for coming along on our border adventure with us!

XO-Jenny

Life on the Road

09 Thursday May 2013

Posted by Jenny in The Texas Life, Travel

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Hi Y’all! We are back from our travels, and we are settling into an old farm house in TEXAS! Our RV trip over the last few months took us through some beautiful places, so I just wanted to drop in and share some of the views with you.