Hubby and I took our daughter and 2 friends of hers (who are like my own nephews to me) to one of the pools in our community for a few hours of fun away from the tv and laptops notebooks .  It was only our 2nd time to go to a pool outside of my little girl’s swim class. When the sun started to set, which was already around 8pm, what few people were around started to pack up and leave. And for a little over 30 minutes, we had the pool all to ourselves! Exclusivity, yeah! The kids were very happy about that stroke of luck. They’re hoping it happens again next time. Haha!

We had a house guest – a very dear friend of ours – the first few days of June. He’s been to the US several times but it’s his first time in Austin and our first time to get together after 4 years! It’s sort of SOP to bring guests of ours to Downtown Austin to visit the State Capitol. Where else can we go without having to driver for ore than an hour?! Haha!

We had to make do with the IPhone for photo ops. The nicer camera was left and forgotten in the garage. *sigh* It’s been over a year since we last visited the Texas State Capitol.  The biggest and most noticeable change is that everyone now goes through security check, when before, everyone just came and went as they pleased. Better safe than sorry, I guess.

Anyway, I love going to the Texas State Capitol. Every visit always seems like a first to me. ‘We’ll be back, when the next house guest comes along! Haha!

Mabuhay!

The strawberries were mostly bright red and quite big.  Unfortunately, they weren’t very sweet. I used them to make strawberry filling for my cakes.  Good thing I remembered to bring a cooler with ice.  5 pounds of freshly-picked strawberries going to waste would have been a travel emergency, not to mention a travel nightmare! It was quite hot that day and after our fun at the strawberry farm, we spent the rest of the day until late that evening hanging out with friends.  Good times!

Click HERE for the Strawberry Filling Recipe.

This isn’t your typical “florist in Boston” pic. I took the above photo when we visited the butterfly garden within the Baluarte grounds in Ilocos Sur.  It was a “gotcha!” moment for me.   Butterflies can be a little tricky to photograph as they can’t keep still for very long.  Hee hee.  I may have taken a lot of shots before I finally got THE one I was most satisfied with.

We have a lot of fun souvenir photos in Baluarte.  I hope to get around to posting them soon.

Mabuhay!

Happy New Year, y’all!  The above photo was taken in Saud Beach Resort in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, the finaly pit stop of our amazing race in Ilocos.  Pagupud is indeed the Boracay of the North.  The water, however, isn’t very ideal for swimming as the waves can get really big and a little too playful.  The water is more for surfing and boogie boarding.

I wonder if Outer Banks foreclosures are anything like this?

Cheers, y’all!

My daughter and I were having an early al freso dinner at a neighborhood sandwich shop when I noticed how beautiful  the sky was.  I love scenes like this and I can get used to seeing such a display everyday. t’s a beautiful sight.  It helped me relax and forget about life’s stressors…even for just a short time.  Because really, how can one think of, say, best acne treatments, when the skies are partying right in front of you?!

Cheers, y’all!

Summer is hot, hot, hot!  It’s been so hot these last couple of days that we’re close to requesting our landlord to install bathroom fans in the bath and powder rooms of our  townhome! Hee hee.  Our annual beach excursion with friends last week couldn’t have come at a better time. It was a short but sweet vacation but it was nevertheless fun-filled!   Summer heat is just more bearable when you’re at the beach having fun.  But you know that already.

Well, hello, sunset!  How’s that for an outdoor fireplace?  I took this photos using hubby’s I-phone while driving home.  And we didn’t even have to spend a penny for this wonderful treat!

Cheers!

Snow we can handle.  But hail? No thank you. The last hail episode in Austin, I’m guessing, got a lot of people buying affordable car insurance.  Because really, who wants to drive around in a bedimpled car?

On February 23rd, neither new nor  used golf balls were flying over this golf course.  The reason is quite obvious…miracles or all miracles, it snowed in Austin!   We’ve been living in Austin for a few years now and this was the first time we’ve ever seen this much snow.  It was snowing the entire day and we loved it, my 5 year old most specially.  It will probably take a couple of years before it snows this much again.  Although, I certainly hope not.   Just one fine day of snow is all we ask…for the little kids to make their snowmen…and for us kids at heart.