A Day At The Dallas Zoo!

A couple of days ago we met up with some friends at the Dallas Zoo! I had never been before + neither had my littles. we spent most of our time in 'Africa', learning about the giraffes, and we even made it to hear the elephant demonstration. sparrow's favorite subject besides art is geography, so we spend a lot of our days learning about other countries, cultures, and the animals that live in those places. so she was so happy to see elephants, lions, and giraffes in person!

^these crazy kiddos love each other so much!^

^so thankful for this maya wrap - little juniper just snoozed away^

 

 

MOZARTS!



while we were in Austin for thanksgiving, we took the littles to one of my favorite coffee shops-Mozart's! it over looks lake Austin and has the most breathtaking view, I love to sit on the outside deck, sip coffee and read a good book. 

during the holiday season, they have a light show synchronized to music, and it is just magical. sparrow + juniper were both a bit mesmerized by it. this year they did the infamous 'fox' song, and it was so funny to hear the crowd humming along.

sometimes when you ask a stranger to take a picture of you - you never really know how it's going to turn out, but surprisingly I love this one.



Merry Christmas!

hope you are having a very Merry Christmas spent with the ones you love!

love,

meg, chris, sparrow, and juniper

maple pecan pie!

you guys! this is seriously the best pecan pie I have ever eaten, and you know what? totally easy. admittedly, I always avoided making a pecan pie - they always looked so beautiful + elegant + so I assumed they would be hard and tedious. not so!

I made this pie last year for thanksgiving, it was such a big hit - it's become a staple, and it's here to stay. and even better, it was born out of my hatred for corn syrup, so instead has maple syrup.

filling:
1 1/2 c dark brown sugar
1/2 c maple syrup
1/4 c melted butter
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tbs of bourbon (optional, but trust me just adds a bit of magic to your pie)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a dash of nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt (I like using sea salt)
2 cups pecan halves

this is the recipe I use for my pie crust and it doesn't specify, but I recommend using pastry flour. you can also use a pre-made crust if your in a pinch!

preheat your oven to 350. place your pie shell into a pie dish and refrigerate until filling is ready.
In a medium sized bowl mix together dark brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, eggs, vanilla, bourbon, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt - until well combined. then gently stir in the pecans.
pour filling into your pie shell and bake for 40-45 min. let cool 2-4 hours before serving.

Enjoy!

Austin Science + Nature Center

I always try and squeeze in a trip to the science + nature center and the thinkery  when we are in Austin visiting family. sadly, I didn't take any photos with my camera when we were at the thinkery, but it's an awesome children's museum ~ you can easily spend all day there!

Austin's Science + Nature Center is tucked under a bridge near zilker park, has beautiful walking trails, a small zoo of rescued animals ~ the baby fox was so cute, a dino pit, where the littles can 'dig' for dinosaur fossils, and tons of educational exhibits that they can explore. my personal favorite is watching the honey bee colony. it's so fascinating watching the little worker bees' make honey.

sparrow loves it + if you ever find yourself in my home city, I highly recommend taking your littles there. and to the thinkery!

grapevine botanical gardens

the weather has been so nice lately + the fall in Texas this year, has actually been stunning!! we have been taking advantage of it, and heading out doors as much as possible. the other day we met up with some dear friends at the botanical gardens in grapevine. I had never been before, and it is seriously a hidden gem. it's very small compared to the one in ft.worth, but we loved it! and it honestly made it easier to keep up with the littles ~ lots of enclosed areas that they could explore, without me being worried that they could run off and get lost. I can't wait to come check it out in the spring!

^^I am working on a  friendship photo-book for sparrow's Christmas gift, so whenever we are out with friends I am trying to remember to snap pictures - and these of phoenix + sparrow are just too much for me. they love each other so much!^^

                   ^^my sweet friend Brandi + her beautiful little ones, Wren + Phoenix^^

                                                   ^^these two! my heart is so full!^^

    ^^and here are a couple of little Wren, she is the sweetest little girl. and she tries so hard to keep up with phoenix + sparrow, it's so precious to watch!^^

no paintbrushes allowed

a favorite fall craft in our household, is painting with leaves! so when I saw that our local library was hosting a series called 'no paintbrushes allowed' and this months activity was painting with leaves, I made sure to mark it on our calendar!

it's a really simple craft, all you need is paint, leaves, + paper.

first, collect some fall leaves that have already fallen off of the trees, and try to gather different textures + sizes. make sure to get your littles involved in this part, we like to take mason jars, or even a lightweight basket on our walks, and sparrow has fun filling them up with keepsakes along the way.

second, if you don't already have paint - make sure you pick up washable paint. any brand will do, but this is my favorite kind. and third, gather paper. you can use construction paper, computer paper, or my personal favorite watercolor paper. I like to have different sizes on hand - depending on the art project sparrow wants to do. and you can pick it up at any of your local craft stores.

now, to prevent messes, or rather to create an easy clean-up for you (because, kids + paint, everyone knows it gets a little wild!) make sure you put some kind of paper over your table (butcher, newspaper, ect..) - unless you have a designated craft table and you don't mind. but, in our home, most of our art projects just happen on our kitchen dining room table.

so once you have your table protected, let your little one choose 3-4 colors of paint, and give them a little dollop of each on a paper plate - set up your pile of leaves - and a fresh sheet of paper, and watch the creativity flow!

the only rule : no paintbrushes allowed! they must use the leaves to create their painting!