Meet a New Member of the Family: Big D

Ya know when a kid says something crazy, and you just can’t believe it’s true? Nonsense like, “there’s a dinosaur under my bed.” Or “I don’t need to go potty.” Or “My uncle has a fire truck!”

Well, Reid told his teachers that his uncle HAS a fire truck. He was adamant about it. He kept talking about it all day. (Shocking, I know.) “That’s nice, Reid,” they said, and let me know about his big imagination when I picked him up that day.

It’s true. Reid’s Uncle James has this fire truck:

James and Stephanie had a good idea, lots of experience being around kids, some guts, and made something cool:  Big D Engine Company.  They do birthday parties, special events, store openings, and most recently booked their first wedding!

This is no ordinary engine. This beauty is a 1977 Pirsch, (I had to look it up!) and is in damn fine shape for a thirty-something.

It also has magic powers. Don’t believe me? Tell a toddler that he can ride inside the engine, if he is good. See what happens.

Tell a kid she can honk the horn if she eats all her veggies. (Are they gone yet?)

Tell a grown man he can hold the hose…if he thinks he can handle it.

Or better yet, hire this engine to come to your kid’s birthday party and BAM!  Super mom!!

At the three parties we’ve been at so far, Reid has been out-of-his-mind excited to see Uncle James’ fire truck.  It is so much fun for him, and for us.

We are really proud of James and Stephanie and love to see them having so much fun!!

Congrats on your first summer with Big D!

Uh oh!

It won’t be long now!

Hook’em!

We are getting ready to watch Texas play in the BCS Game. Go Horns!!

Reid’s First Postcard

We aren’t really a family of collectors, unless you count dirt bike gear and books!  One thing that I have been saving for years is my ever-growing pile of postcards.  Even though I don’t know what to do with them, I can’t bring myself to get rid of them!  Looking through this stash, there are postcards from throughout N0rth and South America, Europe,  Asia and Australia but none from Africa or Antarctica (shocker!).  Friends and family have sent them from honeymoons in Hawaii, weekends at castles in the South of France, vacations in Central America…the list goes on and on! 

Our very good friends David and Beverly just finished their whirlwind tour circumnavigating the world, literally.  If you want to read about their amazing journey, check out their blog here.  The stories and photos are fantastic!   Bev and I have been friends for nearly 13 years and she knows how much I love getting a postcard.

So imagine my delight when Reid and I went to the mail and found this: This was sent to Reid from Essaouira, Moracco.  Pretty cool, huh?!  His FIRST postcard!!  :)

Thank you Auntie Bev and Uncle David!  We can’t wait to see you again and hear all about your adventure!  Reid had changed a lot since you left, and I’m sure your amazing journey has changed you both, too!

My Little Yogi

Reid’s Aunt Stephanie made him this cute little onesie.  So I though he should wear it to our second baby yoga class.   He’s such a happy little baby!

The local NPR station KUT came to record the sounds of a baby yoga class.  It was noisy!  So when our Austin friends hear that segment on KUT, you can know that Reid is in the chorus! :)

Off-Roading with Reid

I think Reid will eventually make a great little riding partner. He’s not quite ready for his first dirt bike, but I’m pretty sure a Yamaha PW50 will eventually be his first set of gas-powered wheels.

You’ve got to start somewhere. Luckily our wonderful friends The Hofers hooked us up with a lean and mean jogging stroller that comes equipped with some large tires and a nice set of shocks.

Until he’s ready for the next step, I think this stroller is going to be Reid’s off-road weapon of choice. A couple of weeks ago we took Reid out to one of our favorite local parks: St. Edwards Park. This place has varied terrain, lots of trees, rocks, and some great trails that are great for hiking and trail running. I’ve used this park to train for many of my backpacking excursions. One of the best things about St. Edwards Park is that it is only a few miles from our house, tucked right into the edge of the wonderful Texas Hill Country.

First Baby Yoga Class

Yesterday I took Reid to a postnatal yoga class for the first time.  It was really nice to see some of the Mommas that I took big belly classes with throughout my pregnancy, and to see their babies!

As usual, Reid was quiet and observant, then he was ready for a nap.  :-)

I didn’t get a chance to snap a photo while we were there – I kind of had my hands full!!  But here we are once we got home. 

It was a really nice way to spend the morning!

Fun Photo #2

Our next Fun Photo comes from a solo backpacking trip I took up to The Cabin. The photo was actually taken during my drive home to Cincinnati, which took me through the small town of Oil City, Pennsylvania along the Allegheny River.

This is a photo of the “Tri-City Monument Co.”. Notice the sense of humor in the sign on the side of the building (click photo for larger image)…

Photo Album: Cabin, Solo Trip, October 1997

Backpacking: Big Bend, November 1999

I moved to Texas at the end of the summer of 1999. While I was enjoying my first wonderfully mild fall, I definitely found myself missing the amount of time that I was used to spending outdoors backpacking and camping back home. It wasn’t so much that you can’t do those things in Texas, as much as it was that I still hadn’t yet learned of all the opportunities available.

Knowing that I wasn’t going to make the trip up North for the Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to figure out a way to spend it in the great outdoors. A trip to my local REI turned up a copy of Laurence Parent’s “Hiking Big Bend National Park”. My then-roommate at the time, Susan (another transplant from the frozen north), who was always pretty much up for anything, agreed to join me.

Little did I know that this would be the first of many trips to the park and to the region, which has turned out to be a Texas-based surrogate for my beloved Allegheny National Forest, which is where I first truly fell in love with the outdoors.

Photo Album: Backpacking Big Bend, November 1999