It's The Great Zucchini Charlie Brown

So my mom grew this gigantic zucchini in her garden and took a picture with it.

Then my mom gave the zucchini to me because who else could make use of such a humongous vegetable?

So I took it home and made Tucker lay next to it while I took a picture of it...for size comparison purposes, you know?

After that I tried cutting it up to begin the experimentation of a new Zucchini Bread recipe and Lemon Zucchini drop cookies.

However, I was not prepared for how freaking hard it would be for me to cut through such a thing!

Below are all the knives I used to get that one piece off.

After that I gave up.

Our Zucchini feast is temporarily put on hold until this thing softens up in our refrigerator of *death.

*Seriously, it kills any produce you place into it. That Zucchini should be soft as butter in the morning.

4th of July in Austin

First of all, I'd like to say that I am the luckiest girl in the world because I got to hit up Willie's Place for the 4th time this year! I know it's just a truck stop to some...but to me...it's way more than that. I really appreciate a clean bathroom and this place has pulled through for me every single time. God love ya Willie. God love ya.

Now with that said, here is a glimpse into our fun filled weekend in Austin!

We of course stopped at our mandatory stop in West Texas so that Matt could get his normal kolache order.

I think he managed to pack it down faster than he ever has this time. The boy loves these kolaches.

As soon as we were done there, we went straight into Austin to begin our search for cool little shops and a candy store to get a marshmallow flavored sucker. If you haven't had a marshmallow flavored sucker, you just must try one. They are delicious and I'm not even exaggerating.

This place in SoCo was the winner and they also had sodas, so that was an extra perk!

I loved all the little shops up and down the streets in Austin and all the little silver bullet trailers that sold food. Some even had vegan food!After getting our candy stash and the window shopping out of my system, we headed to the capitol building so we could have that whole experience.I realized when I was here that I still really have no like to U.S. history or things like this. I thought as I got older I'd develop an enjoyment for it, but it's almost as if it got worse. (My U.S. History hate is so bad that in college when I'd end the class, I'd burn books like The Killer Angels or shred them page by page) I wouldn't last a day in Washington D.C.

But hey, this little cartoon canon was kinda neat.And this big canon was kinda cool too.And this bird on this guy's head was stinkin' hilarious to me.After that, we took everyone's advice and took dinner to this park by the congress bridge and watched the bats exit. It was a really long wait, but very interesting. I would do it all the time if I lived there.The next morning was the morning of the 4th...that means Red, White, and Blueberry Breakfast time for Matt and I! Since we were in a hotel, this was a little difficult, but we managed to get it all together and had our breakfast in bed as normal. It was delicious.The Austin Zoo was our next stop.

I never knew Austin actually had a zoo, but they do. It's more of an animal sanctuary and all the animals are retired circus animals or old abused exotic pets.

I really enjoy going to places like this and seeing all the good they're doing for these poor animals that were shoved in small cages and toted all around with evil circuses. You can really tell that the animals are much happier now too.The tiny office where you check-in.The welcoming committee.Matt and his bag of feed labeled Deer/Sheep/Llama/Alpaca/Goat just in case you're stupid enough to try and feed one of the other animals. A handsome goat that was much taller than me when he stood up like this. Feeding time. Matt and his friend.
Me and a deer that reminded me of my childhood. I really love deer. After the scorching trip to the zoo, we sought out refreshment at Golden Wok.

I have passed by this place so many times and never stopped. I'm glad I finally got to go and that it was a really good experience too.

After lunch and a very, very long nap. We left again to go to see the big firework show that also featured the Austin Orchestra. The people in this park however provided the most entertainment.
Daisy Duke Man.

Girl who peed her pants while I was watching her and the port-a-potty was only 15 feet away.

Finally it was nighttime and the fireworks began.

The End.

Exploring Texas...Better Late Than Never

We've really been getting around Texas these days.

I guess since I've lived here for 25 years, it's about time.

Last weekend we went to Lake Whitney to visit Matt's friend Josh and all of his family.

I had never been there, so I didn't know what to expect and it ended up being a lot of fun! Not only did we get to share some fun in the sun without getting burned like we normally do; but we also had great company.

We also stopped by Willie's Place again to buy up all of their feather suckers! I've officially eaten all of Willie's sucker inventory! I LOVE me some lollies, just call me Kojak.This week I also took a business trip to Bridgeport for a meeting. It's pretty much a speck on the map and I'll probably call in sick if I ever have to go there again...however, I loved the people there and also was very impressed at how much they love their town. I can't imagine living that far into the country. I tried convincing one man of how much more convenient living in "Big D" was...but he quickly retaliated by letting me know that the time I sit in traffic and paying tolls to go down the freeway wasn't so convenient to him. Touche Mr. Country Man, Touche.
And finally this weekend we will be visiting Austin. I've driven through Austin dozens upon dozens of times in my life...yet I've never taken a look around. Oddly enough, Matt hasn't either. So, we thought 4th of July weekend would be a great time to go there and check out some fireworks (for Matt) and perhaps come across some odd little shops or antique stores (for me).

I hope Austin is weird enough to keep our attention.