Texas Thus Far

Last week, Matt and I dyed my hair purple and then packed our bags to head down to Texas with Baby.

It was Tiny's 2nd flight and she was great.

This time she had fun looking out the window.

I spent the whole time looking out it too as we past over the plains.

There were some pretty amazing clouds from the recent tornadoes.

They were huge! So big that we had to weave around them for most of our flight.

When we landed my grandparents were waiting for us. 

I was excited. I always like visiting this state.

After all I was born here...and even though I only lived here for 5 years, I still have some Texan pride.

(Not so much so that my house is decorated with the state and state flag everywhere.)

We passed through San Antonio and drove a while before we got to the ranch my grandparent's live on.

It has always been a fun place to visit, and I was excited for Matt to come here with me.

There are also a TON of animals at this ranch. Madeleine got to experience this first hand when Chewy the deer came up to the porch to check her out.

Then he licked her foot.

Baby with Pop

 On Monday, we drove up to Austin to visit our friends, Natashya and Andy.

We had so much fun.

Baby went swimming for the first time.

Baby's first time at the pool

We talked a lot, made pizza, went to Stein Mart (so jealous they live so close to one), tried on shoes, played video games, and probably other stuff that I can't remember. 

We also made this Hot Fudge Pie recipe.

The original blog post is really fun to read (you can read or look at pictures of it here)

Things you need

2 mixing bowls (one needs to go in the microwave)

1 stick of butter

1.5 oz of unsweetened chocolate

1 c of sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp of vanilla

1/4 c of flour

2 Tbs of milk

A tub of vanilla ice cream

(handful of nuts if you want)

What to do

Preheat oven to 350*

Spray a glass or ceramic pie or cake pan

In mixing bowl #1, melt chocolate and butter in the microwave

(I do it for 30 sec intervals so the chocolate doesn't burn...it took like 1 minute)

In mixing bowl #2, beat sugar and eggs together.

Then add the stuff from mixing bowl #1.

Stir them together well.

Add vanilla and milk.

Then mix in flour until everything is brown.

(Apparently don't over beat).

The mix should taste like tootsie rolls.

Then stick in the oven for 25 minutes.

When the top looks done, pull it out. 

(The middle will still be gooey)

Then serve with lots of ice cream.

It was really good and a bit lighter than brownies.

It only takes about 5 minutes to mix up and 25 minutes to cook.

Or as the lady said, "Should be done just as you finish dinner."

.....

While we were there, at one point I talked to Andy about how I need a new computer since Flo, my tiny computer, isn't doing too hot.

I told him I just wanted one that lasted.

He said "Oh!" and like the engineer he is rattled a long list of things I should look for.

I heard it as "lots of numbers memory...more numbers RAM...quad core processor...and a lot of other things."

The next day, Matt went to buy us a "pet" mouse. 

(keyboard mouse, if it was a real mouse, I told him I was buying a kitten or a snake)

While he was debating what he wanted, I went around the corner. 

The next thing he heard was "I found it!"

Thinking that I found a mouse, he came over, only for me to point to a computer.

"I want it," I said.

"But Michele, you don't even know what it looks like."

"Nope."

"Then why do you want it?"

"The price is right and it has the quad thing that Andy said to get."

When we got home, we told my dad about it, who was impressed by my savvy computer picking.

He couldn't believe I was the one to pick it out.

So the next day we bought it!

Presenting Matilda!

Isn't she great?

:)

(Matt is amused that Michele hasn't removed the protective plastic yet.)