More Walnut Creek

We explored more of Walnut Creek Metro Park on Saturday, this time all of us on foot. Weather has been warm and starting to get a bit dry again, so we had a lot of fun in the cool water.  Since the creek flows over a lot of bedrock there is not much mud to mess of the water, although there is a lot of algae right now.  We did see something creepy though (besides the poison ivy): we found black masses of harvestmen (daddy longlegs) under ledges on cliff walls (look above Katie's head in the first picture). If you disturbed them they would scatter in all directions. OK, daddy longlegs are not venomous and they can't even bite people (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvestmen), but it looked like something out of a scary movie.  Today we went bowling - it was fun. 

Warmth

April 9 (1914) was the latest in the year that Austin's temps dropped to 32 F.  Temps this year have been above average quite a bit - but not super hot.  So far we have not turned on the AC, but others did so a while back in the apartment complex.  The girls used the pool toys they got for Easter yesterday, but it was not as warm as I would have liked.  Bugs is in the middle of his springtime shedding.  The bluebonnets are starting to go to seed.  They get fuzzy pods that resemble soybeans.  We also started seeing Texas nightshade blossoms last week - I saw them last summer and fall, too.  Saw a horned lizard on the trails on Sunday.  Today I moved my lab experiments back to the third floor lab.  There still needs to be more renovations and moving stuff in the future.  Busy weekend for the Austin Police Department - a police officer was shot and killed, and in a separate incident, a police officer shot and killed someone, sparking racial tensions.

Easter Weekend

Yesterday morning I took a hike into Walnut Creek Metro Park, only I limited my fossil hunting and focused on exploring.  I saw some nice hike and bike trails and of course more wildflowers (e.g. Queen Anne's Lace in blossom).  In the afternoon we went to a bowling birthday party for one of Katie's school friends.  After that we went to the mall and Katie saw the Easter Bunny and rode a train.  Karen attended a long Mass Saturday night; Katie, Kris, and I decorated eggs.  On Sunday morning the girls opened presents and candy, and then we all went to celebrate Easter Sunday Mass.  In the afternoon we all went to Walnut Creek Metro Park for an enjoyable hike and bike. (Despite my explorations and maps I got us a little lost, but we all had fun.)

Have a Blessed Easter!

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!  Here is a picture of my girls in the Texas bluebonnets, paintbrushes, and other wildflowers.

More flowers

Katie and I went for a bike ride this evening.  We found some nice wildflowers on a nearby community college campus.

White Squirrel

Tuesday's spectacular tonadoes in Dallas stayed far away.  In Austin that night, the storms along the front line sort of grew up as they passed over us - nothing like Dallas got. It rained on the bus ride home, but both getting on and off was dry. We heard thunder from the apartment, but did not get rain.  Today I saw a white squirrel on the UT campus.  This squirrel had dark eyes and some tint in the fur, so I do not think it is an albino like the one in my parents' yard in Green Bay last week.

I found an 86 million year old pearl!

OK, not quite...one of the casts of the Inoceramus fossils that I found this evening (I was hunting with a crowbar) had an iron sulfide nodule in it.  So I guess the large clam fossil had a 1.5 inch fool's gold "pearl" in it - seems appropriate for April Fool's Day. I also saw a scenic outcrop. Karen and Kris turned last weekend's strawberries into strawberry jam this week.  Temps this weekend were in the upper 80s - the family went swimming in the apartment pool.  Kris had a couple of friends for a sleepover last night and that went well.