Team Vang: {Week in Review}

This week's weather was nuts, even by Texas standards. Record low temperatures left me scouring the internet for new indoor activities. One of the ideas I came across was 'painting' baking soda with vinegar (dyed with food coloring). I'm all about projects that require minimal cleanup and can be accomplished with materials I regularly have on hand (Do you hear that you Pinterest moms making glow-in-the-dark sensory baths to teach your gifted 3-year-olds about the solar system with glow sticks you frugally and cleverly procured at the Dollar Store?! Stop upping the entertainment ante! What? I'm not bitter...) Anyway, if you aren't familiar with the reaction, think back to that school assignment with the erupting paper mache volcano. When you add vinegar to baking soda, it foams and fizzes. This occupied my busy toddler for almost an hour. We parents may shell out $3 at the mall carousel for five minutes of respite, so considering baking soda costs $0.50 a box, I'd call this activity a winner. As if that weren't enough, I felt extra accomplished when I dumped the entire mess down the sink and told myself I was cleaning my disposal through natural methods (ignore the food coloring, people).

Anders loved the bubbles. He kept saying 'woooooow'.

And what would a blog post be without a photo featuring the 'cheese' face?

In other news, Andreas has been having serious back pains lately. After stretching, strength-building, and numerous visits to the chiropractor, things still weren't improving much. He had even started sleeping on a pallet on our bedroom floor because he was so uncomfortable in our bed. So, we bit the bullet and bought a new mattress. With nowhere to store our old mattress, it has taken up temporary residence in the nursery, much to Anders' delight.

In his opinion it's the perfect place for jumping, spinning, and somersaults,

for kicking and hitting balloons,

and even some light reading.

Sometimes things get a little chaotic around our house and Aksel can't take the excitement. On Saturday morning while Anders and I were playing closeby, Andreas lulled Aksel to sleep on the aforementioned pallet. Doesn't he look cozy?

Over the weekend, the weather finally warmed up enough to make going outside a pleasant experience. We took the opportunity to go on a family date to the new Klyde Warren Park downtown. With ample green space, a lending library, chessboards, playgrounds, croquet, food trucks, a doggy park, fountains and live music, I think the designers covered all their bases. We certainly weren't the only ones with the idea, but we easily found a patch of lawn to call our own.

Aksel hung out in the stroller while I people watched, trying to casually study the food each vendor had to offer and not look like stalker. I mean, call me old-fashioned, but if your food truck advertises sushi and sno cones, I'm going to need to see people enjoying your fare firsthand before I try raw-fish-on-wheels.