Our weekend was picture perfect from start to finish. We were plenty busy (always!) but also found some time to just sit and relax.
Saturday morning started off with a visit with Heather and Joel. Joel is a home brewer (and a good one too -- his set up is amazing) and Gene has been wanting to brew his own beer for at least 15 years. Finally, he asked Joel if he could hang out and "help" him brew, and they settled on Saturday. Joel (and Gene) made some 10 gallons of a Scottish style ale that we are excited to try in a couple months.
Some pictures from the morning:
While Gene and Joel brewed, Heather and I made lunch and caught up, and the boys built with Legos and drew with the Etch-a-Sketch.
On Saturday evening, after church and a pizza dinner, we decided to head to the Waugh Street Bridge to check out the bat colony. Even though we've known about the bats there for years, we've never made it down to see them emerge. It was a pretty spectacular sight, and one worth checking out if you haven't seen it before.
Experts estimate that about 300,000 Mexican free-tailed bats live under the bridge. (The bridge's expansion joints are just the right size for this species.) These bats are migratory, so their numbers are biggest in the summer when it is a "nursing" colony. We got there well before sunset and were surprised to see so many bats flying under the bridge. We learned that these are baby bats practicing their flying before sunset. At sunset, the bats all start to swirl around and share information about wind, temperature, predators, etc.
We love bats because they eat mosquitoes! One bat can eat up to 8000 insects in just one night. And did you know that bats can fly 50 miles one way and then return to their home each night? Bats are pretty amazing creatures.
Can you see the bats starting to emerge?
We saw two hawks and two night herons just waiting for the bats to come out. As we watched, the hawks did catch several bats.
On the way back to the car, I took a couple of shots of downtown.
We were hoping to see the "super moon" but it wasn't up by the time we drove home. I asked the boys if it was worth it stay up late and see the bats, and they answered, "Yes! For sure!" It was a really fun experience for all of us.
Sunday was full of yard work and grocery shopping and lots and lots of food prep. Henry and I went back to the farmers market (we had already been on Saturday) specifically to attend the Sunday cooking class for kids. This month's class was all about pickling!
Henry sliced up his cucumbers, added dill and onion and then placed everything in a canning jar with apple cider vinegar, water and some salt.
In four days, Henry's refrigerator pickles will be ready to enjoy. We can't wait!
Back at home, Gene was busy barbequing. Since Sunday was pretty much a stay-at-home day, it was the perfect time for some barbequed ribs.
Gene also managed to bake. He made two loaves of sandwich bread and these incredible pretzel buns.
Ribs!!
Dinner: Ribs, pretzel buns, corn on the cob, tomatoes and peppers, and roasted eggplant and summer squash. Plus beer! Dinner was delicious!
And I'll leave you with one final picture of Henry's German flag, which he made for me in honor of Germany's World Cup win.
Start to finish, this was one perfect weekend!
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