It was a good week although a little lonesome without my boys at home. Bowling, early Father’s Day, first pizza delivery here in River Chase, boys off to Boy Scouts summer camp, eating out, grocery shopping, ESY, swimming, and a sneak peek at the brand new HEB Plus!
Day 169 ~ Sneaking Not So Sneakily
Dominic had a friend sleepover Thursday night and Friday afternoon he was invited by another friend to go bowling. So I packed up Dominic, Cole, and Anna to go meet my neighbor at the bowling alley. She was there with her church group but her youngest son wanted to hang out with Dominic. By the time they got a lane, Dominic’s friend wanted to go home and so did Anna. I made her sit in the arcade area and wait for Cole’s mom to pick him up then my mom would come to pick Anna up. I caught her sneaking my phone out of my purse to entertain herself while she waited. Um, busted! She has really long arms!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/1.6 | 1/200 | ISO 1000
Day 169 ~ Pretty Good Form
Sometimes Dominic bowls pretty well and sometimes it’s a struggle. This day it was a struggle. Mid-way through the game, he went up to the front desk and asked for the bumpers to be put up for his game… then his friend wanted them too. I did manage to get this shot of Dominic bowling and I think he has pretty good form for an 11-year old. Curtis has taught him everything. With my knee replacement, I can no longer bowl. He’s on lane 10 in the center.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.2 | 1/250 | ISO 1000
Day 170 ~ Waiting for our First Pizza
We had BIG plans for Saturday. The boys were leaving Sunday for a week-long camp so we decided to celebrate Father’s Day a day early. We purchased tickets for ZDT’s Amusement Park the day before and the whole family had planned on going. But Anna woke up with a bladder infection, so Curtis and Dominic headed there alone while Anna and I went to urgent care. Dominic actually rode a water ride for the first time… and liked it!!! That was HUGE and I sooo wished I could’ve seen him. By the time we all met up back at home, we were really tired. Just the week before, we heard of a new pizza place that would deliver to our neighborhood. I couldn’t quite believe it… we were so excited that we actually waited outside for them!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/1.8 | 1/160 | ISO 50
Day 170 ~ River Chase Gets Pizza!
Yes, it was true!!! A new pizza place called Urban Bricks opened up in the Creekside shopping center and they deliver to River Chase!!! Our delivery guy was pretty amused by our excitement but happily posed for a photo. Hey, it had been over two years since we’ve had a pizza delivered! Can you blame us for being enthusiastic? Our neighborhood Facebook page was abuzz with chatter about it too.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.5 | 1/320 | ISO 50
Day 170 ~ I’ve Missed Pizza Delivery
OMG. Is your mouth watering? Urban Bricks makes individual sized pizza with unlimited toppings all for one price. We each ordered our own pizza and got the cinnamon sugar dessert pizza to share. I had a whole wheat crust with parmesan and mozzarella cheese, with black olives, bell peppers, and fresh basil. It was good. It did take a bit longer than expected to get here and they gave us a token for buy one/get one next time we come in. Nice!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/1.8 | 1/160 | ISO 640
Day 171 ~ Sleep Away Camp
Sunday dawned and there was a flurry of frantic packing. Curtis took my SUV since it’s much easier to load trunks, tents, and gear. Trying to anticipate what they might need wasn’t the easiest thing to do. There was a list provided by the camp, but it didn’t take into account our technology-driven society. (Turns out there was hardly any connectivity at the camp site anyway!) Despite their best intentions, they did forget a couple of critical things.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.8 | 1/200 | ISO 50
Day 171 ~ Bear Creek Ready
The boys are headed off to Bear Creek Boy Scout Summer Camp. Dominic is going to work on several merit badges including Rifling, Insects, Leather Working, and Fly Fishing, and he is continuing work on Camping and Cooking. I’ll give a full report in next week’s blog. Curtis was worried about the heat. Well it turns out that Dominic forgot to pack his meds (and I forgot to get them ready so bad on both of us!) so we had to meet Curtis halfway in Boerne later that day. He asked me to get him a battery-operated fan too… it was HOT.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.8 | 1/320 | ISO 50
Day 172 ~ Brookshire Brothers Trip
Monday turned out to be quite a busy day for us girls. I did a big HEB run in the early afternoon (gosh I really wanted to put that off until Friday… you’ll understand why in just a bit). And I wanted to get Anna in bed early for school the next morning but when mom left for band rehearsal, I took Anna to PetSmart then up to the Fox’s Pizza Den in Sattler. Since we were all the way up by Canyon Lake, I decided to run into Brookshire Brothers for the three things I couldn’t get at HEB (BB has the BEST baby carrots I’ve ever had in my life… from Grimmway Farms, OMG). Anna was a trooper but it was so late by the time we finally got home.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.2 | 1/200 | ISO 400
Day 172 ~ Reverse Rays
While we were in Brookshire Brothers, a stray storm cloud rolled into our area. We drove home through a torrential down pour and I actually hydroplaned several times. Yikes! But by the time we got back down to Purgatory Road, it had passed and it left a gorgeous sky in its wake. These were rays coming from opposite the sun… I’d never seen anything like it before in my life. The sun was behind me here, setting in the west, yet it looks like the rays are coming up from the earth in front of me in the east. What an odd phenomenon!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.5 | 1/200 | ISO 50
Day 172 ~ Storm and Sun
Turning around 180-degrees, this was my view opposite those odd rays in the sky. The sun and the storm cloud fighting in the sky. It was beautiful and violent and the clouds looked like they were ignited on fire. Crazy passionate clouds.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.5 | 1/200 | ISO 50
Day 173 ~ Oleander Star
The bit of rainfall we had the day before meant beautiful blooms on the oleander bush. Did you know this blossom looked like a star? I sure didn’t!
Nikon D750 | 105mm | f/6.3 | 1/320 | ISO 320
Day 174 ~ Wet Dog
Wednesday morning I got Anna off to school, took the little dogs for a walk, got laundry started, then got on the elliptical. I was hot and the pool looked so inviting so I went for a swim in the late morning. Gasp! With no children!!! Mom joined me, then so did Stuart! He actually likes swimming and is so cute when he jumps in and out of the pool. Lola chases him all around the yard with water spraying off behind Stuart in a giant explosive wave. Charlie and Cricket aren’t interested at all. Lola will only get in if I put her on a float, ha!
Nikon D750 | 105mm | f/9 | 1/640 | ISO 400
Day 175 ~ HEB Plus!
New Braunfels had two HEB stores when we moved here two years ago (referred to as the Old HEB and the New HEB). Both of them are 30 minutes away. Sigh. It was with great excitement that we found out we were getting an HEB Plus! in our neighborhood at the corner of 306 and IH-35 (catty corner from Buccee’s!). Tomorrow, Friday, June 24th, is the grand opening. But guess what??? They had the ribbon cutting and tour of the new store TODAY and I got to go!!!!!!!!!! I am a self-proclaimed grocery geek and proud of it. I organize my grocery list by how the store is laid out, often help other customers find items, and even bag my own groceries in the cloth bags I provide. This particular store is going to offer curbside to go… online shopping with delivery to your car. Unbelievable. I don’t know if I would ever use that service though because I love grocery shopping. #HEBNB#3
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/6.3 | 1/500 | ISO 400
Day 175 ~ Lennon’s Daddy
As we made our way into the brand new HEB Plus!, we were serenaded by this wonderful musician. I later learned that this is Lennon’s daddy. Lennon was a sweet little baby girl that was born last year here in New Braunfels and came down with AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia) at just 6 weeks of age. Her mom started a Facebook page called Lifting Up Lennon to share her journey and ask for prayers. It went viral worldwide with nearly 25K followers. When Lennon passed away, her mom started the process of getting Lennon-Aid certified as a non-profit and they just found out this week that it was approved! If you would like to donate to Lennon’s fund, here is the link to their GoFundMe: Love for Lennon. It was so touching and showed how HEB is so very involved in our local community. <3
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.2 | 1/200 | ISO 400
Day 175 ~ GM and Giant Checks
This is the new general manager of HEB Plus!, Kelvin. He got to present two checks for $10,000 each to Comal Trails Alliance and the Edwards Aquifer Conservancy. Of course, they had to be BIG checks… we are in Texas!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/3.2 | 1/200 | ISO 500
Day 175 ~ River Gear!
Our new HEB Plus! has a River Gear section, the only store to have this. Tubing and other river recreation is a religion here.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.5 | 1/200 | ISO 400
Day 175 ~ OCD Heaven
After the ribbon cutting (which I didn’t get a shot of because the professional photographers were right in the way), we were allowed to tour the store. I was especially enchanted with the produce department. My love of fresh fruit and veggies combined with my OCD nature led to a satisfied sigh of pleasure seeing all of the apples lined up end to end, round, plump, and ready to eat. There was not a single piece of fruit out of place!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.5 | 1/200 | ISO 500
Day 175 ~ Tortilleria, Deli, and Cheese
This HEB Plus! will make fresh tortillas in the store, custom cakes in the bakery department, there is a juicing stand, and the deli and cheese counters are incredibly diverse. Wow, wow, wow!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/3.2 | 1/200 | ISO 800
Day 175 ~ Empty Aisles
It was so much fun getting to be one of the first people to see the store. I came across this aisle and there was no one there. It’s ready for customers tomorrow! Isn’t it inviting???
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/3.2 | 1/250 | ISO 500
Day 175 ~ Apparel
An apparel department! Workout wear, summer clothes, swim wear… everything you need to visit Schlitterbahn, Canyon Lake, or the river! C’mon down! We’ve got you covered… literally.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/4 | 1/250 | ISO 800
Day 175 ~ Jelly Belly
The kids are going to go nuts for this (ahem, the kids, yes… just the kids). A Jelly Belly jelly bean dispenser. In the store. Can you imagine how fresh these jelly beans are going to be? Oh yeah, baby.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/4 | 1/250 | ISO 800
Day 175 ~ Cowboy Hats and Flip Flops
Only in Texas!!! Cowboy hats and flip flops. God Bless Texas! Yeehaw!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.5 | 1/250 | ISO 800
Day 175 ~ Free Ice Cream
As we made our way around the store, each department had goodies to offer. We had fresh cranberry bread in the bakery, fresh guacamole from the juicing stand, meats and cheeses from the deli, kale popcorn from the nutritionist (they have one on staff, awesome!), and ice cream from the dairy department. Yes, free ice cream. I didn’t even need lunch today! What a fun experience. I can’t wait to do all my shopping here. Though I took over 100 photos and culled them down to 35 favorites, I limited myself to 10 to share (not counting the entrance). That took a lot of willpower. I didn’t have any when it came to resisting free ice cream. 😉
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.5 | 1/250 | ISO 800
Thanks for looking and sharing in my grocery-geekdom! I hope everyone is staying cool… I understand many parts of the US are experiencing a terrible heat wave. Mom, Anna, and I get to go to Bear Creek tomorrow for family night. I can’t wait to see my boys! TTFN!
