Looking forward to summer

The soccer season is closing, the boys are in the midst of TAKS tests, and we are getting warm spells in between the divine spring weather of Austin, which all means the school year is winding down and we are getting excited about summer.

We haven't taken a summer traveling vacation in a while, so we are pumped that we are combining the boys Boy Scout summer camp in Colorado with a pre-trip to see Cory's western flank of the family in Utah.

We will all drive together to Escalante and Salt Lake City, leaving June 13 or so. We are not sure our itinerary traveling or when we get there, but we know we'll leave Cory somewhere in Utah on the 20th when the boys and I head to Camp Cris Dobbins at the Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch near Colorado Springs. Cory will end up flying straight home for some quiet time while Sean, Brian and I frolic in the Rockies.

Our outings lately have been centered around Scouts:

District Adventure Weekend:



Camping 101 was Sean's first campout as a Troop 448 Boy Scout, but it was District Adventure weekend where he really showed his mettle. His Storm Patrol did well in the patrol games and he also was a part of the Troop team that took third place in the troop games competition. Dad also won the Dutch oven cookoff with two types of lasagna: meat and vegetarian. Brian was trying his best to juggle soccer and scouts, trying to make two games that were both eventually canceled over wet weather and fields.

Well, that catches us up. ... we'll update in a couple of weeks after the soccer season ends and Sean competes in the UIL Music Memory and Math Pentathalon events.

Black Bean Taquitos with Cream

This is a modification of a recipe from "Hot & Spicy Mexican." It calls for fresh ingredients like corn cut from the cob and fresh black beans, which is certainly better, but sometimes you just don't have all that.

1/4 cup butter
1 can kernel corn
2 jalapenos, stemmed & chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cans black beans
1/2 cup vegetable oil
15 corn tortillas
2 cups cream

In large saucepan, heat up the butter and add the corn, jalapenos and onions and fry until the onions are translucent. Add the black beans and cook down until the moisture is almost gone.

Heat oil in skillet and briefly fry the tortillas, blotting off the extra oil with paper towel after you pull them out.

Stuff and roll the tortillas with the black bean mixture and place them in a baking dish. Add the grated cheese over the top. Pour in the cream. Cover with foil and bake at 300 degrees until the cheese is melted. If desired, pull off the foil for the last 5 minutes to brown the cheese a little.

So much for frequent updates

My New Year's resolution didn't take long to break. I promised to update blogs more, and this family blog has sat idle since.

That doesn't mean we are not busy. We've been updating photos fairly regularly (OK, more in spurts) but some momentous occasions have been chronicled.

Here are some highlights, though click here for the full stream.

Sean's graduation from Cub Scouts



Sean's first Black Belt



And our Spring Break trip to Park Chalk Bluff



On the bright side, I have written a couple of entries for Technical Bent, though nothing to write home about :-(.