Hello, September!  With the beginning of a new month, it’s time take a moment to look back at the one just ended.  I’ve made a list of my favorites from August.  I have 8 favorites I’m highlighting in this post.

Favorite #1

My #1 favorite is not just number 1 because it’s the first one I’m listing, but it is my MOST FAVORITE favorite of the whole list.  So it truly is my #1 favorite in every sense of the word.  It was being able to see these family members ALL in ONE PLACE, which does not happen nearly as often as I would like it to.

These Girls!

 

As I wrote about here, my granddaughters, Edie and Helen, live in Nigeria.  I only see them twice a year.

 

Cara

Of course their mom (my daughter) Cara also lives in Nigeria.  I’m always SO happy to have her around.  It seems like every time we’re together, I learn something new from her.

 

Danny

My son Danny has been working as an expedition leader for an arctic/antarctic cruise company.  When he hasn’t been working, he’s been living in Alaska.  So it’s a treat anytime we are able to be with him, which isn’t often enough.

 

Paul

Paul is Cara’s husband, father of my granddaughters, and he is like a second son to me.

 

Erin

Erin is the newest addition to the family!  That seems a little weird to say since she and Danny have been together for several years, so it’s felt like she was already a family member.  But now it’s official!  Yay!  In this picture, they are on their honeymoon, and I just love it.  To me they look so relaxed and happy.

Being with any one of these family members at any point during the year is super special.  But having all of them and Big Eagle and me in one place at the same time just makes me feel more complete and happy.  So, yeah…#1 favorite of August!

 

Favorite #2

My current favorite place to eat breakfast out in Burleson is Our Place.

 

I mean, LOOK at that pancake!  They are located right on I-35 W, and they have a great breakfast menu.  They’re only open for breakfast and lunch.  I took Cara and the girls there for breakfast early in August before a day of shopping.

I took their picture in the giant chair before we left.  Edie wasn’t too happy, as she had just smashed her finger in a door in the bathroom.  But it wasn’t long after this that she was able to shake it off.

 

Favorite #3

One of my favorite places for dinner is Joe T. Garcia’s.  It is a Fort Worth icon, in business since 1935.  They have great Mexican food, the BEST margaritas, and the most beautiful and expansive patio area.  We took Paul, Cara, and the girls there for dinner the first Saturday of the month.

 

 

Oops!  And who is that photo bomber?

 

The girls making wishes and throwing coins into the fountain at Joe T.’s

 

Favorite #4

In June I said it was the home-grown tomatoes that MADE summer in terms of food.  For July it was peaches.  The Black Diamond watermelon that we’ve been harvesting from our garden are what scream SUMMER in August.

We’re still enjoying it here at the beginning of September.  Yum!

 

Favorite #5

Now that school has started, my favorite app in August was Seesaw.

 

This is what the icon looks like on my phone.  Edie’s teachers in Nigeria use this app to show videos of the students engaging in various activities at school.  They also share student work.

 

These are two arrangements that Edie made with pattern blocks in her math class.  Didn’t she do a great job?  I’m able to print them out and display them at home.  I can also make comments about the items posted on the app.  She’s halfway around the world, but I can still share in what she’s doing at school.  Amazing!

 

Favorite #6

My favorite movie that I saw in August was Where’d You Go, Bernadette?.

 

I read the book well over a year ago.  The movie followed the book very well.  I actually even liked the movie MORE than the book.  To me the characters in the movie were much more likeable than they were in the book.  Cate Blanchett did a fantastic job of portraying Bernadette.  What a talented actress!  I thought Billy Crudup did a good job, too.  And I loved the actress who played their daughter Bee.  She’s a relative newcomer named Emma Nelson, and this was her feature film debut.  She did such a great job that I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of her.

 

Favorite #7

 

My latest favorite board game is Ticket to Ride.  We received it as a gift at Christmas and played it a couple of times then, but we pulled it out when Cara and the girls were here and rediscovered it.  It’s a game for up to 5 people, but you can also play with just 2 (with a little variation in the rules).  Big Eagle and I have played it quite a bit in August.  We have a little 2-player competition going on between us.  Fun!

 

Favorite #8

And last, but not least, is my favorite thing that happened in my vegetable garden in August.

 

For the first time ever, I planted asparagus in the garden this year.  I planted 6 crowns in February, and 3 of them still survive.  The literature said that it would take 2 years before I would actually get asparagus.  So you can imagine my surprise when I was working out there last weekend, and I noticed this asparagus spear growing from one of the plants!  I was all ready to cut me that asparagus spear and cook it up.  Yep…I was going to cook ONE asparagus spear.  Ha!  But first I googled it.  I found out that this is not uncommon.  It’s good to leave the spear.  It will develop into a fern-like stalk from which the mature plant makes food and stores it underground in the crown.  This supplies energy to produce spears the following year.  So I did not cook it.  I left it to mature.  Not only that…today I noticed a second plant has an asparagus spear!  So things are looking good right now for the future of my asparagus.

 

August was a great month!  I hope it was great for you, too.  Feel free to comment below, and share a favorite or two from your August.  Or share whatever happens to be on your mind.