stockyards

Saturday, we took a trip out to Fort Worth to get a little bit of authentic Texas experience.  We went to the Stockyards, and had a blast.  We saw the daily cattle drive, and then the parade afterwards.  Christopher was so excited to see all the cows in the parade, but then a little confused when we had to tell him that they were actually horses.  He apparently needs to get out of the city a little more often.

After the parade, we took a look around at all the fun shops.  I was so excited to find my very own cowgirl hat.  I don't wear hats very often, but this one might just make it out in public on my head every once in a while.  Dave also found one, but in a little more Indiana Jones style.  He looks pretty adventurous in it!  Christopher convinced us that he needed one too, and wore his all day long.  He wanted to wear it to the pool, but we convinced him that it might get ruined.  I really wanted to find something for Naomi, since she is the only one of us actually born in Texas, but didn't this trip.  I'm going to keep my eyes peeled, though.

We only made it to about half of what there was to do, but by about 3:00 we had all had enough of the heat!  There were also some museums and other attractions to look at that we didn't make it to, but we sure did have fun with what we made it to.

(courtesy of here)

Until next time, ya'll!

new recipe

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happy cooking!

naomi's first haircut

I know I've been blogging about hair a lot lately, but here's one more post, and then I'm done for a while.  Promise. :)  

I had finally had enough of Naomi's hair, so I trimmed up the back.  It was getting pretty long and wispy and ratty.  So, while I wait for the top to grow long enough to catch up to the back, I figured I'd keep it trim and tidy.  She did pretty well.  I sat her in her chair, wet her hair with a spray bottle, and went for it with the scissors.  It came out a little shorter than I was planning, but hey, it was my first time!  All in all, I think it's pretty cute.  I hope her curls keep coming in, even though I had to cut them off.

she's such a busy girl - this is one of the best shots I could get of her hair

the carnage :)  i gave her snacks to keep her entertained, but most everything ended up on the floor in the hair.  i had to be very careful where i put the scissors.

the final product

six years!

Apparently, according to wikopedia anyway, the gift for the sixth wedding anniversary is supposed to be iron.  I have never really understood that whole thing, I mean, how unromantic is iron??  I guess I could open my mind to the possibilities, and get a little creative.  I know you're not supposed to actually give iron, but something made with iron.  Since we already celebrated (and spent all our allocated funds :D), I don't have to worry about it this year.

Anyway...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, DAVE!  We had a really fun day today.  We got up early to clean the house and get it show-ready, since we had a showing today.  Then packed snacks and drinks, swimsuits, and towels and headed over to Hawaiian Falls to spend the day.  We had such a great time!  It was great to spend time together as a family, and just relax and have fun.  The only thing we worried about was how often to reapply the sunscreen, which apparently, wasn't enough.  Neither Christopher or Naomi got burnt, thankfully, but Dave got a little pink, and the back of my legs are nice and red.  Who thinks to put sunscreen on the back of their legs?  People who are smarter than I am. :)  We hung out in the wave pool, went down all the water slides the kids were big enough for (multiple times, of course), and rode the lazy river.  Jon and Katie were even nice enough to let Dave and I go down one while they watched the kids.  Thanks!  An extra nice benefit was how easy it was to get the kids to bed tonight.  Nice and sleepy.

Dave is spending the evening watching some fight.  All I know is that it's a big deal - big enough to schedule a guy's night, which must mean it's pretty important.  Aren't I a good wife?  A guy's night on our anniversary.  I should play this one up for a while, don't you think? :)  It's actually the other way around.  Dave is always so supportive and excited for me to get to spend time with my pals, and he hardly ever gets to hang out with the guys.  So, happy anniversary honey!  Go have some fun!  (Not at all meant to be sarcastic!)

Our Trip

I was really lame about taking pictures up at my parent's house this time.  So, unfortunately (or, maybe fortunately :D), I don't have too many to share with you.  We did have a great time, and loved spending time with the family.  Christopher and Naomi LOVED the extra attention they got from Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Amy and Uncle Todd (Jeff we missed you!).

We went to a fun place that had go-karts, a little train, and miniature golfing.  I LOVED the go-karts.  You could floor the gas, and not worry about the corners at all.  I'm not too much of a speed demon, so it was just the right pace for me.  I think a little bit of the reason I liked it so much (okay, maybe the main reason!) was that I made it from the back, up to second.  Christopher got to ride in a sidecar with Grandpa, and had a great time.  Naomi hung out with Grandma, who took the pictures.  David would have liked the cars to be faster, since he's the speed demon of the family, but had fun anyway.

After the go-karts, we took a ride on Thomas (the tank engine).  It was very slow, but had some interesting (read someone went around town looking for weird junk, and put it along the railroad tracks) characters and small log houses to look at during the ride.  The rest of us enjoyed ourselves by watching how much fun Naomi was having.  It was just right for her.

After the train ride, we tried our hand at some miniature golf.  It was the first time we had ever taken the kids, and they had a good time.  Christopher was pretty good, and even got a few "hole-in-ones" :).  Naomi did well until Grandma took her out of the stroller.  Then Grandma's club was commandeered, and the game went a lot faster after that. :)  It was a lot of fun, and we'll be trying again soon (next time we'll get Naomi her own club - I don't know what I was thinking - of course she wouldn't want to sit in the stroller while the rest of us got to have fun!).

Some of the other fun we had was story time at the local library, parks and kits, little animal farms, washing the car (the only time Christopher has ever helped wash a car by hand is up at my parents - we're on water restrictions down here), playing with all the awesome toys, Fast Sunday goodies, and other fun stuff.

On Saturday, my parents were super nice and let us leave the kids with them so we could go on a date.  We took the whole day, and used it to celebrate our anniversary, which is coming up.  We drove to the nearest harbor, and took a ferry out to a fun island, where we shopped, and had lunch, and basically did the touristy thing.  The ferry ride was a blast, and mostly the reason for going to the island.  It's great to watch Dave on the ocean - even frigid, waveless ocean water makes him perk up and enjoy life a little more.

one of the views from the ferry

my happy hubby

enjoying the ride

the ferry

After the boat ride, we drove back up to my parent's house, and grabbed a movie on the way.  We saw Hancock with Will Smith, and enjoyed the experience.  The movie was okay - fun and cute, but the theater was a blast!  We were a little late for the showing that we wanted, but they didn't start the show until everyone in line had bought their tickets and made it into the theater.  They also had a concession stand set up inside the actual theater - not just the lobby.  It was a smaller theater, and it felt like they were really trying to take good care of us.  It was a relaxed and fun time.  It was so nice to have the whole day to spend with my fabulous and handsome husband - just like back in the day when we were dating!  Happy Anniversary, David!  I love you!

I'm Back!

We went on a trip up to see the folks for the past week and a half, which is why I haven't blogged, or posted comments for a while.  So, don't feel bad if you haven't been getting comments from me lately.  We had a good time, and were of course, sad to leave.  More on the trip to come soon.

Another tidbit of information that you might find interesting - our house is for sale!  Crazy, I know!  So, my posting might become a bit shorter and/or more sporadic while the kids and I vacate for showings.  It seems like this experience will be a blessing and a curse.  I want there to be lots of showings, so our house sells easily, but it has already been a pain to have to randomly leave the house (Christopher was throwing up yesterday when we got the call), and we've only had two so far!  Plus I'm not really ready to move or leave everyone here.  More to come on this too, I'm sure. :)  In the meantime, it's good to be back!