Summer Lovin'

All this warm weather we've been having has me thinking about summer! We've made it a point to be outside every day this week just to soak up some sun and warmth.

This summer I'm hoping to mark off a couple of our Texas Bucket List items. 

I don't think we'll make it out of the state as I will either be huge a huge preggo person or have just had a baby and will now have 2 children going everywhere with us.

The thing that will be lacking in our summer fun list is pretty much anything with water. My midwife insists that I don't swim in anything that isn't chlorinated. She doesn't particularly care that I actually now own a maternity swimsuit and would like to actually use it. ;)

This spring the first thing I'd like to do is go back to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. We went for our Babymoon Staycation while pregnant with Cora. There is a lot of walking involved and I waited too late in the pregnancy to manage that much walking. This time I'd like to plan ahead and go earlier in the pregnancy and earlier in the year. They have a beautiful Rose Garden area, well I assume it's beautiful because you could tell it could be beautiful but in August in Texas heat it was pretty much dead when we were there.

I'd also like to do some camping, maybe if we go before it's terribly warm I'll A) not be miserable and B) not miss swimming as much. Oh and by camping I mean either in a camper or cabin because I really can't imagine sleeping in a tent pregnant.

Right now I'm considering either Inks Lake State Park or Lake Meridian State Park.

Both seem to have pretty nice hiking options and pretty scenic views!

via

 What are your plans for this summer?

 Today I'm linking up with Amanda and Crystal for Texas Tuesday!

State Fair of Texas!

This last Thursday John took off work and we went to the State Fair!

It was Senior Day and just like (almost) every year, my Great Aunt M & Uncle B were at the fair. I remember going to the fair with Aunt M & Uncle B and my grandparents when I was a child, so I loved getting to share this with Coralie!

Aunt M sharing yummy chicken with Coralie!

We were actually able to have my Dad and his cousins Bill & Ruth join us too!

Potato Twister!

It wouldn't be the State Fair without eating some awful for you fried food great Fair Food!

Yum Yum Turkey Leg!

Cora loves Cotton Candy just like her Momma!

                                      (We also consumed a candied apple that I forgot to snap a picture of)

And just for Lauren, we stopped by & saw the Butter Sculptures!

We tried to show Cora some of the animals, but she was much more interested in the ball they had in their pin (so we skipped the petting zoo... we'll try again next year)

And it wouldn't be a visit to the State Fair of Texas without seeing Big Tex!

 Little Miss Coralie was wiped out after about 6 hours of fair going, so we went home earlier than we would have normally. We didn't catch any shows or listen to many music groups but such is the life with a baby.  

And it turns out to be a very good thing we left when we did because less than an hour after we headed out a really intense storm rolled in! There was a tent blown over at the fair, but in other areas of Dallas there were huge trees uprooted and in Fort Worth a whole wall of a building at the Stock Yards was blown down! (more about after leaving the fair later...)

Mommy's sleepy girl!

On an entirely unrelated note we borrowed a friends Ergo carrier for the fair and loved it! I'm not quite ready to drop the $100+ on one but we are going to start watching for one on swap groups etc. I still love my wraps and will keep them but I'm going to sell my cheaper carriers, the Ergo is worth the money.

Vacation - Part 1

We made a huge road trip to attend Joshua's graduation from Marine Basic Training in San Diego, California.

The trip started off with our family reunion in West Texas, then from there we made a quick stop off in Lubbock for the night. Lubbock to Flagstaff, AZ (stopping in Alburqurque, NM), the Grand Canyon to San Diego. After a few days in sunny San Diego we headed back to Texas after stopping in Tuscon, AZ. 

It was a great trip and I can't wait to share it with you! It had many challenges, the prime one being keeping Cora entertained (and all of us sane) for the 45 + hours of driving (over 3,000 miles!). 

Day 1 - Family Reunion

My mothers family has a reunion in west Texas every summer. When we were planning the trip we were upset that we wouldn't be able to make it this year with it being Cora's first reunion and Stephanie (future sis-in-love) first year (almost) in the family so we reworked the plans and were able to arrive on Friday at the beginning of the reunion and stay through the afternoon on Saturday.

Day 2 - Lubbock

We left the reunion and traveled to stay with family in Lubbock. It was only a couple of hours from the reunion but when traveling with a little one, those hours are important when shaving them off of the long drive we had on day 3.

Day 3 - Travel to Flagstaff, AZ

When planning the trip I knew that we'd need to stop somewhere about half way and let Cora (and the rest of us) have some time free from the car. I picked the National Petroglyph Monument in Albuquerque, NM for us to stop and picnic at for lunch and give us the opportunity to hike some to stretch our legs.

There were several trails and it was an almost free ($2 per car) place to stop and sure beat a road-side park or a gas station parking lot.

Though this was one of the longer legs of the journey, it really didn't feel like such an awful drive but we sure were glad when we made it to our destination for the night, Flagstaff, AZ.

We grabbed a nice quiet dinner at the cutest diner on Historic Route 66.

I must have hit my head and not recalled the incident because I was a mess during dinner. I managed to spill my drink everywhere, make a huge mess with my food and when shaking the ketchup bottle the lid came off and sprayed ketchup all over the restaurant... I about died of embarrassment. The staff was very sweet about my disasters, all of them.


This was just the start of the trip, Grand Canyon (at Sunrise!) and San Diego to come!

Lubbock!

This past weekend we traveled to Lubbock! 

Most of our trips to Lubbock center around family and the University (Wreck 'em Tech!) 

We went to the baseball game on Saturday, it was the first time I had been to Dan Law Field since we were students and I was so excited to see the improvements and renovations! 

The bleachers all have backs now (gasp!)! Little things like this make all the difference to me in enjoying the game! The new awnings over the upper seats made it possible for us to have Cora out there in the sun for the whole game. 

Something I love about Lubbock is it still gets Texas hot, but their 100 degrees is so much more bearable because it's so dry and those Lubbock Winds keep you cool! I'd take a 100 degree day in Lubbock over a 90 degree day in Dallas any day!

For dinner Saturday night we went somewhere I had never been before, but if you're in Lubbock you should check it out, Bryan's Steaks! 

The prices are great! You aren't getting the best cut of meat, the steaks are sirloin, but the meat is tender and full of delicious flavor! {just an FYI, they don't take debit/credit cards so be prepared with cash/check!}

You can't miss the restaurant as you drive up and see this ginormous bull in the front. 

(Cora was less than impressed, John thought she was going to pet it??)

After you order your steak in a buffet line of sorts, you're given a plate and access to the salad bar! Then your steak & baked potato comes out, all the other sides are on the salad bar.

Lubbock in general is really family friendly, Bryan's Steaks certainly fits in that category. You can feed a family of five steaks for under $60 (? or really close to this, my Aunt picked up the bill so I'm getting this number from my sketchy math skills & my distracted memories of steak prices as I was focused on Cora). 

I'm linking up with Crystal and Amanda for Texas Tuesday!

Lake Texoma - Eisenhower State Park

For Mothers Day weekend we took Cora on her first camping trip!

John grew up going to Eisenhower State Park with his Dad for swimming and hiking. It was so special to get to go somewhere he frequented as a kid and see him share those memories with Coralie! 

 Cora loved the sand! It was quite a task keeping her from eating it!

By the time we took this picture, Cora was "over" the lake. It was cold and she wanted to go to sleep!

Hiking in the park was great! Lake Texoma is a man-made lake, but it's a very mature lake. The terrain around the lake is great with hills and big beautiful trees! 

Hubby sleeping in...

I'm linking up with Crystal and Amanda for Texas Tuesday!

Texas Tuesday - The Dallas Sidekicks

I love Texas! There are just so many things to do all over our great state! 

Each week I love reading Crystal & Amandas posts about all things fun to do!

No matter how much I think I know about Texas, there always seems to be more to learn!

This past Friday night we went to a Dallas Sidekicks game at the Allen Event Center. 

I'm not a big soccer fan... like at all! John worked for FC Dallas when we first got married and I was less than enthused about sitting through the games. Indoor soccer - totally different! We loved it!

My brother had gotten us and my Dad tickets. He is a part of the ETBU choir and they were opening the game with the National Anthem. After the game there was a concert by The Afters, I hear it was great but we had a sleepy baby and had to head home in the 3rd quarter.

We look forward to going back! If you're ever in the area I recommend checking them out! There's a lot more than soccer too! The Arena hosts games for Soccer, Ice Hockey, Arena Football and Basketball! Oh! And a great plus that I really appreciated is that parking is always free at the Arena! Just head to the adjacent parking garage!

That little part of Allen is pretty cool! The Allen Event Center is the centerpiece of sorts to The Village at Allen. There's lots of shopping and tons of great food! We were pressed on time so we grabbed a quick (but delicious) bite at Mooyahs! If we had more time there are so many great options, and everything smelled so good!