Waco Zoo with Friends

The morning after Christmas, we drove to Waco with our friends to visit the Waco Zoo. Their girls have never been and we love the zoo! And, since our girls are the best of friends, it just made sense. Kyleigh was with us, which worked out perfectly to have another helper to corral three happy energetic girls!

It was nice to have someone there to snap a family picture for us! The giraffe photobombed us :)

The playground is always a big hit for Marcus, ahem, Abby. 

It was so fun to do the zoo with rookies. We first told the girls we were going to the tigers and Addison who is 4 freaked out. We realized she thought the zoo was like a petting zoo and she was scared to pet the tiger. Hilarious!

I had a new little friend most of the day. This girl is so funny and so much trouble! But, she is so cute and so loving, too.

I love Abby's smile in this picture! We are doing 5 year shots next week and I pray I get a picture like this from her. Her big smile and little chin dimple are too cute!

It was pretty cold for our trip- low 50s most of the time. It felt like winter and looked like fall with all the dying leaves on the ground.

We love visiting the zoo!

Afterward, we all had lunch at Ninfa's and drove home. Kyleigh and Abby fell asleep.... about 10 minutes from home. Isn't that always the case!

Weekend Review

Our family has had a fun Labor Day weekend so far! On Friday night, we went to a local HS football game with friends. They allowed all elementary school kids to run on the field ahead of the players, so we were on the field to retrieve their daughter when the football team came out of the locker room. I am certain these boys are much bigger than the boys were in my high school. Corn fed country boys in Liberty Hill!

 

Abby was with my Mom, so it was a perfect date night!

The girls ended up sitting together and Marcus and James ended up with the worst seats in the whole stadium. This fan/Mom stood the entire game. She did cheers, yelled at players, and blocked their view for 4 quarters. It was really comical at how oblivious she was to the people around her!

On Saturday morning, before picked up Abby in Fredericksburg, we did a little wine tasting with Andrea and James. We have done it 3 times now and always have the most fun. Marcus and Andrea sample wine and James and I enjoy the ride!

William and Chris winery was in this really cool old house. They loved all of the wines there, but it wasn't our favorite atmosphere. The pourer was a little too knowledgeable and pushy. As in, "you liked all of these wines, so why aren't you going to buy any?" Honestly, we often leave with no bottles of wine at the end of the day. The fun is in sampling and spending time together. 

Next up, Pedernales Cellars, our new favorite. The place was just beautiful! The wine tasting flight included 9 samples and you got the cup which we loved. Marcus chose a stemless wine glass and was awarded a new nickname... Short Cup. Feel free to call him that ;)

Pedernales has a large porch with really comfy chairs and this view of the hill country. It was amazingly silent on the porch and shaded by these huge oak trees. Marcus and Andrea loved a chocolate, coffee, and cinnamon tempranillo here. We decided we will plan on having lunch on this porch next time and they'll just spend $30 on that bottle of wine rather than on the tasting. A new favorite was found!

Finally, we stopped at 4.0 Cellars that we always visit. They had the aTm football game on, so James and I watched the game while Marcus and Andrea chatted up the pourer who played football at Tech many years ago. He liked them so much I swear they tried everything on the list. 

After this stop, we grabbed lunch in Fredericksburg and then picked up our favorite little girl. She was so excited to see us and loved having Andrea and I sit in the back with her.

This morning we proudly wore our black, white and red to church to cheer for our Red Raiders who took care of SMU nicely on Friday night. We DVR'd the game and watched it on fast speed Friday night!

Tonight, Marcus and Abby are watching a little friend for a couple of hours and I am enjoying a birthday dinner and new restaurant with a friend. Tomorrow is low-key with nothing currently on the schedule! Hooray for that!

Field of Poppies

Last night I went to Painting with a Twist with three of my girlfriends. I had a gift certificate for 4 people, so we all got to paint without minimal financial risk :)

Natalie and I had fun with the painting props. She makes a good Willie :)

They give you a tabletop easel, a blank canvas and this plate of paint.

Everyone paints the same picture and the instructor walks you through it step by step. It really is simple as she breaks it down. The key for me, is being random and relaxing. It always looks better at the end than the middle and always looks better when you aren't inspecting it from 2 feet away!

First we did the sky blending blues and then adding clouds.

Next, we added the ground with greens and browns and made a horizon line of trees.

Next came the barn and the poppies. Amazing how many colors went into these flowers- red, orange, pink, dark purple and then a darker shade to look more black. White came later. 

Finally, we outlined our barn and added some white/yellow to the grass and the flowers. My barn looked awful, so I made it into a church. My friends teased me for that- "being a good Baptist girl". ha!

Everyone was nervous and certain they would fail, but we all did great!

Here is my finished product close up. It was fun and I like my art!

When you sign up at Painting with a Twist you are picking the picture you want and hoping the date it is offered works for you. I picked this picture with this little spot in my guest bedroom in mind. It works perfectly!

Allowance, A Purse and A Lake First

Abby Lu cahsed in her first allowance this weekend. After reading a little, talking with friends and some prayer, we decided to give Abby money when she goes above and beyond. It could be helping me put away laundry, feeding the cat, or showing good character traits. We usually give her a quarter, sometimes more and sometime less.

This morning during breakfast we sorted and counted all her change. It was fun to do "math" with her in a way she could understand. Then, her and Marcus took her money to the coinstar at the grocery store to convert to dollar bills.

She was about $2 short of what she wanted, so we agreed to pay the remainder. She has been wanting this "sparkly A purse" for months. She saw it when we were in here in March and I refused to pay $15 for it. So, we began saving for it and Saturday was the big day! Doesn't she look excited?

Saturday night, we visited our friends Jay and Kristen at the new house they built in the far back of Steiner on the lake. It was a first for Abby- we took the golf cart down to the lake and she got to play. It was the most family friendly little spot on the lake that I have ever seen.

The docks are all owned by families with kids and they had built a big green lawn, a sandy beach with sea shells all hidden inside, swings, hammocks, you name it. We had lots of fun swimming in our clothes!

Babies!

Abby and I have seen a lot of babies over the last week- this is Harper and she has a new baby brother Hudson. They are a new family we have gotten to know and just love! Hudson and Harper have the cutest little playroom and his nursery is all manner of chevron and elephants! So cute! I have loved my new MOPS group and their Momma Kathy is my newest friend from that group. We met Hudson and delivered dinner late last week.

The same day, we met sweet little bitty twins Caroline and Parker. They never made a noise while we were there, even when Abby and I held Caroline. I have never held a baby that small before- it was just the best! I believe they are around 5 pounds at this point.

Today, we had lunch and met Baby Sydney. Have you ever seen a more beautiful child? She made sweet faces even when she was upset. I would have a hard time saying no to this child!

All these babies reminded me of my own baby. She is such a little girl now and while I am happy to be over the worst toddler stage, I do miss the sleeping in your arms all day stage. 

Thank you Jesus for healthy babies for my sweet friends!

New Years Eve

We met up with our friends James and Andrea on Monday morning and headed to Fredericksburg for more wine tasting. We had so much fun this summer, we decided to day trip it over the holidays and Monday worked out.

Andrea and James sampled 27 different wines and both found clear favorites. We bought a bottle of Marcus' favorite- Red Roan out of Burleson. It is part Cab and part Tempranillo.

They learned that Andrea likes more smokey reds and Marcus prefers a fruity lighter red. You can imagine how funny we all found that. Andrea likes the manly reds and Marcus, not so much.

They continued on their quest to find a port they like and were semi-successful. Still searching it seems!

After being home about an hour, we put on comfy clothes and spent the evening with our friend Nicole and Emmett and their friends Dana and Bill. We ate yummy snacks, had a couple of fun new drinks and played a card game- 31. It was lots of fun although we both lost our quarters. Big spenders :)

We watched the ball drop, toasted to 2013, kissed and drove home! We were both tired!

Happy New Year!

Saturday Fun with Friends

Saturday afternoon we celebrated our friend Grayson's birthday at Kiddie Acres, a local outdoor amusement park. Grayson's Daddy and Marcus have been friends since grade school.

Aren't his curls beautiful? He was so quiet and just took everything in. I finally got a smile while he played with his new birthday drill.

Abby loved all the rides at Kiddie Acres. It has been around for years and is small and could use a coat of paint, but it is always fun! Abby rode this airplane and talked the whole time. She asks to ride an airplane ALL THE TIME! We have told her she will take an airplane to Chicago next year (our next major vacation and her first). So, I think she rode around talking about Chicago the whole time!

If happiness is measured by time spent on a carousel, this girl is very happy! She rides the one at the mall almost weekly (Sunday post-nap activity with Daddy). She loves herself a carousel.

With a little parental pushing and a little bravery, she rode her first pony. The moment she got on, she looked the the attendant and loudly said, "Yee Haw!".

 We were all decked out in our Texas Tech gear. The game was just an hour south of us, but at $65/ticket is wasn't an option. So, we cheered from the North!

We did listen to the game at the home of our friends Ryan and Amanda. We had a wonderful time with dinner, the game, and great conversation! Amanda is an amazing and super healthy cook. We had organic grass fed burgers with carrots and beets inside, homemade guacamole, quinoa and black bean salad, and for dessert, chocolate cake with beets! They made it taste like cherry! 

I love days like yesterday- cool weather, parties with friends, and good football!

Thursday and Friday

 On Thursday we drove to New Braunfels to visit my Mom who is house sitting for my sister while she is on vacation. We had a lovely lunch together and then went to the San Marcos outlet mall. I grabbed Abby Lu a few back to school items at Gap Outlet and we walked around Pottery Barn outlet. Abby was well behaved so she got to ride in this red sports car.

Like her sunglasses? She is obsessed with wearing sunglasses and now wears an old pair of mine. No kiddie glasses on her!

We spent Friday afternoon at home after gymnastics camp and Abby found a new comfy chair to play her games on! She loves sitting in my office while I work. I love that she has a couple of new educational games she loves.

Friday night, Marcus and Abby had a date and I attended the retirement dinner of my friend Patricia. We worked together in 2006-2007 and stayed friends. Everyone in attendance was people she used to work with. It was fun to celebrate the patience and well deserved retirement of a good friend!

After her party, I met my friend Sarah at Pour House Pub for her going away party. She is selling her house and moving to her hometown to open up a store in the town's square. It will be amazing- all of the products and/or her profits will have the TOMS mentality. What you buy from her will change the world. I am proud to know her and excited to see how God uses her new adventure!

Anniversary Trip to Fredericksburg

 I have been to Fredericksburg numerous times since I have family in the area, but I've never done the full Fredericksburg experience of visiting the wineries and staying in a bed & breakfast. This year for our anniversary, we decided to be tourists in Fredericksburg!

We celebrated our 13th anniversary with our friends James and Andrea who celebrated 14 years the following day. Andrea and I have been friends for 5 years since we worked together and Marcus and James had met casually at parties for the kids. We now declare them good friends and hope to travel with them again. Two of the funniest people I've ever met!

Here is our B&B, named Maria's. It was built in the mid 1800's and showed it's age! Marcus and I arrived about an hour before they did and had a funny text conversation going with Andrea. The place smelled like my grandmother's house and the doorways were no where near James' height of 6'3". 

But, we loved it! It was quaint, the 18" thick walls kept the place really cool, the bed was comfy and the creaking floors were fun to navigate in the middle of the night. I could have read in the cool morning on the front porch for hours. The place was just what you'd want and expect from an old cottage!

We had loose plans for our trip- shop, tour the wineries, and eat good food. All was accomplished! We didn't do much shopping- a few hours on Wednesday morning. It was enough to make the loop and I found a few treasures I couldn't live without, like my new turquoise dough bowl.

On Tuesday night, we ate at Silver Creek. We wanted a lively atmosphere with Olympic coverage. The food was better that expected- I loved the pepper gravy on my chicken fried steak. Delish!

Wednesday at lunch we discovered Sugar and Smoke and talked about this brisket for the remainder of the trip. I can not recommend this place enough.... we all loved it. We asked for the manager and told her how great it was and even asked them about opening up an Austin location. I love the mix of bar-be-que and sweets. It was modern and had feminine touches. Lunch was served on these small cookie sheets and dessert came on a plate with a pig on it :) There was no traditional potato salad or cole slaw. It was sweet potato fries and homemade jalapeno tortilla chips. I had read the owner was on a TV cooking show and lost the contest because of her cole slaw! ha!

Since lunch was to die for, we came back for breakfast the next day! Brisket jalapeno hollandaise.... brisket and bacon breakfast tacos.... peach scones.... we loved it all!

Most of our time on vacation was spent visiting five different wineries. Both Andrea and Marcus like wine, and since their spouses don't, it made sense to do the tours together. Nobody wants to drink alone! I'll share wineries on Your Little Birdie next week. They were beautiful and we had lots of fun pretending to understand wine-talk.

 We had a lovely time getting away and look forward to going back to Fredericksburg again!