Deep in the heart of Texas

The kids were out of school yesterday for Fall Break, so we decided to hit up the State Fair of Texas.  It was the perfect day for it.  Blue skies, mild temps, but on the way to the Fair we got news of a most tragic sort--Big Tex had burned down! 

We were a little dismayed, but when we got there and saw the enourmous ferris wheel, we perked back up!  The kids were so excited, and truth be told, so was I!

The carousel was first up.  It was Lila's first and only ride of the day.  In fact, about half way through she asked me to get her off the horse.  So, we just rode around and around with me standing near a horse with her on my hip.  What can I say?  She tried!

Madison and Jackson were loving it from the get go, though.

No hands on a stationary horse--such a daredevil rider!

Next up were the kiddie swings.  Turns out there is such a thing as being too tall for a ride and Jackson was over the limit.  A few tears fell, but he recovered pretty quickly.  Thank goodness.

Lila was much more content hanging out and watching everyone around her ride the rides.

Gigi was able to turn J man's frown upside down by joining him on this high flying ride.

He loved it!

Boom joined him on the next spinning ride.  Turns out, a 5 year old's stomach is much better equipped to handle these spinning rides than that of a grandparent.  They were such good sports, but said "no more" after these rides!

This was about as close as the little one got to entering a ride again. 
We did find out that she's 35 inches tall, though:)

After a few more rides, like the Happy Swing, we were ready for lunch.

We definitely perked up when we saw the Fletcher's Corny Dog stand.  No doubt, the best ever made.

My dad finished his off before I even sat down to start on mine!

Jackson and Gigi both loved every bite of theirs...

while Lila preferred to have hers without any of the batter.  Weenie only.  I, on the other hand, ate the whole kit and kaboodle.

After lunch, we walked over to get in line for the iconic ferris wheel.  The view did not disappoint!

While we were waiting, though, Lila Lou fell asleep, so she missed the whole thing.  Oh well, guess we'll just have to go again next year:)

After checking out the Dallas skyline, we just had to take some time to share a delicious funnel cake.  I really think they should just stop frying all other silly things, like twinkies and oreos, and just stick to the good ol' tried and true funnel cake.  It's just too good to be beat.

We love the State Fair!

Even though we didn't really want to see a skeleton of Big Tex, we just had to walk on over and go see him.  Imagine our surprise when we walked up and saw this.  A big pile of nothing.  It was crazy!  He was completely gone.  We heard they carried him out on an enormous stretcher of sorts.  So sad!

To lift our spirits, we headed over to check out the cool animals in Big Tex's Barnyard. We saw this beautiful giraffe...

and got to feed lots of baby goats and chicks.

We even got to say "hook 'em" to a little longhorn!

One of the highlights for me was petting this cool camel. 
Lila liked seeing him, but passed on the chance to pet him.

She cracked me up, though, when she saw these two strange animals and said, "Those are some trazy yooking dogs.  Yook at their chins!"  I still have no idea what kind of animal they are, but I do know that they are not dogs!

After checking out the zebras, we went to feed this very animated and aggressive ostrich. 
Thank goodness he didn't bite one of my fingers off!

Jackson opted to feed the much more docile llamas...

and all of us were amused by these strangly shaven alpacas.  Seriously, do they not remind you of a shaved standard poodle?

We ended the petting zoo rounds by feeding this wacky 4 horned sheep.  Yes, 4 horns! 
Have you ever seen such a thing?

To say that the kids enjoyed the barnyard would be an understatement.  I am so glad that we went!

I may not know anyone who likes ice cream more than my dad, but Maddie sure did put down this entire ice cream bar just like her Boom!

Jackson passed on the ice cream, but ate a serious amount of cotton candy instead. 

We ended the day with a few more rides and the kids used their last 16 tickets to ride the Crazy Mouse.  I was so proud of them for going on their first roller coaster.  They loved it!  "Look Mom, no hands!"

We had so much fun at the Fair and are already looking forward to going again next year. 
I wonder what the new Big Tex will look like?  Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Family Fit Night

As if dance class and soccer practice are not enough to fill up our Tuesday afternoon and evening, we decided to hit up Jackson's school's Family Fit Night, too!  We go hard around here, that's for sure!

We didn't get to stay too long, but we did get to play some hoops.  Jackson and Maddie had fun playing with the principal!  Before we left, Jackson and I played on a team and scored some mad points.  He didn't know his mama could still shoot! 

We had fun, even if it did add to the craziness!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Earlier this week the girls and I picked Jackson up from school and had a little surprise for him.  We were going to pick out pumpkins!

There's this cute little church a few minutes from our house that has a great selection of pumpkins every year.  They may not be the cheapest, but the sweet old people who work there make it so worth it to spend an extra $5.

This year they added this great big haybale area that's just perfect for taking fall pictures in front of.

I was pleasantly surprised at how willing my crew was, even though all they really wanted to do was run around amongst the pumpkin patch.  We got a few cute pictures of all three...

and a lot of outtakes that look like this.  I would tell a joke, but Jackson was the only one who got that he was supposed to laugh/smile and still look at the camera!

Then some bows started being thrown and I knew we were done!  Let the pumpkin picking begin!

After running into Jackson's kindergarten teacher there (fun little surprise), we loaded up the wagon with our 5 miniature pumpkins and 3 medium ones.  Everyone was happy with their choices and our house is officially ready for fall now!

After we got home, I packaged up some treats we'd made a few days before so that we could give them to our neighbors.  I totally stole this idea from my friend, Carole, so thanks girl!  I just thought the note that said "Happy Fall, Y'all!" was too cute to pass up.  I think our neighbors liked it, too, and the kids loved getting to deliver the treats. 

Happy Birthday, Granny!

Sunday afternoon we celebrated Granny's birthday at my parents' house.

Lots of the grandkids were there to help make this suprise 60th birthday party so special.

Jackson was especially excited when he heard that Cole was bringing his baseball glove.  They played for over an hour and J hung right with him.  Cole is a really good ball player AND he's in the 5th grade!  Jackson told me that he wished that Cole could come over every day to play with him:)  Too bad he lives all the way out in Prosper.

The whole crew donned birthday hats, except for the birthday girl, who wore her tiara.  I think every girl should have a tiara for her birthday! 

Silly faces!  It was a fun afternoon and we hope Granny felt the love.

Angry Birds and Cubs Win Big!

Saturday morning we had soccer and baseball games at the same time, so we had to divide and conquer!

Lila and I took Madison to the soccer fields while Daddy and Jackson went to baseball. 

Madison got to start the game and was all smiles before kickoff (Is that even what it's called in soccer? I really don't know).   

The Angry Birds got off to a great start and scored a few goals right away.

Madison did so good!  She didn't score any goals, but was right in the mix of things the whole time.

Meanwhile, Jackson was doing his best to help the Cubs pull off a win, too.  He got a single, double and then Jared caught his triple on video. So cool!

Gooooo Angry Birds!!  They won 9 - 3 and the Cubs won 9 - 2.  Way to go, J & M!

Hook 'Em, we tried!

Friday we began our preparation for the biggest football game of the year (in this household, anyway!).

The girls both put on their UT shirts and got ready to help me bake for the game the next day.  Thanks, Mandy and Brooklynn, for these super cute monogrammed aprons!

We decided to make the best cookie bar dessert EVER.  Yes, EVER.  It's a recipe from my dear friend, Stephanie, that has cookie bars, oreos AND brownies in it.  So very sinful, and so very good.  Jackson even got in on the action and chose one of my old aprons--great blackmail for later in life, so I just went with it!

Saturday morning rolled around and we all had our horns up!  Too bad the Longhorns forgot that this was the biggest game of the year.  OU just stomped us.  Oh well, we were sad, but at least we had the cookie bars to cheer us up:)