The Fort Worth Stockyards

We Spanglers played tourist today and set out to explore this new town we live in. Actually, it's the new TOWNS we live in, since we've got Dallas and Fort Worth to discover. So today, it was tourist destination- the Stockyards. We had a great time! Addie and I got cowgirl hats too!

Addie proudly shows off her badge.

Greg proves he could tangle with a longhorn and win!

OK, this is a strange picture, let me explain!

In California, when you aren't used to California things, you might see a tv shoot in progress and have a moment of surreal shock, "is this REALLY what I'm seeing, and do I REALLY live here?" Well, I had a Texas version of that today, when we were walking down the street, and a guy in cowboy boots walks past carrying a 6 foot long set of cattle horns. And no one blinks an eye or looks twice. But I thought it was hilarious and snapped a picture on the sly (hey, I didn't want to look like a tourist, right?), which is why this picture is so badly framed.

We really do live in Texas.

Checking out the Herd

Look! Longhorns!

The kids also enjoyed the petting zoo, to see some smaller, less frightening animals.

Lunch & More

This was our scrumpty lunch at Riscky's bbq, which fueled us for...

shooting each other with pop-guns,

posing for ridiculous pictures,

and sitting tall in the saddle.

Billy Bob's

Scotty and me in front of Billy Bob's the "World's Largest Honky-Tonk." Inside, there is not only a huge area for concerts and dancing, but also lots of games and pool tables, and their own bull-riding ring.

But the best part?

Famous country stars' hand prints!

Now I know my hands are the same size as Steve Wariner's!

That's RANDY TRAVIS up there!

Fun Times

Addie got to sit up on a REAL LIVE LONGHORN!

Meanwhile, Scotty was satisfied just to have the space and freedom to run.

Sharing a cone.

I am posting this horrid picture to entertain you all and to take my pride down a few notches.

The Cattle Drive

Twice a day, right down the main street through the Stockyards, they parade out the "Fort Worth Herd" of longhorn cattle. What a nice show for the tourists! Hey, we enjoyed it!

Holy Cow!

Dallas Zoo

Spent yesterday morning at the Dallas Zoo with some friends from church. Well, Heather, in the middle, was a friend in college too, but she also is a friend from church now. I was so glad they invited us along! We had a blast!

About 10 pictures into the zoo, which translates into about 5 minutes, my camera battery died. NOOOOOO! So I am extra thankful for these pictures which the other mommies took and shared with me!

Scotty

This picture captures my son's essence.

Everybody likes to ride an elephant while being put in a choke hold.

Petting the Goats

Last week was "goat week" in school, so weren't we so happy to see goats in the petting zoo!

Hey buddy!

Ha Scotty- you can try to attack the cats at home because you are bigger then them, but try it with the goats and see what happens!

Birds of a Feather

Scotty hatches out

What a beautiful parrot!

Addie feeds the birds- WITHOUT Mommy thank-you-very-much. She went into the aviary with the Zellers, and left me outside- since the idea of birds fluttering near my head makes me want to run screaming in terror.

Addie rides in the spinning nest on the Carousel with Randall Zeller.

Addie & Randall

And speaking of Addie and Randall, my goodness did they have fun together!

Feeding the birds,

Riding a giant caterpillar,

whooping it up like cowboy and cowgirl,

and of course that carousel ride. Heather, Randall's mom, and I were giggling watching Randall "spin" the nest- when really he it was him moving around the wheel, and Addie sitting back with arms spread wide on each side, looking pretty impressed.

No shortness of personality with those two!

Our Little Man

Oh, I just adore this kid!

Here's our boy, 18 months old now, asleep in mommy & daddy's bed. He was so cute, I wasn't even bitter about the fact that he was in our bed because he woke up AGAIN ridiculously early in the morning. No really, I wasn't!

After the Super Bowl commercial with the little Darth Vadar who thinks he started dad's car with the power of "the force," Greg taught Scotty to control the Roomba with the same power. See, the Roomba has little boxes that go with it, that shine a laser beam in front of them, and the Roomba "sees" the invisible beam, and treats it like a wall- turns around and goes the other way. Since Scotty doesn't understand the beams, he was amazed that if he stood with Daddy (behind the beam of course) and held out his hand like Daddy showed him, the fascinating little round thing that he thought was chasing him, would just turn around and go the other way. So now he walks up to it, and holds out his hand, and when it doesn't turn around he looks really confused- and freaked out because it's still coming at him. It is very entertaining for us to watch!

A first- he was so tired one day at lunch that he fell asleep while eating! When I lifted him out of the chair to put him to bed, he didn't wake up, but he did start chewing again!