Hico--Day 3 & 4

Wednesday morning we picked up our cousin Beverly at the retreat center she is working at this summer (it was her day off) and headed to Fort Worth. We meet Aunt Melinda and Aunt Ruth and her kids at Billy Miner's in downtown Fort Worth. My kids were fascinated with the parking garage and with walking among the big buildings downtown.

After lunch, we went swimming with Ruth and Ben. The kids had a ball jumping off the diving boards (T.S. jumped off the side). Sorry, I didn't get any pictures.

We then made a quick stop at Grandma and PaPa's and headed to Burleson to see the Fisher's house and then to eat at Babe's (YUM!!!) We had so much fun seeing all of the cousins, aunts and of course the grandparents.

On the way home from dropping Beverly back off at Glen Rose, my cousin Brant called to announce his engagement to the lovely Ashly--congrats, you two!

On Thursday we checked out a new breakfast place in Hico and then went downtown to check out some of the really cool shops they have. If you are ever that way, the downtown has some neat places. The kids got to watch the chocolate-making process and then we went to the Wiseman House to purchase some. Wiseman House Chocolates are yummy--I recommend the almond toffee and Sadie likes the Choco-rocks.

We enjoyed a quick lunch of homemade pizza (that included my homemade cheese) then said our goodbyes and headed back to Happy.

The kids and I had so much fun with the Hico Bows. Can't wait to see where our next adventure leads us!

Our Trip to Hico, Day 1

The kids and I spent the first part of the week visiting Robby's brother's family in Hico. Robby was at Leadership Camp and Randy was in Indonesia, so it was a good time for the moms and cousins to get together.

Our first stop was at the Dr Pepper Museum in Dublin. Besides being the oldest Dr Pepper bottler in the world, Dublin Dr Pepper also has the distinction of being bottled with Imperial Pure Cane Sugar - the original Dr Pepper formula. We each got our own little bottle of Dr Pepper (I hate to admit it, but it was really good). The Pure Cane Sugar makes a huge difference. We then got to see the bottling process and look at quite a bit of Dr Pepper paraphernalia.

The Bows then took us on a journey to a local family's farm. The family makes their own cheese--so this is where the Bows purchase their milk and cheese. You can also buy eggs and some meat here. We even got to stick our head in the cheese room where they age the cheese--not the most pleasant of smells, but interesting.

We then traveled on to the home of a friend who grows lavender--very cool. We ended the day at a surprise party for one of their friends.

Adventures in the Pasture

Yesterday, the kids and I got on the four-wheeler and explored the east pasture.

We checked out the draw and the green grass. We spotted coyote tracks and badger tracks (we think--still checking on those).

We found a part of the playa lake that we didn't realize was there and saw several ducks and at least a dozen American Avocets. (Yes, I looked it up).

We went on over the "hill" and found a part of the pasture that right now is "beautiful" according to Sadie. (I have to agree with her.)

We ventured to the pasture by the house and the kids climbed the windmill and observed more ducks while listening to the frogs begin their evening serenade. Our goal is to see a frog and catch it--so far no luck on either.

T.S. even thanked me for taking them down there and said, "Mom, that was a good adventure."

Goo!!

Too windy to play outside, so we made goo today. You can go here for the recipe. (I dare you to try it!)

Where's Sadie??

We've been having lots of fun crafting while poor Sadie has been hard at work at school. I caught her at the new "clubhouse" looking through their telescope yesterday. I just wanted everyone to know she was still around and she's up to her own adventuring. The "new" clubhouse happens to be in the area beside the well house and chicken pens. We're not really supposed to be on the chicken house, but....

Day at the Museum

We are very fortunate to have an outstanding museum right in our own backyard. The Panhandle Plains Historical Museum is located on the campus of West Texas A&M University in Canyon. Tryce, T.S. and I spent some time there Friday.

We saw fossils (dinosaurs), cowboy stuff, cars, windmills and more. T.S. says the best part was, "the dinosaurs and all of it."

The museum is very kid friendly as you can see. The boys got to sit on saddles, check out an Indian shelter, put together dinosaur puzzles, and ride a race car.

The first statue is of Charles Goodnight. The second one is some really big cowboy. We had a fun adventure.