Fort Worth Stock Yards

So, shortly after we moved here, Patrick got it into his head that he wanted to see a Texas Longhorn Cattle.  Today, almost 2 years later, he finally got to.  A friend of ours from Denver who also relocated was being visited by her sister this week, and invited us to go to the Fort Worth stock yards with them.  And Patrick not only got to see several longhorns, but SIT ON ONE TOO.

 Since there was a $5 fee to sit on the cow, only Patrick did.  I figured he deserved it for waiting for so long to see one.  But everyone else got to pet it.

 I was worried Owen was going to be afraid of it, so I wasn't going to pull him out of the stroller.  But he got so mad that he wasn't going to do what everyone else was doing, so I picked him up to go pet the cow.  I wish we could have gotten a picture of his face, he was SO excited.  His eyes lit up, and he started giggling and yelling "COCO! COCO!"  Coco's name is his catch-all word for animals lately.  I got him *almost* saying "cow" by the end of the trip.

 We stopped by the stockyards museum...which was exactly what it sounded like it should be.

And then we went to go see the little herd they keep around (you know, as opposed to the ones that they sell and move and transport)

They had these awesome mist fans out on the sidewalk.  The woman holding Allison is our friend Shannon, and the woman in orange is her sister Anna.

 and we met some cowboys.  And their horses.

So, it was ridiculously hot.  But the kids loved the big animals.

Splash pad

We went to the splash park this morning.  My skin could only handle being out there for an hour, even with tons of sunscreen, but we had fun.

Life as we know it

So I have been having a hard time lately.  Texas and I don't get along, especially in the summer.  So I have been muddling along through my days, dealing with headaches and such.  

Anyway, Owen is growing more and more into a "kid" and not a "baby," and while I'm happy he is growing and developing as he should, it's a little sad.  Lately he's been wanting to walk everywhere...

 And has definite opinions about what he wants to do and doesn't want to listen to anyone else.

Allison told me the other day that she could hug me forever.  And wanted a picture.  She's a sweetheart when she wants to be.

We accidentally ended up at Chick-fil-a on "Cow appreciation day."  If I had remembered, we honestly wouldn't have gone because it was SO busy.  But I didn't remember until we were already inside and I really didn't feel like trying to get everyone back in the car and fighting with the parking lot before eating.  Erin and Patrick loved it when the cow showed up.

 Allison was scared, but wanted a picture with the cow anyway.  She wouldn't let me go, though, so we had an employee take the pic.  Owen was very scared, so I just left him in his chair.

I have been working with Owen to pet the kitties nicely.  He adores them, and it is SO cute, but he can be a bit rough if I'm not careful.  He usually does okay at first...

 And then he gets excited and petting turns into hitting.  Poor Ilisidi (Azizi, as Owen says).

And last night, we had a "family movie night."  I ended up with two kids on my lap, and there was barely enough light for a picture.

Dinner "guest" and an eye update.

So, I got up during dinner today to do something in the kitchen, and heard a bunch of giggling at the table.  I sat back down, and heard Patrick say "ARRR!" and I looked up and saw this...

I admit, I laughed longer than it probably warranted.  I just wasn't expecting the cute little pirate face.  He kept doing it, which only made me laugh harder (exponential property of laughter?  The more you laugh the funnier it is...).  At least that meant I got a picture.

And my eye has officially reached the "turning greenish yellow" stage.  It looks oh so lovely.  And ITCHES, which is awful, because it still is quite sensitive to touch.  Owen seems to be completely recovered, and aside from a few other bruises, I'm pretty okay too.  Just looking a bit battered... 

4th of July black eye

So I was scrapbooking some pictures from December 2010 today, and I went an old blog post to see if I had written anything about them.  And I realized that with as spotty as my blogging is, there are so many pictures I have that I don't have anything written about.  And after 4 1/2 years you just forget things.

So I need to make a post.

This past weekend was Independence Day, and we went to our ward's traditional breakfast.  It started out rather fun, the kids were running around playing

 After a pause to eat, everyone got on the swings.

 So then Owen wanted to run around again.  And he had great fun.  Until he tripped.  He scraped up his knee and made his mouth and nose bloody.  Good thing Mom always carries bandaids in her purse.

 No sooner had I put him down, than he went running for the swingset.  Where every swing was full. And the kids were all swinging high and fast, and wouldn't think about (or be able to) stopping for the little kid running around.  So I took off after him to catch him.  And tripped.  (I inherited my mother's grace, it seems).  I ended up falling ON TOP of Owen, bloodying his mouth and nose again, and smacking my face on the back of his head.  Which of course dug my sunglasses into my cheek.  I didn't realize how hard I'd hit until later.  I was in quite a bit of pain already, and would have left, but the kids wanted to join in the parade.  Erin had been super excited for it for a couple weeks already.

 Of course, Allison chose that moment to wet her pants, so we ended up leaving early anyway.  We went home and I put something cold on my face, took some ibuprofin, and a nap.

After a couple days, I had people very studiously *not* looking at me while walking around the store.

We went over to some friends' house for dinner, but by then I was really feeling my fall, so I didn't end up taking any pictures of anything.   Ooops.