Stock Show 2014

February in San Antonio is Stock Show and Rodeo time! We took our annual trip to take the girls to see barns and barns of animals, plants, games, activites, a carnival.

 

Rylee was obsessed with all the cut-outs.

 We've been going to the rodeo for 6ish years now and this was the first we were actually able to watch the pig-races! yay!

 These cowgirls learned all sorts of new tricks :)

Love these faces.

 The thrill of a carousel.

 The highlight of the day was Rylee being tall enough to ride the tilt-a-whirl with me!! Since Michael is no longer trying to win me over, gone is the need to suffer through a hilariously dizzying ride. She held my hand, leaned into my side and we laughed so hard the whole time.  She kept saying "it tickles my tummy!"

 Kelsey is usually the animal lover of the family, but she's going through a more cautious phase and was more interested in dumping the straw on them instead of actually petting them. silly girl.

 

McKinney Falls {Valentine's Day}

This Valentine's Day we decided to spend on a little camping trip.

 

We had a great time. We tried to be a little festive and decorated a little bit.

 The girls were really excited to pull out their "flower beds" as Rylee calls them. The given term is a nap mat. This was the first time we camped without a pack n play (that what they were invented for. really) which was nice, and disastrous at the same time.

 Michael lovingly cooked our hot dogs while I relaxed and took selfies with the kids.

 We packed a few other Valentine specialties: sparkling cider, chocolate covered strawberries, heart shaped strawberry fudge.....

 It was a little chilly at night (not too bad as Michael forgot his jacket and didn't die) and we did bring a small space heater (electric site) so we'd be more comfortable and I wouldn't be to worried about packing enough blankets.

 My heart melted when after smores Rylee climbed up on the chair with me to snuggle and lo and behold she fell asleep.  That hasn't happened in 3 years.  I savored every second.

 We went on a couple little hikes to the waterfalls.  Which for the record, I could barely call them that.  Apparently there was a huge flood last fall that did a fair amount of damage - driftwood in treetops isn't normal.

 Kelsey's "I did it!" face. throwing rocks was a must.

Camping in Feburary is amazing.  Don't worry, the weather changes rather quickly. We caught a lucky break that weekend.  Still, in March 80 degrees in the day, 29 at night with hail. for real. we've had four "polar plunges" this winter. In case you wondered- I'm over it. ;)

Princess Night - Lego Movie

We looked into tickets to Disney on Ice coming to SA this spring.  We had the opportunity to buy discount pre-sale tickets and thought the girls would really enjoy it. Well, the taxes for said tickets were nearly as much as the tickets themselves.  I couldn't bring myself to fork up the cash and said we'll take them to Princess Night at Chick-fil-a instead. We didn't even have to wait as long. And *BONUS* I didn't have to cook dinner :)

 

The girls had a blast but, dang it, they're so shy when it comes down to meeting, talking and taking pictures with the 'royalty'. They made a cute little bracelet, got a balloon and waited in line for a 'make-over'. When it came down to it we decided to have Prince Eric paint and add pixie dust (extra fine glitter) to a design on their hands instead of waiting even longer for Ariel to paint their fingernails.  It took about 24 hours for Rylee to figure out Ariel didn't paint her fingernails afterall. haha. I suppose Mom will have to do. . . I may even wear a tu-tu ;)

 

 We also took the girls to see the new Lego Movie.  We've been singing "everything is AWESOME!" ever since.

 "who liked the lego movie?" I'm so sad Kelsey's arm was cut off - as she too was raising her hand. love those cuties.

 What good is a family outing with out ice cream?

btw, did I mention I entered the world of smart phones? I'm not going to lie, its been very convenient. My favorite feature is the ability to actually make and receive actual phone calls. Go figure. :)

Children's Museum

First of all- do you see that white stuff in the eves of the roof?

We get that from time to time. ;)

 A few weeks ago we took advantage of a groupon to the children's museum and one cold morning met up with some friends and headed downtown. The kids had a blast.  It isn't exactly 'convenient' so we likely won't go often (this was our first time) so we spent most of the day.

 They had a cute little airplane, with an area where there was a ticket counter and a conveyor belt to 'scan' luggage.  Rylee was the woman at the counter and I asked her for tickets.  She said "Here's two tickets to the park". haha. next time I'll keep the cash for parking and just send her down the slide.

 little Picasso's

 the giant bubbles were a huge hit as well.

They also had a huge play HEB (our beloved grocery store).  The scanners at the cash register worked and everything.  Hours of make believe fun.