Our little Ranch Hand!

Our tour through the Ellis Ranch in Era was just a blast. I was only disappointed that we couldn’t stay longer! Bridget loved seeing the “moos” and also gave them a new name…”push” (because that’s what Grammy taught her when they opened the cattle gate for our car). What fun us farm girls had!

*apologies for the iPhone pics, my camera decided to take a nap while we were there*

Grammy and Bridget having fun with puppy Arnie (we look forward to returning to the ranch in a few weeks to pic him up once he’s big enough!):

 

GC and Mary’s house is just beautiful! Bridget took a particular liking to this “moo”:

The entire back wall of their great room looks out over the whole landscape…envy!!!

This kitty had a bone to pick with Mary and Lupe (the dog) because she wasn’t allowed in the house during the puppy weeks…not a happy kitty!

You KNOW this one was excited to ride in the car with no car seat!!! Shh…don’t tell on us!

Our friendly neighborhood cow herd, just going about their way:

Mary and Bridget taking a peek at the wild pig GC had trapped inside this trailer (no discussion on her fate). She was MEAN!!! And we could see why as soon as we peeked in and saw that she had 5 baby wild piglets in there with her:

Sorry its blurry…but can you see those babies?? They have the most amazing stripes. Such a cool teachable moment for Bridget!

So many wonderful new things to talk about with my little farm girl. I was in heaven!

   

Helping Grammy with the gate, and getting back to our Iowa roots!

  

Baby moos everywhere!

 

And do you notice the rocks in B’s hands? She’s OBSESSED. Purely, a woman OBSESSED.

  

Can’t wait to come on a pretty, sunny day so we can see some “quah, quahs” on the lake or maybe get in for a nice dip!

  

Back at the hacienda, Bridget notices a cool water feature…

 

Before lunch, it was time for another recent fav…hand washing!

Big girl! Rode in the car with no seat (again, shhh!), opened and closed the gate, and sat in a big girl chair for lunch and didn’t crawl out once! I’m so blessed to make these wonderful memories with my precious baby girl. What amazing things are in store for us tomorrow??

I can’t wait to share with you all our fun stories from this year’s Easter celebrations! B’s first year for egg hunts = ADVENTURES!

Hoppy Easter, everyone!

Picking a Puppy for Grammy and Pop!

There are so many things I love about spending extra time with Bridget during the week. I’m so thankful. A recent reason for my extreme thankfulness was a special trip with my mom out to Era, TX to see her long time friend, Mary. Mary and her husband, GC, own a beautiful ranch in the teeny town Northwest of Denton which focuses mainly on their large herd of cattle and their abundant pecan grove. I have so many fond memories from the Ellis’ Ranch! You can imagine how giddy I was to take my Bridgey out there last week….and we were picking out a puppy on this particular trip!

Here’s Mary helping B into the puppies’ nest:

Their beautiful Mommy, Lupe, who was so sweet and patient with my little stink bug. My parents’ dog will have the same coloring as her, but they’ve picked a male (who are they?!?!?!):

She wasn’t quite sure what to do with these little “ar-ruffs”!

Oh, how I love the sweet scent of puppy smell! Takes me back :)

  

My mom and Mary both taking a turn holding their final choice, Arnold Palmer Williams….aka “Arnie”! He’s just the cutest little thing. And is it just me or do these women look amazing for their age?? Love them both for their love :)

We had a blast! After picking a little stinker dog, we headed out in Mary’s car for a drive through the ranch…stay tuned!

My Bluebonnet Ladybug

Though its late in the bluebonnet season now (I'm shocked at how fast they came and went this year!), I was bound and determined to get my noodle doodle out in a patch for some pics. We snuck over to a recommended spot on Tuesday after our Kindermusik class and while the field wasn't overrun with blue blossoms, we still got some great nature shots. Here are two of my most favorite (p.s. Bridget refuses to look at the camera now, let alone smile, so I'm just embracing it):




I was pretty proud of myself for bringing some props, but I needed a little help with finding the perfect chair. Enter Miss Jeanie, B's Kindermusik teacher and my boss. She had the greatest antique rocker and was more than happy to let us grab it after class for the shoot. Yay! We also brought along some furry friends and a big, blue ball. Notice we found some friends who were also interested in our goodies:




Smelling the flowers:





Who's this big girl?!?!





Our second shoot of the day was much faster and much more hilarious. Bridget was near nap-ready, but I was determined to check out this small patch of 'bonnets to see if they were as lush as I'd seem them last week. Well, they weren't, but we sure had a great time with the small hill nearby, evergreen grove, and Panda friend. Here are a few of my favorites:



"Mommy, are you coming with me?!":







We'll know for next year to go as soon as the blooms are out, but I'm pleased as punch for the time I got to spend with my little nature lover. Stay tuned for pics from our trip to a family friend's ranch today where we helped Grammy pic our her and Pop's new puppy! It was a blast!

That's right...I'm hardcore about margaritas

It was a total takeover last Thursday in Frisco. I expected nothing less at any of the other Gloria's locations throughout the metroplex. All us margarita lovers knew was April 14th served as Gloria's Restaurants' 25th Anniversary and they were offering their delicious house margaritas for only $0.25. 'Nuf said. Somehow, we not only made it into the restaurant but we also made it out unscathed! Total tequila domination!


Since the deal was on all day, the insanity was at its peak upon our arrival at 5pm. Julie had told me (after hearing the news from a parent at school) about the following rules: can't stay at a table longer than 1.5 hours, must order an entree. I knew they were bound to have some specifics. Needless to say, when we got there is was a madhouse and everyone else thought we should bail and just go somewhere else. Not me. Nor siree! I stomped right up to the hostess desk with Bridget and discovered a quote of 3 hours for the wait. Without blinking an eye, I added our name to the list :). We were instructed to return in an hour for a buzzer since they were all out. What did we do? Head across the parking lot to a new place called Casa Rita's. It was delicious and they were happy to hook us up with a happy hour margarita to try and some yummy queso and chips. Great start!

Upon our return, we got our buzzer (and overheard the hostess quote 5 hours of waiting to a new arrival) and proceeded to wait. Were we correct in thinking their 3 hour quote was just a ploy to scare drinkers away and that we wouldn't have to wait more than 30 more minutes? Or were we doomed to see a cranky toddler soon, as Jonathan predicted?




Thankfully, the Frisco location has some great longhorn statues out front as well as a pond with a fountain and a grassy lawn for toddler scampering. Whee!


Did you notice the crowd in the background?? Scary!!


It was a breezy, beautiful evening and after about 25 minutes of play....our buzzer announced our table was ready! Score! And to top it all off, we'd scored a cozy spot right near the pond on the patio. Perfect. Even crabby Jonathan was amazing and pleased (did I mention I'd already conned him into taking B home early to let me stay and hang out baby-free??).


Bridget has started to become more of a handful at restaurants (and we're talking about one good kiddo when it comes to going out!), a plight we knew was around the corner. She's not too fussy, well, compared to others...but she requires constant entertainment these days. Enter Gloria's black beans, a straw, a blank canvas (aka plate), a bib, and a big napkin for Mommy's white pants (of course, within straw reach). She was happy as a clam!




Can you see the excitement on my face?! I couldn't believe our good fortune. The margarita goddesses certainly were looking down on our happy hour group last week :).


About an hour after we sat down, Julie arrived and got to meet everyone. So much fun to introduce her to our crew! Oh, and the restaurant was so overrun at this point that they completely shut the doors to anyone not already seated. This meant that we could stay at our table as long as we wanted at that point (no more 1.5 hour rule). Again, score!!!



We had a wonderful time being silly and carefree, though all the while having the welcome reminder that none of us are kids anymore (well, except Bridget). All of us had to be home at a reasonable hour in order to get up for work the next day, bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Though I love me some Gloria's frozen house margarita, I think my favorite part of the whole event was the planning and successful execution! Great memories with great friends :). And didn't Bridget's festive wear look ah-dorable?!?!?!