Fun times with Ben

We had a great time with Ben while he was here. Ben's one request was do to something "Texas" while he was here. Well Ben, we hope you got your fill of Texas.

We decided to go to the Ft Worth Stockyards and Rodeo on Saturday. It was the first day in almost three weeks without any rain, and that meant it was H-O-T.

We got there in time to see the twice daily "cattle run" which consisted of being really close to bovines that have the potential to gore out your guts. It's a shame that I had to word it this way to make it sound more exciting than it really was.

Ben and I did find this girl-cow though. I assume she's a girl because of the lipstick and rouge.

Ben also found this longhorn along the sidewalk.

There were a lot of shops (all selling Texas and Rodeo themed things) that center themselves around the Grapevine Railroad with the train that still runs daily.

Adam found this bovine near one of the shops and stops to investigate how a cow would put on their glasses.

We had some real Texan Bar-B-Que at Riscky's- get the chopped beef, it was delicious!

Texan Aside: One more proof that Texan's Love Texas and there's no way to deny it.

Then it was time to go to the Rodeo! Yeee-Haw! There were a number of things that completely amused me about the rodeo but the most amusing were the mildly prejudiced comments of the announcer against anyone not from Texas, the fact that Adam nor Ben had ever been to a rodeo and therefore needed a play by play of each event and the rules and goal of each of these events, much to the amusement of all those around us, Ben not being able to understand the fully Texan dialect of the announcer, and the fact that before the American flag was brought around, there was a round of "Deep in the Heart of Texas" while the Texan flag was paraded.

Calf Roping

Bronco Riding


Women's Calf Roping (they don't have to tie the legs together)

Barrel Racing

Bull Riding

And our favorite: The Mutton Race! Children run around and try to get the ribbon off the sheep's tail.

We were some happy cowboys and cowgirl!

Truly Nirvana
Adam and Ben went to go see Transformers: The Movie while I was stuck at work on Friday. Lucky for me, 1. I didn't have to see the Transformers movie with Adam and 2. They saw it at Northpark Mall which happens to have an excellent tea shop Teavana. I've been having trouble sleeping so Adam found and surprised me with a tea called Tranquil Dream. It's so delicious I've been drinking it day and night. I love the touch of mint.
Real tea is wonderful because you can see all the bits of things in it.

Look how pretty it is! I wish I could put the smell on here too. So fresh and fruity.




Harry Potter Update

I finished my party invitations over a week ago, but I hadn't posted pictures yet of them. I don't remember the sites where I got most of the stuff, but I know it wasn't hard to find any of it and they turned out really cute, if I do say so myself.

The front of the invitation. I took cream card stock and "antiqued" it using tea and then baked in the oven.

The inside of the invitation:

Stacks of the paper and envelopes

They wrinkled as they dried. I don't iron clothes, but I will iron paper. Go figure.

I sealed them with a wax seal kit that Adam had given me years ago (we knew it would come in useful someday).