Rodeo Houston and Lazy Danes Farm is back!

Sort of.  More of a mini-farm now but more on that shortly.

First, our new restaurants…

Sassafrass Cajun - it's crawfish season here in Houston. Chuck got a pound and some boudin balls. Madison had the shrimp and I had a shrimp po'boy.  Willow just had the kids burger. It was good. Chuck enjoyed his crawfish. Willow tried a little bit of one and then played with another.

Willow playing with dinner

Backyard Smokehouse and Ranch Bakery- I had the redneck nachos-homemade chips which BBQ, jalapeños, black beans, corn, sour cream and tomatoes- yum. Chuck had the snakebite burger- jalapeños and jalapeño sauce- he says it was quite good. Madison and Willow both enjoyed their burgers. Chuck also had some Texas kolaches for an appetizer- venison, jalapeño sausage and brisket. Those were enjoyed by all 3 of them. I tried the pie fries- they tasted like home made brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts. We also got some bakery to go.  A cinnamon roll, a strawberry fried pie and a cupcake. The cinnamon roll was great. I'll report on the others later. Will definitely return! 

The big event this week was the Houston Rodeo! Since it was our first time, we just chose a Saturday, got 150 carnival tickets and headed out. We definitely made some mistakes, but we had a good time and will be returning next year wiser. We parked at the West Loop park and ride and took  Metro bus to the arena. First, we went to the livestock and shopping area. Sooooo much cuteness!! Sheep, donkeys, chicks, pigs, cows, goats, horses and on and on. We found some custom western furniture that we will likely replace our great room sectional with at some point. Saw a bunch of Texas -y stuff but I refrained so I wouldn't have to carry it around and there's always the internet. Chuck and I ask got our boots shined, and the girls and I got our picture taken with a longhorn!

Boot shine

Cow

Next, we grabbed some lunch and headed to the carnival part. It was the kids favorite. It was fine- more rides and games than the Dixie Classic Fair. They rode and played out their 150 tickets very quickly. Chuck was almost miserable, he sat in the shade while they rode. The only thing he wanted to do was play the shooting game- and he almost got it. I'm not sure how we would've gotten a bicycle home if he had won, though. 

Coaster

Something whirly

Chuck shooting

Our last stop was the actual Rodeo event. We headed into the arena and found our seats. We were way up but in the center so we could see fine and they put everything on the jumbotron. It was the finals, and we saw calf roping, bareback bronc, saddle bronc, steer wrestling, barrel racing, team roping and bull riding. Then a shootout for the $50,000 winners. Then they had chuck wagon racing and the 4H calf scramble- where 28 kids chased 22 calves, and if they caught them and haltered them they get to keep the, raise them and show them at next years rodeo. Chuck and I really enjoyed the rodeo events- the girls liked some of them but got bored and we left before the concert. The Band Perry played following the rodeo, but we're just not big country fans so we packed it in- it had been a long day.

What I learned- if you're going to do it all, don't try to do it in one day. Leave Chuck at home when we do the carnival, and leave the kids at home for the rodeo/concert. We'll have a better idea of the layout next year- but getting back to the park'n ride was kinda a cluster fuck. Saturday is crazy crowded, so we'll try during the week next year. 

Calf roping

Chuck Wagon Races

And now- the return of Lazy Danes Farm. We really can't do livestock here at the house. If the kids do 4H or FFA there are barns around, but for now we'll have to settle for crops. I went on a planting spree this weekend with more planned. So far- tomatoes, peppers, lime, grapefruit, avocado, blueberries and banana. I threw in 2 hibiscus for the pretty, also.  Yay!

banana

3 hibiscus- blue, red and peach

avocado

lime

raised bed with tomatoes and peppers, blueberries in containers

grapefruit

Butter helping clean up the pots

Butter and Bo with the pot

 My last find for the week was Gramen Dairy. In Texas it is legal to sell raw milk!!! It's not goat- their website had goat milk but they had stopped selling it already. I did bring home some cows milk, raw local honey and some grass fed beef. It's pricey and out of the way so it won't be an all the time thing but it's nice to know its there and available. They also had some Pyrenees or Pyrenees mix puppies and I DID NOT leave with one. Extra credit for me!

For the coming week- I'll be adding some more plants, mulch, and general yard maintenance. We're also going to get an estimate on a sprinkler system so I can keep all this stuff alive when it heats up here this summer. Then, next weekend is the kids birthday party.

New York, NY? Why not?

The Herrins went on a spring break trip to New York City! Well, us girls did anyway- Chuck was there on work and we tagged along. We headed out on Monday afternoon and returned today. We had a great time and the Cohen girls came down to hang out with us, too!

We stayed in the financial district since that's where Chuck's meeting were. Our hotel was the Hilton Millennium- right across the street from 9/11 ground zero. The room was small and  had 2 double beds- we ended up getting a rollaway after the 2nd night of no one sleeping because they were hanging off the bed.

While Chuck was in meetings we did the touristy thing. This was my first time in the big apple and we did as much as we could- Central Park, The MET, The Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty, Times Square, The Lion King on Broadway, The Merrill Lynch Bull, St. Paul's Cathedral, and general sightseeing. The girls and I learned to navigate the subway and crowded streets and it was AWESOME! They did so well and we had a ton of fun.

Tuesday we got up and picked up a subway map and directions from the concierge and headed out. It was a rocky start- having never taken mass transit before, but a couple texts to Lisa and instructions from locals had us with a metro card and we were on our way.

Central Park was our first stop since we had a really pretty day. We just walked around, watched some street performers, played on playgrounds- it was a lot of walking and we still didn't see half of it. We even got to ride the carousel.

There was still huge snow pile- the kids were excited.

Belvedere Castle

Our next stop Tuesday was to the Empire State Building.  We stopped at the 86th observation deck and looked around and then decided to go on up to the 102nd floor. I'm glad we went up- but the view isn't noticeably better and instead of open air views it's glassed in.

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from the 86th

Downtown Manhattan from the 86th- The tallest building is the new World Trade Center Building

Our hotel window overlooked this really cool old church and graveyard. Really old. On our way to the subway the day before I had looked through the gates at the tombstones and most were so thin  and weathered you couldn't even read them. Wednesday, while we waited for the Cohen's to arrive from Boston we looked around in the church.

The church is St. Paul's Chapel. It was built in 1764 and is the oldest standing church in Manhattan. It is still in service as a church, and it also houses a 9/11 memorial- they opened their doors as refuge from the recovery workers during the aftermath of the WTC collapse. Inside they have maintained the box that George Washington used 230 some years ago. The history there is palpable. After looking through the inside we wandered through the grave stones a bit.

Grave stones at St. Paul's Chapel

When we got the call from the Cohens we jumped in their car and headed uptown to get them into their hotel, next it was lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square and then we were off to The MET. So here are my thoughts on The MET- I was very excited to go and see works of art in person that I have seen on T.V., or read about but from now on I will just look them up on the internet. It is not an enjoyable place to walk around for me- it's very pretentious and breakable things are sitting out every where. It was not fun for the kids- they liked some of the stuff but for the most part were bored. Just not our thing.

All the girls with Van Gogh's self portrait

Best part of the museum? Feeding pigeons pretzels on the front stairs. 

After The MET, we headed back downtown to Battery Park to try to get a water taxi to the Statue of Liberty. The scheduling didn't work so we walked around on Wall Street a bit and took our picture with the Merrill Lynch bull.

Yay, Bull!

We went back to the Millennium to wait for Chuck, then we all went up to Times Square for diner at Planet Hollywood. We also went in the giant Toy's R Us and rode their indoor ferris wheel. Then the Disney Store. I love that the Disney Store had Disney/New York stuff. W got a stuffed Mickey in an I love NY shirt and M got a Minnie dressed as the Statue of Liberty.

Peeps Display at Toy's R Us

NY Mickey and Minnie

On Thursday the weather turned bitterly cold. It was 19 with a wind chill of 4. We bundled up and kept going. We met the Cohen party and went to breakfast at Burger Heaven, then to see Rockefeller Center, the NBC store, the M&M store and then back down to Battery Park to pick up a Statue of Liberty ferry. It was SO COLD!! The wind made it miserable to be outside.

At Rockefeller Center

Disco M at the M&M store

I ran outside on the ferry to get pictures

The kids came out briefly, too.

After that it was time for the Cohen's to head back to Boston. The girls and I enjoyed some downtime in the hotel waiting for Chuck to get back, then we all headed uptown to catch The Lion King on Broadway. It was excellent! We all enjoyed it immensely!

Headed into the theatre

This morning we had an early start to get to the airport, and we were on the ground in Houston by1:20. The trip was a lot of fun- I'm glad we decided to tag along with Chuck. We left so much undone but we'll go back. It was great to see the Cohen's- just wish it had been longer, and we can't wait until they come visit us here!

And I added 4 shot glasses to the collection

Now back to regularly scheduled Houston programing...

Of Armadillos and Cupcakes

For no plans, we had a full day!

We lazed around this morning on the back patio. It was overcast all day but it started out warm in the low 70's.  About 11:00 we headed out to a Mexican restaurant about a mile from here that was recommended by some neighbors- Los Tres Ranchitos. It was very good- not tex-mex like so many. I had enchiladas verdes, Chuck got the fajitas de la diabla, M got guacamole tacos and W got a soft taco. We'll definitely go back- it's Mi Pueblo -ish.

When we left there, we happened to see a bakery in the same shopping center! They had cupcakes, mini cheesecakes, cookies and more. They also do cakes, pies and whole cheesecakes to order. We brought our treats home since we had just finished our lunch, but what we've sampled has been yummy. 

Of course I had to get the Texas cookie

After lunch we made a quick stop at Lowes, then decided to explore the other direction on Spring Cypress a bit. There was more retail, a school, a fancy neighborhood  and what caught my eye though was Madison's Garden. It was a landscaping place with plants, rock, mulch  and tons of metal art! I brought home this cute little armadillo and a wine bottle/glass holder. When our landscaping comes together, I have my eye on some variegated agave plants, a Texas shaped stepping stone, some metal animals and if I can figure out where to put him- a giant t-rex.

Giant T-Rex

metal armadillo

When we got home we gave the girls their basketball goal. It's one of their together birthday gifts. I had most of it put together- we were just waiting on a missing part that arrived yesterday. Once finished we all played a little in the cup de sac. I decided to let Butter out with me since she was barking her fool head off inside, and while I was able to keep her occupied with a tennis ball for a bit- she really wanted the basket ball. Eventually, we let her play.

Chuck and the neighborhood kids

"I want the big ball"

While we were outside, the Texas weather got broken again. The wind picked up a the temperature dropped 20 degrees. It's crazy windy out there now and it's only supposed to be 48 tomorrow. Brrrr! However, next weekend is supposed to be nice again- 70 and sunny by Friday. Yay! 

Dr. Suess, Armadillos, Wagon Trains and Mardi Gras

What do all theses things have in common? Houston, Texas.

First up- Dr. Suess. The third graders at Willow Creek Elementary put together a wax museum this week and became one of their famous heroes. W chose Dr. Suess. She created her poster and memorized 5 facts about Dr. Suess to recite as parents and other kids walked by.  It was really cute, and she did a great job.

W as Dr. Suess

Armadillos? Well not a real one. In my runnings this week I made it back to Ottos Emporium in Tomball and chose a metal armadillo to add to the decor in the great room, I had planned to put him on the coffee table. Well….

"No momma- don't put my friend on the table"

"Thanks momma- I'll sleep with him on the floor"

The rodeo starts this weekend, which is so huge here. It's hard to grasp how huge. The Wagon Trains are a good example. I read some of the literature that the wagon trains roll in to Houston for the rodeo. Well, folks- they really do. From all over Texas, even Mexico- horse and riders and covered wagon make their way to down town Houston. My sighting was Thursday on 249- I was on the freeway and they were on the frontage road. I got so excited I called Chuck at work. "IT's REALLY a Wagon Train!!" I yelled. How cool! I couldn't really get pictures so I stored that as -next year find the route and wait for them to come by. Then on Friday, Chuck was leaving work and right there in down town rush hour traffic was a wagon train! since he spent some time stuck behind and beside them he got a couple of pictures.

From behind

Horses downtown

 Friday was also Go Texas day and W's school and Chuck's work to celebrate the start of the rodeo. So they dressed the part. 

Go Texas- I made W's shirt- I'll have to get a better picture,

Today we went to the town of Magnolia, Texas, which is about 30 minutes up northwest of us, to a Mardi Gras celebration and a cajun cook off. It's a small town, and there's a gravel path behind the building on Main Street that the call The Stroll. Along it are benches and banners and paintings on the fence. Today it was also lined with booths offering gumbo, jambalaya, etouffe and other cajun creations to sample and then vote for your favorite. All of it was good- some was very good. It was $5.00 each well spent.  The event was family friendly and the kids had fun catching beads and coins when they weren't sampling. There is also a craft brewery, The Lone Pint,  along the stroll that was open for sampling. I got the souvenir glass with 3 different pints of ale. The yellow rose was a too fruity for me IPA, the Gentleman's Relish was an OK dark beer and the most interesting was a mead-ale hybrid braggot. There is actually a meadery in Magnolia and they mixed mead and ale. It was odd- Chuck made faces at first, but it really was pretty good. 

My Mardi Gras masque and full and ready to leave Chuck

Gave my masque to M and got W one

Mmmmm- mead/ale

When we got home, I washed my glass, filled it with beads and put it and the masques on an Ikea shelf. I think it looks pretty neat.

Mardi Gras - Woooo!

And I put some beads on Butter

Show my whats?

Give me the ball, Bo….

Not sure what tomorrow looks like- none of us may feel like eating, still.

Except the Danes.