Have you ever tried a pickle phone? Apparently they don't get good reception because you have to repeat yourself over and over again.
An Afternoon In Grapevine
We enjoyed the Afternoon at Nash Farm event. It is a fun, hand-on educational experience that's great for all ages. Nash Farm was a real working farm purchased by the Nash family in 1859 in Grapevine, TX. They raised livestock and grew crops. Of the original 110 acre farm, a little over 5 acres remains. It is now owned by the Grapevine Heritage Foundation and serves as a historic part of Grapevine representing the life and times of the rural farmer and days gone by.
We sat on several different tractors and played with knobs, buttons, and switches. What kid doesn't love knobs, buttons, and switches?
We took a wagon ride pulled by a tractor.
Nicholas was a very protective big brother and wanted to be sure Rachel didn't fall off of her seat if we went over a big bump.
We visited the real garden and the kids loved the scarecrow family complete with toddler and dog!
Then we did some of our own digging in the dirt with the kid-sized gardening tools provided.
We visited the old chicken coop and saw some real chickens clucking around but they soon went back inside to find some shade. I don't blame them!
We took a break to sit down and enjoy some freshly harvested cantaloupe from the garden while listening to Mr. Bannister tell us about the history of the farm, gardening tips, and answer questions for us.
Before we left, we went inside the original house and took a look around. I talked to Nicholas about this old weaving machine and he thinks we should get one and make our own clothes!
Join us for the next event, August Afternoons at the Farm, which will be August 19, 2010 from 12:00 - 2:00. Nash Farm is located at 626 Ball Street in Grapevine, TX. It is only open to the public on certain days of the year so please call (817) 410-3585 to check their schedule.
After our visit to the farm, we got some ice cream and visited the playground at the Grapevine Botanical Gardens. The kids were messy and drippy with orange ice cream!
They were quite cute but it was also cute how Rachel got upset over the mess that she had made.
I tried a drink called Vitamin Water which I've never had before. I got "spark" flavor. As I was drinking it, I happened to notice the label had some writing on it upside down (I love stuff like that!). It was pretty cute - just click on the picture to read it better.
There are actually two playground sets here, one for little kids and one a really cool one for big kids, plus swings that all kids enjoy!
Rachel's favorite thing at playgrounds has always been the swings. She laughs out loud with such delight as she goes flying through the air!
She also loved the slides here.
Nicholas is my little monkey and always wants to climb. This playground aims to please with this giant 3-D web climbing thing. He scampered right up to the top in no time.
Chuy's
On the way home from San Antonio, we happened to notice a Chuy's restaurant. Well, it was close to lunch so we decided to stop in Round Rock.
The food is always outstanding. Always consistent, always delicious. And they have some pretty good margaritas too! They have fresh homemade chips and salsa that are great but (our littl e secret) we always ask for a little bowl of their Creamy Jalepeno Sauce because it's really to die for. For dinner, we usually get the Chuychanga with Deluxe Tomatillo Sauce. But it's approaching time for Hatch green chile season so I took advantage of their special Hatch menu and got the Hatch green chile enchiladas with beans and green chile rice. Yum!
All of their locations are decorated in a crazy, eclectic motif. My kids love to look at all of the "stuff" around them and you know that an entertained kid is a quiet kid :)
Hubcaps on the ceiling.
Cars coming through the wall...
And colorful wooden fish floating overhead...
We have been to the original Chuy's in Austin as well as 5 other locations in Texas. We'd love to visit them all because as they say, "If you've seen one Chuy's, you've seen one Chuy's!" If you are in the Waco, Austin, San Antonio, Houston or the DFW area, you've just got to find the closest Chuy's restaurant and check it out. I just learned that they also have some new locations in Tennesse and Alabama!
In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, you can visit the following Chuy's locations:
Dallas
4544 McKinney at Knox-Henderson, Dallas, TX 75205
214-559-2489
East Plano
3408 Central Expressway, Plano, TX 75074
469-241-9393
Arlington
4001 Bagpiper Way, Suite 199, Arlington, TX 76018
817-557-2489
And be sure to stop by during the Hatch Green Chile Festival, August 30 - September 19, 2010 for special limited time menu items.
The food is always outstanding. Always consistent, always delicious. And they have some pretty good margaritas too! They have fresh homemade chips and salsa that are great but (our littl e secret) we always ask for a little bowl of their Creamy Jalepeno Sauce because it's really to die for. For dinner, we usually get the Chuychanga with Deluxe Tomatillo Sauce. But it's approaching time for Hatch green chile season so I took advantage of their special Hatch menu and got the Hatch green chile enchiladas with beans and green chile rice. Yum!
All of their locations are decorated in a crazy, eclectic motif. My kids love to look at all of the "stuff" around them and you know that an entertained kid is a quiet kid :)
Hubcaps on the ceiling.
Cars coming through the wall...
And colorful wooden fish floating overhead...
We have been to the original Chuy's in Austin as well as 5 other locations in Texas. We'd love to visit them all because as they say, "If you've seen one Chuy's, you've seen one Chuy's!" If you are in the Waco, Austin, San Antonio, Houston or the DFW area, you've just got to find the closest Chuy's restaurant and check it out. I just learned that they also have some new locations in Tennesse and Alabama!
In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, you can visit the following Chuy's locations:
Dallas
4544 McKinney at Knox-Henderson, Dallas, TX 75205
214-559-2489
East Plano
3408 Central Expressway, Plano, TX 75074
469-241-9393
Arlington
4001 Bagpiper Way, Suite 199, Arlington, TX 76018
817-557-2489
And be sure to stop by during the Hatch Green Chile Festival, August 30 - September 19, 2010 for special limited time menu items.
Sea World San Antonio
We are wiped out from an awesome day at Sea World. We've never been before and didn't know what to expect. The park is huge and you just can't see it all in one day. There are shows, rides, exhibits, and a full waterpark. Fun, fun, fun!
We visited the dolphins first. We bought these little trays of fish for dolphin food. As you can see, there isn't much to them but be prepared to pay top dollar at $6.00 per tray or 3 trays for $15.00.
It was expensive but worth it. We all had fun feeding the dolphins. Rachel tried two times but just dropped her fish aimlessly in the water even when there wasn't a dolphin around. Nicholas was great at it though and could drop the fish right in the dolphin's mouth.
They were so cute and friendly and didn't mind being touched.
Another thing we had to spend money on was the double stroller rental. Yes, Nicholas is 6 and doesn't NEED a stroller but there is a lot of walking around the park and this made it so much quicker to get around the park and we didn't have to worry about any whining about being tired (although that is rarely spoken out of his mouth!).
We saw a great live show called Azul: Lure of the Sea. This spectacular show is a celebration of sea and sky with performances by beautiful beluga whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, colorful birds, and human acrobats. It was really amazing!
Nicholas got to feed some sea lions. These little guys are so cute and friendly!
We watched a sea lion show and got really wet!
Next we bought these little cups of bird food to feed some exotic birds. I think these cups were something like $4.00. each. Crazy, huh?
But we had so much fun with the birds that I was glad we had bought the food.
Daddy had two birds just hop right on to his arm. The red one walked up his arm, and across his back to tell Rachel "hi" but Rachel wasn't too sure about all of that.
Nicholas and I loved having the bird hop on us though. We all had a good time.
There is a full waterpark at Sea World and we had some fun there but didn't realize that the waterpark closes earlier than the rest of the park or we would have headed over there earlier to get in a little more splash time.
We had a $5.00 gift card for a souvenir and Nicholas picked out this sword. I'm still not sure what a sword has to do with Sea World but Nicholas was thrilled to get it.
Enjoying the sunset as we headed back to the car after a long day.
The Holiday Inn that we stayed at is quite nice. It has a shuttle back and forth to Sea World which can save a bunch of money and the hassle of parking. But also, this hotel is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) in the Holiday Inn chain.
They use 3 cisterns to collect rainwater and condensation from the A/C units for irrigating their landscape. They have a special flush handle on the toilet to let you decide if you need a lot of water for the flush or not.
There is a slot on the wall, just inside the door, where you leave your room card to "power" your room. The lights don't stay on for long if the card is removed. The idea being that if you take your key out then you must be leaving so the lights will turn themselves off after a brief time.
There are recycling bins on all of the floors. Such a simple thing but I've never seen this in other hotels.
I like this cool touch screen in the lobby. It is interactive and let's you look at how much energy the hotel is using at any given time. It also shows you some of the other "green" features in the hotel and recycling information.
I was really impressed with all of these features. But I also liked the simple tags for soft and firm on the pillows. I thought this was even cuter that the embroidered tags on the pillows in Houston, except that these tags come off and then you can't figure out which pillow you have. I really don't travel enough if this kind of thing impresses me!
The kids had fun playing with the curtain the blew around when the air conditioner was running.
But their most favorite thing about the room was the closet. That was their little fort area and Nichoals announced that it was for "kids only".
Rachel caught on quickly and informed us of the same.
Eventually I had to make some room and put some luggage in their "Kids Only" closet. They didn't mind too much and build a little fort on the floor out of pillows.
All the fun they had at Sea World and they still want to ride on the luggage cart!
We've had a wonderful vacation and we're on our way home. It was a lot to cram into 6 days but we had 6 years of no vacations to make up for :)
We visited the dolphins first. We bought these little trays of fish for dolphin food. As you can see, there isn't much to them but be prepared to pay top dollar at $6.00 per tray or 3 trays for $15.00.
It was expensive but worth it. We all had fun feeding the dolphins. Rachel tried two times but just dropped her fish aimlessly in the water even when there wasn't a dolphin around. Nicholas was great at it though and could drop the fish right in the dolphin's mouth.
They were so cute and friendly and didn't mind being touched.
Another thing we had to spend money on was the double stroller rental. Yes, Nicholas is 6 and doesn't NEED a stroller but there is a lot of walking around the park and this made it so much quicker to get around the park and we didn't have to worry about any whining about being tired (although that is rarely spoken out of his mouth!).
We saw a great live show called Azul: Lure of the Sea. This spectacular show is a celebration of sea and sky with performances by beautiful beluga whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, colorful birds, and human acrobats. It was really amazing!
Nicholas got to feed some sea lions. These little guys are so cute and friendly!
We watched a sea lion show and got really wet!
Next we bought these little cups of bird food to feed some exotic birds. I think these cups were something like $4.00. each. Crazy, huh?
But we had so much fun with the birds that I was glad we had bought the food.
Daddy had two birds just hop right on to his arm. The red one walked up his arm, and across his back to tell Rachel "hi" but Rachel wasn't too sure about all of that.
Nicholas and I loved having the bird hop on us though. We all had a good time.
There is a full waterpark at Sea World and we had some fun there but didn't realize that the waterpark closes earlier than the rest of the park or we would have headed over there earlier to get in a little more splash time.
We had a $5.00 gift card for a souvenir and Nicholas picked out this sword. I'm still not sure what a sword has to do with Sea World but Nicholas was thrilled to get it.
Enjoying the sunset as we headed back to the car after a long day.
The Holiday Inn that we stayed at is quite nice. It has a shuttle back and forth to Sea World which can save a bunch of money and the hassle of parking. But also, this hotel is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) in the Holiday Inn chain.
They use 3 cisterns to collect rainwater and condensation from the A/C units for irrigating their landscape. They have a special flush handle on the toilet to let you decide if you need a lot of water for the flush or not.
There is a slot on the wall, just inside the door, where you leave your room card to "power" your room. The lights don't stay on for long if the card is removed. The idea being that if you take your key out then you must be leaving so the lights will turn themselves off after a brief time.
There are recycling bins on all of the floors. Such a simple thing but I've never seen this in other hotels.
I like this cool touch screen in the lobby. It is interactive and let's you look at how much energy the hotel is using at any given time. It also shows you some of the other "green" features in the hotel and recycling information.
I was really impressed with all of these features. But I also liked the simple tags for soft and firm on the pillows. I thought this was even cuter that the embroidered tags on the pillows in Houston, except that these tags come off and then you can't figure out which pillow you have. I really don't travel enough if this kind of thing impresses me!
The kids had fun playing with the curtain the blew around when the air conditioner was running.
But their most favorite thing about the room was the closet. That was their little fort area and Nichoals announced that it was for "kids only".
Rachel caught on quickly and informed us of the same.
Eventually I had to make some room and put some luggage in their "Kids Only" closet. They didn't mind too much and build a little fort on the floor out of pillows.
All the fun they had at Sea World and they still want to ride on the luggage cart!
We've had a wonderful vacation and we're on our way home. It was a lot to cram into 6 days but we had 6 years of no vacations to make up for :)
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