The Dirty Thirty!

On March 18th, I entered into a new age bracket. I can now check the box on "30-49" or whatever ages it is. I need to color my hair on a monthly basis to cover up my sparkles. I wavered between not caring and being pretty bummed out about it. I mean, it's just another day, right? I even made my own (our own, my father-in-law and I are birthday buddies, with his the same weekend) birthday dinner reservation.

I was wrong! Turns out, my usually un-celebratory husband had been scheming to send me away to LA with my pals for a fun gal's weekend.

It. Was. Awesome.

Really. It was so fun. We are still talking about it. See, there was 5 of us, and all 5 of us went to school together. We went to church together. We played basketball together. 4 of us even went to A&M together (well, not really together, as we weren't all there at the same time, but still.) And none of us live around each other, so it was a mini-reunion of sorts.

It began at 4:30 am when I was woken up by Brian, told to get dressed and get in the car. As we were pulling out onto the highway, I actually asked him if he was going to kill me and dump my body. Why else would he wake me up that early? I was dropped off at DFW with a plane ticket to LA and a DUFFLE BAG!?!?! full of clothes. Yes. He packed for me. Not very well, but it's the thought that counts, right? My dad sent me with birthday money, so it was a good excuse to shop. :)

Flying alone is kinda boring. Until you see 2 friends get on the plane!!!! It was probably the fastest flight to LA ever! Jenno, Ashley, & I talked pretty much non-stop. Once we got there, and picked up by Allison, we headed to the Santa Monica Pier. On a regular day, it would be hopping, but LA was unseasonably cold, and rainy. We pretty much had the pier to ourselves.


After freezing, and beating the rain back to the car, we headed to Venice, where we had a yummy brunch at 3 Squares Bakery. The sun came out for a few hours so we could do some shopping - I did have to buy a shirt for the next day.



After that iw as off to pick up surprise person #5 - Lydia! Her first time away from sweet baby C! We had dinner - Thai - and then an improv show in Hollywood! Happy St. Patty's Day!

After a good night's sleep (in a JW Marriot), we were off to a yummy breakfast at Urth Cafe & then made our way to Griffith Park Observatory. The rain pushed out, and besides being a little cool, the weather was great from here on out. The observatory was a great place to see all of LA. Also, a great place if you want to find our your weight on Uranus. Hehe!




We then piddled around town, shopped at Goodwill, ate lunch at The Alcove (spotted actress Emily ), went to the Walk of Fame, shopped on Hollywood Blvd, then headed to Casa Haertling for some relaxing. Got to try some of Peter's home brewed ale, discussed my lack of seeing the movie Bridesmaids, and tried to make decisions about dinner - Yardhouse, back by the hotel.

Monday morning entered surprise number 20385 - tickets to THE PRICE IS RIGHT!!! It was a long, long day, and none of us ended up being called to "Come on Down", but we did sit front row. Turns out, being a group of 5 young gals, under the age of 50, wearing matching shirts, gets you a seat right on the front row. Who knew? Oh, and Drew signed my shirt and told me that I did not look 30. He scores an A+ in my book.

Jazz hands! (why do I look like I have to pee??)

We changed clothes at Allison's studio, then headed out to Beverly Hills and had a delicious dinner at The Ivy! No celebs spotted, but it was super yummy and ridiculously cute! (not sure I was ready for this pic.)

Then, we made our way to Rodeo Drive, dumped Ashley out on the street to take pictures, picked her up, and saw The Beverly Hills Hotel (I quoted Troop Beverly Hills one too many times). Finally. we headed back downtown and enjoyed some drinks rooftop at The Standard, and some Crumbs cupcakes in the room!

Best birthday surprise trip ever! If the 30's decade is anything like this trip, it is going to rock! Ashley, our resident photographer, took a lot more photos than the ones I posted here, so if you want to view the rest, you can ala shutterfly.

Click here to view these pictures larger

12/52

So far behind. Week 12, Vintage Charm. Our sweet boy, Gus.

Rodeo 2012

Kaylynn was especially excited about the rodeo this year, because we were going to see someone pretty special to her - Zac Brown. The girl LOVES Zac, excuse me, Zacky, as she calls him. She knows the words to "Knee Deep" by heart. Lucky for her, this was the song he opened with! Unfortunately for us, this was the song he opened with. After that, she heard all she needed to hear and was ready to go. She sang along with some other songs, but then they did their rendition of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (which is awesome!) but the flashing lights and loud music scared our sweet girl, and it was time to go. I caught "Chicken Friend", my all-time Zac favorite, as we were walking to the car.

This year, for the first time, we got there early enough to enjoy the other aspects of the rodeo to the fullest. We began with the carnival. As we were walking from the parking lot (awesome parking spots, PawPaw!), Kaylynn spotted the giant ferris wheel and proclaimed that she wanted to ride that. We told her she could, figuring she would get up there and chicken out. She talked PapPap into riding with her and was ready to get in line...but she was too short. Maybe next year. :(

She did get to enjoy some other rides, such as the flying airplanes (accompanied by her mama - who could still tuck her legs into the plane) and the VW Bus ride (accompanied by Grandma.)




While this was going on, Ben practiced his walking.


Then, she rode a camel! Again, we thought she would chicken out, since she wouldn't ride the ponies last year, but she went through with it!

Afterwards, we moved inside to the exhibits, where we saw cows, bunnies, piglets, worms, and Ben's favorite things- the tractors! We were taking a break, watching some judging, and since he was starting his walking journey, he wanted to be up and moving. I took him down the ramp and he took a left turn. There were cows to the left, so he "mooed" at them, then made an immediate right turn. See, cows are great from afar, but really big and scary up close and personal! After that right turn, he decided he was in heaven! "Tactor" "Tactor" he screamed as he toddled towards those green John Deeres. I think I put him up on every single one there, and he was equally excited at each one. So cute! Oh, and the bunny crackers were important. We could not leave them behind - we love Annie's!





Ben also enjoyed watching all the horses at the actual rodeo. He also started a tradition (if you do it more than once, it's a tradition, right? Only in Aggieland?) - falling asleep mid-rodeo. Poor thing was all tuckered out until he and Grandma got to the car. :) All-in-all, it was a successful rodeo adventure!



ps...I'd like to thank my phone for capturing half these photos. I finally got smart enough to email myself the pictures and download them so I could actually share them. HA!

11/52

Week 11/52, Beauty in the Everyday Details. Ben was enamored by the rodeo. My "everyday details" was showing how excited he gets at things everyday!

10/52

Week 10/52 - Monochrone Tones. Sweet boy was longing to get outside. He likes steps. :)

Update in Pictures

I have not been good on updating with our goings on, as of lately. We're kinda boring. :/

We spend a lot of time taking walks around the neighborhood - looking for dead squirrels, Kaylynn's request - and hanging out in our terribly taken care of yard.

Our neighborhood is in full tree bloom. Witness Exhibit A-C below.



(I love that three on the last two pictures. Two colored flowers on one tree!)

I stumbled upon an unusual sweet moment between brother and sister. She was reading "Goodnight Moon" to him, as he chilled in the baby doll stroller. $20 says she was trying to push him prior to reading.


Thing 1 and Thing 2 playing outside. I keep trying to tell Ben he'll have so much fun outside if he'd walk more.



It is hard to get them both smiling and looking the same way.


On a walk. I am pretty lucky that Thing 1 likes to pull Ben in the wagon. Makes it easier on me!


Doesn't he look thrilled? :)


Thing 1, Thing 2, & their Great-Grandma Honey. We ended February with a trip to visit Honey & PawPaw.

Ben is into climbing. He climbed up here, so of course, Kaylynn had to, as well. :)


Ben loves getting into the bookshelves, mostly to grab this book - "Marley & Me". He just sits and looks at all the pictures of Marley at the beginning, screaming "DOG!" then barking at it. :) He also "moos" all the way up the road to my parents' house. Even if he doesn't see cows. Silly boy.


For the sake of the grandparents, I will try to be better at posting pictures. No promises!

9/52

This week's main theme was "framing". Spring has sprung here in East Texas. I love walking around and looking at all the pretty trees that are blooming. This particular one is a few houses down and has low branches. Kaylynn was a happy girl on the walk, bubbles and walking are high on her "fun list".