DFW Weekend...Part 1

This weekend we headed north to DFW to see Jason's family. We left Thursday and had a nice drive except for our stop in a tiny town to eat lunch. We found a Jack in the Box to eat at and I was excited to try one of their salads...which was FABULOUS. Who knew Jack's Asian salad would have me talking/drooling for days?!?! So back to the story... I took Rylan to the bathroom to change his diaper and found that tiny town Jack in the Box does not have a changing station. So we decide to take the boys out to the car and change their diapers in the front seats. I get Rylan's pants undone and discover that he has pooped out of the leg. OK - I can handle this, no new news here. So I take off his overalls and see poop up to the NECK of his shirt!!! At that point Jason gets Jacob strapped in to his car seat and comes over to help me. Picture this - Rylan naked except for his sandals standing next to the car in front of the windows for the Jack in the Box. Kim holding both of Rylan's hands as he is standing so that he does not touch the poop and Jason using half a packet of wipes to get all the poop off that remember, was up to his neck. Rylan and Kim are dying laughing, but Jason... not so much. After a few minutes we get Rylan clothes again and we were on our merry way.

Now back to the fun stuff!!! Friday we went with Jason's parents down to the Fort Worth Stockyards. If you have never been, it is lots of western fun. We went in several western theme shops, got a Christmas tree ornament and new bedtime book called "Good Night Cowboy." At 11:30 everyday they do a "Herd" through town. Below are photos of the Herd. Rylan and Jacob said "cow" and "horse" for hours after it! There are also real cowboys riding horses that yell directions to the cows and give speeches to the crowd. It was a neat experience.
We love Grandma and Grandpa! They even got the boys little stuffed horses!
I love this photo because the adults are posing nicely and the boys are looking at the cows that are waiting to go down the street.That night we had supper with Justin, Karyn and Evan - Jason's brother and family. This is Aunt KK with Jacob. You should have seen him flirting with her across the table! Karyn is a wonderful sister-in-law. Every time we are together, I wish we got to see each other more often! She is also a WW girl and has lost 47 lbs. since Christmas!!!!! YIPEE for KK! Having a sweet sis-in-law is a BIG blessing!
Aunt Kim and Evan... it is so nice to cuddle a precious baby girl after wrangling boys all day!
Saturday we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. One word - WOW!!! Of course, our first stop was the flamingo exhibit. Needless to say, the birds were beautiful and Rylan kept saying "flow-go."
Silly Jacob and Daddy by the rhinos. The African Savannah exhibit had elephants, hippos, giraffes, ostriches and more. Every time I see African animals I think the The Lion King. The habitats at this Zoo were all very natural looking.
Sweet Evan... she is such a good and happy baby. It was exciting to see her and the boys playing together. And she is a very good snuggler! Look at that dimple!
Watching the bears fight! There were two black bear cubs... we say they were twins. They were chasing each other and wrestling in the water. The boys were very intrigued and laughed out loud.

We rode the train back to the front... which was very relaxing! One of my favorite parts of the Zoo was the Texas section. It was really big and had several native Texas animals divided by regions. Poor Jacob fell asleep on the train ride. When we got back to the front we changed their diapers and then headed home.
One more family pic for the road!That night we met up with one of Jason's best friends from high school, Jake. We got to meet his new girlfriend, Laci. She is a doll and super sweet. She is a teacher, so we had lots to talk about! It was wonderful to get to visit with Jake. He has always been one of my favorite of Jason's high school friends. Our Jacob reminds me a lot of Jake - tenderhearted, yet physical, loyal, protective of those he loves, and a little silly too!
Sunday morning started the next chapter of our trip, but that will have to wait until later!