A Weekend in Dallas

Friday afternoon, we drove to Dallas for the Texas/OU game.... also, please note how I have to force myself to say Texas/OU vs. OU/Texas- spending 7 years in Oklahoma, made us come to know this weekend as OU/Texas, so now I have to reverse it around. It's a struggle. 

Anyway, this weekend was the Red River Rivalry which is the game between Texas and OU, and it's always played one weekend of the Texas State Fair at Cotton Bowl Stadium.

The 1st year we lived here, I took the girls to the fair, and then realized I had strep throat so we missed the game. Last year, friends from Oklahoma met us and we got a babysitter for the kids so the adults went to the game. But, this year, it was the girls' turn! With COVID guidelines in effect, I figured this was the perfect year to take them because it was way less crowded than it would typically be, and knew we'd have plenty of room- typically, it's standing room only with little time or space to sit down. 

Monday morning we got our chores done, and left a little before lunch time, putting us in Waco just in time for lunch. We stopped, ate, and got right back in the car. Once we arrived in Dallas, we checked in to the hotel, watched some TV and relaxed, and then went to eat dinner. As we were walking back from dinner, the team had arrived, so we watched them unload, and Miss Adalyn stood their with her horns up. She's a big fan. 

Afterwards, we drove to Frisco to meet friends at the Dallas Star field. Megan and her friend Kyla, went to school together in Oklahoma, and they moved to the Dallas area at the same time we moved to Austin. The girls are so much alike and so much fun!

We got cookies and ice cream and sat to catch up. 

Then the girls ran around on the field. It was hard saying good-bye, but I'm so glad they're somewhat close so we know we'll see each other again!

Saturday morning we woke up and drove to the game. I was relieved that our hotel was close and that traffic was not horrible. Usually the hotel is about 30 minutes away and you sit in game day traffic. Y'all, as much as I hate all of the mandates with COVID, I'm really enjoying some of the game day perks of less traffic and more room in the stands. 

After driving around the fair grounds 3 times to find our parking (the lot we had was closed and we had to drive around to find another one that would let us park) We were finally in the fair grounds and heading toward the Cotton Bowl. 

Since the state fair didn't take place this year (it was a drive through experience) I wasn't sure what the fairgrounds would look like, but there were several food vendors set up and we were able to get a picture with Big Tex! 

DJ grabbed this shot of the field. The game is split right down the 50 yard line with OU fans on one side and Texas fans on the other. 

We found our seats and grabbed some food! The girls only had snacks for breakfast and they were starving! And as excited as I was to see a Fletcher's Corny Dog stand- the line was ridiculous and I just wanted to get inside. 

15 years later and I still have game day nerves, and I'm always nervous about the entire arrival process until I'm in my seat. 

We were ready to cheer on the horns! 

And then, while we were chatting with a friend, her tooth fell out! Like, literally just fell right out of her mouth as she was talking and on to the ground! She took a selfie and we sent pictures to daddy and Gee. 

Thankfully, she brought her tooth box along with her. 

So, if you watched the game, you might have dozed off in the 3rd quarter, but during the 3rd quarter, Texas came back and tied the game causing us to go in to overtime! The girls were over it, but once I told Adalyn that she needed to get up and start yelling, she did just that! 

I looked over and saw Megan filming the game. Future video coordinator?

This girl and I were nervous! 

She was all chill, as we went in to 4 overtimes, and eventually lost the game. Sigh. 

This is the 2nd year, I've been to the game in person and both years we lost, so I told DJ that I'd stay home next year :) 

After the game, we took our time leaving, because we had to wait on DJ to finish up film. He didn't ride to Dallas with us, but he was able to ride home with us. So, we had lots of time to wait. Eventually, they made us leave the stadium, so we wandered out and found that the ferris wheel was operating! 

I tried to get the girls to ride last year, but they were terrified, but this year, Gretchen was super excited to ride! The little girls waited at the bottom and facetimed my mom (probably not my best decision-ha!) But, they were in a safe spot to wait. 

We were excited to ride! 

And the view from the top was pretty spectacular. 

She was so proud to have conquered the ride! 

We eventually met up with DJ and were able to drive home! It was a long day but 100% worth it for the time away and memories made. 

 

Favorites....

Happy Monday! After a much needed and relaxing Sunday, we're ready to conquer the week ahead. I have some fun Columbus Day activities planned for our Homeschool week... a trip to the pumpkin patch in the works, and I think DJ will be home most of Saturday- so it's going to be a good week!

I'm sharing a few recent favorites for y'all today, so settle in. 

Cool weather has been her favorite. She was so cold one day that she dug out her winter  coat and wore it all day. It's hot today, but the weather is suppose to cool off this week and we are ready for it! 

This snack mix from Costco is our favorite. We've already gone through several bags of it, because we are all obsessed. 

A little car selfie with my favorite ;)

Gretchen has been asking to cook dinner once a week, so eventually we will settle in to that routine... she learned to make sloppy joes a few weeks ago, so when I'm a little more motivated in the dinner department, I plan on letting her takeover. 

Gretchen started dance lessons a few weeks ago, and she's loving it! She took dance when she was little and then stopped for theater classes. She was going to take dance as an elective this school year, but since we pulled her out of school, we signed her up for a class. 

I've been using ABC Bible verse cards for our homeschool and the girls are loving it. I found these on Etsy several years ago, and if you search for them, you'll find a few newer options. 

Speaking of Bible, we've been using the Bible app for little studies each day, and having Bible class outside has been a favorite. The girls love practicing their memory verse, listening to a story, writing in their Bible journal, and then dancing around to some music. It's one of Megan's favorites, and if we don't do Bible first thing, she'll ask for it to make sure we get it in. 

I recently ordered this top from Abercrombie and I'm obsessed with how soft it is. It's great with leggings, but will look darling with jeans and booties. It also comes in solid colors, but ya know- leopard is a neutral! 

Adalyn's favorite subject in homeschool is math; it comes much easier to her than reading, and it's never a battle to get her to do it. Now..... reading and writing on the other hand- definitely not a favorite.

Our neighborhood park finally opened up, even though they're refusing to put up the swings. Sigh. We finished school work early one day and rode our bikes to the park and the girls had a blast playing. 

I also ordered this workout top recently. It's super cute and doesn't really feel/look like a workout tank. It's going to be on repeat, and comes in other colors too. 

Adalyn picked out a book to read one evening, and read a few pages each night. Like I said, she doesn't like reading, so I was excited when she wanted to read this! I have a collection of little books from my childhood, and this one was one of my favorites! 

Young Living released a new kid oil in September, and we ordered it ;) It came with this super fun hero cape, so of course, Adalyn had to wear it and run around the yard! 

She also asked to bake cookies, so we baked chocolate chip cookie sandwiches for ourselves and sent a few to DJ's students. 

We spent an afternoon outside painting pumpkins. 

And spent another weekend with a home football game. 

Gretchen spent the afternoon with a friend, so I just had these cuties with me at the game. 

Our pre-game pictures look a lot different this year! 

Addy hopped up on the kitchen table and said... "this would be a cute picture" So, I took her picture, and she was right. It is cute. 

 

Come On In: Fall Home Tour

I usually decorate the first away football game of the season, and this year was no different. Two weeks ago we did homeschool lessons and then the girls went out to play with our neighbors. While they were playing, I turned on football, got down the boxes, and started decorating. 

The entry way, received a little Fall foliage that I picked up from Target, a photo of the girls at the pumpkin patch, pilgrims, a sparkly pumpkin, and a touch up to the letter board. 

For the dining table, I pulled out a wooden tray that was my grandmother's. I placed Eucalyptus leaves around and lots of little pumpkins. I added a white vase with cotton and pumpkins. I wanted to keep everything "contained" since we do all of our homeschool work around the kitchen table. 

I had our homeschool supplies on the kitchen table in the tiered tray, so I moved the tray over to the sideboard, so everything would still be in easy access. The baskets underneath are from Target, and hole all of Megan and Adalyn's workbooks and supplies. We started out with one basket, but I had to get two because we were running out of room. 

My antique sewing table has lots of little decorations on it, and the wooden witch jack-o-lantern is new this year from Kirkland's. 

The pilgrims were my grandmother's so I wanted to use them, and the wooden risers came from Target's dollar section. I added some little pumpkins and acorns to finish it out. 

We don't have a fireplace here, so I treat our TV stand as our mantle. I miss having a fireplace, but I love having this little area to decorate. The leaf banner came from Kirkland's.

I added lots of little trinkets to our tiered tray. The owl dish came from Wal-Mart years ago, and my mom made the "Boo" sign for me after I saw something similar at TJ Max. I had her make little signs in a Rae Dunn style font, and each wood piece is reversible for the holidays. 

I have lots of little squirrels from my college days so those went on the tray, as well as a new little ceramic pumpkin from Target. I layered with wooden beads, ceramic bowls, and a little wooden house. 

On top, I went a little more Halloween, with a skeleton that Adalyn picked out, a wooden witch hat, and another ceramic pumpkin. 

At the beginning of September, our tiered tray was decorated for football season, so I moved a few of the decorations over to a smaller table in the living room. 

And while I didn't decorate the kitchen (because I love having clear countertops) we added this wooden spider to the pantry door. 

The girls had fun decorating the playroom with a few leftover pumpkins and garlands, but it's a mess, so no pictures! 

We're so ready for Halloween over here and all the Fall fun!