Staycation with my Sister!

After a rough week my sister came in town! She usually comes out here once a year on vacation and we try to squeeze in as much as we can. This year things were just off but we still had a good time.

She came in on Sunday morning so the boys and I skipped church and picked her up at the airport. We picked her up and brought her luggage by the house. Once we dropped her luggage at home we put the stroller in the trunk and headed to the mall to get Logan's teddy fixed. Build a Bear was amazing, they restuffed and sewed up Teddy. We then let Logan ride the train they have that goes around the mall and throw some money in the fountain. After leaving the mall we went by Target to get a couple of items Phillip needed and let Logan spend his birthday money on Minecraft stuff.  Once we left there we got a bite to eat at Rosa's! When my family comes in town we always have to get some BBQ and Mexican food.

My mom chose this moment to call and make sure that my sister had arrived. After this we headed home and I can not promise other than take a walk what we did the rest of the afternoon. For dinner I made meatloaf with velveeta and some boxed mac and cheese which I added some more cheese to. That night was the "blood" moon so we were outside with everyone else watching the eclipse. I took some bad photos with my phone but Phillip got a couple of good ones.

Monday I took Logan to school and then came back home for Clark and my sister (Gail). We then headed to Granbury to visit with Nene and Mimi as well as walk the square. We visited several shops on the square and then had lunch at Springcreek as it was the only BBQ place I knew of in Granbury.  Clark enjoyed his corn on the cob and was not happy at all when I took it from him so we could leave.

He is never still

After this we headed for some afternoon shopping at the thrift store and found a few good things. From there we headed home and took another walk through the neighborhood. Dinner was homemade fajitas.

Tuesday we let Logan skip school and we slept in a little bit. After getting up and going Gail, Logan and I headed to West for some kaloches. West is on Gail's list and so I combined it with a trip to a dairy farm.

So after the Czech stop at which we had more kaloches than we needed to eat we headed back toward town and the dairy farm. Along the way we came to this great rest stop. I am a sucker for great rest stops and this was an awesome one.

After the rest stop we headed to the dairy farm which supplies a milk/dairy/beef co-op that some friends use. We were seriously disappointed.....here is what I wrote a friend after we came home.

"1.) Thought I was in the wrong place, farm consists of a double wide trailer which I guess they live in and a lean to which housed the "store".
2.) Store had only homemade jam, everything else was store bought in bulk and repackaged or store brands. I could see the large bags behind the counter.
3.) Girl who helped us was wearing a lime green dress which is not generally a color you see Mennonite or Amish wearing.
4.) Boy who was watering the chickens was wearing a polo shirt, no head covering and driving a mule(cart).
5.) There were cars, trucks, tractors, mules and various other power equipment everywhere.
6.) Free range chickens consists of chicken coops with small fenced areas next to them. Not large fenced areas for the number of chickens.
7.) We counted maybe 15 cows and about 5 calves.

I could be overly suspicious and I know some sects of the Mennonite faith are a little more accepting of modern conveniences but this almost seemed like a put on gimmick."

After we left the farm which I was hoping to actually purchase some of the items they offer on the co-op we ended up going to McDonald's. Gail and I were not hungry but Logan was so we went there for him to play and eat. This McDonald's had some cool seating and play equipment. 

After eating here we headed home for the evening where we used the leftovers from the fajitas to make tortilla soup for dinner. 
Wednesday I dropped Logan at school and then Gail and I headed to the State Fair!  This is actually why Gail comes in town this time each year. We had a good time although several of the regular things we usually see were not there this year. We also managed to go on the only day the Marine Corps band was not playing. Here are a few pictures from the day.

The Killdaires

I actually had a pair of these when I was little

We picked up a pizza on the way home for family dinner and then tried to relax at home with the boys. Thursday Gail and I hung around the house in the morning while Phillip ran a couple of errands and then we headed downtown to PF Chang's for our annual lunch.

After a really yummy lunch we walked around some of the shops downtown and then headed to pick up Logan from school. After picking him up we went by the post office and then to drop off some household cleaners at the city's drop off station. Then we swung by the say old bread store for our monthly supply and some for Gail to take home. I was still soo stuffed from lunch that dinner was not something I wanted.  I fixed the boys some chicken nuggets from the freezer and spent the evening prepping for Friday.