Fort Worth Stock show and Rodeo

This was our first year to attend the Fort Worth Stock Show and our very first Rodeo... ever, I think.

We went to the stock show with Ethan's parents since our wonderful museum membership (courtesy of  Marmee and Papa) got us in free!  Ellasyn loved looking at ALL the cows. I think we walked through at least three buildings of different cattle.  The last building, however, was a little too loud for E's liking.   I guess the animals were getting a little stir crazy perhaps.  I think her favorite animals were the chicks and the ducklings. She kept asking me if we could "soft" (pet) them, which we could not.  We found a petting area later where she was able to pet and feed rabbits, goats, llamas, and an Irish calf.

~ "That's a scary noise!" ~
(referring to the loud cows)

~ test driving a tractor ~

~ family photo on the tractor... trying not to blow away ~

~ We got to meet Elsie, the cover cow for Borden Milk ~

~ Not sure about the Irish Calf checking her out ~

~ "He sniffed me!" ~

~ finally posing for the picture ~

The next week, we received an invitation from our friends, The Hills, to attend the rodeo with them.  I was a little nervous how Ellasyn would do and I didn't have much, if any, experience to share with her in preparation. As soon as we walked onto the grounds she said, " Mmmmm... it smells sooo good, Mommy."  Uh?  We may have a future FFA gal on our hands... 

She had a blast at the rodeo!  She loved watching the opening with all the people on horses and the "sparkly girls" with the flags.  She watched the bronco riding and bull riding with great interest and especially loved the motorcycle stunt that they did.  I think her favorite part, though, was wearing her cow girl boots.  This girl LOVES her boots!

~ enjoying some snacks with Daddy ~

~ stole this picture from Gara's blog :) ~

~ E, Mommy and C! ~

~ how cute are we in our boots? ~

Yes, that is four blog posts in three days...
Love,
The McDaniels

Photo catch-up

I am going to attempt to catch up on what has been going on around here the past few months... via pictures.  Here goes...

~ We found out in late October that Baby Sister would be joining us in June! ~

~ A little nervous at the beginning of her first professional haircut ~

~ But it all turned out okay in the end ~

~ Little family of three ~

~ Our little turkey ~

~ With a special announcement for the family ~
"Turkey Two Coming June 2012"

~ Christmas dress ~

~ Listening to Dr. Wiles tell THE Christmas Story ~

~ So blessed to be part of a church where the pastor cares so much for our children! ~

~ Daddy's little Aggie ~

~ budding artist ~

~ She loved the Rapunzel doll from Daddy ~
~ and the hair extension that came with it... see it on the left? ~

~ We love our seasonal Hello Kitty shirts and new sunglasses ~

Well, I think that about does it for now! Whew.  More to come soon... I will try and keep up for a while.

xoxox

First Fest and Halloween

The Sunday evening before October 31st, our church had their seventh annual First Fest.  It has been fun to watch this grow from a church event to a community wide event.  There were so many people on our church campus and surrounding area... it was crazy!  Ellasyn enjoyed playing a game called "Toss the Pumpkin". She tried to toss an empty pumpkin bucket into a basket.  She didn't make any, but she played twice so I think she liked it.  She also loved the bounce house and the pony ride.  After waiting in line for these few activities we decided we had better start Trunk or Treating before it was time to leave.  She still did not quite understand the point of it this year, but she was pretty good about keeping the candy in her bucket.  She saw quite a few friends and teachers throughout the night and was always to excited to show them her tutu and wings.  She was the cutest "Fifi" (fairy) ever! Unfortunately, I have very.... very few pictures because I somehow deleted them.  Don't you love technology?

Punkin Patch

I found this post in my "drafts" so I though I would go ahead and share what a great time we had at the "punkin" patch!
There is a little farm surrounded by city in the middle of Arlington call Gnismer (Niz-Mer) Farms.  They grow all kinds of things that you can come and pick yourself when they are in season.  This was the first time we had ever been, and we loved it! 

Ellasyn got to walk through the vines and find her perfect pumpkin.

We also rode the tractor around the field a few times to get a better view of the pumpkin selection. 


The weather was beautiful and this was definitly a family favorite. We will have to make this a yearly tradition!