On the 8th Day of Christmas

On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 8 round wheels for rollin’.

Another all time favorite activity for the kids at LexStone Ranch are the 4 wheelers. This year Olivia and Peter were able to enjoy them with the help of their cousins. And just to remind everyone, here’s the age breakdown….
Braden (red shirt, blonde hair) is 5
Olivia is 4.5
Hunter (brown shirt) is 4
Peter is 2

On the 7th Day of Christmas

On the 7th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 7 Cows a’Mooing

My parents ranch provides endless opportunities for the kids enjoyment. Here we are one morning as we headed out the feed the cows.

Did I mention it was morning? Peter and I are not really morning people!



It's obvious who the morning people are in our family



Peter LOVES the cows



This one in the middle with the curly hair, “wooley bully”, is my favorite



Peter said this was his favorite, but really he doesn’t have a favorite, I think he loves them all!



I am pleased to announce that Peter FINALLY seems to grasp the differences between horses and cows, he knows that cows say “Moo” and Horses say “Neigh” instead of “Moo” as he’s been insisting for months!

On the 6th Day of Christmas

On the 6th Day of Christmas my true love gave to me a romantic date night in Austin. Austin is such a cool city. It feels like Texas but at the same time it’s way too cool to be part of Texas! It’s urban and small town and gritty and sophisticated all at the same time.



We went out to a fancy place we’d never dare to take the kids. We had grown up food and beverages. We happened to arrive for dinner during happy hour so we were able to enjoy the happy hour specials (half off of the bar menu and all drinks) and our date night fell on a Wednesday which happened to be the day they offer oysters and champagne for half price. In fact the food we had was so delicious I just have to share our menu……

Parkside
Starters
M: potato gnocchi, arugula puree, parmesan, arugula salad
L: fried oyster blt, avocado, romaine greek goddess aioli
Cocktails

Main
Bottle of bubbly
M: wreckfish, petite potatoes, garlic parsley puree
L: green garlic risotto, mascarpone, pickled mushroom

Dessert
M: chocolate mousse, hazelnut crunch, poached pear, brandy ice cream
L: goat cheese cake, basil ice cream, pinenut brittle

After dinner we explored 6th street for a bit and then made our way back to the hotel . We stopped for cocktails in our hotel and enjoyed Jalapeño and Cucumber Lemonades (vodka, jalapeño, cucumber water, lemon—it sounds odd but it was delicious).

During our stay in Austin we also enjoyed lunch at Which Which (delicious) and breakfast at the Magnolia Café (M: Queso Omelet and Gingerbread pancakes, L: Migas and Black Beans) also fantastic with a great Austin vibe!

On the 5th Day of Christmas

On the 5th day of Christmas we loaded up to go look at the Christmas Lights. We went to Santa’s Wonderland just a short drive from my parents house.



Unfortunately we wern’t the only ones with that idea and it was quite crowded. The lights were worth it though and Peter applauded and clapped throughout the 5 mile light trail.





We stopped to visit with Santa



Forced the kids to pose for pictures







Enjoyed hot chocolate and candy canes by the bonfire



Followed by more posed pictures



Which then resulted in a hay fight



If you ever are in the Houston/College Station area for Christmas and you have small children we recommend Santa’s Wonderland (but it is a little pricey and it can get quite crowded so I’d recommend going right when they open or closer to closing time).