July 2016

Fourth of July 

Our fourth of July was certainly one for the books! We decided to go to Lockhart, the "BBQ capital of Texas" to try out two of the four renound restaurants. (Because what is more American than eating BBQ)?

On our way, we listened to a podcast about the National Anthem. It was amazing and really made
us reflect on the meaning of this fantastic holiday and celebration. I think we found a new tradition.
We stopped at the "gas station," Buckey's which is more of a Walmart-sized building filled
with all sorts of fun things. Lehi and I each selected a snack for the road (salt water taffy for me
and pink fruit sours for Lehi) after browsing the seeming endless endless store. Maverick wasn't so 
sure about the salt water taffy, but he warmed up to it. 

Clearly this was one of the more confounding candies he has ever eaten

Smitty's was a HOT experience--not the food but the building itself. We waited in a long line to order 
our brisket...right next to a big old fire in the old brick building. There was meat of all varieties for days!
And it was oh so delicious. We did a 1/2 pound of brisket (which came with some slices of bread), 
coleslaw, baked beans, and Big Red in a glass. Mind you, we had another place to eat after this one, so we
did a "sampler" type of plate. It was all amazing. We topped off with a chocolate chip ice cream cone and
headed to our next destination. 

Smitty's Market

We were about a foot away from that fire and sweating bullets

Brisket Sandwich

Pure Joy.

Going in for the kill

Our sampler was surprisingly filling, so we decided to check out the State Park before attempting 
to consume more BBQ at our second stop. We picked a nice hike and started off (despite it being 
more than 100 degrees outside and very toasty). 

Deciding which path to take

Clearly, this path was a little overgrown.

Mav was a little uncertain about a fam picture.

The boys

Maverick insisted on swinging before we left. And he loved it.

 We finished out food feast with Chrisholm BBQ--which was set up like a cafeteria. Grab your plate, 
pick your two sides, get a roll, and they add a big piece of meat on your plate. We got mac and cheese (for Mav), macaroni salad, coleslaw, sausage, brisket, and cornbread for about $12.00. It was SO much food--especially after having Smitty's a couple hours before. The brisket was delicious--but a little more fatty than Smitty's (which made it a lot more tender) and the sausage was super good, but pretty spicy and a killer for prego heart burn. Our taste buds ultimately declared Smitty's the brisket winner, but not by much!

Our (second) feast.

We headed home to relax our filled and fat bellies. I made a blueberry cobbler (which was super yummy), we picked up some kiddie fireworks for Maverick, and enjoyed our neighbor's small fortune spent on fireworks from our camping chairs in the driveway. Let me tell you, Texans really do love their fireworks. We passed 5 stands in the mile we drove to get to the one we ended up purchasing at! It was impressive to say the least. Maverick enjoyed the fireworks overall. At first, he was a little scared but warmed up to them. The ones that he really didn't like were the 50 firecrackers that go off in a succession--he kept yelling, "No more Daddy!!" He enjoyed the rest of the show in the security of one of our laps. It was an awesome celebration of our freedom!

Blueberry Cobbler--yummy!

Sparklers!

LOVE this picture.

Mav & Mom 

"I Clean, Bobo!"

Tasha watched Maverick for Lehi and I to get out on a date (which was much needed). During this time, she gave Maverick a bath. Brooklynn helped him out of the tub when he was finished. He ran to Tasha, butt naked, arms spread wide and exclaimed, "I clean, Bobo! I clean!"

Water Fun 

Lehi just couldn't pass up this fun water toy. The nieces and nephews really enjoyed it, as well as Maverick and Lehi. I was able to capture some of their playing--complete with water guns.

Garth Brooks Concert 

Garth Brooks returned to San Antonio after a 18 year dry spell. Naturally, we got tickets to see the

country legend. Tash was kind enough to watch Maverick for us so we could make the 7:30 concert

and grab some dinner before hand. We tried Stake n Shake with a traditional burger, fries, and shake.

When Lehi came back with his salted caramel and a strawberry shake, I told him, "Umm...I ordered

chocolate." He laughed and told me that I did indeed, ask for strawberry. Apparently these prego

cravings are stronger than I knew! Then we headed downtown to meet Sam and Kara. 

We headed to to our nose bleed seats (the tickets sold ridiculously fast) and settled

down. We were chatting about this and that when a gentleman sat down in the row in front of us. He 

seemed interested in our conversations and asked if we were excited for the concert. We replied with

obvious enthusiasm. He then asked if he could "upgrade" our seats and explained he was a part of the 

opening band but on double performance nights, they did not play. "Garth likes to give away good tickets

to his fans, and I am lucky enough to be able to do that for him." He proceeded to hand us tickets for the 

second row. We were speechless! Lehi and Sam were dismayed when Kara and I expressed our need to use

the bathroom before we relocated to our new seats and we made them wait. (It was apparently pure

torture to these boys). The seats were amazing. It was fun to see other fans come to the "upgraded 

seats" section and tell their story about how it all happened. It was very female heavy in our section, and

there were many tears that accompanied the news of being relocated. Garth was phenomenal. He played

a lot of the older songs (including the Friends in Low Places mysterious third verse)and was extremely

 entertaining. It was an absolute blast! 

Stake n' Shake

CHEESE!

People behind us-it was a full house!

The man himself.

SO CLOSE!

Garth and Trisha Yearwood 

Former view. Now find the second row curved seats--that's where we sat

Quick Prego Update 

I was measuring a little small with this baby boy, so we got to do a sonogram and see the little guy! We were not surprised to find that he was measuring right on track and there was nothing to be concerned about. The tech was awesome and did the full evaluation twice--once for me and again for Lehi who got caught up at work and was running late. I was 34 weeks at the appointment, he was weighting in at exactly 5 pounds, and around the 50th percentile for everything. He is a healthy baby boy--which is all we can ask for. :)

One more appointment (another sono) and we will be meeting this little man (19 days or less today 8/7)! We are all ready for him--from a freshly painted room to a first name (middle name is to be decided still).