Colossal Cave Mountain Park and La Posta Quemada Ranch

Jay had a rare Saturday off so we took advantage of that and the more mild weather and did something. We had a nice time exploring and seeing some animals. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon and we are so glad Daddy had the time to spend with us. There are a lot of pictures because there were just too many I loved. These are also the last pictures I got to take with my camera before it got broken. I am very sad about that.

 Heart shaped prickly pear.

 Jenn found a man. 

 Noah was all about the cows and the donkeys. I don't think Zoey ever touched them.

 Noah even fed them. 

 This sweet donkey stole my heart. I want one.

 I want them all. I wanted to save them too because the cows were mean to them.

 Olivia did not want to touch the cows or donkeys.

 Aiden was NOT a fan of the animals. He cried at first.

 The ranch owner was so nice. She brought out her favorite chicken so the kids could pet her. We learned something about chickens. This one lays 1 to 2 eggs every day and a chicken's life span is only a couple years. We also learned that they are incredibly soft. 

 Zoey and Olivia would touch the chicken.

 I call her Belina. Does anyone remember the movie Return to Oz? That's the name of the chicken in that movie and that's what this girl reminds me of.

 Beautiful horses.

 Zoey and Olivia would also pet the horse. Olivia was actually obsessed with Frosty. She didn't want to leave him. When it was time to go she kept saying "I don't want to go. I want to stay home with Frosty." So cute!

 My dad loved all the animals. He should have had a farm full of animals. He has always been a huge fan.

 Human sundial. Daddy was the best at it because he is so tall.

 Our family of 6. That sounds like a lot. Seeing these makes me smile.

 If only she could have found us some gold. We could really use it.

 Don't mind my fat chin. I just loved this picture. Jay was trying so hard to get Aiden to look at him and Aiden would look anywhere but. It had me laughing.

 The look on his face here is funny.

 I have always thought these phones were so cool.

 Love this radio too. I like the way radio used to sound back in the day. Funny to compare the size of this to the size of IPods and MP3 players these days.

 I also love windmills.

 And. . .I also kinda love this guy.

 Old school cash register.

 Beautiful painted windows. The owls on the bottom left are my favorite.

 Those tubes all hold different types of barbed wire. Ouch!

8th Birthday Part IV

So the exciting night arrived. Zoey and I went to dinner and Disney on Ice. She could choose anywhere and anything for dinner and chose Applebees. We started with mozzarella sticks, she is her father's daughter after all. Then I was totally surprised by her choice for main dish. I let her pick absolutely anything and she happened to choose one of the weight watchers meals. It was what sounded the yummiest to her. She's so great. Then we topped it off with the maple blondie. It was a good dinner and I really enjoyed spending that time alone with Zoey.

Of course Disney on Ice was awesome. It was all princess stories. Very thoroughly girly. We had great seats. We weren't on the ground right in front of the ice but the next section, second row, right in the middle. The seats couldn't have been any better. We got to watch the on ice version of Princess and the Frog, Cinderella (one of my all time favorite Disney flicks), and Tangled (one of my favorites of the more recent Disney flicks). They did a great job with all of them and Zoey and I were glued the whole time. By the way, I need some serious lessons in picture taking because it was not easy to take any during the show. With all the action and then the crazy lighting it was hard to catch images that weren't blurry or had odd coloring. I did my best though for Zoey. It certainly was a night to remember and having moments like this with my kids is something I undoubtedly want to make a more regular occurrence. When we were leaving the convention center Zoey said "This was one of the best birthday presents ever!" It made the night complete.

There is something I must mention. I grew up learning that when you go somewhere special you dress for the occasion. I don't expect that people dress to the nines but nice jeans even and a more dressy shirt is better than jeans and a t shirt or regular ole street wear. When I was young we dressed nice to go to Red Lobster even and now it's anything goes. I just think more people used to dress nicer when they attended special events and it's been lost by recent generations. I think highly of it and am trying to teach my children the same way I was taught.

This is what we shared. Grilled chicken with parmesan cheese melted on top. Fresh spinach and rice pilaf with mushrooms.

 We saw this awesome truck parked next to us. 

 This was one of Zoey's favorite parts. There was a big lit up Tiana sign above them. It was all bling looking.

 The princess and the frog right before the kiss turns her into a frog too.

 All normal and in love.

 The mice, fairy godmother, and Cinderella.

 Bippity Boppity Boo! The godmother turned the pumpkin into this awesome horse-drawn carriage.

The prettiest girl at the ball. 

There was some cool choreography going on here. I believe Zoey actually ooed.

 Snapping some pictures with her new camera. I made a rule that she couldn't try and take too many because I wanted her to just enjoy the show.

 Cinderella's evil stepmother.

 The glass slipper fit and true love was found.

 On to Tangled. Here's Flynn Ryder stealing the crown while Mickey and his pals were introducing the next story. 

 Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your hair.

 Rapunzel

 This was one of the coolest parts of the entire show. They did several aerial things during this scene. I wish I would have video recorded it because it was so cool. They are ice skaters, you just didn't expect it.

 Loved this scene in the pub with all the vikings.

 Wouldn't be Tangled without Maximus the horse.

 Feeling sad that Flynn is a thief. Zoey thought it great that earlier in the show the chameleon was green and at this point he's orange.

 She has to save Flynn!

 Her short, brown locks after Flynn cut her hair off.

 They even had the lanterns like in the movie. One of my favorite parts of the movie and one of my favorite parts of the on ice version.

 Yay for Minnie Mouse. I snapped this one with Olivia in mind.

 The finale was amazing! They were all in jazzed up, fancy, white costumes. It was the celebration of the marriage of Rapunzel and Flynn. Everyone was there so all the Disney princesses were there. Bell, Aurora, Aerial, Mulan, Jasmine, they were all there. It was super cool. One of Zoey's favorite parts and my absolute favorite part of the whole show.

 You gotta love Mickey and Minnie. They were jammin out up there.

The end.

 It was the fastest 2 hours ever. It was sad when it was over but we sure had a great time.

 When we walked out of the convention center there was this guy outside playing the trash can drums. He was pretty dang good and you could tell he was totally enjoying it.

 Thank you again, a million times over, Mom and Moonin for giving us this night together!