Being a true South Dakota girl, it completely baffles me that Spring can begin in March! Although I am not complaining. I may be from South Dakota but I am a bit cold blooded, and so I love the warmth here. Usually we can't plant anything until after Mother's Day, but not in Texas. The last few weeks for Family Night, we have been working on the yard and getting some plants planted. It has been a lot of fun to be outside and enjoy the 80 degree weather. Things are growing like crazy now. Hopefully this summer will not be as hot as last year, and kill everything. We keep praying for a wet Spring!
Our Cute Helper!
He loves planting and watering his plants!
We have a ton of thistles and thorny weeds this year to manage. Texas is full of random prickly plants and our yard has been invaded. We have been waging war!
Sprouts growing like crazy.
Looking good so far. The grass is even greener now and the rose bushes are in full bloom. It is so pretty right now and the weather is wonderful in the mid 80's! I love it! Anyone up to visiting Texas this year?
Last week was Caleb's first Spring Break! We considered taking a big trip, but decided to keep it simple and fun. Caleb wanted some pajama days and we all just needed a relaxing week. It was a great Spring Break with play dates, small outings, and even a chill pajama day.
We spent one afternoon at the Zoo with a group of friends. We packed a sack lunch and a had great time enjoying the beautiful weather.
Almost the whole crew of kiddos. Pretty awesome kids!
For Spring Break, Caleb had been given a coupon for Mr. Gatti's Pizza. We decided to have a fun lunch date with dad and check it out. They have a descent pizza buffet and then have a game room similar to Chucky Cheese. Caleb and Dad had a lot of fun playing games together and earning tickets.
Sure do love my handsome boys. It was fun to get to spend some time with Daddy. Caleb was sure sad that Daddies don't get Spring Break too. He didn't think that was very fair.
Our big trip for the week was to Dublin, TX, home of Dr. Pepper. It is a small town only 1 1/2 hours from here and has an old fashioned Soda Shop. You can also tour the Dr. Pepper Factory and Museum.
Home of the Oldest Dr. Pepper Bottling Plant in the World
Just a small little place but really cute
The Soda Shop was great! They made simple sandwiches but the best part was the soda. They made it with just soda water and a squirt of the flavoring you want. The flavoring was made from pure cane sugar, no corn syrup. The difference is amazing. It really does taste so much better. The Root Beer was the Best!
The Bottling Factory
Just recently, Dr. Pepper announced that it will no longer be making Dr. Pepper in Dublin. They will continue to make a select few drinks, just once a month, but no more Dublin Dr. Pepper. This Dr. Pepper was made with pure cane sugar and no corn syrup. After tasting it, it really is a shame they are no longer making it. The factory is small and old but was educational.
Here is where the process begins. The bottles are taken into this huge machine where they are washed and rinsed and cooled in order to be ready to use.
The machine is really large. You can see a diagram of the process above the kiddos. All to make sure we don't get sick.
The bottles after they come out of the machine. They now check for any cracks or damage to the bottles.
The bottles are then filled with soda water and the flavoring syrup before the bottle caps are put on. This factory specializes in the old fashioned glass bottled soda.
I thought this was a neat machine. Can you see the bottle caps?
The bottles are then taken to be mixed. It takes about 3 shakes to mix and the soda should stay mixed for up to 1 year.
The final inspection is done here. The bottles are taken off the belt and placed in a 4 container box, where a special light is shined on them. The look to see if the color and fill levels are correct and if the bottles have been damaged in any way.
After they are all check out, they are ready to be boxed up and ready to sell!
Love'n the Dr. Pepper Experience!
We were not allowed to take pictures in the Museum, but it was neat to learn the history of Dr. Pepper and the Dublin Plant. Do you know how Dr. Pepper got its name? Is Dr. Pepper really made from prune juice?
As part of our tour, we each received a free bottle of Dublin Dr. Pepper. The kiddos had a lot of fun drinking sodas in the soda shop. It was a great day!
Just to prove that us moms were really there, we had to get a picture. So glad that Mardy and Natalee were willing to come with me on our little field trip. It was totally worth it!
By the way, Dr. Pepper was created by Charles Alderton of Waco, TX. It is said to be named after the father of a girl Alderton hoped to marry. To earn favor with the father, he named the drink after him. Alderton did not marry Mr. Pepper's daughter but the name stuck. And Dr. Pepper is not, nor ever has been, made from prune juice. It is just a unique combination of flavored syrups that Alderton came up with while in his own little soda shop. Dr. Pepper was known as the first energy drink, due to the high content of sugar. Marketing techniques focused on drinking Dr. Pepper at 10, 2, & 4 to keep your energy up. Most things in the factory and shop had the numbers 10, 2, & 4 somewhere. Even check out the population of Dr. Pepper, Texas!
I normally don't do much for St. Patrick's Day. We don't have any regular traditions other than wearing Green. But this year, Brydon was going to be gone for a Scout Camp out and Service Project, so I decided to make it a fun day.
The night before St. Patrick's, Caleb made our first ever Leprechaun trap. Some of our friends made these so we decided to give it a try. We hoped we could lure the Leprechaun in to trap him, so we could talk to him the next day. Caleb made a cute rainbow and we put together a make shift Pot of Gold in a box. For a last minute idea, I think it turned out well.
Our First Leprechaun Trap
The Leprechaun was really sneaky and during the night he turned all our chairs over and left a little trail of green paper to some treats.
Caleb was so excited to check his trap in the morning. He thought for sure he had been successful! He was very sad to open the box and find out it was empty. He looked at me and said, "Mom, I really wanted to catch that Leprechaun so he would tell us the magic word to ride the Rainbow. I really wanted to ride that Rainbow!"
Caleb loved that the Leprechaun magically turned our milk green though.
For a fun lunch, we invited some good friends over, whose husbands were also out of town, for a Green Party. We had yummy green punch and green "tortillas" for our tacos.
Our Super Cute Green Kiddos
Dessert was a Big Favorite
My super talented friend made these awesome rainbow cupcakes with clouds and I took the chance to make my grandma's pistachio nut torte (yummy yummy). Can't have a party with out yummy treats!
Then my other artistic and talented friend brought some face paint. The kids spent time playing, getting their faces' painted, and having their nails painted green (yep even the boys).
Way cute!! I am most definitely not talented enough to use face paint.
A fun and simple way to celebrate the Luck of the Irish! What a fun day!
Our family recently had a very West Texan experience. Last weekend it was time for the World's Largest Sweetwater Rattlesnake Round-Up! We had heard that this was one of those experiences that you just needed to go check out. Last year Brydon was gone and I didn't want to go without him, but this year we could go as a family and with some awesome friends. Well it was quite an experience, and we have never seen anything like it. I took a bunch of pictures and have some videos.
But a small warning.....you are entering the world of Rattlesnakes!
Click on any pictures you dare to take a closer look at.
The Safety & Handling Pit
This is the safety and handling pit. The pit is full of snakes while the handler talks about snake safety. A bit of irony.
My two handsome boys!
Free face painting with our friends.
The Milking Pit
This is short video of the milking process. They just pull the snakes out of the barrel, milk them, show them around a bit, and then throw them down on the ground. Apparently it takes about 10 days for the venom to come back. However, they do not take all the venom in a milking.
Milking the Rattlesnake
We were able to touch a live Rattlesnake's Rattle while it was shaking. Caleb wasn't to sure he wanted to touch it.
The Skinning Pit
I didn't know it was possible to feel sorry for a Rattlesnake, but this particular pit can make you feel pretty sorry for a Rattlesnake. It is a rather gory process.
These teenagers were very busy and jumped right into the process. After the heads are chopped off, the snakes are tied to strings where they are then gutted and skinned. Snakes are very interesting. They are like chickens and even with the head removed, their bodies and heads continue to move. During the skinning process, the bodies move around and even without skin it keeps moving. Who knew!
If you are interested, you can watch the process pretty much from beginning to end.
Rattlesnake meat that is still moving!
For $20 you could skin your own rattlesnake and keep the skin. When you were done you could dip your hand in the rattlesnake blood and put your hand print on the wall and sign it. We decided to pass on that experience.
A behind the scenes view of the pit.
The Weighing Pit
This is where the snakes are first stored after being rounded up. The pit is full of snakes and boy did it smell terrible! Reminds you a bit of Indiana Jones.
Wouldn't you like to be this man. Just hanging out and chatting with his buddies.
This is where the snakes are actually weighed. There is a competition between round-up teams and so awards are given for the largest snakes. Apparently you can pay to go out and round up your own snake or just take a tour to watch others. Miss Snake Charmer gets to help in the weighing process and after they are weighed, she gets to grab the snake and pose so beautifully. I am not sure what it takes to be Miss Snake Charmer, but you most definitely have to be be comfortable with snakes.
The kiddos having a little snack.
Rattlesnake Meat
We had to try rattlesnake meat. It came fried in these small strips. We were ready to take a big bite, but learned quickly that it wasn't that easy. It was not de-boned.
If you pick the meat along the sides of the backbone,
you get this tiny piece of meat! Tasted fine but just not much to try. You can get a case of rattlesnake meat for $50 a pound.
So we experienced our first Rattlesnake Round-Up. There is a good chance it will probably be our only.
We did not pick up any of these awesome souvenirs. But if you are into snakes you could pick up a rattlesnake head in a jar or dried in a bag, rattlesnake teeth earrings or a rattle necklace. The snake skin was popular and you could just hang it up or get a wallet. I have to admit that they at least use every part of the snake. My favorite thing was a real turtle shell with a rattlesnake head and a rattle as a tail. Didn't get a picture and didn't buy it but it was quite creative.
You are welcome to come check it out next year in March if you want to.
