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Saturday, January 16, 2016

Crazy Chickens, Chalk Art and a Toddler's Curiosity...

My Sweet Hubby (MSH) and I met TLC and Little Leighton (LL) in Fort Worth yesterday morning to go to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. (Except we didn’t do the Rodeo.) We took LL last year and she LOVED it! It was a successful repeat this year.


Here she is having her picture made with three hilarious baby goats. One of them sure did want to eat her bow! Fortunately, she didn’t know this until we’d left. I have no doubt it would have completely freaked her out and the experience wouldn’t have been as much fun. Trust me.


And here are the three of us gals—posing for MSH—outside of the restrooms. We seem to visit these quite a lot—if With-Child-TLC is with us. Bless her pregnant little heart. Baby Elle is not evident in this picture as TLC edits any pictures that show her "expansion" in a way she doesn't like. Truth. (She will be here before we can blink...more TRUTH.)


This was taken in the Children’s Farmyard Barn. The chickens (which were located right outside the actual "Barn" and there could have been a rooster or two—I’m not quite certain about that…) were beautiful! Silly. Loud. Pa-Pa kept making chicken noises. LL was telling him he needed to “Stop, Silly Pa-Pa!"

Inside the Barn, LL got to watch new baby chicks being hatched. A humongous—and I am not exaggerating when I use the term HUMONGOUS—Mama Pig was feeding her five baby pigs. A Zebu cow and calf (Zebus being the smallest cows in the world—apparently) looked at all of us like they might be wishing they were somewhere else. A big old Tom Turkey had feathers that were in full display and gobbled up a storm. Finally, we saw several kinds of rabbits. There was a Lop (?) that weighed, no kidding, at least 50 pounts. Easily. LL had a blast!

We then made our way to the Horse Barn and Arena, where we watched some “ranch horses” competing for the top prize in their division. Amazing animals. Simply amazing.

We had a lovely lunch (prepared by moi and which was 100% gluten-free) at the Roundup Inn—outside of a huge Exhibit Hall. We even had quite attractive "Texas" paper plates. I'm nothing if not fancy.


The Stock Show Day was capped off for LL with a trip up an escalator with MSH/Pa-Pa. Something LL really doesn’t do all that often. Despite her Mama's MANY trips with her to their local Mall.

It was an exquisite memory—weather-wise. Perfection. The best part? MSH and I got to bring LL home with us for two nights at our country casa. Woo Hoo and YIPPEE! She’s been a doll. Of course. Winky. Wink. 

We spent some time outside late yesterday afternoon. Putting birdseed into our feeders and watching our many different kinds of birds (mostly Cardinals!) do Happy Dances when they realized they had tons o’ upcoming meals. We did chalk art on our driveway and walked around in the sun—enjoying every last minute of daylight. Which was good. Because today it’s windy and YUCKY. We did get outside for about 30 minutes, this morning, to ride the Ranger. LL NEEDS to do this as often as possible. Pa-Pa drives us around our place and we look for buzzards and armadillos. We also enjoy watching our neighbor’s cows and another neighbor’s pretty white horse we named Snowball a year ago. This trip involved coats, hats and a blanket.



When we came back in the casa—before lunch—Buddy Boo Bear ended up with his head on LL’s pillow. He often hangs out with her as she plays in “her” room. However, once LL saw what was happening, she told him he really needed to move along. She didn’t want his hair and slobber on her pillow. He complied. He is just that wonderful of a dog. Truly.

We’ll be sad when we have to get up tomorrow morning and head East to take LL home. All good things, unfortunately, have to come to an end. WHY? We’re actually going to be able to see her the next TWO weekends. We already cannot wait!

Hope each of Y’all are having a good, happy, safe weekend—wherever in the World you are!
God bless and be with you…always.

p.s.: Speaking of God: While we were on our Ranger Adventure, LL, out of the complete blue, looked at me and asked:

LL: Grammy, where was I when Mom and Dad got married?

ELC: Well, they were thinking about you. (Best I could do on such short notice.)

LL: But where was I? (She's an insistent child. Very.)

ELC: You were with God and Jesus—waiting to come meet all of us!

LL: (after thinking about this for a few seconds) And then I was in Mama’s tummy and then I was born!

Yes, LL, I thought. Yes, you were born. To our amazement and utter JOY. I smiled at her and said: "Isn't that awesome?" She smiled back.

Three and a half. On her way to being like her Mama—an old soul in a young little body.

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