Where the Wild West Is Still Alive

When thinking of vacation places so many folks tend to imagine tropical beaches, quaint European villages, and a myriad of other exotic locations. But how many of us have really seen all the U.S. has to offer?

I've been to a good many states but truthfully? Most of the time I was just drivin' on through. I've only been to a few states/cities where I took the time to check out the sites.

Recently we spent some time in Fort Worth. Texas is such an...interesting...place. Heh. I mean, it WAS a country of it's own at one time. And I think more than a handful of Texans still have a bit of that mindset. But...I digress. On with the pictures. These are a representation of one of our days in Fort Worth.

Preston's stint as a cowboy was short lived.
(I couldn't get him to stay behind the cutout for more than two pictures)



The cutout was located in a part of the Fort Worth Stockyards. Pretty facinating place. If you look closely at the left side of the above picture, you'll see the train tracks that run down the middle of the building. It's where they used to sell off the sheep and hogs.

I thought to myself, "Wow! It would be so cool if they still had a train come through here!".







This was a pretty cool train. You could ride from Grapevine, TX down to the Stockyards in Fort Worth and back again. Looked like uber fun!






After watching the train pull through a building full of people (there were no guardrails or ropes to hold someone back) we stepped outside to see what other dangers we might encounter in the scary land of Texas.



What the!?

That's right folks. They're longhorns. Being herded down a street packed with parked cars and people.







What do you think would happen if they decided to stampede? Yikes.

Moving on...we then decided to see a Wild West show that was billed as a reenactment of the old Pawnee Bill show. Umm...not quite. But it was still very entertaining!


Here is "Pawnee Bill" riding on two horses around the ring.



Have I mentioned that I love motion blur? Yeah yeah...I know I said I love lens flares...but I love motion blur almost as much.


This guy was shooting at that balloon behind him. Using a mirror.




Pawnee Bill is back with some fancy whip work.



He missed the first time but came back around and got it the second.




And if the guys weren't daredevil enough for you...check out THIS lady!




So we enjoyed the show and made our way out of the arena back into the hot sun. Feeling tired and thirsty we headed into downtown Fort Worth to visit the Flying Saucer. (I didn't think to take pictures of this)

We passed by the Bass Performance Hall on the way.



Yep. All of my angel shots were grossly underexposed. Which is why the lighting in that picture above looks so weird. My Photoshop skills only go so far.

Speaking of Photoshop. I leave you with a portrait. This woman fascinated me and and I wish I had her job.

Grant's Farm

A few weeks ago we visited Grant's Farm. With the Impending Doom...er...I mean InBev buyout, I wonder if Grant's Farm will remain.

I would be sad if it didn't. Look at the fun we had! (and I somehow managed to not take pictures of the fun BEER we drank)



First of all, my favorite thing to do (besides the free beer of course) is feed the goats. I convinced Preston to join me and these are the results.



He seemed to attract quite an unruly bunch of goats.




I, on the other hand, managed my goats with grace and ease...



Wait a second. What's that goat doing!?



Feasting on my camera bag!?! Back you evil goats!

Yipe!! Mayday mayday!



Whew! I think we barely made it out intact. Those suckers are ruthless!

Maybe they should take the InBev folks to Grant's Farm and lock them in the goat pen for a few hours. It just might change their minds...

Portraits

Friends...Lovers...Enemies...

...you decide.













Though...many of them might be enemies after seeing this post.

And Kristen...you get two. But that's only because this following picture inspired this whole mess.

What the heck is that thing?!

Pirey?

Fairet?



That, my friends, is me dressed as a Pirate Fairy. No, not a Fairy Pirate...that's something entirely different. A Pirate Fairy is one of the most feared fairies in all the....uh yeah. The wings are giving me away aren't they.

In all seriousness, while this costume pushed me into behaviors entirely unfamiliar to me, it was really a lot of fun. The kids LOVED it and everyone loved the wings.



Yep, they're made to look like sails. Preston's idea. Brilliant.

Thanks Dee for forwarding these pictures to me. If I get around to asking others for copies of the ones they took I may post more.

In the meantime...YAR! (umm...can someone help me get this glitter off?!!)

There IS an explanation

Now that the craziness that is Faire has subsided temporarily, I had the time to go through a few old photos. I hope to get a Disney World post up sometime soon, but until then, here are some fun pictures that my mom insisted I take.

See, my mom is hilarious. She doesn't just send easter baskets to me...Kristen, Kristi, and Stephanie get one too. This year she sent us some of the best easter baskets I've seen. Sure, they were cute little bunnies. But they were cute little bunnies that we could color!

Yes. We're 7.

Along with the baskets, she sent us all bunny ears. And mom wanted pictures.

Now...a normal person would do this activity in the privacy of her (or her friends) own home. But, as you all know, normalcy is not something I bother with. That and the fact that I was REALLY busy. So, since everyone was getting together at Riley's one evening I figured it was the perfect time to break out the easter baskets.

The following is pictorial evidence of the silliness that ensued.
*disclaimer: I hate flash. Hate it hate it. But in a dimly lit bar, it's a bit of a necessity. I apologize in advance for the poor lighting.

This is the main cast of characters. Rico did a great job as stunt double for me.



So, they couldn't hold that serious pose for very long. They were cute for trying though.



Rico and I did the ol' switcheroo so mom wouldn't yell at me for not getting a picture of myself in the bunny ears. We really don't want mom to yell...



So, before getting down to business...



...we had to get some beers in us. It's really the only way to properly wear bunny ears in a bar.



I have a cuter pic of Steph than this one, but she would kill me if I posted it here. Seriously. Kill. Me. So, you get the more typical Steph pic instead.



Then we got down to business.



Yep. That's right. We were sitting in a bar, with bunny ears on (significantly after Easter if I might add),coloring our bunny easter baskets.



Rico and I shared...



...so we could take turns on the camera again.



Luckily only minor injuries were sustained.



And then the finished products were reveled. I think Steph has some issues she needs help working out. Any volunteers?









Can you believe I didn't get a picture of Rico/My finished bunny? Sorry mom.

And while we were all having fun with our ears and our markers, Preston joined us on a break from playing music. See how thrilled he was to put on the bunny ears?



Psst. Don't let him fool you. THIS is more like it.



Just don't tell him I posted that picture. Or he's going to kick my butt.



HAHAHAHA...haha...Uh...ehem. I'm sorry, *snicker*, I just can't be frightened of that!

Maybe THIS.

But not that.

Grey

What do you mean I'm WAAAAAYYYY late in posting this? So it's been a month since I posted. So I'm way behind on my color blogs. Doesn't look like anyone else is doing theirs either!

You wanna make something of it?

I didn't think so.

Anywho...

Grey is the only color I actually had planned when this thing started. Does anyone remember the Grey Squirrel song from our camp days? Some had slightly different lyrics but it mostly went something like this:

Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel, shake your bushy tail. Huh!
Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel, shake your bushy tail. Huh!
Put a nut between your toes,
Wrinkle up your little nose,
Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel, shake your bushy tail. Huh!

*and just a note for those "Huh"s. With each one you had to do that 'arm pump' thing where you made a fist, wrist pointed towards the sky, and brought your elbow in to your side. I don't know why. We just did.

The lyrics I learned were slightly different. Of course, they were learned from the kids I was camp counselor for. Where it says "Grey Squirrel" we actually said "Squirrelly". And where it says "Wrinkle up your little nose", we said "shove it up your little nose". And as a counselor I laughed every time. What, me? Encouraging juvenile behavior?

Now, in doing some brief research, I found THIS site. From Google I clicked the link (because it said it had an MP3 and I want to share the joy of this song with all of you) and I about sprayed my screen with wine totally non-alcoholic grape juice when I started reading. HILARIOUS.

Please click the song lyrics to hear it. But the videos are even better (click 'launch external player' if you don't have the plugin). You'll see several incarnations of the song.

Now, you ask, what is it that gave me the 'Grey Squirrel' idea for the color Grey?

This.



This little squirrel had no interest in nuts. Ahh...the urban jungle.

Turquoise

I'm a week behind. It's not that I don't want to continue this color blogging thing. I love it! I've been busy ok? But I already have Grey all planned out. Random question...how do YOU spell the color Grey?

So...Turquoise. I hated this color growing up. Being a redhead, it was one of the colors that my Mom used to always tell me was 'appropriate' for me. That and orange. And coral. I've come to terms with orange. Orange and I are best buds. Coral and turquoise? We're still working things out.

Instead of photos...this week you get to see a new project I've been working on. Over the next few weeks I'm going to try to learn a little more about HTML and CSS and how they work. I've only done a teeny bit of reading so far and only on basic HTML. But these little form actions I learned about are fun! Here. Take a look.

So what exactly IS Turquoise?

Blue GreenGreen BlueMy favorite colorThe color of the devilWTF is Turquoise?

Then I learned how to make a button!

Check boxes are fun...

I like turquoise:


I hate turquoise:


I have no idea what turquoise is:

But radio buttons are even more so!

Turquoise is a rock.


Turquoise is a color.


Turquoise is both.


You're only using Turquoise to show off that you can make so called 'forms' now.

Send me a comment on how you feel about Turquoise.

Name:




Mail:




Comment:

Ok ok...as you've by now figured out the button, drop down menu, and radio buttons don't actually do anything. But hey...I know how to build those elements now. Oh...and pssst. That comment form? THAT one actually works (well, at least it pulls up good ol' Outlook so you could send an email...but I haven't actually tested it)...I'm just sayin.

I'm going to have fun with this...