It's Cool To Be in Texas!

Well it's rodeo days at Abigail's school so she is dressed for the celebration.

 We've noticed that Texas is quite proud of itself.  We are always discovering something different in the shape of Texas when we visit.  This time we found cheese in the shape of Texas.  It was a perfect photo for the blog.

 After Abigail's school on Thursday, we went to the Mercado area.  It is a big Mexican style market with some fun restaurants.  This one, Mi Tierra has been open continuously, 24 hours a day, for over 70 years. It had a fun authentic atmosphere, complete with serenading musicians. Steve was disappointed in the panaderia, however.  The baked goods looked tasty but the Mexican baked goods aren't as sweet as we are used to. 

 Shawn bought Abigail a Mexican style dress for the Fiesta parade coming up in the spring.  She loved it and wanted to wear it all the time.  She will have to wait and keep in nice until after Fiesta. It was fun to shop in the Mexican market while feeling very safe right here in the US.  I bought my Mexican vanilla so I was happy.

 Later that afternoon we were privileged to attend the Superintendent's Award Ceremony.  Tiffany was being recognized for her community service with a large food project for about 15 disadvantaged families in another school.  Congratulations, Tiffany!  We know that this is only one of many services she is consistently involved in.  We were proud parents that day.

 On Friday we drove north to the German town of Fredricksburg.  On our way we stopped for lunch as Po Po's.  This is another Texas restaurant with a longstanding tradition.  Over 2000 plates adorn the walls.  The food was good- fried, of course.  We passed up dessert because we were on the lookout for a German bakery! 

 Po Po's is located in Welfare, Texas.  We had to take this photo of the Welfare Country Club.  Once you eat in/on Welfare, you never want to stop eating there.  This was our joke of the day.  Ha! Ha!

 When we arrived in Fredricksburg, one of our first stops was the Five and Dime Store.  I don't actually know what it was called but it was set up just like the "dime stores" we had when we were kids.  It really took us back 50+ years to the "good old days."

 We found several bakeries, candy stores, ice cream shops, etc.  The goodies were awesome.  We took a picture in this shop because of the old fashioned red seats.  We really had fun looking through some of these quaint boutiques and old-fashioned stores.

 Saturday, we were off to the rodeo.  We had lost our tickets so that caused a bit of stress for Tiffany, but I was sure we could resolve the issue.  We did.  The rodeo is an amazing entertainment value.  If you purchase tickets for $10 each, you get into the stock show and grounds, you get to see a top notch rodeo and then you get a concert after the rodeo.  We saw Keith Urban in concert.  He is an amazing performer and wowed the audience when he went up into the crowd for a song and then gave away his autographed guitar to a gal nearby at the end of the number.  The crowd loved it!

 After the matinee rodeo and concert, we headed for the petting zoo, the farming barn, product samples, and more.  I think Cowgirl Abigail had fun too. 

 The llamas were my favorite animals in the petting zoo.  They were very soft and weren't aggressive like the goats.

 Of course we had to sample one of the new treats offered.  This one was a red velvet funnel cake. Yum!

 It got pretty cold later in the afternoon, so with that final treat, we were ready to head for home.  We'll check out the farm equipment and more animals next time.  This visit has been a "cool" one but that won't stop us from visiting again.  Thanks Tif, Shawn and Abigail for lots of fun.