Vacation Day 7 & 8: Shopping and Rangers Opening Day

Justin and I decided to go in to the Metroplex a day earlier than the Rangers game in order to shop. And shop we did! We dropped Mandi off at Doggy Day Camp and went straight to The Parks Mall in Arlington. There I bought our Rangers shirts, new shoes, and some much needed capris. (for some reason all of my capris from last summer had holes in them!) From The Parks Mall we drove to IKEA in Frisco. As usual, this was a long and painful excursion. I love IKEA, but that place just wears you down! (in retrospect, this shopping trip was way more horrible now that I've realized I bought the wrong sized kitchen shelves!)

(My first pair of Toms!)

Justin surprised me to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory after a long day of driving/shopping. I had never eaten their before and loved every bit of it! I ordered the seared salmon. Delicious! We topped dinner off with a slice of Godiva cheesecake. It was a nice end to a tiresome day.

Friday was Texas Rangers' Opening Day 2011!! We got up early and drove back to Arlington for the tailgate. There we were able to see our family and some friends from last year's Opening Day. The sun was beating down on us and made for an unseasonably hot Spring day. Justin and I ate hot dogs, chips, fruit salad, potato salad, chocolate, nachos, and popcorn! The Rangers won and all was well!

(Katie, Justin, and me at the tailgate.)

(Justin eating his hot dog!)

(Opening ceremonies at the game.)

(Larry's seat, the only one with shade!)

I enjoy spending time with Justin's family and taking part of their Opening Day traditions. We are always sad when we have to go back home.

Vacation Day 6: Blue Bell Creamery and Bluebonnets

Today Justin and I visited the Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham, TX. This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time! We took a tour inside the creamery to discover exactly how Blue Bell ice cream is made. Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed on the tour so our pictures are all outside the creamery. :(

(The two of us in the garden area outside the creamery.)

(A statue outside the creamery.)

The tour was about forty-five minutes long and included a short film, walk through the creamery, and a scoop of ice cream from the parlor. On the walk within the creamery, you get to see Blue Bell ice cream being made, packaged, and frozen. It was neat to see what flavors they were making today! (Dutch Chocolate, Banana Split, Moolinium Crunch, and Homemade Vanilla--yum!) I was a little disappointed to see that they had stopped making ice cream sandwiches for the day.

Employees at Blue Bell have the saying, "Eat what we can and sell the rest." They do just that! The break room is filled with all sorts of Blue Bell goodness that the employees can have while at work. There was a commercial being filmed today and they had all sorts of ice cream snacks for the film crew. At the end of the tour, we got to partake in some ice cream ourselves. You can choose whatever flavor you want of the ten or so they have available! Justin and I both chose Caramel Kettle Crunch which is vanilla ice cream with caramel and chunks of caramel covered kettle popcorn. Delicious! This ice cream was once sold in stores, but is no longer being made. So sad.

(Caramel Kettle Crunch)

Everywhere we go, people love Larry. Naturally, the tour guide gave Larry some Homemade Vanilla ice cream so as not to be left out! He love it!

(Larry eating Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.)

After the tour, we sought out a field of bluebonnets to take pictures in. Luckily, we found this one that was on our way back home!

(The two of us in the bluebonnets.)

Next door to the field, was Trapper's Cabin Gallery which had a really eat looking tree. We took some pictures there too!

(The two of us in the tree.)

(The two of us making silly faces in the tree.)

(Justin Romack or Edward Cullen--you decide.)

Today was fun! I love making memories.

Vacation Day 4: A Visit to East Texas

Yesterday we went to East Texas to visit with our family and friends. At first, the drive was dark and dreary, but as soon as we got into Lufkin the clouds cleared and the sun came out! The azaleas and pine trees were beautiful.

We went to Cafe Del Rio with my parents for lunch. It was nice seeing them and catching up. I will have to say, Cafe Del Rio is no longer the best in my eyes. The atmosphere is different now to me. Is it just me or is it darker in there? I could barely see my food! The waitress was excellent and the food was good. Nothing compared to Chuy's though. So that's it. I no longer miss Cafe Del Rio.

Since we bought a new dining room table, we had to return the other table to Justin's parents. Justin worked on their computer which is kind of a tradition of us visiting them. :)

In the evening, we drove to Nacogdoches to visit Justin Pohlmann, Shay Pohlmann, and Jeremy Petticrew. I love those guys and it was a blast hanging out with them. I miss spending more time with them. We all ate at Jimmy Johns which is a nice addition to Nacogdoches. That is the first sandwich restaurant for Justin to enjoy! We probably stayed too late visiting, doing a crossword puzzle, watching the dogs play, and looking at pictures, but we had an awesome time.

The drive back wasn't bad. We got in late, but were able to sleep in this morning. Now it's time for a super lazy day...