Trip to Dallas-Fort Worth

After Christmas, we took a short trip up to Dallas-Fort Worth area. The Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth was having a special Monet exhibit that my mom and I wanted to see. We are big Monet fans and this was his early works which aren't seen very much.

After the Museum, we headed to the Stockyards. It's one of those things I've always wanted to do being a "Texan". It was nicely decorated for Christmas.

We arrived around lunch and right away were greeted with animals!

Probably our most favorite activity was the Cattle Pen Maze.

We had a blast running all through it and trying to find hidden letters. I'd definitely recommend it for kids and there is a viewing platform for adults if you'd rather not go but want to keep an eye on them!

After lunch, we explored a little and then went to the Wild West Show.  It was interesting except that Ryan and Caitlin both hated the guns. I have to say, they were pretty loud! And both of them already hate fireworks so let's just say that anytime the guns came out, they were screaming bloody murder and wanting to leave. Maybe not a must-do if you come.

We did love getting to meet the people in the show and pet the horses though!

And finally, what everyone comes to the Stockyards for, the Cattle Drive! 

It was a pretty slow and short cattle drive I have to say. I think at this point, it's pretty safe to say that the cattle are trained.  But, it was neat to see them all go by!

We stayed in downtown Fort Worth that night and enjoyed a lovely hotel and dinner at Taverna. The Fort Worth square was decorated and beautiful! They had music playing and a cool fountain and we enjoyed spending some time there after dinner.

The next morning, we headed to Dallas to go to the Perot Museum of Science! First we learned all about the Birds of Paradise. Below, Ryan and Caitlin learned to dance like them.

They have this awesome escalator you can see from way outside the building that we took. 

I liked coding the robots!

Another favorite was the sports area where the kids got to pick someone or something to race! And another favorite was the oil/energy sector where we took a ride on a fracking drill. We also got to feel what it's like to be in an earthquake!

Overall, we had a lot of fun and could have definitely spent more time there. A fun little trip for our Christmas break.

Christmas 2016

Christmas Eve was full of traditions for us which I love. We always start off by making/decorating cookies for Santa. I know, more cookie making.

Then it was off to church. This year, Caitlin was an Angel in the Nativity play that they do as part of the service!

I love how the Church is decorated for Christmas. It's so beautiful.

My Angel in front of the Church! We had to get there early to get in costume and lined up.

Here she is processing in. 

Stacer Family picture

Our own family picture

After Church, we headed to my mom's house for Christmas Eve dinner and to hang out.  Then it was time to hop into Pajamas and go to sleep so Santa could come!

The next morning, everyone woke up to a bunch of presents under the tree. We waited for grandparents to come over to begin the opening. 

Some of Ryan's favorite presents were all things Ghostbusters! He has been obsessed with the movies since Halloween when we let them watch. I mean completely obsessed. He sings the song, watches cartoons, pretends play he is Peter Venkman. Needless to say, it was easy to figure out what to buy him.

Caitlin got a lot of good stuff (new American Girl doll, clothes) but she loved her gymnastics tumbling mat!

And Evan got the only thing he really wanted - an Xbox! I have a love/hate relationship with it. He was very excited and happy though (since pretty much that was all he got besides clothes and of course some games). 

Overall, it was a wonderful Christmas! We are so blessed to be able to celebrate with family and friends and give presents to our kids. I always am extremely grateful for everything and everyone in our lives. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well and know that we were thinking of all of you far away and wishing you the best.

Merry Christmas from the Stacers! (even though it's Feb 2017) :)

December continued

Wow, I can't believe how much happened in December! I think this will be another 2 posts before we are done with the month... but at least then I'll be caught up to the new year. 

First up, Caitlin! She has been taking gymnastics for awhile now and had been wanting to get into this invitation only class called Hot Shots. We had done some private lessons with one of the coaches (Coach Jenn) to help her get the skills she needed. She found out in December that she made it into the class! Thanks Coach Jenn!

Ryan had his annual Christmas program at preschool that we enjoyed watching.

We had a big crowd to support him which made him happy and excited.

Caitlin found out that she won an Award of Excellence for her Reflections contest entry. She choreographed her own dance (and performed it) for the competition. Way to go!  She's already talking about all the entries she wants to do next year.

I got to go to school and help with Caitlin and Evan's class parties. 

We had our annual cookie baking day at Oma's.

We made a gingerbread house. 

Somehow, we rarely end up eating it though...

Over break, Caitlin did a couple gymnastics camp days so I took the boys out for lunch and some shopping at the Domain!

We played for awhile on all the different structures.

We even saw Santa! It was a gorgeous day to just spend time with my boys.

And of course, we had Santa visits! First one was early in the month at the Round Rock tree lighting.

Then we saw him again at the Neighborhood Event (actually at my sister's neighborhood event since we couldn't make our own!).

So as you can see, pretty busy and we aren't even to the Holidays! We also have been having great weather. A couple cold days every now and then, but overall pretty pleasant. This is my kind of winter. All you northern folk should come visit when you get tired of the cold!

December 2016

December is always a busy time of year and this was no exception. Between school obligations, birthdays, and Christmas, we were on-the-go!

As part of Caitlin's TAG class, she did a presentation on peacocks and presented her posted at the TAG ISP night - she even dressed as a peacock and made the district website!

We hosted Bryce's work group for their annual Christmas party which was a lot of fun, especially the White Elephant!

Ryan started back up with his swimming lessons - he had taken a hiatus during soccer season.

We had a girls night out - we went to dinner and then a musical, The Little Mermaid!

Beautiful downtown Georgetown

Enjoying some Oma time while waiting for the show

The super cool part about this local theater is that afterwards, you can go up on stage and meet the actors!

One more picture with the grandmas (Mema came too but left before we took the picture).

Me and my girl

We also celebrated Chelsea's birthday with friends at the Thinkery!

We painted pictures and explored the museum.

Ryan's favorite area was the water!!

And Caitlin's ballet class did a little performance which was awesome.

More December to come!