Thanksgiving weekend at the Ranch

 Most years after we eat a wonderful Thanksgiving Day meal with my family we head to the ranch on Friday. Well this year was no different except we had a ton of people at the ranch this year, and Tess loved the attention for the most part. I tried to take pictures but it took her a while to warm up to most people and we are out in the country so I would usually put my phone down and forget about it. That’s an awesome sentence, wish it could happen more often.

When we got there most everyone was out at the land putting a blind up but when they got back Tess latched on to Maggie right away and would refer to her as brown dog for the rest of the weekend. She thought that Maggie was the coolest thing because she was a big dog and Tess only gets to play with little dogs. Maggie was pretty patient with Tess and would let her pet her, lay down with her and play with her but after a certain time of night it was Maggie’s bed time and she would disappear. It was pretty cute to see her try and play with a dog that was bigger than she was.

Rays boys shot a couple of deer that night and Tess was actually pretty interested in the deer, it surprised me a little. We went out to the truck and looked at them and she even congratulated the boys. It was pretty cute.

The next day we went over to the land to walk around and look at the old dinosaur tracks. The boys walked around with us because they didn’t want to be around the older guys putting up another blind. Zach had been trying all evening and morning to get Tess to pay attention to him and she would not give him the time of day. It was pretty funny. She eventually sat next to him but that was it.

While we were on our walk, Martin pulled her in the wagon and then she latched on. She walked next to him and held his hand. He helped her over puddles, trees, and big holes. She trusted him like he was her big brother. You should have seen Zach’s face it was pretty funny since he had been wanting her to play with him and she wouldn’t. Little ones will pick and choose who they like, and one day they like you and they next it’s like you have never met.

We walked back up to where the bunk house is and Tess started picking up sticks and rocks and was making a little house. Being at the ranch solidified how much this child likes being outside. Anytime someone else was outside she wanted to be out there with them, she did not want to be left inside when there was fun to be had outside.

I don’t know what she is going to do if there is ever another little person around because she wouldn’t be the center of attention. She convinced her PawPaw to play horsey with her, it got a little rough but nothing this little cowgirl can’t handle. 

I love that we get together every year at the ranch and have this whirlwind weekend of family time. You walk away from it with a bunch of stories to tell, time well spent and full stomachs. Just wish we could do it more often.

Halloween 2014

Before everything happened in October we had planned on spending Halloween weekend in Dallas, Tess and I would go to Canton with Mona, go Trick-or-Treating and spend some time enjoying each other’s company. Little did we know that by the time Halloween rolled around it would be the 4^th weekend in October that a Harris was in Dallas, Nana and PawPaw got used to having Tess around in October.

So the morning of Halloween we woke up early and got dressed and headed out to Canton. It was only Tess, Mona and I so we were able to visit some areas that we normally miss because we have a bigger crowd. We made one stop at the car to unload and then we went back for some more shopping. I was looking for stuff for the new house and Mona was just looking. I would say that it was a pretty successfully trip overall and to top it off, Tess even took a nap in the wagon.

 Tess was a strawberry this year, I think this might be that last year that I am able to pick out her costume. We went over to Marge and Terry’s house to trick-or-treat. She has known Marge and Terry since birth and sees them if not every time we are in Dallas almost every time we are there so she is pretty comfortable with them. We still have a slight stranger danger issue so I didn’t think going to multiple houses was going to work for us. She got pretty good at saying trick or treat so I think she will be good for next year.

Kevin and Ray went on their Hog hunting trip so we decided to make s’mores by the fire, these were Tess’s first taste and I think she liked them. She wasn’t too sure about how messy they were but who wouldn’t like marshmallows and chocolate mixed together?

After this last weekend in Dallas we really haven’t been back, we went to the ranch for Thanksgiving and Mona and Kevin visited us for Christmas.

Fort Worth Zoo

While we were up in Dallas saying goodbye we spent that Friday at the Ft. Worth Zoo at Boo at the Zoo. It was a hot but a good day overall. Tess loved seeing all the animals and I think she could have spent all day being carried and visiting with all the different animals. It’s funny now when we go to a Petsmart she says I want to see the Giraffes, so we haven’t yet figured out the difference and I think visiting the zoo is going to be a big part of our future with how much she talks about animals.

We started and finished with the Gorillas. We saw them from the outside at the beginning and then went inside the exhibit as we were leaving. I think we were a little close at the end but overall she was pretty intrigued with this giant animal. The big silver back gorilla was eating his dinner when we returned right before we left the zoo. Tess was interested until he started making some loud noises and then she got a little scared so we moved on to look at the other monkeys before we left.

The white tiger was up next and he was a little lazy at first but once people started showing up he got a little bit more active. I don’t know what it is about animals but they seem to have a calming effect on my child. She can’t really sit in one place and do anything for an extend amount of time except for watch animals. If an animal is up walking around or doing something she could watch them for probably hours, it’s the adults that get bored first.

We walked around and saw various other animals, the Ft. Worth zoo is setup pretty nicely with the different exhibits that mimic their normal terrain, everything flows nicely between different areas, and a wide array of animals to see. I am glad that it was a good day to be outside, it wasn’t too crowded because it was a Friday. It was more crowded than I thought it would be but I think that was because it was Boo at the Zoo.

We spent most of the afternoon walking around, taking our time looking at the animals and enjoying the sunshine. Tess is at this age where it doesn’t take a lot to empress her especially if you are an animal. There were a couple baby animals around the zoo and she loved to point out the babies and their mommas. Tess had to bring her giraffe with her and carried it most of the time. She was pretty funny when she saw how big real giraffes were.

They have a little kid area that Tess enjoyed playing around in, she wasn’t so sure about the other kids playing also but she made do. Even though she is in daycare 5 days a week she doesn’t really like to play with other kids. She likes to play and figure things out on her own. When we were ready to head out Tess got this bright idea that she wanted to push the wagon, she did pretty well and we did have to go up some big hills. It also tuckered her out which was good for all of us.  

Overall we had fun at the zoo! We met up for dinner with the rest of the Harris Fam at a Dallas Favorite, Babe’s. Tess chowed down on some chicken and mashed potatoes and gave the place a thumbs up, we would have had to have a talk if she didn’t like it!