Colorado Trip

We just got back from a trip to Colorado. We drove there, as we usually do. This year, just to mix it up a bit, we drove through Kansas on the way there, and then through Amarillo, Texas on the way home. There's not a lot to see in Kansas.



We did see a lot of old barns like this, and I was dying to stop and take more pictures, but we were driving along the highway and there was no where to pull over for me to take pictures.

I'm not sure how well my asking to stop every time I saw something interesting would have gone over for the other people in the car. It's already a 17 hour drive, no need to make it any longer.

So, this barn was snapped while driving about 80 mph down the road.  To be clear, I was not the one driving.


Here's one of the people we came all of this way to see. My sister's son. So cute. He's learned to walk since we last saw him, and he's good at it.


Bailey had a great time playing with him.



Another reason we drove all of this way was to see my dear friend Jae's new babies.
Yes, I said babies, as in two.

Here's Oliver.



And this little cutie is Miranda.



Jae and I have known each other since 7th grade. We always have a lot of fun together, as you can see.



We toured the Anheuser-Busch factory in Fort Collins while we were there. Not because we are beer drinkers, but just because we love to see how things are made.

I think our love of seeing things made stems from going to the Mrs. Baird's bread bakery when we were young.  Growing up in the Dallas area, it was a "manditory" field trip for most schools.  Both my hubby, Rominal, and I toured the factory when we were young.  I will never forget the wonderful smell as I toured that factory.

At the Fort Collins factory, they house the Anheuser-Busch clydesdales.  However, they were currently in another state so we didn't get to see them. 

For the record, Bailey was not taller than a clydesdale.


This is some part of the beer making process.  Don't ask me which part though. 



There were a lot of pretty flowers behind my father's house and these next few shots are from there.

When I look at the picture below, I hear an air traffic controller in my head.  "Bee-9, this is traffic control, you are cleared for landing."









We had a great time.

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge

Dallas has a new landmark in it's skyline, it's the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. That's it over there on the right in the picture above.

Back in March before the bridge opened for traffic, the city of Dallas let the Girl Scouts hold a bridging ceremony for girls who are "bridging" up to the next level of Girl Scouts. Unfortunately not all three of my Girl Scouts could attend, but my family went and these were the pictures from the day.

We got there a little early so that I could take some extra pictures. It was a beautiful day.

Here's Rominal, Mom and Bailey.



And just to show that I was there too, here's a picture with me in it.

 

I love to get pictures of people walking away.  I don't know what that says about me, but I always feel like I've captured something special.

 






This woman was dressed up as Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts. She was so sweet to be dressed up out there for the girls!



Eventually quite a crowd showed up.



Gee, you'd never know that Rominal and Bailey were related would you? Father and daughter standing exactly the same.



For the bridging ceremony, the organizers had all of the parents go to one side of the bridge and then the girls walked across according to age and Girl Scout troup level they were going into.

The youngest girls went first and they were adorable.



Then some of the older girls came across.



Then it was time for the oldest girls to cross. You can see that there aren't as many girls.



Even though we didn't go with any other girls, Bailey met some "sister" Girl Scouts and they invited her to walk across the bridge with them. Bailey is on the far right in the picture below. Part of the Girl Scout law is to be a "sister to every Girl Scout" and these girls were so sweet to welcome Bailey.



It was a great day and a wonderful opportunity to be on this new landmark for Dallas. 

Granola - Home Made!

I love granola and yogurt together.  They are perfect.  Creamy and crunchy.  What could be better?

I've never made granola before.  My mom had some that she had made and I borrowed her recipe and tweaked it a bit to fit me.  That's the beauty of this recipe - you can adjust it to fit your liking.

Here's what you need:




What, you want measurements?  Oh, fine.  Here you go:

• 3 cups old fashioned (not quick cooking) rolled oats
• 3/4 cup wheat germ
• 1 cup raw almonds
• 1 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (I used at least 3 because I like vanilla)
• 1 cup coconut (I used sweetened - are you surprised?)

I should point out that the recipe calls for adding 1/3 cup chopped dried apricots, 1/3 cup dried cherries, but I prefer granola with just nuts, so that's what I did.  Please feel free to tweak this recipe to fit your tastes.

Preheat the oven to 275. 

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Combine oats, wheat germ and nuts and put on baking sheet.  It should look like this:



Bake this, stirring once, for about 20 minutes. 

While that's baking, mix together the apple juice, brown sugar, oil and vanilla extract. 

After the oats, germ and nuts have baked for 20 minutes, take that out and pour over the liquid and mix well.  This is the time to add the coconut and any dried fruit if you are so inclined. 



Raise the oven temp to 350 degrees, and bake for 20 minutes, stirring half-way through.  Be careful not to let this burn.

Here's the final product.  It's so amazingly good!

 

While we were on vacation last month, I found a new yogurt that I am addicted to.  Luckily for me, I found a store here that sells it as well.  It's Noosa yoghurt.  It's super creamy and yummy.  It comes in tons of flavors, here's just a few.  (And Noosa doesn't know me - I just love their yoghurt.  I've even left the house late at night to get some so that I'd have it for breakfast the next day.  I'm even currently trying to get my local store to carry it.  It's that good!)



Yum, I can't wait for breakfast tomorrow!



Enjoy!

Arkansas Trip

Hello.  Yes, sorry, it has been a while.

So, summer has started here.  Bailey has already spent her first week as a summer camp counselor at the Girl Scout camp.  She goes again tomorrow for another week.

During her week off, we took a trip with my Mom to Bella Vista, Arkansas.  It was beautiful. 

Since I haven't posted in such a long time, I'm going to blast you with a ton of pictures.  You have been warned.

We stayed in a condo while in Bella Vista. This was the living area.

This was the (straight out of the 1980's but still impressive) master bathroom.

We had instant drama when we got there because there was a HUGE cricket in the tub. It took a lot of thought and planning to capture said cricket and release him into the wild.

The neighbors came out to greet us on our first day as well. Very nice!

More from the condo.

Mom enjoying the back deck.

Our second day we went to Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas. It's a very new museum started by the daughter of Sam Walton of Wal-Mart fame. The building and surrounding area is beautiful and they have trails that surround the area as well. This would have been so nice with water coming down, but it was dry that day.





Mom and Bailey at lunch.

The ceiling in the lunch area. I loved all of the wood.

Taken during our walk around the grounds of the museum.

Show me some love please.








I just loved this bird house.


Mom, Bailey and Rominal.



Bailey, Rominal and me.


I have a thing for pigs, so I really liked this one.



The museum is set so that you walk around a "lake" while looking at the art inside.  Very nice.


For dinner that night, we went to the town of Bentonville. These next couple of pictures were from their town square.


Yum, looks like salad.

The next day we drove out to Eureka Springs, Arkansas and spent the day out there.

It's a fun little town with lots of shops to see.

Rominal was having a good time.


We had breakfast here while we sat outside on the deck and watched the people go by. Very nice and relaxing.


Rominal liked this little chapel, especially in contrast to the next one we saw.


One of the things we wanted to see while in Eureka Springs was the Thorncrown Chapel. It was stunning.


I don't know the people in this picture, but I loved how they looked so reflective.

This chapel was designed by the architect E. Fay Jones.


This was all wood, I think.




The path to and from the chapel was lovely too.


I had read about the Onyx Cave online which was close by, so we went there as well.

As caves go, it was pretty hokey, but we made the best of it.

It was nice and cool in the cave, which was a nice change from the heat above ground.

This picture is really dark, but it shows our view from the back deck.

On our last day in town, we explored more of Bella Vista. They have a chapel there that was also designed by E. Fay Jones. This is the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial chapel and we liked it a bit better than the Thorncrown, although it is less well known.


We had the place to ourselves for a bit.


Bailey enjoying the building.





There was a nice walk around the area that we did.  It's hard to see through the thick trees, but there's a lake on the right.


I loved the thick bark on this tree.


After lunch, we decided to do something very out of Rominal's comfort zone.  We rented a boat and toured Loch Lomond.  Rominal even drove the boat for a bit. (Notice that he's wearing his life vest)


It was a very peaceful lake, surrounded by beautiful homes.





We stopped for a bit so that Bailey could dip her feet into the water.


We saw this heron on the shore.


I had fun driving the boat as well!


We left the next morning to drive home. 

Someone was quite pleased to see us.


Last night we went to see a Coldplay concert in Dallas.  We bought these tickets back in December as part of Bailey's Christmas and birthday present.  It was a fantastic concert and we had a great time. 

Bailey leaves for another week of camp tomorrow and the fun just keeps on going.