Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Happy St. Patricks Day

We decided to have a St. Patrick's Day party this year.  Normally, we would have gone to Greenville Ave for the parade.  Now that we have moved up north it's not as easy for us to hop on the DART downtown and get out there at 9am....with a cooler.  Maybe in about 5 years we will go back, but until then....our house it is!  Since a lot of our friends were still going on Saturday to Greenville, we had the party on Sunday.  The weather turned out to be great so people (the guys) could hang out in our very small backyard and watch TV while the ladies chatted in the kitchen. 

I made some snacks I found on Pinterest and they actually were successful!  I had several people ask me for the recipes.  We also ordered a piñata from Amazon.  That was my favorite part.  I decorated a little around the house.  Each year we will get more and more decorations. 

Rainbow Fruit Platter: marshmallows for the cloud on one side and rolos for the pot of gold on the other 

Picture Mask! No one used them. :(  I forgot they were there to tell people

The Piñata and some drink fixins

Front Door
 Below are some of the dishes I made.  Lucky Charms krispie treats and mini shepherds pie.  I also made a corned beef bread, but failed to take a picture.


Lucky Charms krispie treats!

Mini Shepherds Pie
Then it was time for the piñata!  Man it was hard to break.  It took some serious hitting.  We all started off kind of tapping it so everyone could "play" then it became war!  Kyle ended up tossing it to Preston while he killed it.

Truitt started us off.....

then Kacie....and baby to be (July)....

Dexter and I gave it a shot!

Batter Up! Bailey gave it a good hit......

then Heather......

Dr. Ehle was ready to take it DOWN!!!!

Down it went, but didn't explode.  Back up it went.  Round 2

Stephanie had it hanging by the handle......

Derek makes it look so effortless.  Crashing it fell, but didn't explode, still.

Then it happened.  The toss from Kyle to Preston!

Candy Everywhere!  Of course we all had to help Truitt pick up his goodies. 

Because why not! It's a hat.

The piñata will be a repeat for sure.  We couldn't come up with anything creative to put inside this year, but next year it will be better.  Gift Cards? Cash?  I just don't know!  I wish I would have gotten more pictures of everyone just hanging out.  I have 3.



 
The best picture though is the group picture with a selfie stick! Huge thank you to my friend Bailey for bringing it with her.  I have always wanted to try one.  I haven't ordered one for myself yet, but soon.  It will happen. Happy St. Patrick's Day friends!!
 


Sunday, March 1, 2015

Let's Go to the Beach!

Every year for our wedding anniversary we go on a trip.  Year 1 was New Orleans, Year 2 Mexico and Year 3 was Vegas.  Year 4 we knew we couldn't travel far or long because we needed to take Dexter with us.  So we went to Galveston!  Even though it was overcast, rainy and in February it was still a good time.  I wouldn't say we really WENT to the beach, but we could see it.  That counts, right?! 

We rented a house on seawall.  This was my first rental experience and I must say, I was pleased.  Already looking forward to going again.  It is so nice to have your own house vs a hotel room.  We got in late Friday night, went to the store and then unpacked.  We were all exhausted from the drive.  It snowed on the way out of Dallas and rained on the way into Galveston.  I took pictures of the view from our front porch and one on the inside, but failed to take one of the outside! So not like me. tsk tsk





The next day we went over to The Strand and walked around exploring.  We found a cute pub called Stuttgarden so of course we had to go in.  Who cares if it was 10:30am! We were on vacation.


The Strand is such a neat part of Galveston!  So much to do there. 






Later that afternoon we meet up with some friends that live there for a late lunch at a place called Benno's.  It was yummy!  They have a daughter that is 3 months older than Dexter so it was fun to see them together.  Wish I would have gotten a picture. Totally forgot until after they had left. Boo.
That night we went back to The Strand after hearing about this thing called Artwalk! It's where all the art places open up at night time and you can walk around checking everything out.  Did I mention they offer free wine? It was hard with Dexter as we forgot the Ergo Carrier and pushing a stroller was hard in the art gallery's.  We ended up at a sushi place recommend by our friends.  It was perfect!  Here is a picture of our dinner.  I just love Dexter's face in this shot!


All in all it was a great trip! Different than anniversary trips past, but none the less, we loved it.  And of course we love each other.  4 years of marriage and 1 baby.  I say that is a success.