CANMT: Fort Worth Stockyards

 On Saturday we all piled into the Gamlens van and went to the Fort Worth Stockyards. Luckily, Josh drives to Dallas for work, so when we hit traffic that was at a dead stop due to construction he knew how to get around it. The Stockyards were a perfect Texas experience!
 We chose Saturday to go because there was an Easter Celebration that day.

I just love this poster. So Texas.

We started off by scouting out the different egg hunting areas. They were divided by age. Then we looked around a bit. The first thing we saw were the cowboys.

Aren't the ears cute? They are the ones we bought the day before at the Dollar Store. They didn't wear them long, but for the time they did they were adorable. I'm not sure why Melodie was making that face. We shopped a bit and I went into Dr. Pepper overload. I didn't know Dr. Pepper was first made in Texas. I love Dr. Pepper. Oh, and did I mention today was my birthday? So Rocky told me I could buy whatever Dr. Pepper products I wanted. Before we left the Stockyards I had bought Dr. Pepper in bottles, Cherry Dr. Pepper Dessert Topper, and Dr. Pepper beef jerkey, marinade and BBQ sauce. I tried to buy a cake mix with frosting, but they were sold out. Dr. Pepper!

 But back to the shopping. Melodie really wanted boots and a cowboy hat. The little girls walking around in their sundresses and boots were so cute. But they were real boots, which means they were expensive. Sorry Mel, your feet are still growing and I wasn't going to spend that much on something she could only wear for a few months. But a hat would be fine. We spent the morning comparing and trying on all different colors and shapes of cowboy hats. The Gamlens bought some Texas sized jelly beans.

And there were some great photo ops around the shopping area.

There was a clown making balloons, so all the kids had one made.

I love the balloon long horns.

I caught Melodie in a strange look, but I needed to show off the final product. Mel asked for a heart flower. What she meant was a heart on a stem. This is what she got and she loved it.
 Then the Hunts showed up! They are our friends that live in Denton. But you'll meet them later. They joined us just in time to see the cattle drive. The Long Horns were huge!

 Now it was time to head to the Easter egg areas. Our group had to split into three different areas because of age differences. Here's our 4-5 year olds waiting patiently.

Of course, the waiting got more and more difficult. It was funny to see all the kids inching forward by the ropes. Ours were by a wall, so they couldn't get much closer. Then it was time and they were off!

Not wanting to get in the way, I stayed behind the wall. That made it difficult to take pictures. Most kids stayed in one area and grabbed what they could. Mel would grab one egg, then run off to another area, grab one egg, then run off to another area...you get the idea. She was having a great time. It was over really soon.

Checking out what candy she got.

I love these kind of egg hunts. I know they're not really hunts. More like egg grabs. At home we go to around three different city ones the Saturday before Easter. I love them. I don't think the Gamlens or the Hunts will ever go to another one. They weren't that impressed. Not much reward for the effort I suppose. But I don't think the kids care. As long as Mel has fun, we'll keep going to them.
 We all gathered together again and let the kids eat some candy. Some things I saw while we were just hanging out:

I love how pretty this horse is...all ready for Easter.

Protecting everyone while in a cowboy hat. Love it.

We were wating for Cow Camp, so we did a little more shopping and a few more photo ops.

When in Texas...

Tractor fun

It was finally time for Cow Camp. We waited and waited and waited. There were other people waiting too. Strange. We saw that it was scheduled online and it was on the paper that listed the activities for the day. But nothing. Eventually we gave up. We were starving. All the places to eat were so crowded! I'm not a big technology fan, but everyone (except me) pulled out their phones and found another Riscky's in Fort Worth, but not at the Stockyards. Before we left we bought Melodie the cowGIRL (we kept being corrected by Melodie) hat we decided on.