The Best Barbecue in Texas

Saturday morning our little family loaded up in the truck and headed about an hour down the road to Snow’s BBQ in Lexington for what has been deemed the best barbecue in the state.  I’m not joking when I say it, Snow’s really has been named the best barbecue in Texas according to Texas Monthly (check out the article here).  Now Snow’s isn’t your every day, run of the mill barbecue joint.  For one, they’re only open one day a week.  That’s right, you read correctly, one day only from 8:00am until they run out (which is usually well before noon).  We’ve witnessed this first hand.  The very first time we went to Snow’s we arrived around 10ish and all the had left was a few links of sausage.  Experience has made us wiser, and we now know you must arrive much, much earlier.  Yup, you gotta get your barbecue closer to 8:00am.  I know it sounds crazy, but trust me it is totally worth getting up at the crack of dawn.  Now, we always get it to go, but you’d be surprised how many people are lined up every Saturday morning at 8am and eat their barbecue for breakfast.  Brisket, beans, coleslaw, potato salad, you name it…tables are full inside and outside of barbecue lovers eating sausage instead of cereal, brisket instead of biscuits…you get the picture.  It really blew my mind the first time we went, but now it’s just part of the charm of going to Snow’s.  So, if you’re ever hungry for some barbecue and you don’t mind a little country drive, I highly recommend heading down to Lexington to try out Snow’s BBQ.  I guarantee you won’t regret it. 

The building is nothing fancy, but then again, that’s where you find some of the best places.

Trust me, it really is as good as it looks. 

Yum!

Tootsie and Kerry…Snow’s pitmasters hard at work.

Haylen watching Daddy order.

Playing outside.

She had so much fun!  Just can’t wait to go back!

Our Little Firecracker

I know, the Fourth of July has come and gone but I still wanted to take the time to share this post.  Our day was filled with family (C.J.’s parents came to spend the day), hot dogs (how American, huh? ;-)), and shopping.  With all the excitement of the day, our little firecracker refused to fizzle out and take a nap, so instead of going to watch the fireworks light up the night sky, it was lights out for our girl.  Guess we’ll be saving fireworks for next year.  Oh, and did I mention, we had a little Fourth of July photo shoot.

I love taking pictures.  I guess you could call photography my hobby.  Since my favorite subject is my kiddo, some might call it momtography.  If you are my father-in-law, you call it something I should seriously pursue (I love his confidence in me).  Whatever, you want to call it, I call it fun!  So sit back, relax, and enjoy the pictures.










 

Happy 4th from the Havliks!

The Girl’s Got Style

One of the perks of having a little girl is dressing her up!  I’m just so glad that Haylen enjoys it just as much as I do. 

Have I mentioned the fact that I LOVE Baby Gap?

Sweet Summertime

Wow!  The first week of summer is under our belts and I can’t wait for what comes next.  This past week seemed like quite the whirlwind.  Here’s a little recap of our first week.


SUNDAY
My parents came to visit us for the day.  It had been quite some time since we’d seen them last, so their little day trip was great!  We had barbeque for lunch and then headed off to the mall for a little afternoon of shopping.  Barbeque and shopping, does it get any better?  It was so wonderful spending the afternoon with them.


MONDAY
CJ is doing his internship for his masters this summer, so he went to work bright and early Monday morning, which left me and my girl to spend the day together.   While I had quite the to do list to complete, we still made time for a little morning picnic on the patio.



It’s the little things I enjoy so much about summer.  This was one of those moments.  After our picnic, I felt like I spent all morning on the phone…calling bookstores in Huntsville trying to locate the elusive books for CJ’s summer courses, calling Powersports about gymnastics lessons, calling Aerofit for swim lessons.  That afternoon, Haylen and I drove out to Powersports to officially sign her up.  It really was a productive day, so write that down.  Might not happen again anytime soon.  What can I say?  It’s summer!


TUESDAY
We started our day off with a walk around the neighborhood.  The weather was wonderful.  Not too hot.  Cool breeze blowing.  Sun shining.  Ahh, sweet summertime. 



Later that morning was Haylen’s first gymnastics class!!!  She had a blast!  I’m so glad that we signed her up.



Tuesday was also special for another reason…It was our 2 year wedding anniversary!  We celebrated with a family dinner at The Republic.  I know I’ve written about The Republic before.  It’s kinda our go to place for special occasions.  We had a wonderful evening and little one had so much fun trying new things…oysters rockefeller, summer tomato salad with sorbet, asparagus soup.  Oh, and honestly how could I forget, Béarnaise sauce.  The child proceeded to dip everything on her plate in it.  And when I say everything, I really mean everything, roasted chicken, potatoes, bread, her finger, and yes, even her creamed spinach.  Apparently, according to her, everything’s better with Béarnaise!


We finished off dinner with the Apple French Toast.  I really love when they write on the plate in chocolate.  Makes me feel kinda special.




WEDNESDAY
Wednesday really wasn’t a crazy eventful day; however, that night I started my adult gymnastics class.  That’s right, adult gymnastics and get this…I lived to write about it!  While I’m pretty sure…scratch that…I’m fairly certain, I’m the oldest one in the class.  Oh well, who cares because I can still tumble!  Thirty years old and a kiddo later, I can still manage most of what I could do in my younger days.  Granted, I walked like a person from the old folks home for the next two days.  But hey, really, what do you expect when you’re using muscles you forgot you had! 


THURSDAY
I spent most of the day cleaning with my little sidekick.  She is always so excited to help.  I better take advantage of it while I still can.  I have a feeling once she gets older helping Mom clean the house might not be so cool. 

 
That night CJ’s parents drove up to spend the weekend with us.


FRIDAY
While CJ and his dad drove to Houston to pick up the conversion rails for Haylen’s crib, CJ’s mom, Baby Bug, and I had us a girl’s morning at the nail salon.  I love that Haylen likes getting her toes painted just as much as I do!  Not to mention, she looks stinking adorable with her little pink toes! 



After lunch Diane watched Haylen while I went to get a massage.  Oh. My. Goodness.  That massage was just what my poor sore muscles needed.  Talk about relaxed!  So relaxed, in fact, I took a two and a half hour nap with my daughter that afternoon.  While we were having our little snoozefest, the rest of the family headed out to find a pool for Haylen.  Mission accomplished.  They came home with the cutest little pool and a lounge chair for her.  I’m afraid my husband was just as excited, dare I even say more excited than our child.  He couldn’t even wait for her to put her swimsuit on.  He let her dive right in with her onesie!  Swimsuit, who needs a swimsuit? Apparently, ain’t nobody got time for that!




SATURDAY
On Saturday, CJ, his mom, Haylen, and I headed off to The Woodlands.  CJ’s internship class had to meet at the Woodlands Center that morning, so we dropped him off and us girls went straight to the mall.  We barely had time to start swimsuit shopping when I received a text that he was done.  After picking him up, we decided to forego shopping, at least for a little bit, to grab lunch at Schilleci’s New Orleans Kitchen.  Lunch was amazing!  Haylen even got to try her first beignet. 



She loved it, and all the powdered sugar that came with it!  She was licking the powdered sugar off of her Elmo placemat.  I took a picture of her doing this.  Not gonna lie.  The picture kinda makes it look like my 15 month old might need to be on the next episode of Intervention.  I promise that is strictly powdered sugar! LOL!



She had so much fun eating her beignets.  That smile melts my heart every time!  And look at that powdered sugar nose!  Too cute!



After lunch, we headed to Baby Gap.  I LOVE Baby Gap.  It’s probably a good thing we don’t have one in College Station.  I found about three outfits and a swimsuit within the first few steps I took into the store.  Those three outfits led to about twenty-three more…and two more swimsuits…and three pairs of shoes…and a sun hat…and two bracelets…and…  Well, you get the picture.  Honestly, I might need an intervention in this store.  This was Haylen’s first big experience trying on clothes in a dressing room.  It. Was. Priceless.  The child had a blast!  She was giggling and prancing around in each outfit.  Making faces at herself in the mirror.  I really wish we had it on video!  Is a 15 month old supposed to like shopping this much, or are we in serious trouble?  Mini Shopaholic, maybe???  Oh my!!!  The rest of the day was awesome.  A stop at JCrew for me, the mall again, and we ended the day with dinner at our favorite German food restaurant, The Kaiserhof, on the way home. 


SUNDAY
Our weekend ended with Haylen getting to spend the afternoon with both sets of her grandparents.  We all had a fabulous home cooked lunch and just enjoyed each other’s company.  Not too shabby for our first week of summer. 

Mommy and Me

Well, we made it!  Summer break is finally here.  Another school year is behind us, while a beautiful summer lies ahead.  I’m just gonna go ahead and say it.  I love summer.  Period.  End of sentence.  Need I say more?  No work.  No morning alarm clocks blaring in my ear as I hit snooze for the twentieth time.  But most importantly, no leaving my girl!  I get to be a stay at home mom! (well, until school starts up again, but that’s a little ways off so really who even wants to talk about that now!?!)  I get to spend each and every day with our precious little girl.  I cannot even begin to tell you how happy that makes me.  This is a big summer for us.  Our baby girl is growing up in the blink of an eye, and while the thought of that can bring me to tears, it is also super exciting.  It opens up a whole new world of things our Baby Bug can now enjoy, things she was “too little” for last summer.  First of which is…Gymnastics!!!



I signed Haylen up for the Mommy and Me class at a local gym.  As I signed her up, I was just hoping she would be just as excited about it as I was.  After signing her up, I  had to go buy her a new leotard.  Simply had to.  If we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do it right.  While the gym I signed her up at didn’t have a pro-shop, the gym right down the road sure did.  I may, or may not, have bought them out of every leotard in her size.  Don’t judge.  It was only three. 

Tuesday was the big day.  I got her dressed early because, for those of you who know me, you’re probably not surprised that we had to have a little photo shoot before we left.  There was no way I was passing up the opportunity to capture all that cuteness in a little leotard!  Oh. My. Goodness.  Haylen LOVED her new outfit!  She was prancing around and strutting her stuff.  I know you’re probably thinking, she’s 15 months old.  Really?  How much “strutting” was she doing.  Well, you be the judge…

Just look at that.  My child is such a ham! 

And this one.  My, oh my! 

Her gymnastics class ended up being a big hit!  She absolutely loved it!  I  loved being able to share that time with her.  Seeing her walking on the beam, practicing forward rolls, jumping on the trampoline…Loved every minute!   

I just couldn’t resist.  Here are a few more pictures from Tuesday.

In other news, I started gymnastics too!  I had my class last night.  Thirty years old, and a kiddo later, I can still tumble!  Cartwheels, round-offs, round-off back handspring, round-off and TWO back handsprings, and even standing tucks (this one with a spot of course), and most importantly, I lived to tell about it!  It was so much fun, but boy do I feel it today.  I sure ain’t no spring chicken anymore!  Thank goodness for my wonderful mother-in-law who got me a gift certificate to Elements Therapeutic Massage for Mother’s Day.  Guess who’s cashing it in tomorrow!

Well, until our next adventure.  Happy Summer!

Milkshakes Make Everything Better

I’m not sure why, but my child decided to boycott her naps today.  I guess she thought she didn’t need them.  Maybe she just wanted to soak it all in today and didn’t want to miss a moment.  Whatever the reason may be, I am here to let you know that might not have been a wise decision on her part. 

 

She finally crashed after dinner and slept for about an hour. Before her after dinner siesta, she wasn’t fussy or irritable.  I could just tell she was tired.  Mommy just knows.  After her little snooze, now that was a different story.  She was happy as long as Mommy was holding her.  The minute I would put her down she would fuss and whine.  Heck, we even saw some real tears in there.  She loves her bath, so I figured if anything would make her happy, that definitely would.  Boy, was I wrong.  That was the saddest bath I have ever seen.  There were tears in the bathtub.  Seriously!?!  Tears?  Now by this time, I’m really wondering if she’s not feeling good.  Is there a tooth coming in that’s hurting her?  What is going on?  She is never unhappy for bath time. Never.  This has to be something more than just being tired.

 

A little side note here.  CJ went to get milkshakes while I was bathing Haylen.  He returned just as I was putting her pj’s on.  By the way, she was still unhappy.  She cried the whole time I dressed her.  I was finally able to get her to stop crying, but she was still just not herself.  And, she still would not let me put her down.  She finally decided it was okay for us to sit on the couch together.  By this time CJ had given me my milkshake and boy was she interested. 

 

 

I gave her a little sip and I kid you not, it was like she flipped the switch.  My whiney, crying, little lump of sadness, turned into the silly, giggly, girl she usually is.  One sip.  It’s not like I can blame this change on the sugar.  One sip.  That strawberry milkshake was the magic cure. 

 

       

 

These aren’t the best pictures.  She was moving, and I was laughing as I was taking them.  You can still see her puffy eyes and red nose from her trip to sadsville, but look at that sly little grin!  I guess a little strawberry shake goes a long way.  Apparently, milkshakes make it all better!