Raylen's Day Out

I have been extremely busy the last several weeks with a lot of projects. So, when my boss gave me today off to go along with the Memorial Day holiday, I decided to give Raylen the day. My decision was even more cemented after hearing about Maria Chapman, knowing that although I can't live in fear of what might be, I need to treasure each moment I have with Raylen and truly enjoy our time together. So, Raylen's Day became an official holiday in our house and we made the most of it.

We started out early and went to Log Cabin Village in Fort Worth. This was one of my favorite places as a child to go. If you've never been, it's a must see. For a minimal cost, you can experience several authentic log cabins and school house from the 1800's that are of local origination. One of the houses in particular, is set up as a "Hands On House" where the kids can actually play dress up, try out the feather bed, "cook" in the hearth, gather eggs from the "chickens" and pump water from a well. Raylen loved it and looked especially cute in my hand me down bonnet. The period people kept calling her Laura Ingalls.

After Log Cabin Village, we headed to Montgomery Street Antique Mall. We walked around for a while and Raylen did EXCELLANT at her first attempt to walk in a big store with breakables without being strapped in a stroller or buggy. I was especially excited that Raylen is learning to love old things, like I do (and her G-Da and Nawni do). We found some great bargains on the Value Tales Series of books that I read as a child and we are excited to start collecting now. After our shopping, we went to the store's Rose Garden Tea Room where we met up with G-Da (my mom) and had a delicious lunch. Raylen got a complement from another customer who admired how she behaved.

We made a brief stop at Dairy Queen for some yummy ice cream dessert. Dairy Queens are in short supply around here so it was fun to experience it again. As you can see, Raylen couldn't get enough.

Then, it was on to the Forest Park Train Ride. This train has been making trips around the Trinity River trails of Fort Worth for many, many years. My mom told me today that she remembers riding it as a child and I remember it fondly as well. Raylen loves train rides and we had a great and breezy time on this nostalgic train.

We were pretty pooped after the train ride, but we met up with Daddy and Uncle Joey at Joe's Crab Shack to eat some dinner. Raylen found energy somewher to play with her Uncle Joey and steal his Longhorn cap. By the way, Hook 'em Horns!

And after some unfortunate tears and cries of "I don't want to go home", we did indeed head home. The girl who said she wasn't sleepy is now, well, you tell me if she was sleepy or not.