I didn’t think I could write this post with my limited mobility, but I just love these photos and couldn’t wait to share. I’m a pretty fast typer normally so typing with 7 fingers doesn’t slow me down much. I just got a new camera (post on that coming soon!), so I’m constantly looking for excuses to take pictures and play with the new features. It will take me forever to work it off, but I adore it and I think it was a good move for me. We’ll see.
My parents flew in on Saturday and they leave Tuesday morning (I think I have to take them to the airport at 4:30 am, ick) so we’re making the most of our time while they are here. I had to get my car serviced on Saturday afternoon right after they flew in (have I already mentioned how I bartered with a wedding client, my photos for service on my car?) so we headed out to Fort Worth to drop my car off for a few hours and then spent some time in the historic district. I thought that the area would be a little bit boring for my parents, as they are from the country, and I have grandparents with a ranch that we have spent a lot of time on, but all three of us really enjoyed ourselves!
We started out at Love Shack, and aside from a slightly stale bun I thought it was one of the best burger places I’ve ever visited.


My dad has a newfound obsession with root beer.

The burger was delish but it was the fries that really did me in. They were cut thin and flat , so the salt and oil touches a greater amount of the potato strips. I think they’re the best fries I’ve ever had.

We visited the historic district of Ft. Worth on a Saturday so it was relatively crowded with lots to see. The street is filled with all kinds of spectacles that you can pay to have your picture taken with, like this docile longhorn or the (fake?) indian and his little ponies.

My dad and I played it cheap and decided to pose with the longhorn in the background. Probably not quite the same as what the girl behind us got, right?

As country folk that attended 2 county fairs a year for almost a decade we thought we had seen it all… until we found the chicken lasso pen. I’m hoping they start this up in my hometown soon.

I was giddy over the baby pigs. Did you know I raised pigs for 6 years and took them to the fair for 4H and FFA?

sweet boots cowgirl.

Aren’t my parents the cutest?I wish this photo didn’t have that ugly sign in the background so I think I’ll try to convince them to let me take another one today.

In the original stockyard area, where they have feed boxes and other original elements that are almost 100 years old.

The church my grandma would want to attend if she wasn’t a Mormon.


People rave all about mexi coke but I’m not a coca-cola fan so I’ve never been interested in trying it. I know my mom loves Dr. pepper though, so we ducked into this store advertising Dr. Pepper made with cane sugar to see if we could taste the difference between high-fructose corn syrup and cane sugar. There was a definite difference, but I would have loved it not matter what because of the bottle opener we got to use at the register!

How nifty is that? I’m not a soda drinker, but if I lived next to a store that sold glass bottled drinks you could open at the counter I’d start splurging on sugary drinks.


My dad bought a root beer (of course) and my mom bought two DPs, one diet with corn syrup and one throwback with cane sugar. She regretted the diet bottle and highly recommends the cane sugar version to anyone who might have the chance to try it.



Baby boots!

Dad “wearing” the giant spur.

“Mom, where are you?”

I love being in front of the camera, and having a momtog who comes up with great angles and proper exposure is the best.



ARMADILLO RACES!

My dad bought a knife in this long skinny boring store, boring only because the only items it housed were sharp. Mom and I realized that a knife is to a man, as a purse is to a woman. All of those knives looked exactly the same to me but I think my dad spent almost half and hour trying to pick the perfect one.

My car was finished right before the parade started so this is all we saw, although I think all of us were cold and done by that point. We had a great time though, and if TH’s parents ever come visit from Poland I think we’ll be bringing them here as well.


Today (Monday) will be spent visiting family and friends around Dallas before my parents head out of town. Think I should warn them I’ll be bringing my camera along?















December 7th, 2009 on 6:31 am
My husband’s best friend owns this little country store in the middle of the GA moutains and he has the same type of glass bottle opener, it’s in the back of the counter though.
Sounds like a fun afternoon and I’m sure your mom expects you with a camera.
Although I’m not a professional photographer my friends always expect me to bring my camera along and one time reacted when I did not bring it…
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December 7th, 2009 on 8:05 am
Oh Jenna, you have no idea what you’re missing out on with that Mexi-Coke!!!We went to Mexico on our honeymoon and I think that’s all I drank, then we got home to the States and found that a little organic market by us sells Mexi-Coke – we just about died. It’s so much better than regular Coke… I bet the Dr. Pepper your mom had was amazing, too. I wonder where I can find that aorund me?
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December 7th, 2009 on 9:55 am
Your parents are absolutely adorable! What a great set of photos. Makes me want to visit FW!! In the many years I lived in Texas (all my formative ones, in fact), I never went to FW, and only visited Dallas maybe 3 times.
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December 7th, 2009 on 10:04 am
Jenna, looks like y’all had a wonderful time! And don’t worry you didn’t miss much more of the “parade”. There’s usually only about 5-10 cows that mope along the road…it’s very anticlimactic! I don’t even think they need the Cowboys there to lead the way cause they’ve been making that walk for so long:) We ended up eating at Love Shack after y’all left and it was yummy! I’m sorry your bun was stale, though. Great photos of you and your family!!
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December 7th, 2009 on 10:24 am
Cute photos and of course I love the purple tights and flats!!!
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December 7th, 2009 on 10:33 am
I love DP with cane sugar! The Jason’s Deli close to me serves it in the fountain. It’s so much better. I buy Jones Cola because it’s made with real sugar. My mom lived in San Antonio for a few years and used to tell me about armadillo races.
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December 7th, 2009 on 11:22 am
Dad loved the armadillo races, he told me about them the other day. Only in Texas. I have never even seen an armadillo before
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December 7th, 2009 on 12:22 pm
Man, I was already in the mood for a real burger and that did not help! The pictures are so cute, so many fun things to do.
And men do love knives, do you know how much time I’ve had to spend in Williams Sonoma just looking at them?
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December 7th, 2009 on 1:13 pm
I love historic Fort Worth! I always take visitors there.
Did you make it to Sundance Square? That’s a neat part of town too, especially with the lights.
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December 7th, 2009 on 4:19 pm
Fort Worth is the best city, ever. Can you tell I was born & raised here?
The Stockyards are amazing, though. Did y’all check out the “world’s largest honkey-tonk” (Billy Bob’s)? It’s family firendly & they have bull ridig on Fri & Sat nights. They also have some fantastic Texas Country (google that if you’ve never heard of it – ah-mazing music) concerts on a fairly regular basis. They’ve also got some really great restaurants – Joe T’s, Los Vaqueros (you’d get some really amazing photos in both of those places, too) & Lonesome Dove Bistro.
And Sundance Square! That I amazing too! They’ve got it decorated for Christmas this time of year & it is just gorgeous! So worth going to visit.
*sigh* I just love Fort Worth.
That DP is called Dublin Dr Pepper – the DP made with cane sugar. Dublin is down by Stephenville & so worth a drive down there if you’ve never been.
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December 7th, 2009 on 6:21 pm
Your parents look so fun!
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December 8th, 2009 on 11:48 am
That looks like so much fun! So they just visited to visit? Awesome. One question, does Mexi-coke make their diet soda with artificial sweeteners AND corn syrup?
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December 8th, 2009 on 12:38 pm
LOVE the purple tights! And that picture of you and your dad is so cute – I love how you’re sort of standing on your toes – I do the same thing when I pose in pictures with people who are taller than me (which is pretty much everyone). Looks like a fun day!
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December 10th, 2009 on 11:04 pm
Looks like a blast! Love the cowboy church.
Your parents are so much fun! Love to you all!
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December 19th, 2009 on 8:36 am
The Coke part cracked me up. Since moving here, I, along with every gringo I know, including my husband who has never been a huge fan, have become serious Coke addicts. They sell soft drinks and candy in pulperias here. We have three just on this block. So you can imagine what it means to know we can go grab a HFCS free Coke at any point during the day for the equivalent of 50 cents. I had to give it up for my current 30 day goal.
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