Catching up and making friends

Before we moved here I met a lady in Austin and she said something to me that didn't completely sink in until after we arrived. She said "The people are so nice and will go above and beyond to help you." I know several areas of the country where I could say this about as well so when she said it I was kinda like ok yeah the people are nice. I guess maybe it is that I know we aren't leaving in 3 months, that I can plant some roots, the people I meet could become friends I will see often, we need to meet people that can become our extended family, and we need to be completely comfortable here. In our short time here, I can say she really was right. Of course not every person you meet is as "sweet as pie" but most have been open armed welcoming us and following up on the house search, if we have you learned the area,  did we find a pediatrician for W, and do we need a recommendations for anything?  It has been comforting. That said (take a deep breath NWA and Dallas peeps...we still love you more!) LOL!  

 Around Town

Daniel is taking the laptop so much that I keep forgetting to blog. I attempted it on the tablet. I had a post almost completed and it lost power..that wouldn't have been bad however, in the time I got it plugged in the MiFi lost power as well and it was gone. I was so frustrated after figuring out how to blog on it and then transfer pictures that when nap-time was over I just gave up!  This post is all about catching up and lots of just randomness. I tried to make flow..it doesn't. :/  You will see we have been pretty busy making new friends and getting to know them better...which directly relates to my opening statement! **I even sacrificed my phone charger for you unknowingly (hey thanks W)  in the dog water while typing this**


Ok now back to us - Valentines Day was perfectly low key and much more perfect than we could have planned. Wyatt and I picked up Daniel for lunch and we headed to Fuzzys Tacos. Yummy! The restaurant was full of couples attempting to celebrate Valentines day over lunch away from the kiddos! It made us laugh and we enjoyed a "date" with Wyatt. After lunch W and I headed to the store to get the essentials for a shrimp dinner. I also grabbed the last of what I needed for W's and D's valentines day man box. After nap we had a fantastic dance party outside while waiting for D to get home. He surprised me with tulips however, unfortunately they were already dead. HA! While driving back to town to exchange them for new ones lil guy fell asleep and was out for the rest of the evening.  We hadn't planned on anything huge but to have dinner as a family, eat a cupcake, bath for Wyatt, then bedtime..but the night was much easier! Honestly we could not have asked for a better relaxing evening. Daniel and I had dinner and a relaxing evening full of funny Thursday night TV.

 

Day at the art museum- This town has so much to offer in regards to fine arts. The local art museum was putting on a children's day. We knew that Wyatt was a little young but went in an attempt to get out of the house. They had some really neat activities and he even made a few heart valentine creations. We enjoyed walking through the museum and quickly browsing the art. Wyatt pushed the stroller through all 5 exhibits so by the end he was was pretty tired. We want to go back to actually look at the art at some point. LOL!

 Trip to port A-  After a week of cold weather and rain, Wyatt and I made a much needed trip to Port A so that he could walk around Target and the mall. We had the best time. We had actually met D for lunch, but I ordered something extremely spicy so we ended up at Chick-fil-A for a late lunch/early snack for Wyatt amongst all the shopping excitement.

Delta Downs - We ventured over to the casino in LA for the seafood EXTRAVAGANZA one Friday evening. I was a little worried about taking a kiddo into a casino. I wasn't exactly sure if it was allowed. I was surprised at the number of kids and they were completely welcome. I think it is obvious that someone had a great time!

 Music festival-Daniel decided he wanted to go to the Boomtown music festival two weekends ago. After he spent the entire morning studying he came home and we loaded up a well napped boy ready for an afternoon/evening of music. We arrived and were not impressed with the lack of enthusiasm about the event from one of the coordinators so much that we decided against going in. I had heard about a Gumbo Festival on the news that morning where all proceeds went to a girls shelter. So we went to that festival instead. It ended up being a lot of fun and they had live music (best of both worlds). We tried several types of gumbo and have determined what we like and don't and were able to learn a little more about the secrets of good gumbo. We decided this event will be one we will attend again.

Folding party - The next day we were invited to a Folding Party by a MOPS mother. The dads got meet, hang out, and watch the kids while the moms folded origami for an organization called

 

It is an amazing an organization started and run by kids ages 6 and 9. Paper for Water started when two little girls heard about kids in other countries not being able to go to school or play because instead they had to haul water. They decided to do something about this so they started folding paper and making ornaments. They knew how to make origami ornaments because their dad who is half-Japanese taught them for fun. They sold them at their local Starbucks and various events and in less than two years they’ve raised $122,000 for wells in India, Africa and other countries! They have spoken at the UN..um...can you imagine what they will do as they get older?!?!
The mom that hosted is the aunt of these two little amazing girls. Go check out their FB page to see the ornaments. I am still amazed!

 

After we finished folding we watched the kids play and then had a yummy dinner. We were able to get the tour of the "gardens" where they live as well as, the truly amazing historic house of her parents. This area has a lot of history because of all the oil wells and some of the houses and stories are fantastic! We had a great time and look forwarding to continuing to get to know all of the families better.

Fire station -The next week Wyatt and I had an opportunity to go the the fire station for a field-trip. Of course we had not ever done anything like this with a group and it was during naptime but overall Wyatt did just fine. He was a little young, but I knew he would enjoy the big trucks, tires, etc. I also knew that several of the other kids his age were going so if nothing else mama and kiddo would be socializing. They let the kids get int the trucks and Wyatt thought that was pretty cool. He even let a firefighter pick him up and take him in one of the big trucks. Wyatt sat on his lap and looked around. At that moment I think he really felt like the big kids that were doing everything!
The firehouse is a HUGE 2 story building that is state of the art and a replacement from Ike. It is the main station for the town and houses almost 20 firefighters. They were extremely patient with all the kids and showed them every aspect of the house and operations. They even had a firefighter come down the poll and get dressed like he was going out for a fire. They gave the kids a hat upon leaving and my guy loves it. After we all had lunch playground and my guy crashed as soon as we got in the car from all the fun.

Shangrai La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center - Wyatt and I met our new friends Meredith and H for some fun at the Gradens on Tuesday of this week. It was much more than I ever imagined and much like the Dallas Arboretum..but with a LA coast twist! LOL! It was really neat!  We walked the trails and then let the boys play in the kids garden for a long time while we chated. They enjoyed playing in the sand, little house, looking at the gardens, and having a snack in the little Arandack chairs etc.  We walked over to the Bayou as well as, the bird watching area and I was impressed.  We had a great time and can't wait to get together with Meredith and H again. They boys are so close in age that I think they are going to be good friends. They shared cheese and crackers and if that doesn't say friends at that age...what does!? :)

 

Thursday we met our new friend Stephanie for lunch. She and her husband just moved to the area as well. They are also staying in the park and one day I stopped to say hi. They are also looking for a house and she is completely new to the RV lifestyle. She is super sweet and I know we will definitely be hanging out. Wyatt really liked her and thought she was so funny.

 

Well, I think that catches you up on the total randomness of learning the area! We have been keeping busy meeting people and making quick day trips. Daniel is still enjoying the new job and is getting more comfortable with all the new responsibility. I am still extremely proud of him and know that though we didn't plan this, we are where we are supposed to be at this time. So what is new with you?