Our Rodeo Adventure with a toddler plus tips

Hello all! This passed Friday we went on a little adventure to the Rodeo, it was the second time going but first time this season. As we attend Rodeo each year it will be different experience as we have a growing little boy going with us. 

Here it goes but first lets rewind to last year, last year we went with a 1 in a half year old with a lot more stuff in troll with us plus a little boy who was just amazes with everything and still is and was barely learning how to talk. Now our 2017 rodeo adventure kicked off with daddy getting off of work early and we headed out. Tip 1: If you plan on going during spring break especially on a Friday and staying for the performance, get there around four.... It was a perfect time for a toddler. We found our designated parking lot since we had a parking pass and parked right up front across from the stadium. Got my son off the car, unloaded the diaper bag, and our stroller. Yes a stroller Tip 2: Take a lightweight stroller that folds easily and can be store easily under your chairs during the performance. All set up we head to the gates to check in and get our fun started. Tip 3: If carrying a diaper bag please have all the pockets open so they could scan though and make the process quick. Tip 4: One parent per a stroller. Tip 5: Have all things out of pockets and in the bucket so you could go though the metal detector quickly. Once we were clear from all that we were now on the grounds for our adventure. 

Tip 6: They have this right when you walked in plus information booths with volunteers handing out visitors guide booklets with maps and vendors in it. Also a wheelchair and scooter vendor, and maps all over the grounds.

 

Food, Rides, Games, Animals, Shops, Cowboys, Cowgirls, Music and Cold drinks oh my where do we start! Our adventure started with stopping at the information booth and talk to a volunteer who offer to help us find our next spot, and handed us a visitors guide with some helpful information which includes maps, food, and all the vendors on the grounds. Once we were done talking to him we took our son inside the NRG arena to the petting zoo where he try to ride a goat, yes a goat. Tip 7: When heading to the petting zoo it's free to get in, but no food or drinks allowed. Also there is a little fee if you like to feed the animals. As well as a stroller parking. Once we were done there we continued to walked the arena where they offer a lot of cool things for kids in the AGventure area such as honey bees, milking palor, birthing center, rabbits, poultry and so much more, but our favorite beside the petting zoo was the pony rides and pony pictures(small fee for both). Here is a picture of my little guy on the pony, yes we purchased the picture as it was just to cute not to get it. From there we walked the other side where the vendors were at to look around. 

Once done with that part we took a walked outside by this time we had already been there for two hours, they say time flies by when you are having fun and it's true it does! As we were walking we were hungry so we settle for a turkey leg and a sausage on a stick with a drink....all of us ate off of that because it was so big and so good. Tip 8: You could bring drinks and snacks inside the grounds, great for a toddler.  

More walking around as well as took more pictures, and ate things that we all enjoyed sorry no pictures got to into it...lol. My boys saw model cars and had to take a look at the newer mustang as my husband loves mustang and well my son just loves cars and I happen to captured this cute picture. 

After that we stop by the famous reliant boot to captured a picture of us because that was the cool thing to do. 

Than we went inside the stadium to get ready for the livestock show, and the performance which was 5th harmony. First time seeing them in concert and it was a great show as well as we enjoyed seeing our dancing machine dance(our son), and of course he needed to get a cool light which he was amazes by it. Also note: 2 years and under are free, but if you have a toddler like mines that he thinks he needs his own chair than get an extra ticket, thankfully we had extra seats around us. Tip 9: Purchased a souvenir cup as they now have refills stations inside the stadium(we bought a cup on the grounds and we took it inside and got our refill(not sure if we could take the cup inside but no one told us anything.) After concert we walked some more before heading home and calling it a night! We made a stop at Kettle Korn of Texas to get a bag of kettle corn...very good and prices are wonderful a small bag is 4, medium is 6, and a large not sure on the price but the bags were a decent size. My favorite place to get kettle corn while there at the rodeo. Here are a few pictures. 

Finally before heading out the gate to our car we took a family photo in front of the Ferris wheel(don't mind my son he loved all the cool lights around him and the one he was holding). While heading to the exit gates we saw a line dance going on it in the middle of the grounds. Hey it's the Rodeo everyone was there for a good time and it happen! 

It was time to say bye to the Rodeo as it was fun, and we had a great time and it was another wonderful experience with my little guy. He was amazed with everything and mama, dada, see, wow, look, counting at the livestock show, trying to ride a goat, dancing with 5th harmony and so much more was all priceless. See you next season with a 3 in a half year old for different experience and first time on the rides....so be prepared for us! 

Again until next year,  but first lets give the last 3 tips: 

Tip 10: Packing a diaper bag 

Diapers 

Hand sanitizer 

Hand and face wipes for my little guy 

Wipes 

Extra clothes 

Light sweater just in case it gets cold at night 

Snacks 

Changing pad 

Thermal cup for ice water(which stay cold the whole time we were there)

And of course the lightweight stroller

Tip 11: Wear and dress comfortable 

Tip 12: Enjoy yourself and as a family, and create as many memories as you can

And than we take a selfie, sleep on the way home, and talk about the good time we have and can't wait for next year!

Lauren

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My Dear Two in half year old

What are we going to do with this time that is going by so fast. I remember when your daddy and I held your little self for the first time like it was yesterday, and now you are a growing boy a toddler at that. It makes my heart sad a little that my once baby boy is now a growing toddler, but than the things I see you do and how you have growing so much makes my heart happy. Since your second birthday in September to now being at the half mark of your second birthday has been a journey of learning new things, testing patience, and enjoying life!

Now my two in half year old son things have change from you wanting or trying to do things by yourself, to being a car and truck lover, a paw partol fan, a dancing machine, and everything involving racing and counting down at the starting line. You have also gone to your third movie theater trip to see lego batman which was a successful one beside the last 10 minutes...we will take it. Also went to your first quinceañera where you showed everyone your moves and precious memories where made that night. You have also been introduced to the big boy potty and we are slowly, but surely working on that as a team. You also love your puzzles, coloring, and just cuddling with us on the bed and watch tv, oh yeah playing rough with daddy, and keep us on our toes!

Finally my love as you are growing up I promise to continue to enjoy the good and bad days. To teach you something new everyday and continue to be proud of you as each day you have picked up on something or doing something different.

Now let's sit back and enjoy the next 6 months before you turn three on me!!

Love,

Mommy

P.S. Stay tuned his next letter will be in September.

What went on in February and Hello March

Hello all! Here is the scoop for what went on the month on February:

My best son celebrated his 18th birthday
Superbowl was held in my hometown Houston, TX. We spend the day at home with some bbq by my husband.
My husband 34th birthday we celebrated with cupcakes and balloons along with a family dinner that night. Than my in laws took him to lunch the next day.
My son went to his first Monster Jam event and was the best experience went him, and as a family...can't wait to do it all over again next year
Valentine's day was great...we decided to eat at home because we didn't want to deal with a long wait time and crowds, especially since my 2 year old didn't nap at all that day. So I change the menu that night to chicken enchiladas, rice and charro beans along with Mexican crema. And for dessert we had chocolate strawberries and us adults had a bottle on wine, while our son enjoyed some fruit punch along with toast to end the night. You know I was with my boys and it was a one memorable Valentine's day.
We also took our son to see the Lego Batman movie, it was the third going but a first successful one well beside the last 10 minutes, but hey it was a start to something good.
We also slipped in a visit along with a homemade lunch from my grandma and ice cream for dessert with her
And finally it's month 2 of 2017 and working out is still strong.

Beside all this we also just spend time together as a family.

How was month 2 of 2017 for you?

Stay tuned to see what March holds in stores for us...with that being said

Hello March!!!!

Lauren

Monster Jam...First family experience

A week ago today we went to our first Monster Jam as family. It was experience that will be unforgettable and in a good way. See let me start off by telling you my son who is 2 is into the cars and trucks stage which is to cute to see and of course we are into it as well, and before baby my husband and I went now we went with a child, our child. Here is our experience: 

First let me start off with this mommy won free tickets to monster jam and plus it was my husband/daddy birthday weekend. We enjoyed his birthday Friday the 10th of February and than ended it with bang at Monster Jam. We attended the pit(note if you plan on going in the future you must have pit passes to attend the pit, your tickets will not get you in...also it's a pit pass per event ticket.)  I stated this as I felt bad for families because they waited outside for the gates to open, and once they open people were getting turndown until closer to showtime( which gates open a noon and show didn't start till 3:30). Ok back to us...we head out to the stadium and had 30 minutes to wait on a hot day in February here in Texas..crazy weather for Texas, crazy weather for Fenruary. Once gate opened we went inside to the floor and walked around to see and take pictures of the trucks, and my son did do some of the kids activities. The moment my son saw the first truck his reaction was with eyes big Wow, mama, dada, big trucks, see, see...oh my we will never forget that. Keep in mind not much to do during the pit beside pictures, meet the drivers, and a few kids activities which make it a long afternoon until showntime with a toddler but we mange and toddler(my child) didn't go crazy. During the pit we felt like we were done after 30 minutes, and so we walked up the steps to the concession stand to get lunch since we couldn't leave and sat outside on the patio/balcony of the stadium. From there we walked around for bit found our seats and sit down talked, took pictures, change a diaper, refill our drink, grab cotton candy! Than it was showtime not sure if my son was going to get scared of the truck engines, but since he had headphones to protect his ears he was good and excited. First round was wheelies, second round was racing, and than third round was freestyle with one intermission. My son was beyond excited, and he kept his headphones on and was cheering, counting 1, 2, 3, Go, clapping, and jumping up and down and even wanted us to count with him as well which we did. 

Show lasted about three hours but we were there since 11:30(Noon was when the pit open) and didn't get home till about 7pm. You know from us getting there early and coming home at the time we did was so worth it and we would do it all over again, a matter of fact we are already looking forward to next year. We have had many experience with our son since he was born and all have been enjoyable and memorable, but this one is a little different because of his age and how he's into the car and truck stage at the moment and understand a bit more. Everything from the moment we pulled up to the stadium to leaving the stadium I couldn't help to smile the whole time as we made another memory for him and with him. 

All priceless memories and a lot were captured but here are few oh by the way we are Grave Digger fans as you will tell from the pictures.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned to see what else we get into! 

Lauren 

COMCAST CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY

COMCAST CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY, INTRODUCES NEW PERMANENT COLLECTION

"BLACK HISTORY ALWAYS ON"

With the intent of offering content that celebrates Black History year-round, Comcast launched a new permanent collection in the ‘Black Film & TV’ destination of Xfinity on Demand called "Black History Always On".

This collection includes more than 100 titles of content including historical documentaries, biographical films, Comcast’s original Voices of the Civil Rights Movement profiles, specials from networks like Smithsonian Channel and more. It will serve as the permanent place on the Xfinity on Demand platform to learn about the achievements of African-American people year round.

In fact, a recent study by Nielsen DBS showed that over 60% of black millennials agree that it feels really good to see stars in media who share their ethnic background. That’s one of the reasons that this month the Black Film & TV destination includes a section called ‘Black Women Behind the Scenes,’ which puts a spotlight on women directors, producers, writers, costume designers, and even stunt doubles. Included in this section are intimate one-on-one conversations with talented women like Gina Prince Bythewood, Susan Fales Hill, Effie Brown, Kay Oyegun, LaFaye Baker, Quinta Brunson and Franchesca Ramsey to name a few. There are also a few men like Prentice Penny, David E. Talbert, Malcom D. Lee and Reggie Rock Bythewood weighing in. Comcast’s network partners also participated by capturing conversations with their women behind the camera including Tasha Smith and D’Angela Proctor for TV One, Zola Mashariki and Connie Orlando for BET, Terri J. Vaughn for Aspire and Lucy Chodota for The Africa Channel, to name a few.

Lastly, Comcast believes in independent black filmmaking. The company has officially announced a partnership with American Black Film Festival and BlackStar Film Festival to launch a special collection through our Streampix on demand service, which is licensing short and feature length films and webisodes from alumni filmmakers who screened their works at past festivals. With these new partnerships, Comcast is using the Xfinity on Demand platform to invest in the black filmmaking community and showcase its work to an even broader audience.

Comcast is proud to create and launch a collection of content and stories that parents can sit down with their kids and watch together, not just in February but whenever they choose, because for Xfinity, Black History is Always On.
Users can find all of this content in the ‘Black Film & TV’ destination, on X1 on demand, by selecting the On Demand menu and scrolling right or by saying “Black Film & TV” into the X1 Voice Remote.

So what are you waiting for? Happy watching! #BlackHistoryAlwaysOn #XfinityBH

“XFINITY STREAM” APP ON FEBRUARY 28

COMCAST TO LAUNCH “XFINITY STREAM” APP ON FEBRUARY 28
TO ALL XFINITY TV SUBSCRIBERS

In Home: Watch Entire TV Line-Up on Phones, Tablets & Laptops;
On-the-Go: 200+ Live Channels, Remote DVR Access and 40,000 On Demand Titles

Comcast announced that it will launch “Xfinity Stream,” an app available to all Xfinity TV users at no additional cost and will allow them to watch their entire TV line-up on phones, tablets and laptops in the home, and when they’re on-the-go, to tune-in to more than 200 live channels, access and program their DVR and watch 40,000 on demand titles.

“We’re focused on creating the best entertainment experiences across platforms and continuing to give Xfinity TV customers more choice in how, when and where they access their content,” said Matt Strauss, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Video and Entertainment Services at Comcast Cable. “With the Xfinity Stream app, we are giving customers access to the best content in and out of the home with a growing list of advanced features and capabilities that make the mobile experience nearly identical to the cable experience they enjoy at home.” 

The Xfinity Stream app, the successor to the Xfinity TV app, includes the ability to switch to a Spanish guide, favorite channel filtering, music channels and Common Sense Media reviews and ratings, offering users an X1-like experience for customers’ phones, tablets and laptops in and out of the home.

·         Live TV and Xfinity On Demand: In addition to becoming an additional screen in the home for Xfinity TV cable customers to access live and on demand programming, Xfinity Stream also gives them access to more than 200 live channels over the Internet outside the home, including sports networks such as ESPN, Fox Sports and NBC Sports; news networks such as Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and BBC World News; kids networks like Nick Jr., Disney Channel and Sprout; 50 Music Choice channels, as well as a host of other top cable and premium networks. The app also offers more than 40,000 on demand movies and TV shows to stream on the go, as well as thousands of download choices for offline viewing.

·         DVR Recordings On the Go: Xfinity TV customers can take their entire DVR collection with them to stream on the go, or even download to watch while offline. They can also use the app to set recordings remotely.

·         First Screen Experiences on Devices: The Xfinity Stream app will bring an X1-like experience to customers with new and enhanced features like the ability to search content by categories such as audience or critics score, stream 50+ Music Choice channels in-the-home and on-the-go, access Common Sense Media ratings and reviews and customize their parental controls per device.

·         Spanish Guide and Accessibility Enhancements: Comcast’s bicultural customers will have the option to navigate the app in their language of choice - Spanish or English – as well as enable English programming that offers a secondary audio feed in Spanish. Those customers with vision impairments can also enable video description - a narration track included between the natural pauses in dialogue that describes the visual elements – on select movies and TV shows.

Customers will be able to download the Xfinity Stream app for iOS and Android devices on February 28. Customers who have already installed the latest version of the Xfinity TV app on their devices will see it transition to the Stream app through an app update on February 28. For more information on the Xfinity Stream app, please visit http://www.xfinity.com/stream

Happy Valentine's day

Happy Valentine's day my best friend, the love of my life, the father to my son, my wonderful husband. I will love you always and forever. Since our first Valentine's day back in 2005 you made my heart skip a beat and still do in 2017. You are my forever Valentine and I will forever by yours. Thank you for being you and for loving me the way you do! Here is to many more!

Also Happy Valentine's day to my little love I'm proud to have as my son and call you my son. You are not sure what today is all about, but seeing you with your balloons and your extra goodies from your daddy and I is just to cute. You may be a little young, but soon you will understand what today is about. To many more with you and your daddy.

All about my Valentine's Day started off with a rainy day than went to a cool and sunny day. Went to the store got some more goodies and a donut for my son. Also change up dinner for the night, got some wine, and dessert. Daddy came home with some flowers and balloons for us...just to sweet. We enjoyed a nice dinner at home that was made by me. Chicken enchiladas, rice and beans...so good and full!! We even cheers to a wonderful Valentine's day and to many more.

Ending the day in bed watching TV with my boys. 2017 is another one for the books and a wonderful one at that. It has been a memorable and such a cute one with my little guy. Can't wait to see what 2018 holds in store for us!

Until next time!

Lauren