Riscky's (subtitle: Cows & Horses)

Tom and I met my sister, Danell and brother in law, Josh and their three kiddos at Riscky's in the stockyards. We wanted to watch the cattle drive.

The stockyards also has horse barns/horse stables to visit. Along with horses, we saw goats, chickens, a goose, and a rabbit.

Riscky's is on Exchange St. right off Main. You can see Leah walking her "balloon animal" in the picture below... When she walks her dog, she says "Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk..." so funny!
We passed several interesting sights....at least through the eyes of small children. I've had just about enough of Fort Worth being born and reared here. But...I can be open-minded and enjoy the "Cowtown" scenery when hanging out with my cute little niece and nephews. The balloon animal is actually a dog on a leash. Leah had a small pink poodle on a purple leash; Mark had a black dog he named "Gollum" on a red leash.
Everyone thought the stagecoach was very cool. It was $10 for a "scenic tour." There was absolutely no way I would be coerced into an oven and bounced around on the bricked street as a way to enjoy my afternoon. (I'm really NOT a debbie downer, I swear.)
The horses were super tall and looked very strong. My sister LOVES horses. I do too, but I'm not quite as crazy about them as Danell is. They smell great, but they have ginormous poop and are an extremely costly pet. Besides, if you don't have time to spend with them every day, they are just like dogs, and they need lots of attention and want to be part of the family.
This is a picture of the cattle drive taken over the heads of lots of other people. It was Labor Day; the holiday always draws a big crowd.
Nathan wanted to sit (or stand) between Tom and I throughout most of the lunch. He was really sweet and loved the french fries.
A "real" Cowboy came by on his horse. Leah and Mark wanted to pet the horse, so Josh picked up Leah. I took pictures as Mark and Leah were near the horse.
Mark wasn't afraid at all. Leah had a little trepidation, but she recovered nicely.
She smiled for the camera after she realized I was shooting the pictures.
Here's the entire McCurdy family watching the cattle drive:
Danell told us she is about to get Nathan's hair cut for the first time.
She doesn't really want to cut the curls off, but she has decided that it's about time.
Tom and I had fun at lunch, and Mark, Leah, and Nathan behaved so well.
Josh--thanks for spending part of your holiday off from work with us!
Danell--thanks for packing everyone up and bringing them to the stockyards.
We loved watching this guy train a young horse to walk with a bit and bridle. I'm sure he was training the horse to have a saddle on its back too.

Tom--thanks for the balloon animals. Everyone enjoyed them--including me! Yes, Tom had to get ME a dog on a leash too. Here it is resting behind our very tame dove.

Kooking with Karen

Chicken Enchiladas

Rotisseri chicken - I use honey jalapeno when I can find it. If not use the backyard grill one. Shred the chicken.

1 pound white american cheese from deli - to melt

can of rotel

cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup diced onions

Melt the above in saucepan

Heat corn tortillas in wet dishtowel in microwave for one minute.

Spread 1/2 cup cheese mixture on bottom of casserole dish so enchiladas don't stick

Put shredded chicken sprinkled with chedder cheese in tortilla and roll. Place enchiladas fold side down. Pour cheese mixture over entire casserole. Use extra cheese for dip! Cover casserole with foil and bake for 25 minutes at 350.

Car rides

My sister drove all of us, including the dogs, over to see how the new construction on the house is coming along. To pass the time, Mark and Leah had a "funny face off."
They were competing to make the silliest face.
I thought it was a great opportunity to get some good photos.
Leah's scary face was indeed scary.
Mark and Leah make car rides really fun.
Then the conversation took an interesting turn.... Mark said he wanted to hold Artimus. I said "really?" Mark never shows that much interest in the dogs. He doesn't like them; he doesn't dislike them; he's not afraid of them, but he doesn't want to cuddle, either.
This turn of events made Leah a little apprehensive:
Leah, "do you want to hold Artimus?" >>>>NO! Humph. what a face.
Leah must be just joking with me. She said she DID want to hold Artimus, and I gave my sister a "look" in the rearview mirror. I got the "go-ahead shrug" and things progressed from there.
I said, OK, I'm gonna set Artimus in your lap, but when he begins to struggle, you just let him go, ok? Affirmative.
A bit worrisome, but we're hanging in there. Stop moving Artimus! We are having a breakthrough moment here!
AWWWWWW, nice. Now this is good stuff. I got a little smile when I reminded Leah that I was taking pictures, and she always wants to photograph looking confident. =)
This 10-second moment in time was a super sweet moment.
Thanks for the suggestion Mark! You came up with so much fun stuff to do on our car ride. Thanks for driving Danell!

SELF

Gollum takes the cake...and the icing...and the punch. "Hedonism is a school of philosophy which argues that pleasure has an ultimate importance and is the most important pursuit of humanity." Gollum is a hedonist. He truly appreciates comfort. He demands comfort. In an effort to "beg" with the least amount of true effort, he lays his head down on your lap. This is Gollum asking for food in the picture below.
Furthermore, I'm afraid my youngest child has a personality disorder:

"Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is ... "a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy."^[1]

The narcissist is described as ...being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, and prestige.^[2]Narcissistic personality disorder is closely linked to self-centeredness.

• • He might have an inflated ego.

Egocentrism is "the incomplete differentiation of the self and the world, including other people and the tendency to perceive, understand and interpret the world in terms of self."

An egocentric person has a limited theory of mind, cannot fully "put himself in other peoples' shoes," and believes everyone sees what he/she sees.

For example, if a child sees that there is candy in a box, he assumes that someone else walking into the room also knows that there is candy in that box. He implicitly reasons that "since I know it, you should too".

Gollum is incapable of seeing the world any other way. Everyone exists to serve his needs.

"They see themselves in competition with others and since the ego is so vulnerable and sensitive they are compelled towards defensiveness and self justification. They are compelled to impress others with their talents- meaning their looks, machismo, charm-much more so than someone who is focused on external things such as a helping profession. The egocentric is shallow, often lacking the staying power to achieve long range goals. Defensive, easily angered, jealous, they suffer living in the comparitively small world of fragile ego. Prison populations are made up of egocentrics." Or, in our case, the Benua household is full of egocentrics. Kidding kidding, only kidding.

Egotism is the motivation to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself. Egotism means placing oneself at the center of one's world with no direct concern for others.

It is closely related to narcissism, or "loving one's self," and the possible tendency to speak or write of oneself boastfully and at great length. Egotism may coexist with delusions of one's own importance, even at the denial of others. This conceit is a character trait describing a person who acts to gain values in an amount excessively greater than that which he/she gives to others. Egotism is often accomplished by exploiting the altruism, irrationality and ignorance of others, as well as utilizing coercive force and/or fraud.

Oh my, it looks as if I'm boring Gollum:

I must have failed as a parent.
Don't scare me Gollum; I'm just joking. You'll always be the baby and the center of my world.

I'm just not sure you understand that nobody but your father and I could endure your attitude.

Kooking with Karen

This might be my favorite photo ever. I lovingly call Karen "Moe" ....if you know her, you can ask her what it stands for. However, I was convinced it was the perfect nickname after looking into these eyes. I'm guessing she wasn't happy to go to school on this particular day.Well, she grew up, then learned how to make the yummiest meals. And now, she shares:

Thanks Karen!

Nacho Potato Casserole

by Karen McCall Kimble

Grab a box of Hungry Jack mild jalapeno cheddar potatoes The side of the box has the recipe 1 lb lean meat 1 jar salsa 1 pk hungry jack potatoes 2 tbsp butter 2 cups boiling water 2/3 cup milk 1/2 sour cream 3 cups broken nacho flavored chips 1 cup colby and monterey jack cheese blend Spray no-stick spray into baking dish, heat oven to 425 Brown 1 pound beef/turkey in skillet add 1 jar, 16oz, salsa to meat in skillet when cooked Combine potatoe slices, sauce packet, butter and boiling water in medium bowl. Stir milk and sour cream. Sprinkle 2 cups tortilla chip pieces in prepared dish. Pour in potato mixture. Spoon beef mixture on top. Cover with foil. Bake 35 minutes or till potatoes are fork tender. Remove foil. Combine 1 cup tortilla chips and cheese. Sprinkle over top. Bake 10 minutes uncovered to melt cheese. LEt stand 5 minutes. Garnish as desired

Water Gardens

We went to visit the Fort Worth Water Gardens this past weekend.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth_Water_Gardens

We walked all the way from our building which is at least 10 blocks. It's near the convention center bordered by Lancaster to the south and between Commerce and Houston Streets. It's a 4-acre urban park.
It was closed for renovation for a long time; now that it's re-opened, it's even more beautiful and super clean. This is the entrance on the West side. There's also an entrance on the east side across from the Texas Wesleyan School of Law.
This is Artimus peering over the edge at one of the first water "exhibits" we saw. I think it's called the garden of fountains or something like that.

Artimus gets excited at "splashing sounds" so I think he liked the fountains.

The fountains actually create a rainbow. I think Tom captured it in the picture below. Gollum isn't a huge fan of anything besides sleeping, so this was a big bore for him.

Next we went to the "Tranquility Pool" or serenity pond or whatever. It was really calm until we decided to break all the rules.

I waded in first then took Artimus for a swim. He could touch the bottom and stand up straight if he needed to, but he didn't know that. He thought he was drowning, I presume.
Next was Gollum. He looked like a horse galloping in the water. A much more graceful stride. We vowed to remember our video camera next time, because they swam so differently. It was pretty funny to see. At least they were cooled off; it was a super long walk for their lazy butts.

Below is the main attraction:

It is an architectural phenomenon. Cascading water everywhere, and people actually walk down into the "sculpture."
In the far background of this picture is called the "Mountain." I have seen people climb these super steep steps. I'm not sure why you would want to, but hey, maybe it's fun. We let the dogs run off leash everywhere once inside the water gardens. They stayed pretty near us, except when Gollum got angry. After we put him in the water, he was pouting, and ran up the stairs like he was going home with or without us. He eventually decided it was better to stick with us rather than get himself lost. Smart kid.
For anyone who can make the trip to the water gardens, it won't disappoint.
It's beautiful; it's usually empty, since no one knows it has opened up again, and also it's not an easy place to find.

It's purposefully very discreet. We had a blast, and it's just so pretty...it's like a maze; there's a new surprise around every corner.

My man loves his view

We saw a storm coming into downtown right about dusk, and Tom wanted me to get some pictures.I grabbed my camera, but more than photos of the sky, I wanted to capture his expressions.
He loves our balcony and loves his view. It's quite pretty. I'll be sure to get lots of pictures during the next month and display them large and loud in his new home office. =)
The lights on the sides of the buildings make it extra cool.

....and I love our view too. I love my view of you.