Watermelon - It's Genetic :)

There's nothing like the summertime flavor of the perfectly ripened juicy watermelon, and we have been enjoying our share this summer.  My boys - especially Ryder - love to pick out the watermelon, and so far they have been doing a great job!

This passion for watermelon runs in the family.  Their Grandpa Romney grew up working in the family business "Romney Produce Company" and they had access to truckloads of watermelon.  Grandpa Romney enjoyed eating a good watermelon, and did his fair share of watermelon bombing - tossing watermelons out of the back of a pickup truck and watching them explode on the pavement!

Their Grandpa Muffett is a watermelon connoisseur.  Able to pick the very best melon out of a pile of thousands. His watermelon knocking technique is pitch perfect!!

So as you can see, this love of watermelons just comes naturally!  And my boys tell me that watermelons these days have only one downfall - no seeds to spit!!

6Romneys + 2Muffetts = Fort Worth Stockyards Fun!

We recently took a trip to the Fort Worth Stockyards to find our inner cowboy. Grandpa and Grandma Muffett were in town from Oregon, and we wanted to give them a taste of Texas history.  Not really knowing exactly what to expect, we rode into town on our old pony "GMC," and boy did we have a great time!  When we first arrived we had a chance to watch the "Fort Worth Herd" mosey through town.  They make this walk twice daily and seemed rather bored with it.  The cowboys riding with them (there were more than you can see from the picture) were definitely on the alert and making sure to keep everyone out of possible harms way.

Harrison and Ryder got some free souvenir FW sheriff badges from the Visitors Center.  You know how they like to keep the peace and all.

Next we visited the Stockyards Museum - "free" with a mandatory $2 donation per person.  While inside we found this cool tub the cowboys used to bathe in once or twice a year.

I'd definitely spend the extra dime for my bath!!

Then we took a look at what's left of the old Stockyards.  It's almost incomprehensible how much livestock used to pass through there!

Looks like Grandpa enjoyed the view from above a lot more than Ryder!

Next we took the kids to the Cowtown Maze.  For $5 per kid they get lost inside (I mean really lost) for about 15-20 minutes, or however long it takes them to find the letters in the word MAZE, punch their card and get out. They win a fabulous prize such as Chinese finger cuffs when they're done.  The parents get to stand on a platform overlooking the maze and shout out instructions to their increasingly frustrated offspring.  Boy was it fun!

Then Nicole and Ryder rode the mechanical bull. 

Nicole had lots of fun!

Ryder maybe not so much. . . but he held on.

Of course grandma found herself in a bit of a pickle -

Melanie met a special cowboy friend -

And Darren met a celebrity.

All in all it was a wonderful day, even though we never had that order of deep fried pickles like we had planned. I'll never forget Harrison and Ryder getting to ride Big Jake, the most patient longhorn in all of Texas.

We're fixin' to go back soon - y'all come and join us y'hear!