We purposely picked a lot to build our house on so that we'd have a big yard - and we got what we wanted. Along with that, we have learned how much time and energy goes into a big yard. We don't have much to "tend" yet, it really is just keeping the grass healthy and green and pulling the weeds from the flower beds in the front yard. And, the grass we have here is Bermuda grass. Look it up in any book and it is classified as a big weed, so it shouldn't be too hard to keep alive, right? Well...hours and hours of work and hundreds of dollars (literally) spent in chemicals and fertilizer here is a picture of the result:
Not so good right? A few weeks ago Brandon started coming home and noticing how are yard just kept dying, and it has continued to get worse and worse. It is even more weird because there are spots that are green and lush too. We've adjusted the watering, which we already knew we were watering enough, we took pictures and took them to a professional landscape company to help us "diagnose" the problem but it has all been to no avail. When the last dose of fertilizer didn't work we knew there was something else going on. The last possibility we've determined is lawn fungus. Sounds gross huh?
The solution we've come up with is cornmeal. Last night after the kids were in bed we took 30 pounds of cornmeal out and threw it all over part of the yard. We are experimenting. Supposedly the cornmeal nuetralizes the fungus in the grass and fertilizes at the same time. It is an organic product used on lawns. I've done more reading on organic lawn care, and if this works we will be switching to an all organic lawn maintenace program. We are using the picture above as our "before" and we'll update in a couple of weeks on how it is progressing.
Another plus for the organic stuff - it is much cheaper and in theory it should cut down on bugs inside our house. The chemicals we put on the lawn not only rid the lawn of weeds, but they also kill all the insects. Things like spiders have no choice but to look for their food somewhere else, like inside my house. No thanks! Hopefully we'll notice a change in the bugs too. The next step for us if the cornmeal works is to load the lawn full of sugar. Apparently that keeps the weeds from germinating and kills weeds that are already exisiting. And - because the grass here gets brown during the colder months we can put rice seed all over the lawn and it will grow green during the winter.
We are pretty excited if this works! Can't you just picture a FHE years down the road of our family in the backyard in a cornmeal fight? How fun would that be? And the mess would be good for the yard!
The second time the pictures of the two of them were not great, we ended up getting some of them - but neither of them are looking at the camera. It is a nice shot of their heads though. Ella did take great pictures the second time. I can't believe she is already 6 months old! It makes me so sad to see them both growing so fast! She has started to "move" around the house mostly going backwards . She is a lot more interested in moving by herself then Brody was at the same age. I love seeing the two of them play together, it is priceless!
We went to a historic suspension bridge and walked over it. There is a sidewalk with pretty trees and benches that lines the Brazos River, but we didn't get very far because Brody loved walking back and forth on the "Big Big Bridge" It was a huge hit for him! We ended up going back on Saturday to walk across it again. And he still asks to go back. We even got to see trains crossing across another bridge a little further down the river.
This is the first time we've stayed at a hotel with both kids. We had a room that had a sofa bed in the front, but it was a sore excuse for a bed. I don't think there was anything in the mattress except springs- it really was pathetic. But, Brody just liked having his bed built for him each night. 
We headed out the next morning to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. It was neat to see all the pro players that in someway made there mark in Texas. They also had a High School Hall of Fame that showed all the winning High Schools in Texas. Brody got to compare his hands and feet to a pro basketball players & sit in a PBR (professional bull riding) saddle.
Next was a trip to the Dr. Pepper museum. Yep - that tasty drink was originally created in Waco by Dr. Alderton, a local pharmacist, by mixing 23 different fruit flavors behind his soda counter. Back in the day you'd say - "Throw me a Waco" if you wanted what is now known as Dr. Pepper. And, contrary to rumors that fly around, Prune juice is not one of the fruits. At the end of the museum we stopped and had a Dr. Pepper float. Brody didn't though - his was homemade Peaches and Vanilla ice cream. 
We stopped in at the hotel got our swimsuits and headed over to the water park. I imagined something like Wild Rivers - but it was more like a huge pool with playground equipment in it. Don't get me wrong - it was fun...but my new pet peeve is when other parents don't watch their kids. I get pretty angry when bigger kids try and hurt my babies!
At the end of the day we made another stop at the big big bridge and walked it a few more times before grabbing some pizza and heading back to the hotel. We got up the next morning and drove home just in time for church. By the time church was over we had two VERY tired little ones! But it was a very fun weekend getaway! 
Brody & Ella helping pick weeds in the front yard
Sweet sibling picture
