The Queen’s Chronicles – Texas Roadtrip

I’m not going to lie, the month of July was crazy fast.  Summer is always a busy time for us but this year even more so and I’m not going to lie, saying bye-bye to July today is a little sad.  Before I know it we will be knee deep in the daily grind of school and I’m not quite ready for another school year.

Before I head to far into the dumps, I’m sharing a look at the last little bit of July including our little Texas Roadtrip. The Queen’s Chronicles is our little online scrapbook so know some of the pictures are stellar and some are straight out of my phone but all are full of memories we don’t want to forget!

Keith and I headed to a red carpet casino night supporting the Mercy Project.  I love this organization and their mission.  The BCS Marathon hosted here in College Station annually also supports this mission and was one of the main reasons I decided to run my first half marathon.

We were invited by our besties and it was such a fun night having dinner and catching up with some adult only time.  Typically we have at least two kids with us at all times.  The big surprise of the evening was a little yellow lab named Millie who was an entry the live auction and ended up in the car with us on the way home after my besties “won” her.  She is just the cutest and I was so grateful they bid because Keith was so in love and definitely was ready to raise his paddle!

Last week the kids and I headed out to Lubbock, Texas for a baseball tourney.  Carly Jo will tell you she doesn’t feel like heading to baseball is a vacation but she will research the area and always have a list of things for us to do outside of the ball field.  Come along and see what she stirred up for us! 

After stopping for lunch at Whataburger and throwing away my credit card in the trash (thankfully I realized it!), we were in need of some ice cream.  On our trip to Ruidoso awhile back we passed this little drive-in but during early morning hours when it was closed.  Carly Jo had been dying to go back ever since because, well, she’s as crazy over my friend Holly as I am.  

The first night Dillon had to meet up with his team for check in at a local conference center and low and behold it just happened to be right across the street from a slew full of murals.   If you didn’t know, we kind of love the street art something crazy.  We walked over and took a few quick pics.

Holly is always talking about these little mini libraries so we were really excited when we found this one!  How fun!

The next morning we headed out to hit all the murals we saw in a little better lighting.  This one had definitely seen better days but it was so fun we couldn’t help but snap a picture.

I have to say this one might be a framer!  This girl is growing up so fast and I’m soaking up every second she’s willing to spend with me. 

This one may also be a favorite!  I’m pretty sure all of my kids think I’m crazy but they all embrace the crazy and love me through it most days. 

All of these murals were set around the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for Art and we headed into the gallery to see what was on display.  The gallery is small but offered so many unique displays and we loved this sign upon entering.  This is also free fun!

Of course we were really there to watch baseball and this kid.   It’s been an interesting summer and this was his last big tourney with his team.

I was dreading the heat but who would have thought we would actually have a rain to cool things off to 68 degrees while were were there!  We were super thankful Carly had this blanket in the car.  The temps were hot the rest of the time but with almost zero humidity which made it so much more bearable.

Our sweet cousins live just outside of Lubbock and came over to watch the game and eat lunch with us!  We don’t see them often but thee littles adore their older cousins and it is always so much fun having them together.  

Beth is definitely one of the best things I acquired when marrying into the Janac family!  We are both a little Type A and have some things we have bonded over with our hard working husbands and I just love her to pieces.  It was so fun getting to spend some time together.

You might see a theme here, another little diner with Holly in the title!  This was also on Carly’s list but I’m not complaining.  The food was yummy and the ice cream amazing.

Seriously this BLT was delicious!  I know it was just a simple sandwich but everything was served on the cutest little plates and just look at this fun table.  

And yes, I may have had ice cream almost every day of our time away.  This was a mocha almond fudge and it did not disappoint!

With a population of around 225K, Lubbock is not a small town but it definitely has a small town feel.  I loved that we saw two different stores in the strip center which were closed with little hand written notes like this.   Precious!  Things definitely seemed to be on a slower pace.

Next up on Carly’s list was the Ag museum and when your cousin is married to a cotton ginner you get in free!  So we headed to learn a little history about the cotton industry and farming in general and the impact it has on our great state! 

I still have a lot of my momma in me and couldn’t resist taking a picture of the women in leadership wall. These quotes are SO good!  

Dillon loves little kids!  Being tall, it seems, is also popular with the little kids.  

Next door was the wind museum and we didn’t go inside but I couldn’t help but take a picture.  I’m so crazy about windmills and have made Keith promise to get one for me when we finally land in our dream house!

One last game before hitting the road for home.  It wasn’t the tourney they wanted but they won 3, lost 2 and tied 1 so it wasn’t a total bust.  

If you have never eaten at a Twisted Root Burger joint, Carly and I are huge fans!  They started in the Dallas area but now have a few locations outside of Dallas so I was excited to find one here….and REALLY hope they may be coming to College Station.  Upon ordering you are a signed a celebrity and then have the chance to grab some “gourmet” pickles to snack on while waiting for your food.  They have plain dill, ranch pickles, bread & butter pickles and spicy pickles.  We decided we loved the plain dill and bread and butter best. 

We split a 1/2 lb Big Tex burger with avocado and onion rings on top.  It was so good!

But this side of “Treat Yo Self” fries was holy yum!

And that’s a wrap for summer baseball!  As you can see I don’t have too much trouble finding Dillon in this group.  We made the 6 1/2  hour trip back home Saturday for a good nights sleep in our own beds!

On Sunday we headed out to drop this kid off at summer camp!  We weren’t sure it was going to work out this year for him to head to camp but the stars aligned.  It’s definitely one of his favorite weeks of the year and I’m so glad he was able to go.  

A quick stop through downtown Austin on our way back home for one last mural shot.  I’ve been wanting to stop by this wall forever.  It’s definitely in a happening little area of food trucks and such but when we turned around and there was a guy literally standing next to a car relieving himself in public I was so irritated.

And that’s a wrap on our last week of July!  It was full of sweet memories.  August is sure to be jam packed the next few weeks until school starts as we still have one last trip on our calendar.   We are excited to be heading to California for (wait for it…) baseball but also hope to enjoy some family time.

Happy last day of July folks!  Hope where every you are you are enjoying a slower pace for a few more weeks this summer!