Wonderful Weflen Weekend

What a wonderful weekend it's been!  I had to spend thee weekend in Dallas in between two weeks of training for work.  I have several family members in the vicinity (+/- 5 hours) so I put the call out to see if anyone was interested in catching up for the weekend.  

 My cousin Jennie in Arkansas (who I haven't seen since our Grandma's funeral in 2001) met up with my Aunt Missy (who I haven't seen since our wedding 8 years ago) in Oklahoma and they drove down on Friday night.  Saturday morning I treated my aunt to a massage.  She is always taking care of others so I figured it was time for her to have a break and have someone take care of her.  Then we drove to the Bishop Arts District and wandered through the shops.  It was a cute little area filled with wonderful things to buy and eat.  After lunch we stopped at our favorite french store Target to prepare for an impromptu birthday party for another cousin who drove up from Houston (who I haven't seen in ~20 years).
Missy and Jennie wandering around some shops
Bishop St Street Art
Bishop Street
Gun door handle
No guns allowed in this shop!
Erik arrived in the afternoon with his young daughter.  My aunt and cousin Jennie hadn't changed a bit, but I never would have recognized cousin Erik on the street.  I guess that's what 20 years and puberty will do to a man!  We had dinner and then went back to the hotel for birthday pie pie.  (No, that's not a typo, it's a Weflen thing...).  It was interesting to hear what everyone had been up to.  It was great to hear about their families, their jobs, lives, and everything in between.  It was also fun to compare notes and confirm those uniquenesses that are definitely genetic.

 On Sunday morning we drove over to Fort Worth to explore the Stockyards.  They have a cattle drive twice a day through the main road.  The longhorns were interesting to watch, and it was just as delightfully cheesy as I was hoping for.  We wandered through the western shops in search of the perfect cowgirl outfit for Erik's daughter, and then enjoyed lunch at a steakhouse.  We wandered a bit more after lunch and then headed our separate ways for the drives back home.  It was great to create some new memories with them all - it had been way too long!
Bandung is Fort Worth's Sister City.  How funny!
Stage coach


Covered Wagon

Selfie with Aunt Missy and Cousin Jennie
The Stockyards

Look at those longhorns!


Pretty mix of wood on one of the buildings

Longhorn selfie
Recreating a favorite cousin picture

Beautiful display of boots

New cowgirl princess outfit

Boot shine with free whiskey

Group "shot"

She wanted to ride the white one

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