Happy Birthday Joey!- part 2

On Fridays, Joey has an hour and a half break in class for lunch, so there is usually a group of law students that goes out to eat together.  I had a lunch meeting, so couldn't join them for lunch, but was able to swing by Vitek's where they were eating to bring by cupcakes.  It was fun to see him with some of his school friends and to make sure they all knew it was his birthday.  They headed back to the law school for afternoon class, and I went to finish up work for the week. 

When Joey got home around 4:00 he found a box on our front step that was his birthday present from my family.  They gave him a Houston Texans party in a box complete with a t-shirt, Lids gift card to get a new Texans hat, game towel, and tickets to a game of his choice next season when he won't have to worry about school on the weekends anymore.  It was a very cute gift and he loved it! 

JW with all his new Texans gear

For dinner we headed to Olive Garden, one of Joey's favorites, and then to the HOT (Heart of Texas) Fair & Rodeo.  The fair and rodeo is a pretty big deal here in Waco every year and something we had never done together... a Waco Bucket List item for us.  It was a lot of fun!

No, this is not the zoo... there was a wildlife exhibit with three tigers, monkeys, a horse, snake, and more.  This exhibit did shows throughout the night and we made it just in time for one.  Pretty cheesy, but cool to see all these animals so close up.

This momma tiger was huge!  The guy doing the shows got in there and pet these huge tigers like they were house cats.  Pretty amazing!

We watched the rodeo events- horse riding, calf roping (Which I hate! It is so sad to see those baby cows run out of the shoot, get roped, and pulled to the ground.), barrel racing, and bull riding.  Joey liked the bull riding most, and I found that game where they put 20 kids in the arena with 10 calfs and let them keep the calf they catch hillarious!

We walked around the fair after the rodeo ended.  They had a lot of rides that kids were having a blast on.  Joey calls them death traps since they travel around, set up in parking lots, and can't possibly be safe. :)

We still had Joey's birthday cake that I made the night before to eat when we got home.  This cake... oh this cake!  Every year I make a different kind of cake for Joey on his birthday.  This year, he said he wanted a lemon cake.  I got online to look for a recipe and found a Paula Deen one that looked great.  You know how I love Paula.  So, I went to the store and got all the ingredients I needed and began the baking process.  Only things kept going wrong.  I needed three 9 inch baking pans, and I only had two.  I zested my finger while zesting lemons.  I needed a hand mixer to make the icing over a double boiler, and I only have a stand mixer... You get the picture.  It was a long process that left me and our whole kitchen a sticky mess.  I did my best, and it tasted pretty good, but was certainly not the prettiest cake I've ever made.  Joey thought the drippy icing was hillarious and took pictures of it, so it could go on the blog. 

:( So sad...

Overall, I think Joey had a pretty good birthday.  Momma Hance came in town to surprise Joey last weekend and took us out to dinner and a movie to celebrate.  Joey was definitely surprised, and we had a great time spending time with her.  So, JW got to celebrate two weekends in a row.  I sure hope he felt special because he is to so many people in his life.  Happy Birthday, hubs!  You are loved, and I know your next year of life will be filled with more great things.  I am proud of you!