The Buckhorn Saloon and Texas Ranger Museum

Okay. Skip this post if you don't want to see the many highlights of the Buckhorn Saloon and Texas Ranger Museum. I was so excited to visit this place! There are taxidermied animals EVERYWHERE and the Texas Ranger museum has all kinds of bullets, guns, and badges as well as a replica of the Bonnie and Clyde car. So many cool things! The Buckhorn Saloon started out decades ago and survived through the financial ups and downs by accepting odd animals, shed antlers, rattlesnake rattles - anything of interest - in exchange for food or shelter. There are so many cool things here! Odd-colored animals, souvenirs from foreign soils and so many other things. I wish we had something like that in Dallas. Still, it was a highlight of an awesome trip.

Derek and I thought this horse-drawn, flower-covered carriage was so cool!

A so-called chupacabra - looks more like mangy young coyote or other kind of canid. Look out, Derek!

Aunt Bella posing with my favorite of the rattlesnake rattle art.

Aunt Bella and Bryce

So. Many. Antlers. A veritable cloud of antlers!

Crazy antlers - 47 point buck

A throne made from cow horns

Derek loooooves longhorns. He was thrilled to see one on display

We went into the Texas Ranger part of the museum next. Derek was impressed by all the rifles and handguns on display.

I loved these hand-tooled leather belts and holsters. Texas Rangers had good taste.

A collection of 254 sheriff badges from each county in Texas. Every badge was actually worn by an officer in the county it represents. 

We live in Collin county right now

I was born in Hidalgo county - the gold badge. :)

Derek and Bryce posing in front of a replica of the Bonnie and Clyde car. There were bullet stickers placed in the corresponding locations on the original car. From the display, "May 23, 1934: Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker are killed in an ambush laid for them on a lonely road near Gibsland, Louisiana. Members of the posse are former Texas Rangers... and Louisiana officers. When the bodies are examined, the coroner says each has been hit 'more than 50 times' counting both entry and exit wounds. The car bears 167 holes, according to a count at the time."

Derek loves his little sister and he loves to cuddle her

A stuffed movie star! Calico was the horse of the first silent screen cowboy, William S. Hart. Bryce was a little concerned about the horse at first. Aunt Bella helped him get close so we could take a picture. :)

Calico (in real life) with William Hart

"This East African Mountain Gorilla has a long, storied past... this formidable specimen stood watch in the front window (of the Buckhorn Saloon). Known to scare small children as they passed by, the Silverback earned the nickname 'the Guard.' As the first gorilla on display in the state of Texas, he became a landmark for those making their way downtown. 'The Guard' left an indelible mark on native San Antonian and famed comedian, Carol Burnett. In her autobiography, she wrote of her many visits to the Buckhorn as a young girl just to see this amazing gorilla."

Bryce knows what the gorilla says (he's pounding his chest.)

This giraffe died of natural causes at the San Antonio zoo when it was three days old.

Bryce was really excited about this lion

Nothing like brotherly bonding in front of cape buffalo horns

This was one of the coolest displays for me. Check this out... "Mr. Bill Negley generously donated this vertebra from the fourth cape buffalo he took with the bow and arrow. It has one of Mr. Negley's steel broadheads securely locked within. It was September of 1984 when Mr. Negley, at seventy years of age, bowhunted his fourth and final cape buffalo." DUDE!!! 

Stuffed cobra fighting a stuffed mongoose. Cool.

This buck was found with another buck's antler wrapped up in that barbed wire. Guess the other one was luckier.

Yee-ouch.

The Friedrich's owned and operated the Buckhorn Saloon. Emilie (the wife) made lots of artworks out of the rattlesnake rattles she collected. Neat hobby.

That's a BIG rattlesnake!

This was my second favorite rattlesnake artwork. Emilie Friedrich collected over 32,000 rattles during her lifetime. She put them to good use.

The barnacle buck

Wolves always surprise me by how much bigger they are in real life

Antlers of an Irish Elk (now extinct)

Derek's hand compared to a grizzly bear paw

Bryce was sad that he was too short to reach, so Derek instantly grabbed his little brother and helped him reach. Awwww!

Derek thought this big polar bear was really cool!

Bryce had no idea the alligator was behind him... hehehe!

MOOOOOOOOSE!

This kid is such a ham. :) 

Bryce loved this giant saltwater crocodile.

This "River Raptor" reminded me of Derek when he tucks his arms in and sticks out two fingers on each hand to pretend he's a T. Rex. Hilarious!

I thought this was kind of cool. Certainly not real, but this was a really cool forgery.

Plinky Toepperwein was a markswoman who shot this drawing of an indian... she used bullets for art! Cool!

Hanging out in the slanted house!

Derek found this sharpshooter game and Bryce insisted on helping his brother shoot the skeet. Love these boys!

Derek also found a dinosaur footprint that he insisted I photograph. This kid totally loves dinosaurs!

Albino Leopard! According to the sign next to it, there have been only 11 noted instances of albinism among African leopards between 1905 and 1965. I love genetics. :)

Visiting Aunt Bella and Uncle Dwight!

We made it! We got to San Antonio this evening and the boys are thrilled to see Aunt Bella and Uncle Dwight. Dwight's sister, Dawn, made a DELICIOUS beef and broccoli noodle dish to welcome us and surprised us with peach cobbler and ice cream for dessert. Mitchell was in heaven, lol. After dinner and some hang out time, we put the kids to bed and had adult hang out time complete with The Amazing Spiderman 2. Poor Bryce always has a hard time sleeping anywhere but his own bed, but Aunt Dawn took two massive, fish-shaped pillows up to the boys and that helped Bryce get to sleep.

  

Bryce was fascinated with Aunt Bella's nutcracker teacher. He wanted Scrappy to have a look, too.

Bryce is pretending to be a puppy. Scrappy wasn't amused at first, but he warmed up eventually and started chasing Derek and Bryce around the house, haha!

 Sam and Scrappy were anxious to go outside to patrol the backyard. Big One and Little One!

 Aunt Bella teased a couple crawls out of Clara with the stuffed snake.

Breakthrough! Derek had been really nervous around the dogs, didn't want to pet them, didn't like it when they came too close, etc. Scrappy was much quieter and stiller as he slept on Uncle Dwight's lap and that gave Derek the confidence to start petting him. Woohoo!

Playing games on Aunt Bella's ipad and petting the puppy. :)

Aunt Bella helped Clara take some shaky steps

Aunt Bella loves her Clara!

Creeper Bryce waits to pounce!

Remembering 9/11

Derek and I talked a little bit about 9/11 this morning. He was mostly concerned that New York is missing two of its towers. A little before bedtime (he's only halfway changed into his pjs), I came into his room to find this: "Look Mom! It looks like the Twin Towers!" Very impressed that he A) remembered what we talked about and B) wanted to help restore something that was lost. This kid is awesome! I'm grateful for the brave and selfless men and women who fight and keep our country safe. I am honored to be raising the next generation to always remember and never forget their sacrifices for the exacting price of freedom.

Derek's Twin Towers

Clara's First Snack in the High Chair and Taking Pictures with Mommy

 Clara is a big girl now! She's juuuust big enough to sit in the high chair and eat some cheerios, even though she doesn't have any teeth... at all. She's just over nine months old. No teeth, roughly 15 lbs and still wearing 6 month old clothes. We love our itty bitty princess! She loved sitting up and chasing down the cheerios. Bryce offered her a little green train to chew on too. :) All the new activity tuckered her out and she snuggled very sweetly to sleep on my chest. Who could resist taking a picture of that? Bryce saw me taking pictures and insisted on doing the same thing with me. Then, he insisted on taking the picture, haha! He's so independent! We had fun while Derek was at PreK. :)

 She was so excited to be sitting in the high chair. Cheerios were just an added bonus for her. 

 Love those gummy smiles!

 Mmm... wooden train.

 Sweet Clara snuggles!

 Love my baby boy!

 Sweet Brycie Bryce kisses!

Bryce's attempt to take a picture. Heehee! He's a chunky doodle!

Baby Bunny

 Derek found a baby bunny just sitting in the grass today while we were at the park. I pulled out my phone to take a picture and promptly dropped it in the grass near the bunny.... so I had to retrieve it. Derek walked right up to the bunny and bent over to pick it up before it hopped a few paces away. I stepped in to catch it humanely and we carried it back to show Bryce and some of the other kids in the park. Our friends, the Griggs, arrived for our playdate at the park and Derek enthusiastically announced the baby bunny. Haha! Tamara pointed out a recent bite mark on the bunny's leg, which explained the lack of flight as I was trying to catch it. It wasn't swollen or infected, so I let the bunny go to heal normally and watched him hop into the bushes. We promptly went to wash hands in the bathroom. :)

 Baby bunny in the grass

 Bryce was so excited about the bunny, too. Look at that face!

Sweet little thing sat very still in my hand.