Good Things Come in Three's: Time with Family, Blog Awards...and a Trip to New Orleans!!

I’ve always heard that good things come in 3’s...so I’ve got three fun things to share with y’all today! First off, I'm back in San Antonio after a busy and fun weekend visiting our families back home in Houston. My niece Lili and nephew Wolf are down from Ohio visiting my parents for the summer, so we went down to have some fun with them! Friday was rainy, so we watched The Amazing Spiderman at the 3D IMAX and followed up with a kid-friendly pizza buffet! Saturday, we visited the new Pleasure Pier boardwalk/amusement park in Galveston. We crossed our fingers the rain would stay away...and spent the afternoon having fun riding the rides and hanging out. 

Just inside the entrance to Galveston's newest attraction: The Pleasure Pier: rides, shops, and restaurants!

Riding the Sea Dragon with my nephew Wolf...as you can see, we enjoyed it! We had been on a pirate-themed ride earlier in the day, and we got SOAKED from head to toe, so excuse my crazy hair!

To cool off, we headed to LaKing's Confectionary in Galveston's historic Strand District...where we had some of their famous shakes and malts. We also got to watch the Master Candy Maker whip up a batch of old-fashioned cinnamon salt-water taffy! He told us that he's been making candy for LaKing's for 40 years. This saltwater taffy is the real deal -- they cook it from scratch and then stretch and package it on machines that are 100 years old!

LaKing's master candy maker preparing a batch of saltwater taffy...each recipe makes 3,000 pieces! 

The PERFECT way to cool off after a hot afternoon at The Pleasure Pier: malts and shakes from LaKing's! We had
mint-chocolate chip, strawberry, and cherry. So good!

My Daddy's grilled steaks and Mom's broccoli-rice casserole?
Yes, please...so good!

On Sunday afternoon, I celebrated an early  #SundaySupper with my parents before we left town. The food was so good! My Daddy grilled steaks and some amazing cream cheese-sausage stuffed mushrooms, and my Mom made her yummy broccoli-rice casserole. Then, it was time to head back to San Antonio. To cap off a wonderful weekend, Michael and I shared a chicken finger plate and a Richer Than Your Landlord strawberry malt (with extra malt). It was the perfect ending to a great weekend full of family fun!!

One of our favorite places for comfort food in Houston is 59 Diner...and their golden-brown chicken tenders!
Served with ranch and honey mustard for dipping!

Then, I came back home and discovered that two of my fellow food bloggers have nominated me for The Addictive Blog award. I wanted to thank my sweet friends Becky from Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves and Jen from Juanita’s Cocina for sharing this wonderful award to me. Having my fellow food bloggers recognize is the highest compliment I can imagine. Both of these lovely ladies have wonderful blogs, so go by and say hello and check out all their fabulous recipes! I will proudly display this award on my right-hand banner...and I will pass it along to a few of my food blog friends later this week!

Finally today, Im so excited that I'm about to burst, so I HAVE to share some really fun and exciting news! August is ’s two-year blogiversary...hard to believe! I’ve got all sorts of special posts planned for this month-long celebration. There’s too much fun to share in one day...or even one week, so I'm going to celebrate all month long!!! As part of the celebration, the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau is hosting for a weekend visit to The Big Easy!!! We’ll be spending three days and two nights in one of our most favorite cities...eating fabulous food and finding all sorts of fun adventures. When we come back, I’ll share all the details in a two-part travelogue, including our ideal foodie weekend itinerary. New Orleans celebrates COOLinary in August -- a month-long celebration of America’s Most Delicious City. Restaurants will be offering specially priced multi-course prix-fixe menus. You can BET that we will be covering this event!!

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