Magnolia Market

When Shawn and I announced that we were moving to Texas, we had countless people tell us that we should contact Chip and Joanna Gains to fix up a house for us.  Their popular HGTV show Fixer Upper was in the height of its popularity and it seemed like everyone knew of the couple's beautiful work restoring houses in Texas.  We did look into contacting them but as it turned out, we were a little too far outside of Waco to be eligible for the show.  Even though Chip and Joanna didn't have anything to do with our house, we have still had many inquiries from back home about their market, which is located in Waco, Texas. 

Waco is about an hour and 45 minutes away from where we are nestled in North Texas so while it is close by Texas standards, it's a little bit of a stretch to pull off before afternoon nap time is upon us.  We made an effort to go as a family about a year ago, but when we were about halfway there, our otherwise healthy toddler came down with the stomach flu for the very first time.  Needless to say, we turned around and headed home as soon as we had the situation under control.   It's taken us nearly 12 months to pack up and make the trip again, but on Saturday morning we finally pulled it off. 

If you are a fan of the show, then I have absolutely no doubt that you will love the Market.  We stood by and watched people show up in droves with delighted faces and cameras ready.   The grounds are well maintained and thoughtful details are everywhere you turn.  We were striving to be there when everything opened at 9am but with an infant and toddler in tow, we didn't end up arriving until shortly after 10.  When we stepped onto the grounds we were stunned to see long lines of people waiting to get into the bakery, the seed shop and the market.  Kids and adults were scattered across the lawn playing games and many people were enjoying the morning from their perch on the shaded picnic tables. 

We stood in line to go inside the market but once we got inside, we instantly realized that it was far too busy to easily navigate a stroller through.  We found our way to the nearest exit as quickly as we could and gave up the notion of attempting any shopping.  The store is set up for wheel chair and stroller access but there were simply too many people inside to be able to push a stroller through, keep our eyes on Nicole and shop.   So, we cut our losses and spent the rest of our morning on the grounds. 

While we didn't even attempt to stand in the endless line to the bakery, a thoughtful couple gifted Shawn one of their chocolate cupcakes after he paused his lawn game with Nicole in order to take their picture.  We happily shared the treat as a family and I am here to report that it was probably the best cupcake any of us have ever eaten.  We did our fair share of sweating in the Texas sun that morning so it was nice to have a yummy token to help us fondly remember our sweltering adventure. 

It might look like Jonah wasn't there, but I promise that he was along for the ride, contentedly sleeping in his stroller.  We purchased him a small, battery powered fan in preparation for the trip so he was blissfully unaware of the soaring temps right outside of his air conditioned stroller.  I didn't want to disrupt his cool and comfy nest, so I didn't include him in any of the pictures. 

What kind of adventures are you taking this summer?
Love,
Erica