To celebrate another birthday for the United States, we were delighted with a visit from friends so close they can only be called family. In fact our kids completely meld into one over-active amorphous blob when together.

And when we are together, we can always count on having an adventure. For inspiration, they even brought us all matching shirts!

Some might be familiar with the show Fixer Upper on HGTV. This show has incredible popularity around the world. I even remember catching it on occasion in Singapore a few years ago, or on in-flight entertainment on the airplanes. For those who are less familiar, they base their show out of Waco, TX. And this week’s adventure took us to the birthplace of Fixer Upper.

For their fans, they have developed a bit of a landmark in Waco, called the Silo’s, where they have a beautiful store called Magnolia Market.

I know this doesn’t sound much like a Play Gourmets adventure, just yet. But we’ll get there. The area that Chip and Joanna (stars of Fixer Upper) created includes more than just a store. It has a sports field, where they supply the athletic equipment,

gardens, and even a food truck lot… (we’re getting warmer)

Something that only the diehards might know about Joanna, is that she has always dreamt of owning a bakery. This stemmed from her childhood, and making countless memories with her family in the kitchen. (Now this sounds like the inspiration for a Play Gourmets post). So, as the perfect example of making your own dreams come true, Joanna and Chip opened a bakery at the Silo’s, called Silos Baking Company.

Just like everything they do, the bakery is gorgeous and of the highest quality. The cupcakes are absolutely beautiful…

and even more delicious than they look. The cupcakes were literally the best I had ever tasted. Usually something so beautiful only looks amazing. In this case, the taste out-shined the beauty. Our little Play Gourmet reminds us not to leave their cookies out of the story.

There was a lot of inspiration to be had here. And in the short term, there were a lot of sweets and smiles to be had too.

The bakery is enough to keep us coming back, not to mention all the other wonderful things going on at the Silos. We’ll keep checking in to see what Chip and Joanna dream up next, and to get more cupcakes and cookies of course.

We had the best time creating the post, and the shirts were an awesome touch. We must have gotten asked about #playgourmets about 100 times. Thanks Mikey and Shizzle!!!