Our trip started pretty leisurely, driving down to Las Vegas on Monday. (After a last minute phone call from my editor about some edits I'd just turned in). We had lunch at Maggiano's, then headed for Trader Joe's and the nearby park on Sunset. The kids loved it, though the weather turned dark and threatening just as we left.
We spent the night at a hotel near the airport, where Andrew narrowly escaped being murdered by his parents. Our flight was early--we set the alarm for 4 am!--and Andrew couldn't sleep because he was so excited/anxious about the trip. When Andrew can't sleep, he doesn't let anyone else sleep either: he tosses and turns and groans. He finally went to sleep around 11. Needless to say, 4 am was early, but we made it to our gate and to Dallas without any mishaps and got to Matt and Laurie's in the early afternoon.
The first day we mostly just hung out and had a wonderful dinner of tostadas and beans that Matt and Laurie made. I loved seeing the cousins together--especially the funny pairings they made. Andrew and Evelyn couldn't get enough of Will and Clara lavished attention on Oliver. (Or maybe, more precisely, his bag full of stuffed animals which combines two things Clara loves: stufffed animals and bags.)
Wednesday, we went to the Fort Worth zoo. It was gray and drizzly, but that ended up being good news--despite it being spring break in Dallas too, the zoo was pretty uncrowded.
The kids had fun--though they're looking pretty dubious about the flamingos here (Evelyn had just discovered they smelled).
The zoo had a fun section designed to look like 19th century Texas with local animals--including these wolves (you can't see them well, but they were right up against the window and Evelyn was thrilled to get up close and personal with her favorite mammals).
There was also a really cool reptile house: I was fascinated by the garials. (Side note: I knew the animals weren't typical crocodiles--the snout was too narrow for that. But Andrew was the one who pegged them as garials without even seeing the sign for them. Sometimes it helps to have a kid who's really into reptiles.)
This big old monster owned the pool--I'm not sure what its deal was, but it had some kind of growth on the end of its jaws. It swam right up next to the glass.
Here's a fairly creepy picture of the old monster only inches away from my baby.
My personal favorite of the zoo was the new baby gorilla. I'm always surprised at how human-like they are (albeit covered in hair). This one was so sweet, playing around on its mama.
We finished off the day with dinner at a Mexican restaurant that served a huge family fajita platter (it was supposed to feed four: it fed six--four adults and two kids--with enough leftovers for a second meal). We topped that off with ice cream.
Andrew ate this entire cone--and then puked in the bathroom before he left. We're still working on listening to our bodies here.
Oliver and Evelyn shared a bed in the hotel room and they were so sweet together. One morning Oliver woke up early and snuggled up next to her and played with her hair until they both fell back asleep.
Thursday, we ditched our original plan of going to Six Flags (it was rainy, Dan didn't want to go, we thought the kids might still be a little young) and went to the Perot museum instead. (Laurie stayed home with their kids b/c Matt had to work that day). Even though just about every other parent in Dallas decided the same thing, we still enjoyed it. They had so many cool exhibits: dinosaurs, genetics, electronics, a really wonderful rocks and minerals wing, etc. Lunch at the museum cafe wasn't great--over priced, under whelming--but the kids ate everything and Dan pronounced the red delicious apple Evelyn picked for her lunch to be the first red delicious apple he'd ever had that was actually delicious (not mushy at all and perfectly sweet). I was disappointed in my "corn chowder" that turned out to be "clam chowder."
After lunch we went to the basement where Andrew and Evelyn went with Dan to race cheetahs (not exactly sure what that is because I went with Oliver, but Andrew was excited about it, despite the 40 minute line). Oliver discovered a mini-market and spent 40 minutes happily shuffling vegetables from the truck to the market stalls and back.
Matt came home early that night so we all went to a cool dinner theater near their house and saw Zootopia (you can order all kinds of food in the theater; we stuck with popcorn and drinks). I thought the movie was charming--a little predictable, but a lot of fun and a great message about acceptance and following your dreams.
Friday, we spent the morning playing dodgeball and kickball in the church gym (it was raining again). Laurie and I both ended up sore the next morning from the unaccustomed dodging. In the afternoon, the older boys went to a nickle arcade while Will slept, then Laurie and I took the younger set to the American Girl doll store. Clara squealed the minute she walked in the door. She exclaimed at everything. Evelyn, who'd seen a smaller version of the store earlier in the week in Vegas, was more blase (but she still had fun).
We finished off our trip with one more visit to the ice cream parlor (no puking this time!). The trip was much too short, and the trip back was long (flight plus the drive home from Vegas), but we enjoyed it thoroughly.
2 comments:
We're so glad that you came!! It was a really fun Spring Break for us.
Laurie
I just wish I could have enjoyed it all, too. So glad you got to go.
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