Texas Visit

We got to go to Texas this week and visit Steve's side of the family.  We haven't been down to Texas since Diana's wedding (when Sarah was 15 months old!) and that was to South Padre Island, so it has been even longer since we were at Gramma and PopPop's home. We headed out on Saturday, June 21.  

Trevor was really excited about the airplanes at the airport. 

The kids did well on the plane.  We broke the "no TV under age 2" rule and let Trevor watch Sesame Street DVDs on the plane to keep him busy. 

We got off the plane in Dallas and were looking around for signs for which way to go to get to baggage claim when we heard a familiar voice and saw Uncle Brian waiting for us at the gate!  He works at Friday's in the airport, so he has the badge to get him into the gate areas.

We headed to Gramma and PopPop's house and the kids were excited to hop in the pool right away!

We got to spend some time with Auntie Diana and Uncle Stephen on Saturday evening.

Trevor has been enjoying playing with my colander at home (he calls it his "pot") and he wasted no time in finding Gramma's colander to play with there.  Trevor was really interested in the dogs, too.  He liked to pet Jack (the dalmatian) and would show him his toys. He chased Sophie (the Shitzu who was afraid of him), and he did a good job saying Spike's name. 

Gramma found Steve's dinosaur toys from ~25-30 years ago. The kids had fun playing with Daddy's old toys. 

 Bubbles were also a hit, as was the Cozy Coupe (always popular!).

 Austin and Sarah found binoculars and wore them around their necks almost the whole week. 

 Trevor enjoyed having cupcakes every day!  (We just had to be careful that he didn't share the chocolate ones with the dogs.)

While Trevor was outgoing with the dogs and Sarah was a bit fearful, it was the opposite with the horses.  Trevor wasn't quite sure what to make of them.

Sarah was super excited to help feed the horses. 

 Austin helped too.

Unfortunately, our plans for the first day of the trip were rained out.  We were going to see the fossilized dinosaur footprints in a river bed in Dinosaur Valley.  Despite not having rained there for a while, we brought our week of thunderstorms with us apparently, and it poured rain all day.  We checked the weather forecast before heading out and it was supposed to clear up by the time we got there.  We drove the 2 hours to get there only to find that the storm was worsening and there were major flash floods occurring in the area (so much that it made the news for the rest of the week).  The river bed (previously dry) was flooded and the Dinosaur Valley park was closed.  We had some lunch and treats at Dairy Queen and headed back home.  We entertained ourselves in the car by taking a selfie to show off Austin's blue tongue after his blue ice cream treat.

The next day we chose an indoor activity and checked out the Sea Life Aquarium.  It was really fun and the kids (especially Trevor) had a blast.

Up close with the rays.

Porthole view.

Trevor pointing out the turtles to Daddy and Sarah. 

Sarah's in the fish tank!

Gorgeous!

Trevor checking out the glass floor and discovering he can see fish under his feet.  After moving on to the next part of the aquarium, Trevor ran back to this tunnel of 360 degree fish tank to explore some more.

Austin and Trevor checking out the jelly fish!

Sarah found Nemo!

Daddy kept the shark from eating the kids.

The kids got to have some hands on time with the sea stars, crawfish, etc.

More swim time at home.

PopPop and Trevor got the water guns going.

Daddy threw Austin around the pool for a while. 

The next day, we headed to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.  The kids were excited to get to use tablets to navigate the museum, but they were quickly more interested in the exhibits than the tablets.

Being paleontologists on a dinosaur dig!

Checking out the Children's Museum area.  Austin learned about river lock systems. 

And Trevor loved playing in the water.

Then on to the fossils... here's the T. Rex.

 Trevor got a lift from PopPop as they checked out the wooly mammoth. 

Sarah sitting in one of the dinosaur footprints like the ones we tried to go see in Dinosaur Valley.

Afterward, we got to pick up Uncle Brian and enjoy an evening with him.

The last day, before heading to the airport, the rain stopped long enough for the kids to get a chance to ride Tommy, the miniature horse!

 Sarah and Trevor also rode Gramma's new tractor.

The trip home was, unfortunately, also plagued by storms.  We boarded the plane late, then sat on the plane at the gate for about 1.5 hours until the storms passed enough for us to take off.  Happily, about half hour into the wait on the plane, Trevor fell asleep and slept for about 1.5 hours.

We made it home safe and sound with some very tired children.  Thanks to Gramma and PopPop for a great visit!  We miss you already!

Next up, Austin and Sarah have their final soccer games of the season on Saturday and then we get to attend a 40th anniversary party for some dear family friends.