Tuesday morning we arrived here at my parents' house.
Mary and David have been counting down the days until they could see the dogs, Roderick and Jewels. They cry at night about how much they miss them and post pictures of them in their bedrooms. So I wasn't quite expecting them to be COMPLETELY FREAKED OUT and HYSTERICAL by the mellow, well-trained, and good-natured canine duo. I thought Mary was going to spend the whole week on the kitchen counter. (Fortunately, they've warmed up to the dogs and they're all bffs now.)
Mary got right to work with Tia Ale making Aunt Charity and Uncle Andy's famous yummy whole wheat pizza dough.
Grandma Evie and "the girls":
One evening Grandma Evie took us all ("us all" being me, the kids, Tio and Tia) to check out the new Sea Life aquarium near her house.
We had a great time! I think we all liked the rays and skates the best. It was a good outing for this crazy 110-degree heat. (It's too hot to even swim. Bleh!) We got midweek-evening tickets, so it was only "really expensive" as opposed to "insanely expensive"--which was good because it only takes an hour or two to go through--it's certainly not an all-day adventure. Overall, we would NOT give it a thumbs up review for the price. But we're glad we got to check it out. (Thank you, Mom.)
IMPORTANT TANGENT. So did I mention the 110-degree heat? Speaking of detours, when we hit the flooded out highway in Iowa on our drive down, perhaps I should have taken that as a sign to TURN AROUND and GO HOME. I seriously could not have picked a worse time to come to Texas. I knew I was crazy to come to Texas in August--but I didn't know it would be this crazy. Day after day of triple-digit heat. It's so hot nobody goes swimming! The swimming pools feel like warm baths. Not refreshing. (Really, when you drive around in the afternoon, there is not a soul at any of the neighborhood pools.) Grrr. My plan was to spend two weeks in Texas swimming. Instead, we're basically spending two weeks trapped inside. (Kind of reminds me of winter in Wisconsin.) But I didn't turn around in Iowa and go home. My kids love their grandparents way too much for that. So, here we are, swimming in the warm baths some mornings and evenings, and hiding in the a/c during the afternoons. I might add that when the heat outside and the ceilings inside are super high--as they are in Dallas--there is only so much cooling your poor overworked a/c can do. So it's definitely not cool inside. But it beats outside. (Really, how did people survive before air conditioning?)
Now, back to the aquarium. When we got home Wednesday evening from the aquarium, we discovered our greatest fear had come true: There was no power!! The kids were hysterical. HYSTERICAL! Mary was scared of the dark, and David was scared of the heat. David even declared having no air conditioning was "worse than a tornado!!!" When we found out the transformer on the block had blown--and it wouldn't be fixed until morning--we jumped ship and returned to Grammy's house, where she kindly put us up in the coolest room in the house. (Another unexpected detour.) On our way back up Highway 121, I explained to the kids that I'd called Grammy and she was super happy to have us spend the night there. David pointed out, "That's what family does. Family helps family."
After a nice cool night's rest, we got up in the morning and booked it back down Highway 121 to meet Grandma Evie at the new Dallas Legoland Discovery Center. Greg and I burnt out on Legoland ages ago, so the last couple of times we've been to Chicago, we've skipped it--much to David's disappointment. As consolation, we've been telling David that he can go to the new Legoland by Grandma Evie's house this summer. So he had been looking forward to this day for months.
Fortunately, I convinced the nice young man at the ticket counter to accept our Chicago Legoland Discovery Center annual passes. Phew! Otherwise I would have had to sell one of my children to afford the price of admission. (Never pay full price for that place. Watch for specials online or even on the backs of Lego toy packages. With an online special, we got our annual passes for $25 apiece last year. For perspective, it costs $19 for a single day admission.)
This place was much, much better designed than the one in Chicago. (But it was missing an area to sit down and build with Legos. What the heck?? Isn't that the point?) The kids had a great time. (And it wasn't torture for me!)
As in Chicago, the favorite was definitely building cars and testing them on the ramps. (For Lego-lovers, it is worth a visit to a Legoland Discovery Center for this.)
Mary was a good sport and kept herself occupied while David was enthralled in Lego-ness.
I was skeptical about Miniland. The one in Chicago is so cool! Because Chicago is so cool! How could a Dallas-Fort Worth Miniland NOT be totally lame?
Um, I was wrong. It was so great! I loved it. I had to take a few pictures, for myself...because it was kind of like a walk down memory lane.
This is of the Gaylord Texan. I took the picture in honor of my baby bro Daniel, who worked there before his mission. He hooked us up with parking passes and even tickets to their Christmas ice display, so we have lots of happy memories from the Gaylord Texan (like when Daddy came to visit).
Southfork! Greg and I spent most of our first year of marriage separated (thank you, USAF), and somehow during that time I started watching Dallas. (Did you know that about me? That I can tell you all about J.R., Sue Ellen, and the gang?) So on one of my first visits to Dallas, I made Greg drive me by the Southfork Ranch, just a few miles from where he went to high school.
Dallas isn't Dallas without the Cowboys. And that fancy schmancy new stadium makes for a great U2 concert.
Home of the Fort Worth Stock Show! Been there, done that. It doesn't get anymore Texan than the Will Roger Memorial Center.
And who could ever forget a ride on the Texas Star at the State Fair?
Thanks, Grandma Evie, for a super fun morning!
Grandma Evie was such a good sport that after a food court lunch she even agreed to take Mary for a ride in the spinning cup on the caurosel. Now that's true love! (David hitched a ride too.)
That evening Uncle Andy and the cousins (my scrumptiously adorable niece and nephew) showed up--for even more fun to come.
