Going to Texas!

Ten days ago we set out for our summer family vacation to Texas, specifically Whitney and Dallas.  We left on Saturday afternoon, after the boys' swim meet and broke the trip up into 2 days.  The first night we made it to El Paso and the second day we finished the drive into the community of Whitney where my aunt and uncle Barb and Darold live. Here are a few photos of our first part of our trip.  

Dad drove the entire trip.  The whole way there and back.  It was really nice of him to do that for us.

Here's the rest of us.  Just getting started... we all still smiling.  Let's just capture this moment for a while, as it didn't last the whole way.

The scenery was really pretty and we taught  Isabelle about dust devils.  

With  a family of 6 driving is so much cheaper.  And for the most part the kids do a great job.  I must say though we would never make it without the DVD player in the van.  Thank goodness for technology.  Jarrett and I commented we have no idea how our parents ever took us on family vacations when we were kids.

The first night when we got to El Paso we reserved a 2- queen room and I brought sleeping bags for the girls to sleep in on the floor.  When we finally arrived at 10:30 that night, all tired and cranky, we walked into the room to see that there was 2 beds, but they were only fulls.  Gabriel insisted he sleep in a bed and Michael refused to sleep with his "stinky" brother.  Isabelle refused to sleep on the floor and Madelyn always insists on sleeping with Jarrett and I.  Need I go into more details, but the short version is... Jarrett, Madelyn, Isabelle and I slept in one full bed, Michael slept on the floor and Gabriel enjoyed an entire full bed of his own.  At least one of the six of us slept well. 

Jarrett vowed we would never have such a sleepless night if we could help it.  Next time he was going to take charge of the reservation process.  I was demoted. 

The next morning, Isabelle and Madelyn were excited to get on our way again.

And there's Gabriel talking about how much room he had in his bed.  Meanwhile Michael is hanging off the side of the bed and standing on the floor in  the little space he slept in on the  ground.

Soon enough we were back in  the car and Madelyn needed to be entertained.  Thankfully we packed a backpack of some toys to keep her busy

I moved in  the second row to better handle all the requests of the family and we moved Gabriel to the front seat.  Michael and Isabelle surprisingly got along pretty well in the back seat together.

Dad kept driving.

Isabelle was all smiles so excited to be going on vacation

Michael too!

I surprised the kids every few hundred miles with a small  surprise.  Here's Michael getting ready to open his toy.

Isabelle got a LOL surprise doll and was super pumped it was a gold one.  I have no idea  what it means.  She loved it until she realized it wasn't built correctly and then thought it wasn't as cool!

I just tried to tell her that her doll was VERY flexible and extra special.  

She didn't buy it.

After watching TV for 6 hours Madelyn decided she was hungry or bored, not sure which so she started chewing on her feet. 

Around dinner time we finally arrived to Darold and Barbs beautiful new home.  They had their grandsons there and were celebrating Dane's birthday.   

The kids had a lot of fun playing with the boys. 


And Darold had fun teasing Madelyn. 

They were wrestling before bed.

The next day we got to go with them to the lake near their home and go on their boat.  It was so much fun to play along the beach and then wade in the water. 

Barb and Darold had gotten a tube to pull  behind the boat and the kids had a BLAST!!!!

The girls loved the water

And Barb helped Madelyn and Isabelle build a sand castle.

After we spent the day at the lake and at their home, Darold gave us a tour of their town while Barb taught Michael how to drive their 4-wheeler.  Michael was in HEAVEN!

Here's a view of the lake at sun set near their house.  Beautiful is an understatement. 

The next day after breakfast we got packed up and started  our journey toward Dallas. 

Darold and Barb were such amazing hosts, so thoughtful, made us incredibly yummy food and treated us like royalty.  We are   so grateful for their hospitality.  

On our way to Dallas we passed through some beautiful small towns and the fact that it was close to July 4th, most of them were decorated with red, white and blue.  They were exactly what you picture when you think of America. 

 Such a pretty courthouse. 

And  here is the main street of small town America in Texas.  We were really close to Waco, where Chip and Joanna Gains live, but we didn't make it to there this trip. 

After about an hour of driving we finally made it to  the outer edges of Dallas.  The kids were excited for part 2 of our trip to begin, although they all said, part 1 with Darold and Barb was so good, they didn't think part 2 could ever compare.

We drove straight to downtown  Dallas and were headed to the 6th Floor Book depository, the museum known as the place where Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy.

Here's a view of one of the buildings looking straight up.

And here is Daley Plaze and the x on the  street marks the place where  the  first shot hit  President Kennedy.

It's  such a surreal place... prior to our trip I made the boys do a  research project on President Kennedy and write a report and prepare a PowerPoint presentation about his presidency and what happened in Dallas.  While they moaned and complained about it, and told me  they were the only kids in the whole world who had to do a research project in the summer, I think they were thankful they had done the research.  It made the experience and visit much more real for them and they were very interested in understanding more of the details.  To our surprise, even Isabelle found it all interesting.  

After we walked around the area we entered the museum for the tour. 

It was really interesting and that is where I'll pick up next time. 

Until then,

Angie