Road Trip: Houston, Texas

We were so happy to finally get to Houston and see daddy! The boys could hardly contain their excitement. We stopped on the way to visit the Sam Houston memorial. All I can say is WOW. I was shocked at the massive size of this statute! They sure don't mess around with stuff in Texas, I'm think I understand why they say everything is bigger there...

So, we got to the airport and waited for his flight to come in. After a few minutes I got up to look at the board for his flight number and saw that it was cancelled due to weather. After talking to several people I was told that the flight would be in at noon, but the flight number they gave me was for midnight. We waited until about 12:30 and then finally decided to leave and come back when he called. We just pulled out of our parking space when my phone rang! He was able to fly standby on the last flight that morning. The boys had fun running around and wrestling with daddy, it was so nice to be together as a family again! 

                 

We had a fun time at the Houston Children's Museum (which is probably where we caught a cold virus that left us trapped in our hotel room sneezing and coughing for five days!) They had these machine lego's where you could build tractors, airplanes and more. We're definitely adding those to our future Christmas list... 

This is what we did to pass the time while we were sick...

and lots of this...

We did manage to see a few other things while we were in Houston despite being sick for half the time (during beautiful 75-80 degree weather).

Right next to the zoo there is a huge park and look what we found climbing out of the lake! The boys of course chased the poor thing around and Grant almost jumped/fell in after it...fortunately we didn't have to rescue anyone...

The only disadvantage of owning an SLR...when you ask random strangers to take your picture, they can't seem to get that you actually have to look through the lens and focus...oh well...we tried.

The aquarium was a lot of fun. The boys really enjoyed the train ride which took us through an aquarium tunnel. They got to pet baby sharks and sting ray's and we ate dinner in the restaurant surrounded by fish. Reminded us of the Bahamas- Atlantis has an amazing floor to ceiling aquarium in the restaurant and a huge tunnel you can walk through with huge shark floating right over head (not to mention next to you when you slide down the water slide- creepy even though there is glass between you). Anyway...they also had a huge white tiger which actually jumped up and started pacing back and forth right next to the glass, the boys loved it.

We really loved Houston and only wish we hadn't been sick for half the trip so we could have seen and done more. The shopping there is AMAZING. I couldn't believe how many fabulous shopping centers there were within a 3 mile radius. It was interesting to see the transformation in the boys' too. Joshua magically stopped being so grumpy and Grant actually slept in his own bed again. It was wonderful (and gives me hope that the grouchiness and sleepless nights won't last forever)!

Dallas, Texas LDS Temple Artwork

Finally, pictures of the Dallas, Texas Temple. You can order prints or download these temple images on my free LDS temple art website. Enjoy!

Road Trip: Dallas

Our next stop was Dallas, Texas. It was a beautiful 80 degree day in January. Amazing. It felt fabulous especially considering the day we left Utah it was 7 degrees. As we were driving south it got as low as 18 below zero. 80 degrees was like being in heaven.

I love these statues of a cattle drive in downtown Dallas. It sits right next to an old cemetery and civil war monument.

The boys were so happy to stop and stretch their legs, and this was the perfect spot.

We also stopped at the zoo-themed McDonalds in Dallas. They had huge African animals all over inside and the play place was also decorated in the zoo theme. The boys were so excited by all the animals- they even play jungle noises in the restaurant. It was a pretty fun stop.

I was able to stop and see one of my old college roommates who lives just outside of Dallas. Since it was spring-like weather the kids played outside and had a ton of fun wrestling and climbing along the fence and chasing her poor bunnies. It was so refreshing to get a taste of spring!

Albuquerque, New Mexico LDS Temple

To download these free pictures of the LDS temple in Albuquerque, New Mexico, please visit my LDS Artwork website.

Monticello, Utah LDS Temple

Our road trip took us right through Monticello, Utah. Of course I had to stop and take pictures of the temple there. You can download these free pictures of the Monticello Utah Temple by going to my LDS Temple Artwork website.

Road Trip: Albuquerque to Amarillo

I had the car packed the night before so all I had to do was load up our food and the boys. We got up early and were on the road by 4:30am. The boys were so excited to be travelling, they stayed awake for an hour or two but fell fast asleep during the long drive to Albuqerque. About half way we stopped at a rest stop and this was the view. The sun was just starting to peek up and there was a lone tree perfectly silhouetted.

We made pretty good time to Albuqerque and stayed there for the night. We spent the next day at the Explora museum. The boys had such a fun time. Almost everything in this museum was geared toward smaller kids. There was so much to see and do, they played hard all day long. The favorites were the marble runs, building a little log cabin and making huge bubbles.We even went across the street and saw the museum of natural history and science. One of my friends I knew in New Hampshire lives there now, so we met for dinner that night. It was so fun to reconnect after all these years.

The next day we headed for Dallas. Just before Amarillo, Texas there is a fun stop called Cadillac Ranch. A bunch of cadillac's buried out in a farm field. It was the perfect place to stop and stretch our legs.

Ethan was very concerned that the spray paint cans were littering the field, and decided he wanted to gather them up...ALL of them... (there are hundreds of cans everwhere). After gathering up about thirty of them, I finally convinced them that they couldn't get them all and that we needed to continue our trip.

They tried spraying some bottles that still had a bit in them. Joshua got a good spray right in the face- fortunately it was mostly fumes and not paint.

It was an entertaining stop- if you've ever driven across west Texas, there's pretty much sky and that's it. Texas

One nice thing about travelling in Texas- they have the best rest stops. Two of the places we stopped had these fabulous playgrounds. The boys got all their energy out and had a blast. Wish more places were like this!

 

Home at last!

After five weeks on the road traveling over 2,000 miles through ten states, we are finally home! Or at least where we are calling home for the present time. You never really know where "home" is when you're in the military. We had a great time, especially getting to see my husband again. The boys traveled remarkably well. There was very little fighting or whining...in the car that is...plenty once we got out of the car...

Ethan kept busy looking for license plates from each of the 50 states. He found all except South Dakota and Hawaii and even found 4 Canadian provinces. I got him a magnetic license plate game, but the magnets weren't very magnetic. Next trip I am ordering this license plate game from Doug & Melissa. Grant and Joshua slept a lot and they were enthralled with a few DVDs we got special for this trip: Mighty Machines, I Love Toy Trains and Blues Clues.

The boys were so happy to see their daddy again and couldn't spend quite enough time with him. I'll be sharing updates of the places we visited over the next week and the seven temples I was able to photograph.

The winner is...

Congratulations to Michelle T. winner of the $25 Amazon.com gift card! Thanks to all who entered! I had a fun tutorial scheduled but when I went to actually publish it, it mysteriously deleted all the text and photos... Iphone is not so reliable for blogger... So I'll get that up when I get home. We are heading back west from our month long road trip. It's been a wonderful time seeing my husband and good friends. We are ready to be home though! Will post pics and details next week! Hope y'all had a great Valentine's day (I can say y'all since I'm in Texas)!

Amazon.com Giveaway!

Today is the first day to enter to win "From Our Hearts To Yours Valentine Giveaway" hosted by Life With Two Boys, With Our Best, and Mama-Nibbles! Be sure to check out all the amazing giveaways offered now until Valentine's Day!

I don't know if I've mentioned it before or not, but I do almost ALL of my shopping at Amazon.com. I love that as long as I spend $25 (not hard to do) shipping is absolutely free. Sure beats going to the store with three wild boys in tow! I order all our homeschooling supplies there, books, paper, printers, laminators, craft supplies, learning toys, diapers etc... I especially do ALL my Christmas shopping there. I never fight the crazy holiday crowds, I buy everything online and have it shipped to my door. It's such a lifesaver. I don't think a week goes by that I don't have something from Amazon on my doorstep. I seriously could not survive without them.

I am happy to offer one lucky reader a $25 gift card to Amazon.com!

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