Category: Travel

On our 4th day at the beach we headed down first thing in the morning. The girls continued the games they had been playing the last time. There was still seaweed on the beach, but not piles of it in the water like the other days which was fun for the girls. After we had lunch and a nap we headed down to the Strand to have ice cream and buy salt water taffy at La Kings. The ice cream was so good! Then we headed down to walk along the seawall and take some photos before heading back for dinner.

On day 5 we had a morning of play and movies then lunch and a nap. Then we spent hours at the beach, took photos and stayed out until the sun went down. It was a perfect last night at the beach. I am going to do a separate post with photos that Mike took on our last night. Thanks again to Cynthia and Harold for letting us use their house.

For day 3 at the beach it was raining off and on and our girls (especially Amelie) were worn out and needed to rest. Even with bug spray we had been eaten alive the day before coming back from the beach and our itchy and swollen girls needed to relax. After breakfast the girls got out the various kinds of Lego’s that the Hebert’s have for their grand-kids. Then we let them watch movies most of the day which Nadia declared a “perfect kid vacation.” Mike spent the day getting a lot of work done.

While the girls were watching a movie and I was reading a book I heard the sound of the ice cream truck! I was so excited because they never come to our neighborhood at home and the girls have never had the chance to buy from one. We all ran down the stairs and out the driveway in our jammies to catch the truck. Then I let the girls eat their ice cream before lunch which was really exciting for them. Nadia said it was another “good vacation thing.”

After nap time the girls watched another movie and then we decided to go out to have Mexican food at a place the Hebert’s had suggested.

I bought these shirts shortly before we went to China this year to adopt Dani. I have been saving them for a surprise and decided that our girls road trip would be the perfect time. Nadia and Amelie loved them and asked to watch “The Little Mermaid” on the road.

Mike had a big deadline coming up and needed a big chunk of time to work so I suggested that I take the girls on a road trip to see our Houston family and friends. I started making calls and sending texts on Wednesday night and by Friday morning we were on the road. I decided to surprise the girls and make a detour to the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory on our way to Houston. We took the freeway to Waco and then made the rest of the trip south on a state highway that went through about 20 small Texas towns. (On a side note, there is something so great about small towns with their BBQ festivals and mom and pop store fronts)

The factory was really busy when we arrived so we bought tickets for the next available tour. It was so hot that I told the girls we would go get a scoop of ice cream while we waited. We visited with some people while waiting and then the tour guide told us that they didn’t allow any photos of the tour to protect employee privacy. The tour was really interesting and all the girls were mostly quiet during the entire tour. Nadia loved the entire thing and said she couldn’t pick a favorite thing. Amelie liked how they made and packed the ice cream bars. The most amazing thing to me was that Blue Bell doesn’t own any of their own cows. They buy the milk from local Texas farmers within 200  miles of the factory. They buy milk from 60,000 cows who make 7-10 gallons of milk a day. That’s right, 60,000 cows!!!!!!!!!! At the end of the tour everyone gets treated to a scoop of ice cream in the flavor of their choice. The girls and I had a great time and then hit the road for the last 70 miles of our trip.

Little Joshua hurt his foot and after his mommy held him and then I held him he wanted to Nadia to old him. He kept saying that Nadia was the “sweetest cousin.”After visiting at Jen and Chris’ house we headed over to our friend Lisa’s restaurant to grab the keys to her house since we would be sleeping there for the weekend. The girls were beat and we all went right to sleep. The next morning we headed to Jen and Chris’ again and swam in their community pool. Then my aunt Jane brought lunch for all of us from Chick-fil-A. I was so happy to see her and for her to meet Dani!

The next thing we knew it was nap time so the girls and I headed back to Lisa’s. The girls had a good time getting to know Angelina and Matthew again (it had been almost a year since we saw them) while Lisa and I visited with each other. We made plans for more play time the next morning and headed back to Jen’s house. The kids played together and we had yummy pizza for dinner. Joshua and Caleb just make me laugh with their cute little voices and sweet smiles. I had a chance to hold and feed baby Olivia and that was super sweet. Dani hadn’t let Jen hold her yet so I told her to go with cookies for bribery.

The next morning the kids all played together at Lisa’s while I got us packed up and ready to roll. They had so much fun running around and laughing. It’s a real delight to see all these sweet kids together. Lisa and I enjoyed more “mom time” and I felt so bad telling the kids we had to go and I promised that we wouldn’t let an entire year go by again. From Lisa’s we headed downtown to meet Papa, Grandma Brooke and Bayli for lunch at El Rey’s. It was so yummy! After lunch they asked us to come back to the condo so the girls could take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge video Grandma Brooke wanted to make. It turned out adorable!

The girls and I hit the road and they made it all the way to Corsicana before they needed to stop. I told them they earned a trip to the Collin Street Bakery for cookies. We also grabbed dinner at the Wendy’s drive through and made the final journey home. We had a fabulous time on our whirlwind Houston trip, but we were all so glad to see Daddy.

Thanks for having us H-Town peeps!!