Category: Travel

Last weekend we were supposed to go to Sea World, but those plans fell through and so we decided on Thursday to drive to Bryan and surprise Tahni at her art show opening. We found a cute hotel called The La Salle close to the gallery and an added bonus is that it’s a Historical Hotel of America. It was all done up like the 20’s and 30’s (well except for the Starbucks).

We walked into Art 979 at about 6:30 and it’s an understatement to say that we surprised Tahni. She was absolutely not expecting us and so our plan was a great success. Her stuff looked great hanging on the wall. We ate dinner at the cafe in the Gallery and it was wonderful. They bake their own bread and almost everything else is locally grown/organic. Tahni sold 2 pieces of artwork that night and I was so happy for her.

The next morning we hung out with Tahni and checked out the area around the hotel. Across the street is the oldest Carnegie Funded Library in Texas. So cool!

This sculpture was out front and Nadia really liked. She said, “Read a book!”

This was in front of the La Salle.

For lunch we all went to the Hullaballo Diner which I saw on “Diners, Drive In’s and Dives” on the Food Network. It was my second visit with Tahni and I just had to bring Mike back. The food was WONDERFUL. You should go there – really. And get the wet fries…. you’ll thank me.

After dropping Tahni off we headed back up the road towards home and after about 110 miles we were all ready to stop so I suggested that we stop at the Outlet Mall. Turns out they were having a Cinco De Mayo celebration that wasn’t very busy (I blame swine flu media hype) and so we stayed for a couple of hours shopping and letting Nadia play. We saw a Mariachi Band and asked them to play “De Colores” (the Spanish song from this semesters music class). Nadia realized what the song was right away and she wanted them to sing it again! We went in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse bounce house and had a fun train ride.

Here we are saying, “Choo choo!!”

Then we headed for home. It was a really fun overnight trip! I love my family.

On Wednesday night in Houston Jen cooked us a wonderful meal that started with Caprese Salad and ended with Grand Canyon Cheesecake! The highlight of the evening was my Aunt Jane FINALLY getting to meet Nadia in person. Jane has been such a sweet part of this adoption with her encouraging thoughts and prayers for our little family. We also met Uncle Perry for the first time and Nadia thought he was great fun.

Then on Thursday we went to dinner with Poppa and Grandma Brooke at our travel mate Lisa’s restaurant, Pearl Dynasty, in Sugarland. If you live in the Houston area you should go there! They have 2 in Pearland and 1 in Sugarland. The egg rolls and Orange Beef are awesome and my favorite, but everything is great.

Nadia and Angelina walked around the restaurant and outside holding hands, which was so cute! I don’t have a photo, but it was really sweet. I am glad that we have been able to see them on each visit to Houston in the last year. That way the girls can grow up getting to know each other.

After the fun on the farm we headed to the carnival area where I took Nadia on the carousel. Since we go on them all over I have to say that this one was awesome. The horse went up and down fast and the carousel itself was really moving. Nadia kept saying, “up, down, fun, up, down, fun.” It was really cute.

Then we headed over to the ‘Goliath Slide’. I am pretty much a wimp when it comes to things like these, but I knew that Nadia would like it. By the time we climbed to the top I had a sick feeling in my tummy, but I wasn’t going to show any fear! It was really fun and thanks to Jen for these great shots. Nadia kept saying the next couple days, “Slide. Go fast. I go fast. FAST!”

Here we are all the way at the top.