Great Times

Friday

Woke up early and had time for breakfast by myself before the children woke up.  One of my favorite things to do when on vacation!

For all those new moms (and old)...give yourself this special treat when staying at a hotel.  If you eat breakfast first...you have more time to concentrate on helping the children when they are ready to eat.  When Michael is here...I let him sleep in with the children knowing all will be safe.  When he is gone...I have the oldest in the room know that I am leaving and tell them to bring the baby (or anyone younger than 3-years old) to me if they get fussy.  I almost never have a child awake as I am an early riser and up long before anyone else.  All the children know they can always turn on the TV at a low volume until I get back so all are happy!

The girls were in their own room so they woke up on their own and got ready for their adventures.  Amanda and Katy were dressed in costume for the day.  Not my idea of fun but they are having a blast!  Christina was set to meet her classmates at Six Flags.  I played chauffeur to the girls and a friend of Amanda's from New York.  I will let the girls tell their adventures at the end of each day.

I got everyone where they needed to be and realized I did not have the address to our hotel!!!  SO much for a GPS...but I got clever...I put in a location close to our hotel and got us there and then found the closest hotel to that location...VOILA!

The boys were happy to get back to the hotel in time to have lunch and then we were off to the swimming pool.  Bad news!  The hotel pool was not open!  Good news!  We got an upgrade to the fancy hotel pool next door!   It was a lovely hotel to view and the pool was nicer also.  Zaira had her first visit to a "big bathtub" and had a great time kicking her feet from the side and then jumping right in with the boys!  They all had a blast and we then enjoyed a quiet few moments of down time before going to pick up Christina.




Christina had fun at Six Flags even though she got a late start.  The school bus with her classmates did not show up until lunch time.  She made the most of it and waited patiently.  Then she enjoyed the long lines and the few rides with her friends. We picked her up and then enjoyed a evening at the hotel.

We even had time to run over to an ice cream shop and buy a cake.  We surprised Amanda with an early birthday 'party!'  We also gave her our gifts...a ring from Mom and Dad...a love knot ring to replace one lost when she was younger...as well as a pretty necklace from Christina.  I think Amanda was surprised!

Amanda and Katy had a blast on their first day of the conference.  They were dressed up like their favorite characters (I will add names later...I can never remember how to spell their names!)  Hopefully, I will get them to add some more details from their day as well.

We had planned on meeting with my mom this evening (She is on her vacation to Niagra Falls and was gong to be staying the night in Dallas!) however she was very busy having fun at a saloon with the friends!  LOL!  I cannot wait to hear about her adventures when she gets back!

Saturday

An early start to the morning...we got Amanda and Katy (along with her friend Anthony) to the conference.  The theme seemed to be Zombie apparel for the day...Amanda in her zombie warrior costume and Katy as a Zombie.  And Anthony just enjoying the laid back approach!

Then the rest of the crew headed to downtown Dallas...specifically the historical West End.  We really did not know what our plans would be for the day, but we thought we would visit a museum.  The closest one to our location was a Holocaust museum but it did not open for a couple of hours...so we took a stroll around the block.

We had know idea that we were at the famous "grassy knoll" where JFK was shot and killed almost 50 years before!  It was a true living history moment as a friendly guide walked up to fill us in on the details.  I was in a little bit of a panic because I rarely have cash on me and at that time only had a five-dollar bill.  However, the two older boys had just learned about this in their history lessons so it was fascinating to them which encouraged the tour guide to share as much as he could with little care about the money.  He said it made him happy to see the boys so interested in the history.  He even shared a newspaper that discussed all the aspects of that fateful day.

We continued around the block ending at the museum in which we entered just before opening...a big thank you to the curator who let us in out of the heat!  This gave us time to go to the rest rooms and cool off before going into the exhibits.  Once again the children had read about this in their history books so they were glad to have the opportunity to see the artifacts gathered.  However, Edward did say it was very sad and Brendan said it was important to remember that they died for freedom.  A good reminder not to let our children forget the past...or it might be repeated.  I think the curator was surprised that we would share so much with the younger children but none of the pictures in the museum were any more graphic then what we hear about and read in our pro-life efforts.

This time we did not pick up Amanda and Katy until the wee hours of the night.  I left Zaira sleeping on the hotel bed with Christina.  I would have made it back without her even being the wiser but I took Anthony to the hotel to catch his flight.  She made it for the most part...Christina had to settle her back down to sleep.  This was at 2am so I felt so bad for the person in the next room over but it worked out in the end.

Sunday

We woke up in time to get everyone dressed for Mass.  We found a nice church (St Paul the Apostle) not too far from our hotel.  The priest sounded like he had just come off the farm!  He had such a beautiful drawl!  He spoke of the importance of taking action.  We expect God to do something for us and sometimes we need to look around and see what we can do for God.  We need to remember that we are God's hands and feet in this world.

After Mass, we asked the locals for a good Chinese restaurant (that is what Amanda wanted to eat for her birthday dinner!).  We were fortunate to learn that there was one just around the block.  The children enjoyed trying sushi for the first time.  Katy made the mistake of choosing to place an octopus on her plate.  She thought it would make me upset to have it laced in front of me.  I got the last laugh however, as I told her we had a rule that if we choose something from a buffet, we have to try at least one bite!  Oh my, how she cringed as they tried to cut through that rubbery thing!  Fortunately for her, it could not be cut through and I did not have the heart to actually make her take a bite.

On this last day of the convention, Christina decided to go with Amanda and Katy.  There plan was to go around to all the vendors and end with one last 'lecture' (as Katy was calling the panels) about networking with writers.  Since it was such a short day, I decided we could just go to park close by the hotel.  We enjoyed the beautiful day on the playground and walking around to various statues of children.   This park was set up beside a children's hospital, so most of these statues were designed as memorials for the children treated in the various wards.

Zaira is getting really good at "walking"...but we were all surprised when she grabbed Brendan's hand and decided she would take a stroll around the playground with him!

We picked the girls up and then we made our way home...why is the trip home always longer?  We arrived late into the evening and were exhausted...thankfully, everyone did not mind going straight to bed.

Once again so glad for great times!  I think everyone had fun.  I know it was a restful weekend for me...with little concern for schedules and keeping house clean.  And as always after an extended weekend away...we were glad to see our own beds!  And...must add that the puppies were glad to be back with us as well.  They rolled around the lawn as if to say...We are home!