Once again, we headed to Texas for Thanksgiving this year. Except, this time - we stayed in Houston and all stayed with Lexi and Will instead of driving down to Opa and Grandma's house. In order to save some money, we found tickets that were much cheaper if we left Houston the Friday after Thanksgiving and clearly that isn't possible if we are 3 hours away. So, Houston it was!
The trip down was great. Primarily because this was the first trip that Alex had his own seat! Wow - what a difference that makes. And, luckily for us, Alex is VERY into planes, so he was quite entertained when on the ground. The only issue? He wasn't tall enough to sit in his seat and to still see out the window. So, we had a hard time getting him to understand that he had to stay seated with his seat belt on. BUT, we learned a trick - at one point, I told him that "the guy" would come back and yell at Alex if he took his seat belt on. I'm still not even sure who I meant for "the guy" to be, but holy crap - Alex was scared to death of him. All we had to do was mention "the guy" and he would get all wide-eyed and would immediately sit down. It was great (and slightly comical).
The first leg went great. Kids were good and things were on time. Then, came the second leg. We had to get the kids food, so we took the time to eat lunch, which ultimately made us a bit late in getting on the flight. And, of course, as we were about to get on the flight, we heard those dreaded words - "Mommy, me poopin'." Awesome. I'm not sure if any of you have tried changing a diaper on a plane, but it is nearly impossible for an infant, much less a toddler who barely fits on his own diaper table much less the one on the airplane. So, I go to change him right then and there and of course, he is having nothing to do with it. So, after a few conversations that went something like, "I'm going to leave you in Atlanta if you don't let me get this poop out of your diaper," we were done and on the jet bridge. So, as we go to collapse the DOUBLE (i.e., LONG) stroller so that we can check it plane-side? We realize that Delta busted it on the flight from BOS to ATL and it won't collapse. This? On top of the poop? Nearly sent me over the edge. So, we explained this to the guy loading bags and he just put it under the plane fully set up - no idea how it fit, but it did. So, then? We get onto the plane and I ask Josh for Alex's sweatshirt, which was in the blue backpack. Problem - Josh doesn't have it. Nor do I. Holy Crap, we left it in the terminal. This? On top of the poop? On top of the stroller? Sent me over the edge. So, I bolt out of my seat and beg the flight attendant to let me out to get the stroller. She does and I went. It was quite the scene - me running down the jet bridge, being chased by approximately 5 Delta personnel screaming at me - "MA'AM! Where are you going? You can't get off of the plane! Get back here!" And, me screaming, "I need to get my bag!!! I swear, the flight attendant said this was ok! Go ask her!" So, I got the bag and everything from that point was fine...until we landed and got the stroller and realized that it wouldn't fit in the car if we couldn't collapse it. So, what did we do? WE LEFT IT IN THE PARKING GARAGE! I mean, we just had to leave our double stroller sitting in the parking garage. Of course, before I did this, we filed a claim and sure enough, we've already received a check for the total amount - Thank you Delta! Here is the evidence of the busted button and then our poor stroller and its new home - I'm curious as to how long it took before someone took it...
Anyway - onto the trip. We had a great time. It was a perfect week - filled with plenty of activities, but not so many that it was stressful...
Lexi had the great idea of taking all of the kids to a pottery place to get all of their hand prints on platters. It was actually a relatively stress-free and successful trip. I ended up with a platter with all 4 kids' hand prints and then a mug for Josh and I and the grandparents.
The next day, we took all of the kids to the aquarium - it was perfect. The weather was a bit rainy, but still warm, so there was no one there and it was still nice enough to do all of the outdoor stuff. They had a really cool train ride that went right through a shark tank - the kids loved it.
Then, there was the ferris wheel
and the merry go round
and THEN lunch with the fish! This is the view from our table of the huge fish tank that they had in the middle of the restaurant...
It was a pretty cool place. And, then of course, there were the obligatory pictures of all kids in a diving costume...
The following day, we took everyone to the zoo. The highlight of the day was getting to feed the giraffe lettuce. Lettuce that should have been made of gold, mind you, considering it was $5 per THREE pieces (then again, not sure why I'm complaining - thanks for buying the lettuce, Uncle Will!). Regardless, that is one lucky giraffe.
The rest of the week was spent playing on the swing set,
visiting with Jessica and her two boys...
giving Grandma pedicures...
coloring with sidewalk chalk...
and Turkeys!
yep - Lexi brined a turkey and Will cooked it in the BIG GREEN EGG. Of course, we still had the standard turkey done in the oven because well, a) we had never done one in the EGG, so we didn't know how it would turn out and b) I love stuffing and we needed a turkey to house the stuffing. That said, I can attest - the turkey on the EGG was delicious. I would highly recommend it.
Overall, it was a great week - perfect combination of relaxing and entertaining. Thank you, Lexi and Will for hosting!
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