Texas Family Fun!

This Spring Break has been a break of many firsts for the Johnson Family! It was our first trip to Texas, our first time seeing Aunt Kim's new house, our first trip to NASA, our first trip to the Houston Aquarium and most importantly, our first 16 hour road trip! YIKES! Now that Macie is 2, that means we would have to buy her a plane ticket so we decided purchasing 4 plane tickets was a little out of our budget range which meant that we would have to drive 16 hours to and from with our lovely little cherubs and our dog. Oh yes... We took Husker with us. I am not going to lie, I was pretty worried about being in the car with them for 16 hours. 

On the way there we did break up the 16 hours by stopping in Ft. Stockton and staying at a hotel for the night and then driving the rest of the way the following day. We did this mostly because I had to work part of the first week and we took off after I got home from work. We made sure to pack plenty of snacks and entertainment for the car ride. They were quite the little troopers on the way to Ft. Stockton (8 hours in the car) pulling in at 1 am Texas time. They did fall asleep for part of the ride there allowing a little peace and quiet. Macie did have about 30 minutes where she woke up and was not a happy camper. Then she stayed awake until we got to the hotel. Lucas slept straight through until we got to the hotel and then was up for a little bit, but then went to bed 20 minutes after arriving. 

First day of travel...
Such great troopers.

 The second day of travel was pretty good as well. Thank goodness for iPads, portable DVD player and plenty of snacks. Lucas is a great traveler and entertains himself well. Macie is the one who had the hardest time in the car. I totally know it is because she is 2 and sitting still for hours on end is not her forte. Overall she did great. She had her moments, but she did pretty good.

We survived 16 hours in a car together. 

We were so happy to arrive in Houston and Lucas and Macie were so happy to see their Aunt Kim, Uncle Wayne and cousins, Noah & Abby. But after keeping them in the car for 16 hours, we decided to take them to the neighborhood park. Macie and Lucas enjoyed playing at the park with their cousins while Matt and I enjoyed being "off duty" and watching the kids from a distance. It is so nice to have cousins who are old enough to watch/play with Lucas and Macie. Plus, Noah and Abby are so good with them.

Macie enjoyed feeding the ducks by the pond.
Those ducks have no fear and will come right up to you.

Lucas enjoyed pitching the bread into the lake.
I think he enjoyed seeing how far he could throw it and watching the ducks race after the bread.

But those ducks are pretty ugly... I don't think they are going to be turning into swans.
Sorry. 

The rest of that first evening we just spent hanging out, eating dinner and enjoying family time together. Lucas and Macie were pretty good sleepers while we were there. I was a little worried about Macie because she is so used to putting herself to sleep in her crib and the last time we took her pack n play, she climbed out of it. We brought it just in case, knowing that most likely she was going to end up in bed with Matt and me. Lucas had his own little bed in our room and he went to bed by himself like he does at home. He has grown up so much since our last family trip. The trick was that Lucas and Macie usually go to bed at 8 pm Arizona time which is 10 pm Texas time. So by the time they fell asleep we were looking at 10-10:30 pm. So we had some late nights. But that is okay, because then they would wake up about 8:30-9:00 Texas time. Also, they would go spend some quality time with their Aunt Kim when they woke up so Matt and I could sleep in a little bit. Such good kids and such a good Aunt. In fact, the first morning we got back from Texas, Macie asked if she could go see Aunt Kim. Too cute!

The following day was pretty busy. Aunt Kim and Uncle Wayne had a couple of fun things planned for Lucas and Macie. Our first stop was NASA. Lucas was a little worried when we first got there because he "didn't want to go to outer space." It is so funny that he literally thought he was going to space. But once he saw the Angry Birds children area, he was good to go. Lucas and Macie had a great time exploring all of the interactive exhibits that were meant for children. Macie really enjoyed the huge slide that they had, but only one time. The rest of the time she just wanted to watch the other children go down the slide. I was really impressed with how many exhibits they had that were kid friendly.

Lucas figured out that if you covered up the fan, the ball would come down.
The he would release it back into the air!

Macie really enjoyed this light up floor.
Every time you step on it, the light changes. 

Lucas testing out his paper airplane. This was a hit for him. 

After NASA we made our way to Galveston. There is a beach there along with the Rainforest Cafe. The Rainforest Cafe has a boat ride through the "jungle" which Lucas and Macie did enjoy. It was a little dark in there and we sold the ride to Macie by saying that it was "It's A Small World." You can tell Lucas was a little hesitant because of how dark it is. He was holding on to Noah's knee the whole time while looking at all of the jungle animals.

After the boat ride we headed across the street to the beach. At that point we separated into two groups. The men had to go do some chores, also known as golf, while the rest of us hung out on the beach. Lucas and Macie had a great time building a sand castle and playing near the ocean with their cousins. They were a little timid with the water at first and didn't want to put their feet in, but after a little while they were enjoying the waves roll in and running away from the waves. Macie was pretty darn cute running away from the water. If the water got her, she would say, "Ouch. It got me!" Everyone was having a pretty good time, until Macie got hit by a wave, lost her balance and she totally wiped out. At that point, beach time was over. She ran away and said, "I need a shower." So I stripped her out of her clothes, put on a new pull up and Aunt Kim came to the rescue by pulling the car up to the beach so we didn't have to walk back to the car.

My little beach bum!

That night we laid low and the kids had some more quality time with their cousins. My favorite part of the night is when Lucas got Noah and Abby to play "5 (4) Little Monkeys." They did this for quite some time. Each of them taking turns jumping off the ledge and pretending to hit their heads. Even Little Miss Macie was jumping off the ledge. She is a little daredevil. She would fall off and land on a pillow and face plant into it.

The 4 little monkeys.

The second full day in Texas we took it pretty easy. I think we were still recovering from the road trip. We took a little walk to the neighborhood tennis courts and played a little tennis. As we were walking, there is a sign that warns about possible alligators. I just had to snap a picture of it because it is definitely not something you will see in Arizona. On that day, Matt and I got to escape for a little bit and went on a mini-date. We just went to a local restaurant and then walked around the mall. It was nice to have a little alone time. Thanks Aunt Kim and Uncle Wayne for watching the kids so we could have some time together.

On the third day we got to try another Diners, Drive Ins and Dives place. It is called Bob's Tacos. It was so delicious. I wish we had packed a cooler on the trip so that I could have ordered a couple of dozen tamales to bring back home with me. They were so good... As well as the margarita.

After lunch we made our way to the Houston Aquarium. It was a great day to spend time at the aquarium. It was a little rainy so being inside was perfect. Lucas and Macie really enjoyed all of the different sea creatures that were highlighted there. I was very impressed with it as well. There was a sting ray petting area. Lucas wanted NO part of petting one. He didn't mind watching them and watching other people pet them. But there was no way he was going to pet one himself. Macie put her hand in the water, but I don't think she actually petted one. Definitely a great place to take a 2 year old and a 4 year old.

Noah, Grandma Johnson, Macie, Lucas, Grandpa Johnson and Abby.

Jellyfish up close and personal. 

Captain Lucas steering the ship.

Matt and Macie on the hunt for Dory (Nemo).

Macie really enjoyed looking at all of the fish. 

Uncle Wayne and Lucas checking out the seahorses.

Looking at the White Tiger.
He was not a happy tiger. 

Outside of the aquarium there is a little amusement park. Luckily most of the rides are for bigger kids and all Lucas and Macie wanted to ride was the carousel. I wish I had taken a picture of Macie's face while we were on the ride. She had the biggest smile and was loving every moment. 

After the aquarium we went to a chinese restaurant in China Town. I wish I had taken pictures while we were there. You know the scene in the movie, "A Christmas Story" where there is the duck that they have for dinner. Yep... There were cooked ducks hanging in the kitchen just like the one in the movie. Luckily we didn't order duck because I am not sure if I would have been able to eat it. The hit of the dinner was the lazy susan in the middle of the table. Lucas thought this was a riot. He would take a drink from his water, put it on the lazy susan, spin it around until his water came back to him. He continued to do that with the food once that arrived. He loved being able to spin it around so that people were able to get their food. He loved it so much, he wants one for our table. I don't think that is going to happen. Sorry Bud.

On our final day we were sad that Noah and Abby had to go back to school. Lucas and Macie have so much fun with them. They really love playing with their cousins. While the cousins were at school, Macie, Lucas and I headed for a huge mall in Houston called the Galleria. Aunt Kim and Grandma Johnson joined us. Thankfully. Macie is not the best shopper and has in fact been banned from many places: Target, Frys, Trader Joes, etc. So I was very happy to have some adults to help contain Macie. Lucas as always was a pretty good shopper. He had his moments, but overall, he does great. For the first 30-40 minutes we were able to contain her in the stroller. We stopped by the Disney store and Lucas and Macie were able to "sweet talk" or "sweet look" their Aunt Kim and she bought them a new Mickey and Minnie. We like to call them, Big Mickey and Big Minnie. But after the Disney store, Macie wanted out. Once she was out of the stroller, she thought that she could go anywhere she wanted. In fact, she thought the mall was her personal track where she could just run around. I told my sister, I had to shop like Zombies were chasing me. I was that fast. The saddest part is that I only saw one fourth of the mall before we had to escape. Maybe in a couple of more years she will learn to be a better shopper.

Seriously. How can you say "No" to that face!
It is a good thing she is cute. 

That evening we went to this dessert place called the Chocolate Bar. Another place that was highlighted on the Food Network. All of their ice cream is made by hand and so good. Again, I wish I had taken pictures. There are other desserts there as well. But we were there to enjoy some ice cream. Lucas and I ordered the Candy Bar ice cream. It had every kind of candy bar you can imagine in it. Sooo good. Matt ordered chocolate brownie and he said he felt like he had eaten 10 brownies in a row. When we go back to Houston, I am going to make sure we go back there as well. It was very good!

It was hard to leave the next day. For a couple of reasons: 1. We had so much fun being around our family. 2. I didn't really want to get back into the car and drive for 16 hours straight (no hotel stop on the way home). Overall we had a wonderful trip and we can't wait to go back again... Maybe we will try to save some money to buy plane tickets. Well... At least for me.

All good things must come to an end...

For now...