Usually we try to spread our vacation out. Matt gets 2 weeks a year, but we usually just use one of those weeks for an actual vacation, then spread the other week out over the rest of the year as needed (usually Christmas…)
This year, we ended up using both weeks together… We’re just getting back, and boy am I ready to be home. We drove a total of 43 hours, give or take a few. Yikes.
Our first stop was Ft. Worth, TX…which is 10 hours from Lincoln, and where my dear friend and former roommate Susie lives. Conveniently, 10 hours is just about the max we can survive in the van. Right around 8 hours, Tobin gets pretty whiney….and by 10 hours, Mom and Dad are at their limit as well.
We got to spend the night with Susie, visit her church on Sunday morning, and have some good Mexican food before hitting the road for Houston. I’m so glad the timing worked out… several days after we came through town, Susie left for a week and a half in Zambia with her nieces and nephew.
Next we headed to Houston to spend a few days with my family. I’m afraid it was such a quick trip we hardly took pictures, but I’ll share what I have… I’m sure my mom has a billion :). Even short, it was a delightful trip. We got to spend time with my step-sister Chelsea and her family as well as my Dad & Terry on the fourth of July (Sunday). On Monday, the whole family (including my brother and his fiancée, my mom, and my sister Khymberly’s family) gathered to celebrate birthdays and a late father’s day.
Tuesday we spent most of the day at the Houston Children’s Museum, which was a GIANT hit with the boys (as well as my niece Alyssa, and nephew Logan). It’s really something else… as much as we love the Lincoln Children’s Museum, I’m afraid it might seem a little small now that we’ve been to Houston’s… For starters, instead of the little gopher holes they play in at the Lincoln Children’s Museum (that I think smells like dirty socks…) Houston’s museum has a 3 story enclosed climbing structure. We didn’t realize until they were halfway through that Tobin and Logan were too young for it… Tobin made it out with Luke’s help, but in spite of lots of help from Luke and Alyssa, Logan got tired right in the middle of the thing, sat down, and signed to us that he was “all done.” Khymberly had to crawl in the thing and get him. Ooops. :)
It was pretty stormy in Houston (hurricane remnants), so we didn’t get to go swimming as often as we would have liked. But one of they days we did swim, my brother Michael was able to join us. We were delighted – Michael manages a Discount Tire and rarely is able to take off work while we’re in town.
All in all…it was a delightful time with family. Next stop…Austin!
