Weekend Visitors

   My fun brother and sister-in-law came for a long weekend.  I get to see my brother from time to time because of his business trips but bringing Amy along, that was a real treat.  I couldn't have been more excited waiting for the big arrival.  The arrival was a little postponed due to some serious lightning/tornadoes (you've gotta love TX) but eventually Amy made it after 2am.  She was still up and rearing to go the next day - what a trooper.  We love visitors - and our weekend full of fun was packed to the rim. I had to give them the full Texas experience so we crammed in as much as possible. 

  I was so happy to see Amy the next morning!  I had written down a ton of things to do (tourist attractions, shopping, eating, messages, etc.) and told Amy she got to pick what we did the whole weekend. "The city was Amy's oyster".  Here were her picks:  

The 6th Floor Museum - touring it without kids was a dream.  Imagine being able to look at and read whatever you chose for as long as you want.  It was a first for me.  

Food trucks for lunch - 

Amy ordering up her greek.

Little Greek got our business that day

Rangers game - After both our husbands got done working for the day we loaded up the kids and headed to the Texas Rangers Stadium for a baseball game. We had a great time at the game. The highlight might have been piling into a pedicab instead of walking to the stadium.  A treat for us and the kids!

George Bush Presidential Library - it had only been opened 1 week when we got there.  I still thought that while the kids were in school on a weekday we'd be safe - whoa was it crowded.  I waited in line forever but it was worth.  We had to get it in while our fam was here.  It had lots on his controversial win over Al Gore with the infamous 'hanging chads' and a great memorial for 9/11. It had the actual bullhorn that he used when he talked to the first-responders the day after the attack and lots of other tributes and memorabilia. It had tons from his years in office - from foreign policy, to his dog, to dresses Laura wore on different occasions. Everything was extremely state-of-the-art and wonderfully done. It was an awesome museum.

 



Chris's office - next on the tour was this quick stop.  Of course there were treats and snacks:-).

 Twisted Root for dinner - This is one of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives places. It was really fun. They have a bunch of different meat options - beef, bison, ostrich, and kangaroo (Derek and Chris got kangaroo). When you order at the counter they give you a name card with your new funny name that they yell when your order is ready. 

The Office Season Finale - the final show we got see with our guests, which was fitting because we've laughed a lot about the show with these two over the years.   

Cowboy Stadium - Of all random things, it was cheerleader tryouts that day.  Now Chris can say, he's attended Cowboy Cheerleader Tryouts.  

  

 

 

 Babe's Chicken for lunch - our family favorite had to be shared!  My dad would be so proud.

Fort Worth Stockyards. - We saw the cattle drive, rode the mechanical bull, competed in the cow pen maze (we learned that mazes are not Chris and I's strength) and watched Derek interact with a new friend.  It was a hot day (as in 90 degrees with 90% humidity) but we were all smiles for the whole day in Fort Worth.  .

 

Charlotte won this awesome suction toy from the maze.  This look didn't end pretty.........she had bruises everywhere she had put that thing.  

D.K.'s new friend.  We got some good laughs out of that.  

Girls on the streets of Fort Worth.  

 

 Top Golf - This was kind of the finale to the weekend.     

The place was packed on a Sat. night.  We got there about 9:00 Saturday night and were told we would have a 2.5 hour wait.  Now, this made us think ... start golfing at 11:30 night - but we did it because we're fun and awesome and not old and boring.  

waiting, and waiting and waiting.  

    

 In our bay.   

 I love us!

 

After the action packed super fun weekend.....the saddest thing happened.  They had to leave Sunday morning.  Hurry and come back guys!  We loved our weekend with you!

That's so Mason

Mason is always giving us good laughs.  He amuses himself and all those around him.  His 1st grade teacher said that she likes to keep Mason close by for comedic relief.
On our recent cruise he was fascinated with all the employees name tags and where they were from.  He was finding as many countries as he could.  At dinner one night someone asked Mason where he was from - without thinking he confidently said America.  Then when we all laughed and they asked him which part of America - his answer was "The North". I guess "Texas" never occurred to him.
Mason is my missionary - he kindly told his teacher that I wouldn't make it to the mother's day tea because I don't drink tea.  I told him that I was going and would be happy to have water.  Then today for teacher appreciation week the kids are supposed to take in a new or gently used book to add to their teacher's bookshelves.  Thinking of possiblilities  Mason said "How about the Book of Mormon".  True - Mrs. Lakin might not have one.  I told him that it's a little difficult of a book for a 1st grader to get through.
I wish I had his courage - maybe I just should have done it.  I'm sure she would have been really appreciative.

Disney MAGIC

We just returned from our most heavenly Disney Cruise Vacation.  I planned this last January - forever ago and waited 1.5 years to see it through.  My expectations of awesomeness were high - and they were exceeded.  We had my parents and Chris's mom with us.  QGT.  Quality Grandparent Time.  The kids were so happy the whole time.  We made it 10 days meltdown free, there was nothing to be sad about with the all you can eat, no homework, no chores, no music practice, no bedtime, no schedule routine that was ours on the cruise.  The most angry anyone got was Mason at each and every show that he wasn't selected to go on stage.  That kid really wanted to be on stage - a lot.  I'm going to make a photo book filled with the 400+ photos from the trip but here's a few highlights.
All cleaned up on formal night.

 Mason did make it on the stage - and in his glory and spotlight preceded to pick at his feet that were previously in his shoes without socks on.

 Belle and Belle.

 Our awesome character breakfast with our awesome hats.  

 Deck dancing

 So happy to be sailing away.  The sail away party is so fun because you're having a really great time and look over and see that the ship is finally moving - Yay!

 All things Mickey - including the ketchup, the waffles and best of all the Mickey Bars.

 

 Deck 4 so a whole lot of us.  My kids loved shuffleboard.

 Resting and relaxing - there were a lot of games played at this table.

 Towel animals every night.

 Bumping into characters walking through the boat was so fun.  This Minnie was particularly fond of Rozlyn - she got a lot of kisses from her.

 I wish I could freeze these moments - three princesses stumbling across each other at a port hole.

  One of our many character breakfast shots.  Complete with our napkin hats.

 Room Service!!  Mason called up the line all by himself and ordered himself a cookie and milk.

 Pirate night - Arrrgh

Dining and Tic Tac Toe with a real pirate!

 A tired pirate watching the deck party pirate and firework show.

  Nestled into a comfy place.

 Animator's Palate where the room starts out in black and white and transforms into full color while you're eating.

 What's a cruise without the seafood buffet.  Chris and my mom were the only takers.

 There are round the clock disney movies and cartoons on the cabin T.V.'s Heaven if you're a Graham kid.

 Ship Mates.

 I got to shake his hook.  It was real and attached.

 This is what our goodbye looked like.  Kicked to the curb and so sad.

Before the cruise we said it was a once in a lifetime - now we're all begging to go back and do it again. It was a perfect vacation for our family.  Disney really knows how to do it.  The service was amazing and the attention to the kids was so great.  The shows and entertainment were all family friendly and outstanding quality - it was so fun to do everything together.  The perfect blend of excitement, busyness, restfulness, beaches, amusement parks, sunrises and sunsets, but mostly quality family time.  

Key West

.......and the rain rain rain came down down down.........and we all got soaked.
That was our Key West experience.  What started out to be a lovely Florida Day quickly turned into thunder and lightning storms.  We started out on a Conch Train Tour through the city.  It was an on and off tour at our pace.  Our big mistake was getting off.  When we got off to see the southern most point in the US the rain started coming down.  They closed down the tour and we were stuck, in Key West, with 9 of us and no  way to get back to where we needed to go.  The first hour we were stranded was fun and exciting and then we got a little nervous.  The water was up to the middle of our calves.  Seriously.  Luckily we still got to enjoy some Key Lime Pie but we never got to finish our tour, or go shopping.  When the weather  cleared up enough we hopped on some bus that delivered us where we needed to go.  It wasn't direct.  The driver had to keep pulling over because he couldn't see a thing - every window was fogged up. Then he wiped out and fell down the bus stairs because it was so slippery and wet.  True story.  I want to go back someday.  It was such a cute, fun, laid back town.  It looks like the perfect couples weekend getaway location.
 First stop was Mallory Square - she was very excited.

 Conch Train Tour - when all was dry and sunny.  I love this picture because Rozlyn, the easiest kid to keep track of - almost got lost.  We were boarding the train and the Engineer asked the kids names, I was introducing them before I noticed there was no Rozlyn.  Aaaahhhh.  Scariest mom feeling.  We had been walking for 10 minutes and I had no idea where we lost her.  I ran back, with record speed, to the last store we were at.  There she was standing by the counter, calm as could be talking to the employees who were trying to reach me.  It was a reunion, I was so happy to see her.  I can't think about what might of been had the employee not asked the kids names.  We would have taken off.  It definitely was a tender mercy.

 Southernmost point sign.  I really thought we had a picture of us but maybe it had started raining and we were to wimpy to get out.

 Peddi-cabbing.

 Our temporary separation.  Eventually when the rain wouldn't let up - he just ran for it and joined us.

 Kind of taking shelter, kind of.  Poor Mallory can't even see, probably couldn't breath well either.

 This toy store where we waited out the storm.  That floor was as slippery as could be and my kids touched every toy.  I owe them.  I didn't even buy anything.  I did dry my hands on their beach towels a few times so I could take some pictures.  I really owe them.

 The Key Lime Pie - mission accomplished.  It was delicious.  You could get the real deal, or chocolate covered on a stick.  I went with the real deal.

Disney World

When our cruise was initially booked we weren't going to Disney World - we were headed to Grand Cayman and Cozumel.  So when we were re-routed to Disney World and Key West I was a bit disappointed.  When people found out we were going on a cruise and would ask where we were going it was a little embarrassing to tell them the USA.  

It ended up being the best.  We were there one day 7 am until 10 pm.  Our past Disney experiences have been 1 or 2 days at each park - so we were thinking we would get lucky to fit 2 parks in our stop. We took Disney World by storm and made it Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Magic Kingdom and accomplished all we wanted to - in 1 day!  Of course we couldn't do it all, but we did a lot at record speed.  It was so fun to have my kids the ages they were, they could ride on about every ride.  Mallory barely missed the Expedition Everest (my dad was so nice to wait with her) other then that, she rode them all.  We didn't do shows or parades, we were strictly seeking thrill that day.  Our cruise was full of shows so we had our fix.  We had rain which lessened the crowds (yay) and the lines (double yay).  Our bus pulled us up to the gate, an hour before the park opened, and was waiting for us when the park closed.  We were spoiled.  I loved spending that day with my family.  

 I just love these next two photos because we really wanted a good family picture and apparently my dad has something against Chris because both shots he covered Chris's face.  Ha ha.

 Bongo playing in "Africa".

 Let the memories begin.

 My favorite part of Disney World - these guys. I love them!