The Day After Christmas: Spring Break!

We had an awesome spring break last week! I guess it should actually be called "Still Winter Break" because the school district here schedules the break way to early. Anywho.....it was a great one. We headed to the "Big D" (and I DO mean Dallas in case you're singing the country song to yourself) to see some good friends. I love that our car has a DVD system with headphones, it makes for such an easier car ride. I looked back during the drive and saw this. So cute.

The ride down was super smooth and we made great time. We made lunches in the car so we only stopped to use the restroom. Our GPS said that we would be in our friend's driveway at 5:10. We figured with traffic it would be more likely 5:30. Unfortunately, when we got 3 miles from our exit and 6 miles to our friend's house we were completely stopped. For 1 1/2 hours! There was an accident that shut down the freeway just ahead of us. The kids handled it like champs, though, and no one had to go to the bathroom! Miracle! :)
Our hotel was great!

After a good night's rest we headed to the Dallas World Aquarium. It was huge! It had fish, of course, but also birds (lots of them!) and all kinds of water creatures. It was amazing. We are standing at the outside entrance here.

So we get in and there is this beautiful waterfall with birds everywhere. Doctor huddles us together for a kodak moment. Just as we are ready to take the picture, I go to put my arm around the kids. I felt something on my arm and realized that my arm was covered in BIRD POOP!!!! YUCK!! Hence the funny look on my face in this picture.

There were 3 floors of fish, birds, monkeys, and education. Here is a great picture in the "shark tube."

After the aquarium we headed back to a mall close the hotel for lunch. They had a carousel right at the food court, so of course we had to ride.

After the mall we headed to a picnic dinner with our friends at the park. We all had a blast!
The next day we all headed to the Fort Worth Zoo. At the entrance there was a dinosaur that moved and made noise. I loved the look on Megaman's face when he saw it!

Here is a pic of all the cute/handsome kids we got to spend the week with.

At the zoo there was a bird exhibit where you could buy a seed stick and feed the birds. Dude said that that was his favorite thing on the trip. When we were leaving, I looked back and noticed that he was trying to sneak a bird out.

After the birds, the kids found an alligator just right for the catching.

There was an observation hole thingy for the kids to watch the turtles and alligators. Honey Bunch decided this was the way to watch.

Thursday we were off to the Ripley's Believe it or Not Odditorium. If you are headed to Dallas, this is one you can miss. It was kind of cool, but not worth the outrageous price. Out front they had some huge dinosaurs made out of car bumpers.

There is also a wax museum. Pretty cool, but most of the people the kids had never heard of. They did visit with the Wizard of Oz cast, some Harry Potter characters, Dr. Phil, David Letterman and visit the Oprah set.

There was a room full of wax statues of all the Presidents of the U.S. and it was kind of creepy. They all looked like they were staring you down. Poor Princess started to cry and so we got out quick. There was a museum of weird Ripley's stuff which was interesting. We also navigated through a mirror maze and Mission Impossible type laser room. Dude was really good at the laser room and even made it through in the fastest time. We are fans of the movie Big with Tom Hanks so we had to have a picture of the Zoltar machine.

After the Ripley's we met up with our friends who took us out for pizza and a fun night at a place called Main Event. There was laser tag, arcade games and tons of fun! I wish we had pictures. Thanks guys!
Friday we headed to the Fort Worth Stockyards. We had a great time! First we headed to a photography studio for a fun old time photo.

After the photo session we headed out to watch the longhorn cattle drive.

Then we had to get some cowboy hats of course! FYI, Dude looks like he doesn't like his cowboy hat, but he really does. He even wore it all the way home. He just wants to look like a serious cowboy in the pictures.

After some BBQ we headed to the human maze that also happened to be on an episode of Amazing Race. I love that show! Doctor and the girls headed in and finished in 10 mins!

Next to the maze was a mechanical bull that Dude just had to ride. He even stayed on the whole time. Way to go Bud!

On the way home from the stockyards we drove past this shop. So fun.

Our last night in Dallas we headed to the ritzy Southlake town square to window shop. I sure felt like a country bumpkin!! It was fun to daydream though, and even more fun to be with such great people. Thanks again guys for a great trip!