Texas Vacation Part One

Last month we took a trip out to Texas to visit my dad and his family. They don't get a chance to see or come to visit us very often, and since Clay was out of school for the summer we knew this would be as good a time as any to go out and visit. There's a lot involved when planning a 10 1/2 hour trip (we decided we were going to drive instead of fly this time) with a toddler. Bryson has always done well riding in the car, but we weren't sure how he would do for this long road trip. Let's just say the ride out there was better than the ride back, but I'll get to that later.

We ended up leaving straight after church on Sunday which was just around Bryson's nap time.

This was him in the car in Walmart's parking lot before we even left our town :)He ended up taking a 3 hour nap which was perfect because we had planned to be on the road about 5-6 hours.

I know I've mentioned this before, but for those of you with toddlers, the portable DVD player is a MUST have! I think we watched so much Bob and Larry that Clay and I could recite all 8 movies. Ha!

We stopped in Meridian, MS to get out and stretch our legs. I posted this picture because I thought it was just too cute! I love my two boys!!!

This was the big bridge in Vicksburg, MS. We were traveling through there about a week after the flooding. I've got some other pictures from on our way back home I'll post later. I really couldn't believe all the flooding. Most of the roads in Vicksburg were shut down.

We finally made it to Monroe, LA and found a hotel there.

Now this was the part I was nervous about and dreading. Bryson has never stayed in a hotel before so I wasn't too sure how it would go. I fell asleep pretty early due to the fact that I had worked the night before and had been up for over 24 hours. So needless to say I was completely exhausted. Bryson ended up in the bed with me, but Clay said he didn't go to sleep until about 10:30pm which is soooo past his bedtime. Oh well!

We finally got on the road about 11am. This is the view from where Bryson was. Doesn't this look like the life? Watching your favorite show, snacking on a slice of cheese and drink in hand.

We finally made it to my dad's house just before 5pm. We were all pretty exhausted, so I didn't get any pictures of the rest of our day. My dad and Amy were thrilled to see Bryson. They couldn't believe how much he had grown since their last visit.

On Tuesday Dad and Amy thought it would be fun to take us all out to Ft. Worth to go on the train ride through the city. It's times like these that make me wish I lived in a bigger city with so many fun things that I could do with Bryson.

Grandpa and Bryson waiting on the train

There was a river across from us and you could see the turtles and ducks. Bryson was fascinated by all of it!

Grandpa, Bryson and Grandma Amy

This was another one of those pictures that I just had to post. Clay took this one with his iphone. I thought it was precious. I can't believe my baby is turning TWO in less than six weeks. He is growing up to be such a little man!

And because y'all know what a HUGE football fan I am I had to post this picture of the Dallas Cowboys new stadium. It really is something. Clay and I are itching to get back out there during football season to watch a game.

I'll try and post the 2nd half of our trip tomorrow. I'm taking a very short overnight trip to the Gulf with my friend Mary. She and I both need to get away for a day and just relax.