Deep in the Heart of Texas

I'm going to take a cue from Beth and talk about our trip to Texas in list form. Are you ready?

The Awesome:

• We got to spend a week with Bryan's family, which was fabulous. We even stayed at their house, which meant lots of time with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, and Uncles.
• Bryan's youngest sister is eleven and Bryan's parents have kept many of her toys. The boys now think that the attic is a magical place because that's where many of the toys came from. Both boys played happily with a toy kitchen, a dollhouse, and a Barbie cash register. They also drove cars around, so I figure it all balanced out.
• Did you know there are camels in Texas? I don't mean in a zoo, I mean camels just roaming around. We saw a herd of them it west Texas. Seriously, camels.
• We went to the aquarium in Dallas (which is a misnomer because it's really more of an aviary) and a bird landed on my father-in-law's shoulder while he was holding Peter. Peter was both fascinated and totally freaked out.
• We watched cowboys wrangle long-horned cattle. I know that it was just for the viewing pleasure of the tourists, but it was still entertaining.
• We saw signs like this one:
  
• Peter got lots of bonding time with his Aunt Lorna.
  
• We watched Bryan's youngest brother Spencer graduate from high school.
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• Oklahoma is gorgeous! I had no idea. Also, Wyoming is really beautiful. Granted, there weren't a ton of people in either state, but the trees and the landscapes were very pretty.
• The boys both discovered their inner cowboy.
  
  

  

The Not So Awesome:

• I really don't love tornado warnings. No, that's not right. I'm thankful for the warning, it's the tornado I don't dig. Earthquakes don't scare me, but giant swirling vortexes of air and debris do. Go fig.
• Cooper can climb up stairs.
• Cooper loves to climb up stairs.
• Cooper also loves to throw himself backward off of the stairs, which meant that we either had to block his path to the stairs, hold him the whole time, or follow him very closely as he crawled up the stairs, giggling as he went.
• New Mexico makes me sad. Sorry to those of you from New Mexico or who have recently moved to New Mexico, but it's true. Maybe I went through the wrong parts. Albuquerque was nice, but the small towns we drove through looked as if no one there cared about keeping anything in good repair.
• Freaky scary hailstorms that last for twenty minutes and, at times, limit your visibility to zero are not fun.

The Stuff We Learned:

• Fort Worth and Dallas have some fun things to do as a family.
  
  
• If we can drive to and from Texas and stay sane, then driving to California will be cake.
• Watching a movie on the laptop in our little car doesn't work so well.
• Listening to audiobooks makes up for the lack of movies.
• Texas has the best rest stops. Except for the big sign that said "Watch Out For Snakes", the rest stop we had lunch at was great. It had clean bathrooms and a huge, fully-fenced playground.
• If you need a restroom while on a road trip, and you're not near a Texas rest stop, stop at McDonald's. With the exception of a slightly sad McDonald's in eastern Colorado, they were all very clean.
• Sleep makes everything better.
  

The End.