...of Dallas/Ft Worth, Tex-ass!
So for the 3 day weekend we took ourselves down to Longhorn-ville and toured the cities of Dallas & Fort Worth. Wow, what a weekend we had! We left Saturday morning [because we didn't know we were going to Dallas until we woke up that am] and got there around 1 or 2. Lots of stops because the girls were with us. But then they slept for a bit so we didn't have to stop at all! Yay! I tried to take lots of pictures but some of them didn't come out. I need a Nikon really kick ass zoom camera. Yes. I do need this...[so those of you who don't know what to get me for my birthday...you can all chip in a few bucks and go in together for a Nikon Max Zoom Camera. HAHAHA!]
SATURDAY:
We got to our hotel The Crowne Plaza and checked in. The girls were so excited because they LOVE hotels and swimming in the pools. Especially the hot tub. They crack me up. It's really hilarious to see them go from the pool to the hot tub and then say that the pool is TOOO COOOLLLDDDD even though it's heated...HAHAHA
So we went to the Trader's Village which is this HUGE flea market as wide as your eyes can see. There is literally EVERYTHING there and most places probably buy up the really good deals there so there weren't MANY good deals except on larger items but it was nice to walk through and look at everything and see what they had for sale. The girls thought the ATVs were for their size and LOVED them and they kept running over to this booth that had birds for sale. They wanted everything they saw. Needless to say they heard "No." a lot this weekend!
We went to the West End Market and walked up and down it. We were real disappointed because they shut down the markets that were around it but we enjoyed the live music and all of the lights and bustle of the people. They had guys and gals standing on crates offering dollars to people if they answered a question right. They had some people standing on step ladders preaching in the streets, hollering out about being saved and believing in Christ and passing out bulletins. They had vagrants, of course, who acosted diners on the patios claiming to be broke down or needing gas money to get back into town. haha
We smelled these REALLY good steaks wafting in the air out side of the Hoffbreau Steakhouse and we just had to have them. They smelled so good and they were even better when they brought them out to us. I don't think I've ever had a steak as good as that one. A whole 10 oz of steak just for me! Yay!
We took a Horse Drawn Carriage ride through downtown Dallas. It was beautiful! The woman, who's name was Leslie, told us all about Dallas and some of it's history and even showed us this angular building that Jackie Chan slid down in the movie Remember Me. How it was shot in Dallas at that particular building but that the movie is set in Chicago or something. Interesting. Seeing that I'm not a huge Chan Fan, I just MIGHT have to go rent this one. Maybe. The girls loved the carriage ride and while I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to sit next to my sweetheart like you see in the movies, it was a great little family ride and was very serene and peaceful.
SUNDAY:
The next day we got up and attended Northstar Church in Northern Dallas (Frisco, TX to be precise) where Blaine Bartel is the residing Pastor. Northstar is a branch of Tulsa's Church on the Move and it was just like not even being away from our home church. I loved it, and loved seeing Blaine Bartel as he is now, as opposed to his "Fire By Night" 80's young self, complete with mullet. (Of course, I wouldn't be me without approaching him with the fact that I grew up watching him and reminding him about said mullet.) ha!
After church we went across the street to the HUGEST mall I've ever been to! It was even larger than Knoxville's mall and that one seems pretty big to me. We took the girls to Build A Bear where they each chose a bear and stuffed it to their heart's content. Olivia got a poodle and named it Dallas and Natalie got a princess kitty and named it Texas Beauty [Like "Sleeping Beauty"...try telling the kid SB's name is Aurora and she'll put you in a rear naked choke!] So Garland and I right there decided that we would get the girls a Build a Bear wherever we traveled too and encourage them to name their Bears after where we are visiting so we can remember for years to come. Just a fun little family thing and the girls get a stuffed animal out of it. How great can THAT be!?
We went into a candy store and stocked up on some sugar so we could have bouncing boogers in the backseat of the car for the ride home because what family travel time is complete without the incessant whining of 2 toddlers fighting over what color crayons they are using and who's rocket ship is better?! =]
We went to Fort Worth to see the Stockyards. However this was NOT a kid friendly environment by any means! So we just drove through while the girls napped in the car, talked about the bikers we saw, the drunks that were stumbling in the streets, and the lights that were befalling the city. We went to Sundance Square, but yet again, not a very kid friendly place so we were forced to decide where to go now for dinner and plan for another trip later to check these places out.
We went to a place called Trail Dust. Steaks. Again. YUM!!!! I was soooo ready to get into a place and sit and be peaceful and just eat a nice steak with my family. We walked in, waited about 5 minutes in a quiet, peaceful waiting area....
.....dun dun dun!!!!!!
THAT is where the peacefulness ended! As soon as we stepped over the threshhold into the eating area we heard STOMP STOMP STOMP! WHOOOOSH BANG BOOM! STOMP STOMP STOMP! WHOOSH BANG BOOM!! STOMP STOMP STOMP! All of the sudden a LIVE BAND busted my ear drums from the STAGE and there were TONS of kids dancing and laughing and screaming on the DANCE FLOOR!
For those of you wondering what WHOOOOOOSH BANG BOOM!! STOMP STOMP STOMP! is...there was a HUGE slide in the middle of this room, right next to the dance floor which is right next to the stage. They called this mega slide Trail Dust and the kids were stomping up the wooden steps and sliding down at the speed of light.
No.Freaking.Joke.
Now if I had been PREPARED for this, it would have been a really great place! Wow! A slide! A band! A dance floor! AND STEAKS?! Neat! But I was not prepared for it and this is how my peaceful serene dinner went: Natalie's crying because she wants to sit by me and eat my salad, Olivia's crying because the live band is hurting her ears and she wants to dance. Garland is asking me how do we get control of this situation and I'm going "HUH"?? to everyone because I can't hear them! Not to mention our waitress was an immigrant from Sweden and we had a hard time understanding her accent. Mix that with screaming kids, live band, and my own children crying and pitching fits...my steak was flavorless.
MONDAY:
We woke up early so we could go swimming before we checked out. Then we headed for home, making a stop in Plano/Allen, TX to go to the outlet stores there. We got a few things and found Olivia some really great shoes for school. We spent a few hours there and then headed home.
All in all it was a great mini-vacation. I want to go again real soon. Maybe without the kids next time so we can check out the Stockyards and Sundance Square.
Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! I know I did!!!!
So for the 3 day weekend we took ourselves down to Longhorn-ville and toured the cities of Dallas & Fort Worth. Wow, what a weekend we had! We left Saturday morning [because we didn't know we were going to Dallas until we woke up that am] and got there around 1 or 2. Lots of stops because the girls were with us. But then they slept for a bit so we didn't have to stop at all! Yay! I tried to take lots of pictures but some of them didn't come out. I need a Nikon really kick ass zoom camera. Yes. I do need this...[so those of you who don't know what to get me for my birthday...you can all chip in a few bucks and go in together for a Nikon Max Zoom Camera. HAHAHA!]
SATURDAY:
We got to our hotel The Crowne Plaza and checked in. The girls were so excited because they LOVE hotels and swimming in the pools. Especially the hot tub. They crack me up. It's really hilarious to see them go from the pool to the hot tub and then say that the pool is TOOO COOOLLLDDDD even though it's heated...HAHAHA
So we went to the Trader's Village which is this HUGE flea market as wide as your eyes can see. There is literally EVERYTHING there and most places probably buy up the really good deals there so there weren't MANY good deals except on larger items but it was nice to walk through and look at everything and see what they had for sale. The girls thought the ATVs were for their size and LOVED them and they kept running over to this booth that had birds for sale. They wanted everything they saw. Needless to say they heard "No." a lot this weekend!
We went to the West End Market and walked up and down it. We were real disappointed because they shut down the markets that were around it but we enjoyed the live music and all of the lights and bustle of the people. They had guys and gals standing on crates offering dollars to people if they answered a question right. They had some people standing on step ladders preaching in the streets, hollering out about being saved and believing in Christ and passing out bulletins. They had vagrants, of course, who acosted diners on the patios claiming to be broke down or needing gas money to get back into town. haha
We smelled these REALLY good steaks wafting in the air out side of the Hoffbreau Steakhouse and we just had to have them. They smelled so good and they were even better when they brought them out to us. I don't think I've ever had a steak as good as that one. A whole 10 oz of steak just for me! Yay!
We took a Horse Drawn Carriage ride through downtown Dallas. It was beautiful! The woman, who's name was Leslie, told us all about Dallas and some of it's history and even showed us this angular building that Jackie Chan slid down in the movie Remember Me. How it was shot in Dallas at that particular building but that the movie is set in Chicago or something. Interesting. Seeing that I'm not a huge Chan Fan, I just MIGHT have to go rent this one. Maybe. The girls loved the carriage ride and while I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to sit next to my sweetheart like you see in the movies, it was a great little family ride and was very serene and peaceful.
SUNDAY:
The next day we got up and attended Northstar Church in Northern Dallas (Frisco, TX to be precise) where Blaine Bartel is the residing Pastor. Northstar is a branch of Tulsa's Church on the Move and it was just like not even being away from our home church. I loved it, and loved seeing Blaine Bartel as he is now, as opposed to his "Fire By Night" 80's young self, complete with mullet. (Of course, I wouldn't be me without approaching him with the fact that I grew up watching him and reminding him about said mullet.) ha!
After church we went across the street to the HUGEST mall I've ever been to! It was even larger than Knoxville's mall and that one seems pretty big to me. We took the girls to Build A Bear where they each chose a bear and stuffed it to their heart's content. Olivia got a poodle and named it Dallas and Natalie got a princess kitty and named it Texas Beauty [Like "Sleeping Beauty"...try telling the kid SB's name is Aurora and she'll put you in a rear naked choke!] So Garland and I right there decided that we would get the girls a Build a Bear wherever we traveled too and encourage them to name their Bears after where we are visiting so we can remember for years to come. Just a fun little family thing and the girls get a stuffed animal out of it. How great can THAT be!?
We went into a candy store and stocked up on some sugar so we could have bouncing boogers in the backseat of the car for the ride home because what family travel time is complete without the incessant whining of 2 toddlers fighting over what color crayons they are using and who's rocket ship is better?! =]
We went to Fort Worth to see the Stockyards. However this was NOT a kid friendly environment by any means! So we just drove through while the girls napped in the car, talked about the bikers we saw, the drunks that were stumbling in the streets, and the lights that were befalling the city. We went to Sundance Square, but yet again, not a very kid friendly place so we were forced to decide where to go now for dinner and plan for another trip later to check these places out.
We went to a place called Trail Dust. Steaks. Again. YUM!!!! I was soooo ready to get into a place and sit and be peaceful and just eat a nice steak with my family. We walked in, waited about 5 minutes in a quiet, peaceful waiting area....
.....dun dun dun!!!!!!
THAT is where the peacefulness ended! As soon as we stepped over the threshhold into the eating area we heard STOMP STOMP STOMP! WHOOOOSH BANG BOOM! STOMP STOMP STOMP! WHOOSH BANG BOOM!! STOMP STOMP STOMP! All of the sudden a LIVE BAND busted my ear drums from the STAGE and there were TONS of kids dancing and laughing and screaming on the DANCE FLOOR!
For those of you wondering what WHOOOOOOSH BANG BOOM!! STOMP STOMP STOMP! is...there was a HUGE slide in the middle of this room, right next to the dance floor which is right next to the stage. They called this mega slide Trail Dust and the kids were stomping up the wooden steps and sliding down at the speed of light.
No.Freaking.Joke.
Now if I had been PREPARED for this, it would have been a really great place! Wow! A slide! A band! A dance floor! AND STEAKS?! Neat! But I was not prepared for it and this is how my peaceful serene dinner went: Natalie's crying because she wants to sit by me and eat my salad, Olivia's crying because the live band is hurting her ears and she wants to dance. Garland is asking me how do we get control of this situation and I'm going "HUH"?? to everyone because I can't hear them! Not to mention our waitress was an immigrant from Sweden and we had a hard time understanding her accent. Mix that with screaming kids, live band, and my own children crying and pitching fits...my steak was flavorless.
MONDAY:
We woke up early so we could go swimming before we checked out. Then we headed for home, making a stop in Plano/Allen, TX to go to the outlet stores there. We got a few things and found Olivia some really great shoes for school. We spent a few hours there and then headed home.
All in all it was a great mini-vacation. I want to go again real soon. Maybe without the kids next time so we can check out the Stockyards and Sundance Square.
Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! I know I did!!!!
2 hollas!:
Love the posting action lately! :) Annnd.. I stayed in Frisco, TX for my work conference! I was at the Westin Stonebriar..right by IKEA and Sam Moon. :) I also like you having a 20something blog entry! You told me you did one and I tried to read it, but it wouldnt pull up any entries past like a year ago. My blog does that, too, sometimes. Anyway, like it...mucho mucho!
Hello lovely! Sorry I didnt call you. I just got your msg on the way to work today. My throat was swollen all night last night and I didn't do anything worthwhile other than watch private practice during a half-groggy nap break. Anyhoo, I can give you a call when I leave here today if that's cool. :) TTYS!
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