Dear Abigail,
Because we can't sit still, we decided to take a end of the summer trip to Houston, as in Texas, as in a 13 hour drive, if you don't have kids, which we had two, you and your sis. So yeah, we're completely insane, but you had SOOOO much fun so it was worth having a bit of insanity. Mimi's sister, my aunt, your great Aunt, Lizzy lives in Houston, with Emery and Sarah, of course, so you, Sister, Mimi, Lynnie and Mommy all headed over to spend a week with them before they got started back to school. You had been to Houston before, when you were Kate's age, but we flew. This time since there were so many of us, we decided to tough it up and drive, so one early Wednesday morning, we headed out from Munford, picked up Lynnie and drove across the great Mississippi, straight towards the great huge state of Texas! You and Kate did fantastic in the car considering it was 12 long hours (that's not including the 3 it took us to get to Memphis from Franklin!) but by hour 11 and 1/2, you were ready to get out and Lynnie had to pull over so Mommy could sit beside you. That's all you needed, me to sit beside you. We finally made it and Lizzy had a nice hot meal for our hungry bellies! And two certain kids (Sarah and Emery) were super eager to help you burn off that cooped up energy you held onto in that 12 hour drive!! Once things got situated, we headed to bed to get much needed sleep because Lizzy had a full week of activities planned for us!!!
On Thursday, we headed to the Children's Museum where you partook in multiple activities, including driving a red mustang (Papa Rob would be impressed!)....
Looking at your skin on a microscope (Piscusting!!)...
Lots of exploring and learning with Sarah...
Then we went to Kid City, or something like that where it's this whole town, ran by kids! You have to pick a job, earn a paycheck, take that check to the bank to get cashed, put it in your ATM (like for real!) and then go buy groceries, or go to a restaurant, all ran by kids, trying to get their paycheck to do the same thing! You chose Policewoman as your occupation and after arresting a few folks you earned your paycheck...
But apparently this isn't paying the bills because as soon as you saw the waitress job you decided you needed to do that!
Sarah did a great job as a cashier and I see a future for her :)
And I tried to teach you how to be a cashier but a few of our customers were growing impatient..
We also made a pit stop at the art studio...
And Sarah helped you surf!
And fish!
And feed the chickens and collect their egg and go shopping - all in Africa!
All in all, I'd say the Children's Museum was a sweet success!!!
On Friday, we all went to something Pier, I can't remember the name of it, but it's this fair like place, right on the pier. We probably should have thought about this a little better, as it was SUPER hot, but nonetheless, we had a grand ole time. We started things off with a little Tex Mex (another mistake on our part, considering we were about to ride rides and be in the hot sun, but whatev!)
And then we walked on the pier to see this...
Yeah, that's a whole lot of fish who were just dying for someone to throw them some food!! And you found the sea gulls quite entertaining!
So this carnival fair thing had games, right? Well, they were rather expensive at $5 a game (maybe that's not a lot but to me, wow!), so anyway, I was a little hesitant on you playing any but Emery really wanted to play this one game where you throw the ball in the bin, which you know is rigged so you can't throw the ball in there. Well... HE DID!!!! We were all super shocked and proud of him and I think he was even shocked. The lady told him to pick out a stuffed animal and he looked at you and told you to pick! What a sweet gentleman - and you had NO problems picking!!
You could not have been happier!! Well, you got a little happier when you saw the two-tiered carousel!
For some reason, you have become a wee bit scared of rides, like as in the last week because remember we just went to the fair in Franklin - anyway, you decided only to ride the carousel but that didn't stop Mommy and Sarah from riding the fun rides!!!
But you were perfectly content with that carousel, over and over and over again!
We did take a train around the pier which was nice but eventually we were all soaking wet from being so hot, so we headed home where we took a bath, I mean a dip, in the pool!!!
Yeah, so if you can't tell, you are totally swimming without floaters. So proud!! And you LOVED the idea of waking up to a pool every single day!! We need to convince Daddy we need that pool sooner than later at our house!!!
On Saturday you went with Mommy and Mimi and Lynnie to IKEA, kicking and screaming that is. You were not very happy about going and preferred to stay with Sarah but once we got there you saw that they had a kid only play area and you were thrilled! And you got to play with Sarah that afternoon, too! You and Sarah had tons of fun coloring, playing Just Dance or as you call it "dance like that girl", and playing with dolls. Sarah has grown out of her baby dolls but she kept her things out for your visit so you got to play with all the fun doll toys, THEN, she gave them all to you!! You were super excited, especially about the horse you got to take home!
On Sunday we just chilled all day and by chilled I mean played in the pool! You had such a fun time with Sarah!!!!
On Monday, our last day, we headed to the History Science Museum. I was a wee bit worried that you would not participate in this adventure once you learned it was all about dinosaurs, and I even tried to get everyone to avoid said subject but of course Emery had to mention it, in a casual way of course! It took a little convincing, and a little carrying, but eventually you figured out that the dinosaurs are not real and were actually pretty darn cool!!!!
The museum also had the coolest butterfly exhibit but what's so ironic, and quite funny if you ask me, is that you were totally scared of the butterflies!!!!! I swear it. Completely bizarre, but that's how you roll baby girl!
Look at this picture Mimi took! There's a butterfly coming right at us and I think you are trying to catch it!!!
Like I said, you weren't crazy about the butterflies but everyone else loved them, including Kate! After the museum, we headed to lunch and then home to pack and have one last night together. Early the next morning, we headed back home but not before telling everyone goodbye and how much fun we had. You still talk about Sarah and her favorite song, Call Me, Maybe and you still ask if we can dance like that girl! What a great end of the summer trip! It's our last one for awhile because we've got a busy couple months at home, including a certain someone's big dance party birthday!!!! We can't wait!! Loves you!
