Dallas--Day 1

Aside from a few whines here and there, we made it to Dallas in 10 hours without any major complaints, mental breakdowns, or pull-my-hair-out sessions! That's a "win" in my book! I'm tellin' you--one of you out there who prayed for us must have it really good with the good Lord 'cause that's the ONLY way we made it here without a crying fit. I was literally stunned at how great Drew tolerated the drive. We broke out all of our "new" Goodwill books, magna doodle, new talking cell phone, bubbles, stickers, and a Walgreens basketball we got the day before; those pretty much did the trick!

I have to mention that Drew got to play in his first fast food playground in Little Rock during our lunch break. Mommy & Daddy both slid down the slide with him!



Our hotel is quite lovely! Egyptian cotton sheets and a flat screen TV (which hasn't been turned on yet) and a beautiful open tile shower. However, we somehow wound up with the hotel room whose bathroom door won't shut completely. So yeah, Drew's been caught playing in the toilet 5 times today. The last time I caught him he was this close to throwing the roll of toilet paper into the toilet bowl. That woulda been fun to clean up! ;) As I type now, he's asleep in his playpen (do you hear the angels singing?).

No, really. He's been a trooper! Today we got up and made our way across town to the children's museum. (And getting "across town" in Dallas is no small feat, might I add. The interstate system here is one in which to marvel!) Drew had sooo much fun at the children's museum...and I think Mom & Dad enjoyed it too. ;) We've decided to get our family a membership to Memphis' Children's Museum for this winter! (Pictures to prove how much fun we had..)


(This pretty much sealed the day as being great for Drew. The child has a love for all things "cleaning" related. Example: when we went out to eat tonight, there was a map mopping the floor. He went NUTS wanting to use the mop! He was fighting the other kids for this dust buster and vacuum.)


Sliding down the fireman's slide.


He really liked this John Deere tractor!


Andrew kept calling Bessie the Cow "Betsy the Cow." Just another reason I love him.



He really liked this pit of foamy blocks. Don't say it. We do NOT need a ball pit.


Okay so then we wandered into the adult museum. I found these huge bubble wands. Andrew was on the phone and saw my humongo bubbles and got so jealous. He was just itching at the bits to try it out.


Niiiice, honey!


Then Drew got in on the action!

Then we headed to TGI Friday's for a quick bite of lunch. Drew created a gift in his diaper for me, so I headed to the truck to change it. (No changing tables anywhere!) The door was open while poor Drew lay stark naked and half hanging out the truck with the wind blowing. Suddenly the "gift-covered" wipes fell out of the truck onto the ground, "face" up. Then the wind blew the door shut on my hip and leg! We were a sight to behold. It crossed my mind that if that wind blew hard enough to blow those wipes a few feet across the parking lot, that's where they'd stay! (No such luck--picked them up!)

Drew & I came back to the hotel for a quick nap. When he got up, he was ready to play. Our lovely hotel is awesome, but I don't think "child friendly" is a good term for it. We had to
get creative so I let Drew run up and down the 5th floor halls, ride the elevators, and play with the vending machines. Then we came back in the room and I let him climb in and out of the open shower, open and close doors, and play with the balcony door lock for a solid hour. I think we're gonna take that lock with us for the drive home.


Cracker Barrell was the top choice for dinner tonight, followed by a quick trip to Walgreens. I found Drew a $7 medical kit that will hopefully keep him occupied tomorrow. My plan was to travel Dallas, but uh...I don't think I can manage to get out of the parking lot here. Seriously. It makes my head spin and my stomach muscles tighten up. Memphis traffic doesn't hold a CANDLE to this place! So...we'll probably be dining at the hotel for lunch for the next two days. ;)

Overall....LOVE Dallas. It's beautiful! Lovely architecture. Green trees everywhere. People are SO friendly. My only suggestion would be to make these roads simpler! I'm off to think of hotel activities for tomorrow!