Roadtrip

  Evan outside the Dallas Cowboys stadium.

We took a self guided tour!

 

                                            

  While Evan and I were in Texas, the girls were in St. Louis with Auntie and Uncle.

  They kept busy, they went to Grants Farm- an Anheiser Busch free and open to the public farm.

       At the campground there was a pool that I believe was very much used to by girls.

                                                     A science museum they visited!

                                         They actually did relax and watched the movie Shiloh!

          They went to a Purina dog show/center and would you guess was the girls' favorite part.

                    Eva was playing with some jewelry, what a pretty little lady!

               On their way from St Louis to Arkansas they stopped at the Precious Moments chapel!

                                                  Ella's 5

                                                  Eva's 3

                                                         Finally arrived at Grandma Doris'

                                           And Grandma and Grandpa showed up; they beat us!!!!

                                                   Grandpa sure loves his grandbabies

                                                               Some sparkler fun!

                                                   xoxo, grandma

                                          Can you spot Eva?

          great-grandma and great-grandpa with baby Brody

     We rented a pontoon and had a few hours on the lake, definitely one of my favorite times of the trip. Ella drove!

                                                 Baby cousin Brody

Grandma must have had the special touch because Brody slept on her and so did Eva!

                                             And back to our trip...The Rangers Ballpark

                                              The view from the top!

It was a really nice stadium...a perfect night for baseball although the temp was still 95ish and we were sweating.

                                                    Casey Donahue concert after the game!

 

                                         Minute Maid park in Houston...Home of the Astros.

                               Not a fan of indoor ballparks but the temperature was perfect!

                                  Evan and his beer, Saint Arnold kept summoning him! :o)

                                          The view from our Houston Hotel....magnificent!

                  There was a train that went right through downtown along with a underground shopping center under most of downtown. We thought it was pretty cool!

                                      The view from the outdoor patio area on the 27th floor

                                     The home of the Houston Rockets was right next door!

          Evan was on the streets of Galviston with a beer in his hand- legal! His highlight of the trip. :o)

 
                          We took a Ferry ride to see Dolphins and we did but they were hard to capture.

            Cruise ship leaving from Galviston, made a cruise ship be on our list of things to do!

      Ella and Eva thought that was pretty cool ,we wanted them to know that we thought of them every minute of that trip.

                                             The view from our last hotel in Galviston!

                           What a clear picture of the sunset from the Fishermen's Wharf restaurant.

    I have a weird obsession with palm trees, so I captured that! I think to me they mean beautiful/tropical areas and that makes me happy.

                                      A pic of us by the swim up bar/pool at a near by hotel.

I would say after 3,000 miles I am done traveling for awhile! It is great to be back home! We traveled to St. Louis on June 27th and spent the night with Dave and Becky in their camper. We left the girls with them for 5 days and headed to Texas to visit a few new states and see a few new baseball stadiums. We arrived in Dallas the night of the 28th and went downtown to eat at a great Mexican restaurant outside at 8pm at night with the temp. still at 97 degrees. We tried to blend in but it was HOT! The next day we took a tour of the Dallas Cowboys stadium and headed to the Rangers game in Arlington a short ways away. We enjoyed the game and the concert after that. We had to wake early the next morning to get back on the road to make it to Houston in time for the Astros game. We made it a little late and stayed the rest of the game. We then had Sunday evening in Houston with no plans and not a lot going on. We went out to eat and then relaxed in the hotel room, the perfect evening to end an evening of a vacation. Monday morning we got up and worked out on the 26th floor overlooking the beautiful city and then ran out to get a coffee/pastries at this unique store close by and explored the underground shopping centers of Houston. We got ready and left for Galviston, we arrived early afternoon and went downtown to do some shopping. It was a cute, little town with unique stores. We then took a Ferry to see dolphins and went to the beach. The water was 85 degrees and the sand was soft and perfect. It did remind me of Mexico, although the water wasn't as beautiful and there wasn't as many nice hotels by the beach but it still felt like it. ( Oh, did I mention it had palm trees). The last night was spent drinking at a cool bar close to ours, we met some local guys from Texas and learned a little more about the state! So 4 nights in 4 different hotels was busy and I was eager to get on the road to meet my girlies back in Arkansas at great-grandmas and great-grandpas house. We stayed in a condo close to their house for the next 5 days. We had a great family reunion and kept busy around the small village of Bella Vista. We rented a pontoon, went golfing, did some shopping, swam at the pool, saw the 4th of July fireworks and played games together as a family. The girls sure enjoyed everybody as well as us! Its a trip we will not forget. Thanks to everyone who made it so memorable!

Happy 40th Nellie!

 The small tourist town of Galena, IL. This was the start of the 1/2 mile shopping downtown.

 We visited the Field of Dreams site from the movie, it was a great experience.

  I pretended to hit and ran all the bases, it was great!

  The Mississippi River!

                                              Winery/Brewery, we did enjoy the wine!

    We had to walk from our Bed and Breakfast up a big hill and down one to get to main street and Hope can only handle so much! :o)

  Hope, Nellie, and mom in front the bed and breakfast.

                                                        Nellie with all her goodies!

                             Hope got her, her old unicorn blanket she had as a kid, she was surprised!
  The view from a ski hill! We had a nice dinner here for Nellie's 40th bday.

                                       Our first night together! We had an amazing time!

  The Bed and Breakfasts' dining room, our room was right in the far right corner so accessible to everything.

  The living room of the Inn.

  Our room, we had a suite. This was right as you entered in the door.

   The second room with a Jacuzzi tub which we did enjoy! :o)

  All the stairs we had to climb up and down.

                                                           Field of Dreams!

  Nellie wore her crown proudly all day long. She is happy and so fulfilled at her early age of 40.

   The hostess's of the bed and breakfast surprised her with a cake for all of us to share. I was pumped! ;o)

  They were some of the nicest people, I recommend going for a visit!

                                                     Nellie's bday dinner!

 

We had a great time over our 1st girls weekend! It went way too fast but we enjoyed every minute of it. We did lots of shopping, drinking, relaxing, and eating. It was the perfect place for Janelle's 40th bday getaway weekend. I'm sad already thinking about how we waiting so long for this weekend and now its over. :o( This is the first of many and I look forward to planning future upcoming ones. I got home yesterday evening and unpacked and packed again today to leave tomorrow for St. Louis. We meet Dave and Becky there to drop the girls off for 5 days while we travel farther south to Texas to experience some new baseball stadiums and probably cook to death. :o) It is our little get away! We then will meet auntie and uncle back in Arkansas for a Lindahl family reunion. I will enjoy more vacationing and the open road. Will post all pics when I return, I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July.