Posh Room

Grandma and Papa have been helping us fix a few things around the house while they have been here.  They have also tackled a huge project - Lexi's room.  She had a rather dull room.  It had green paint on the wall and nothing really matchy, matchy.  They painted her walls a light gray and hung up decorations.  Grandma also made her a new quilt for her bed and a hot pink valance for her window. Now, it is all stylish.

Easter Dress

Lexi and Jordan are going to be spending Easter with their dad, so I had her wear her Easter outfit to church this week.  I also gave her a jean jacket, which she has been asking for all winter long.  

St Patty's Day

We had a pretty good St Patty's Day with Grandma and Papa.  Lexi begged me to let her go to church all glamorous today.  I bought her the fake fingernails a few years ago (in California) and had never let her wear them.  They seemed too silly to go anywhere.  I agree today and my mom put them on her.  I decided to do the double french braid into one.  I haven't done that to her hair for a while.   

After church, we headed up to Spring, Texas (45 minutes to an hour away) with Papa.  Papa's daughter, Katherine lives there.  We went to her house and then headed out to dinner.  She picked a seafood restaurant.  Apparently, she loves seafood, but her husband, Jason, doesn't.  He was out at the race track and didn't join us.  

Lexi and Jordan got to see different kinds of foods that they have never had before.  For the appetizer, Papa and Katherine had oysters.  My mom and Katherine had crawdads for their meal.  You can see by Lexi's face exactly what she thought of the crawdads.  Neither of the kids wanted a taste. I wasn't all that adventurous either, although I already know what both of those taste like.  I was happy with coconut shrimp.  The kids had hamburgers.    

Trader's Village

My mom and I took the kids to Traders Village today.  It is a huge flea market that I haven't been to in years.  In fact, Jordan was a tiny baby the last time I went.  I have been wanting to get cowboy hats for the kids, which is completely useful in Texas.  Too bad we didn't have them before the rodeos.  I remember buying a cute little pink one from there when Lexi was 2.  The price was great, so I knew we should go again.  We had a fun morning looking at lots of different things from strange swords to junk. Of course, there were lots of Texas items like long horns, boots, belts and the perfect hats.  

Spring Break at the Park

This was the last weekday of Spring Break for the kids.  Grandma and Papa rented a car and drove back to Junction, Texas to pick up their car.  They had a full day of driving, but we had fun at a new park.  

Brazos Bend with Grandma & Papa

We went to Brazos Bend State Park (known for their gators) today with Grandma and Papa.  We had a picnic lunch and then hiked on the trails.  I had been here before with friends and I could swear that they told me that the tower is the half way point for the long trail.  When you get to the tower, you can head back on one trail or keep going.  I thought we could easily make it.  Well, the tower is only about 1/4 of the way for the long trail.  We didn't have water or anything with us.  We found a little trail that was supposed to be a shortcut back.  It crossed over the main road.  When we got to the other side, we found a closed gate saying that the trail was closed.  We had to finish our hike on the side of the road.  It was quite a long hike, but definitely the perfect day for it.    

Houston Rodeo 2013

One of the things we definitely wanted to do with Grandma Margie and Papa Malcolm was to go to the Houston Rodeo.  Wednesdays the entrance fee is free for seniors and children.  It is only half price for "adults."  We ended up paying a total of $5 (for me) to get in.  We didn't stay to actually watch the rodeo and concert, which starts in the evening.  That would have cost more and kept us out late.  We chose to enjoy the rodeo grounds, see the 4H animals, eat lunch, and walk around the carnival.

Near the Astro-Dome

Lunch

We had lunch in one of the pavilions.  Lexi and Jordan wanted hot dogs.  The rest of us got food from a bbq place.     

Heading Out

We wanted to beat Houston rush hour traffic, so we left a little after 3 pm.  Lots of people were arriving at that time to watch the rodeo and the concert.  Maybe next year, we'll go to those.

Rescuing Grandma & Papa

Jordan and Lexi have been looking forward to Grandma Margie & Papa Malcolm's visit.  Their grandparents planned to arrive today, but sent a text last night that they were stuck in Junction, Texas with car problems.  The power-steering went out in her car.  They were in a little town without cell phone reception.  The only ways they could contact people were texts, email and Facebook.  They were lucky to have pulled off the highway right near the only mechanic in the county.

My mom's car is an old Mercedes, which isn't exactly a popular car in rural Texas.  Since being stranded in a little town isn't very fun, they decided to rent a car and come to our house until it would be fixed and then pick it up.  That was a good idea, but even in the next biggest town, there were no cars to rent.  Malcolm made a reservation and caught a ride over there only to be told they didn't have anything.  He was told to come back tomorrow.

At this point, the kids and I decided that we would just go pick them up.  Junction is about 4 1/2 hours away.  We packed a few DVDs and snacks; then took off around 1pm.  It was a long ride to rescue them, but we are glad we did.  We all stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way back for dinner.  Grandma sat in the back and watched two of the DVDs that she hadn't seen before - Madagascar 3 and Hotel Transylvania.  I am really glad I have a DVD player in my car.  We rarely use it, but for long trips it makes all the difference.