We hadn't been back to Texas in 6 months. We were ready. We boarded our direct flight, with several mostly empty suitcases, ready to be back in the States with family, good food, and shopping. The kids did well on the flight. It was a 15 hour flight, leaving Luanda at 10 pm and arriving in Houston at 7 am, and they slept a good portion of it. The rest of the time they watched movies, colored, and walked around the back of the plane. Customs and immigration in the States was a breeze - we were the only flight that had landed at that time so there were no lines. And it's all electronic now! We left hot summer temperatures in Angola for colder temperatures in Texas and it was great - the kids thought it was fun when we stepped out of the airport into the cold wind and had to put on our jackets! Finally, sweatshirt weather! We picked up our rental car and immediately went to Walmart, of course. The kids were pretty tired, so it was a brief trip, but still great to go to a store that had what we needed at decent prices. We then made a quick run to Whataburger for breakfast before we were on our way to our next stop, Austin.
The first week of our vacation was spent with Jon's side of the family at a ranch house outside of Fredricksburg. It was a beautiful home set on 100 acres in the hill country. The house was right near the river, so people did some fishing, skipped rocks (or just threw rocks in Connor's case), and some people were even crazy enough to swim. It was a relaxing time and was so nice to be around family. The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins.
He picked up a big rock from the landscaping and chunked it into the water!
Coloring time with cousins!
Cousin Owen - One of the happiest kids on the planet.
Hmmmm, what can I get into next?
One of the dams on the property.
Checking out the cows. That was as close as I let them get. Some of the cows started mooing very loudly - I'm not sure they wanted to be bothered that day.
AAAAHHHHH!
Boys playing trucks. Man, Connor needed a haircut SO BAD!
Colson being Colson.
After several days at the ranch house it was time to go to Longview to see my side of the family. Without any stops it is about a 6 hour drive from Fredricksburg to Longview. We made it in just 8 'short' hours. The kids did really well, but between the 5 of us (my sister flew to Austin and drove to Longview with us) we had to stop several times. We bought Jon's mom's van from her (for me to use this summer), so we put one kid in the rental and one in the van and they both watched movies or slept most of the way.
We all signed up to do a fun run the following morning - Jon and I signed up for the half marathon, the rest of the family did the 5k. My dad loves traditions, so he was extra excited. 30 years ago, when my sister and I were 2 years old and 4 years old, he did one of many fun runs with us. And now that Connor is 2 and Colson is 4 he was pumped to get to do one with them. He even talked to a reporter at the race and the story made the Longview News Journal. In the paper there was a picture of my sister, Ashleigh, crossing the finish line with Colson in the stroller. On their website there were several more pictures of the family at the race. Jon and I had done minimal, as in bare minimum, training for the half marathon. We had only found out about it and signed up for it about a month before. Jon was getting over being sick, so he was pretty miserable during the run, but he stuck it out and finished. We were both really tired afterwards, so the rest of the day we laid around and watched tv.
Some of us after the race - still smiling, as we hadn't sat down for very long yet...
Nice photo bomb, Ben.
Uncle Ben teaching Connor how to drive the scooter.
Those curls!!
Since we weren't in Texas for Christmas we did a white elephant gift exchange that night. It got pretty wild, and hilarious.
My Mom was so proud of her gift, a purple gummy bear night light. I think Uncle Ben finally ended up with it, but Connor loved it so it came home with us. Ben, Connor sleeps with it every night and says, 'Thank you, Uncle Ben!"
The next day we went to Dad and JoJo's new house for lunch. I literally came down with the flu while I was sitting on their couch. I was freezing under 7 blankets and didn't want to move. And for the next 2 days all I did was lay on the couch, under blankets, while my bones and skin hurt. It was miserable, and a really crappy way to spend part of a vacation. But the kids got to have a lot of fun time with their grandparents and aunts and uncles. Papa and JoJo took them to Chuck E Cheese, the mall, and to get ice cream. They went to the indoor trampoline place twice as well. And they were spoiled with gifts. I'd say they had quite a fun time.
Chilling on Grandmom's patio.
Connor was in dire need of a haircut. He hadn't had one since last June just before my sister's wedding 9 months ago. I did not realize how bad he needed it cut until I looked back at pictures while I was putting together this post! We took him to the barber shop that my brothers have gone to since they were little. Connor freaked. Tears, screaming, snot, the whole nine yards. He sat still some of the time, Jon had to hold his head and/or hands the rest of the time. It wasn't a perfect cut, but it was good enough!
Still a little pissed, but happy to be driving the car.
And now a happy kid with his Buzz Lightyear! Thanks Papa and JoJo!
Colson was so excited about her Princess Anna doll. Thanks again Papa and JoJo!
Just some random pics:
Enjoying a fire in the fire pit.
The last leg of our vacation was spent in Houston with friends. We enjoyed good food, went swimming (in a heated pool, thankfully), and had a great time visiting with friends. Colson was SO happy to see her friends.
Seriously, Mom? Another picture?
Ok, fine, I'll say Cheeeeese!
Nope, that's enough!
Sweet Eameal.
Colson and Mia! These girls have so much fun together.
That weekend Colson got to take one of her friends' places and play in her first soccer 'game'. She was more excited about the uniform I think....
That afternoon we got to relax in the heated pool, have delicious pizza and goodies for dinner, and hang out with great friends. It was a fabulous day. Before we moved to Angola, Colson was scared to jump from the rock wall and we had to catch her. Connor would barely try it and was nervous about doing the slide by himself. I was shocked that now Colson was repeatedly jumping from the top of the rocks and Connor was jumping from a lower wall and going down the slide by himself.
Jumping with friends is the best.
A little art time.
Superheroes.
Putting on makeup. Even Mickey Mouse superheroes need to look their best.
Colson pretty much only wore Mia's princess dresses while we were there....
It was great to visit home, and we were sad to leave. The trip went by way too fast. Every day Colson mentions something about how she misses her friends and cousins and family (granted, she is a bit of a drama queen). Connor will randomly ask where someone is, and the answer is always 'Texas'. Of course, we left his lovees in Texas on accident so for the first several days he was asking for them. The last several days he has repeatedly asked to go to the 'bouncy place' - the indoor trampoline park. I think he is finally understanding that we don't have those here. He isn't happy about that answer one bit. Me too, buddy. But, we will be home again this summer and we can't wait!
