Texas

A hot and humid place where your always at your skinniest because your water weight is displayed on the outside rather than inside. To add any life to your hair, you must use a thing called a tortoise tail to tease it Texas style big. A place where my original friend Chelly Beans lives... and where we took our family vacation this summer.

It was off to a rough start... but we were much enthused. I didn't know that ahead of me the 15 minutes of snoozing which occurred on my couch before our transportation shuttle arrived was going to be the only sleep of mine in 28 hours. We had a major flight delay and what was supposed to be a fun and quick night flight had turned into a lengthy overnight and morning at the airport. We arrived and this sort of sick fun continued on. These troubles I sewed seamless to the boys so thankfully it was all grand to them. The rental car upgrade was a jolly break in this phase of the trip. Then we were back to that fun as soon as we hit Texas roads... which are terrible. Everything goes in circles and I think I test drove on all of them... a time or two. Now I was cranky... and hungry. I spent most of my energy and sacrificed my body plus any possible rest to ensure that my babies were comfortable enough to get a good night's sleep up to this point.  It was raining and my vision was brightly spotty with a migraine aura in the midst on these lovely roads. It was time to stop and eat something, drink something. As soon as we arrived to Chelly Bean's house my son could tell what I needed. He snuggled me like I did him, for my turn at rest. As soon as I fell asleep he wiggled out of my arms to go play and I woke up hours later. Then... the kind of fun I like began.

We all love thrill seeking rides whether it be gliding down a steep and curvy water slide or falling on chain cranking coasters.

We first set our tootsies on the grounds of Six Flags. Mom has serious theme park stamina and I get as excited if not more so than the boys. We were there from about open to closing time. It was a bit muggy out but the lines weren't too bad. Texas weather is as fickle as Arizona during monsoon season... it could rain at any given or non-given moment. It started to sprinkle and the park cried closed for 30 minutes. During this time half of the crowd left and we decided to play some games. I gave the boys a certain amount of money that they could either play games with or spend in the gift shops. Benny chose games where receiving a prize was absolute and walked away with a superman cape and a stuffed Dalmatian. My Sergeant on the other hand took a chance at a basketball game to try and win a ball of his own. He was crushed when he was out of money, out of chances, and out of a souvenir. Some sweet Texan watched my son's play that left him in a mopey trance, walked up and gave him his ball that he had won. True kindness that touched my spirit and brightened the face of my boy. Benny spotted that the rides were back open so we hauled it to the high demand areas where there was no wait times, not even for front rows!














Front rows are very important to Stink... he would wait at length to get the hot seats. Benny is a little more cautious with the speed, dips and loops on things and properly analyzes his choices. Then mom encourages him to go for it. There was one particular backwards speed roller coaster that Ben-Ben was on the fence about. I sat with him for added comfort and just before taking off he said he wanted out and changed his mind. Both he and I heard the click to secure all riders in their seats and we knew that wasn't happening... he had 2 seconds to cry, and did... then the ride was over and he wanted to do it all again. The boys left the park that day tuckered out with two big Slurpee's in cups they were able to refill the rest of our trip. Every time were out on another Texas mission we stopped for a brief sugar buzz if we spotted a 7/11.

Mom is a planner. I make the most of everything. I like to plan the big things prior to trips because I find it is less hassle and allows me to thoroughly enjoy all the merry moments that much more. It eliminates those annoyances that may "come up" and makes room to handle things that just do. Plus those planned excursions happen to lead into unplanned trip filler... which I enjoy just as much!

I booked a room at what I now call the best family resort that I have been to with my children... Great Wolf Lodge. I reserved a special room. The last time we were visiting Chelly Beans in Texas we spotted a water slide tube coming out of a building and figured out it was some water park treasury exclusive to resort members and determined at that time it would be incredibly amazing and that we would go their our next visit. The boys had a Wolf Den Suite where they nested in bunk beds in their own secluded area located in front of all the snacks they wanted from mom's packed goodies to replenish from serious water park play. It was just amazing. When we weren't playing on slides or with each other in the water we were at the arcade or hunting for clues in our Magiquest. Magiquest came in handy too as a nice alternative to watching mom get ready, pack and unpack. It was a game played with a special wand that when activated and set to target would reveal clues in hidden pictures and objects located throughout the resort on all floors needed to complete each mission. The boys enjoyed that so much we had to return as non-guests to complete all the quests.

We had a memorable time exploring Lake Grapevine before our resort portion of the trip. I rented a boat for our family and the company of Chelsea and her family. Grandma Leslie was so sweet to bring all the treats and cut up fruit for our fun in the sun plus rented a tube to haul all of the kiddos in. I first had to feel comfortable and master driving a boat before I towed any child behind, which I have never done before. It was incredibly easy and so much darn fun. I lost my most favorite hat with a short and omnidirectional gust of wind along this way. We all saw it a while later and even had our kids jump in after it to find out that my hat was a big, lake stained men's hat... that wasn't mine. My forehead scorch was worth it.











It was a perfect day with loving people. The sky was clear with a damp breeze in the air coasting on clean water with my babies. Who had an unforgettable time. Stink liked getting air in the tube rides and I (at his request) loved driving him going super fast for this air. Benny was a calmed rider on the tube desiring a different speed, relaxing and taking every ounce along the way in. When we got off the boat the boys each caught freshwater mussells that we cracked in hopes of finding a shiny pearl inside. No pearls, but what a day.

When we weren't active in mom's planned events we were with wonderful people bowling, skating, Baseball Gaming, BBQing, swimming, laughing and having good talks. Of course squeezed in some movies and then fireworks for the near holiday. We stayed in a small place but a home with a lot of love and everything we need plus each other... so it felt like home. My favorite in all of this was the peaceful blanket I felt over us and the uninterrupted quality time spent with one another.

And thanks to Chelly Beans for having the heart, hospitality and patience the size of her state she lives in. I love you. I love your company, your sillies and our sillies we make together. I will never forget running in the rain with you when we were little. I won't forget running through a splash pad with you as adults. And I will now, never forget you biffing it at the end.

It was yet another amazing Family trip...