Our vacation to "Dallas"

This week we went for a short visit to "Dallas." I put "s around it because for the majority of the time we were actually in Grapevine. However, I told the kids we were going to Dallas to visit some friends, and stay in a hotel, and they took me at my word and kept asking, "When will we get to Dallas? What are we going to do at Dallas? Will there be elevators and escalators at Dallas?" We stopped trying to correct them and just rolled with it.

First we met some of our good friends Brian, Tiana, Kennedy and baby Jameson, and had lunch and roamed the mall:



Boys....



I'm so bummed I didn't get a picture with Tiana! Haven't seen each other in three years and we forgot to get a picture. Boo. :(

After they left to go back to Austin, we checked in to our hotel and explored for a few minutes before we went to the Bass Pro Shop to look around. It's a fun place for little kids and big kids alike!










Checking out the boats:


Catching the Big One:




And picking out our new ATV: haha


We caved and went back to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. It was wild... and loud! And dark. Well, at least we can say we've been there. It's the experience that counts, right? :)




While we waited for out table, I did a little shopping and Greg took the kids on a little train ride around the mall.






Loving each other:




The next day we took the kids to downtown Dallas to the Dallas World Aquarium to see lots of pretty birds, lizards, turtles, fish, sharks, rays, and manatees.


Carly feeding a toucan. Caleb did too but the picture was blurry. Boo.


Three story indoor waterfall.




Sharks! Lots of them! The shark tank was a tunnel shape so the sharks (and rays!) could swim over and all around us. And it was against a dark background. Freaky!


Look at the face on my daughter. She was making a "sly" face. Stinker!


The belly of a shark:


Sharks, Rays, and Greg. The three biggest menaces to fish societies everywhere. Ha!


Shark over my head!!


Some pretty, calm, non-threatening flamingos:


Manatees! Those boogers are HUGE! This one was right up on the glass chomping on a piece of floating wood.


Afterward we ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Dallas before we headed home. The kids had a great time and we successfully wore them out!