state #10 -- texas
We recently got to fly out to Kyle, Texas, to visit my sister Brooke and her family. It was Ada's first time on a plane, and Russ's & my first time to Texas together -- state #10 for our United States Map! :)
We get guest passes for Alaska Airlines (essentially 10% cost for standby seats) each year because Russ's dad is a pilot. Our 2017 passes were about to expire, so we started brainstorming where we wanted to go. My only requirement was a new state. Russ wanted to go somewhere warm and suggested Texas or Florida. Since my sister lives in Texas, I suggested that, and we went with it!
Since it was Ada's first time flying, I was suuuuuuper nervous. My girl is super sleep trained and super scheduled. That means when she misses a nap, she does not know how to handle it, and pretty much loses it. It also means she is pretty much incapable of sleeping in our arms or even a carseat. However, we got super lucky for all the flights! For 3 out of 4 flights, we got a whole row, despite having standby tickets and having Ada as a lap sitter. On the way over to Texas, Ada developed a fever, so on our 4 hour flight, she cuddled and slept in our arms the whole time. It was such a blessing. On our way home, we didn't get quite as lucky. She was a lot more wild and difficult to contain. BUT, we did make it on both flights we wanted, which was a MIRACLE. We thought we were going to have a 12 hour layover between flights because loads were looking so bad, but we made it on the first flight we could, so we were so happy!
While in Texas, we did several things.
On Thursday, we went to Waco to see all the Magnolia stuff. Unfortunately, it was "Silobration," so the place was PACKED. We spent most of our time waiting in lines, and with a napless toddler, the event was not as fun as I'd hoped. It's kind of a bummer, because I'm sure under different circumstances the experience would have been much more fun, but oh well, it is what it is! Maybe next time.
On Friday, we played at a nearby park in the morning and went on a little hike in the afternoon; Ada insisted on walking by herself as much as possible during the hike. We did a little more chilling that day to let Ada catch up on some sleep and fully recover from her fever.
On Saturday, Russ and I drove to Round Rock to visit some friends of ours. Mike and Aleisha are friends from our first (and only) married student ward. Aleisha and I clicked right off, and then we added our husbands to the mix. They moved away nearly 3 years ago. So crazy how time flies by. Ada napped at their house while Russ and I chatted with Aleisha and her daughter Callen (Mike was finishing up some yard work for a bit before joining in). We just caught up and I admired her cute home decor :) After Cooper (Mike & Aleisha's son) and Ada woke up, we all headed to lunch at a BBQ place called Rudy's. It was so yummy! Then we went to Andy's frozen custard for dessert. (Russ and I had Andy's on a family trip to Branson, Missouri, in 2013, and we loved it; it was one thing we wanted to make sure to do while in Texas! Haha.) It was fun catching up with Mike and Aleisha :)
While we were gone, Brooke had also been gone, doing some hike thing with the cub scouts in her ward because of her Primary presidency calling, so by the time we all got back, we were pretty tired, but Ryan really wanted to get out of the house. We ended up getting a babysitter and going out (the four of us) for the evening, and I'm so glad we did because it was my favorite part of the trip! :) We went out to eat at this place called Gourdough's (highly recommend the Country Clucker), which has a donut in every menu item. The food was AMAZING! I mean, I already loved donuts, but this made me love them even more. The whole dinner process took quite a while, but we didn't mind since it was date night and it gave us all a chance to talk more. After dinner (and dessert), we drove and walked around downtown Austin for a bit and took some fun pictures. There's just something so free about being away from kids after you have them hahaha. Like don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade Ada for anything, but it's really nice when I don't have to worry about her at all for a few hours :)
Sunday was pretty chill -- we just went to church and maybe took some naps. Ada was a wild child during Sacrament meeting (go figure) and then we dropped her off at nursery for the first time ever and it was SO AWESOME. Haha I set her down and she walked right over to some toys without looking back. When we picked her up after two hours, the leaders said she did great!
On Monday, the girls went back to school, so Brooke, Russ, Ada, and I all went to a little zoo in Austin. Ada was so intrigued by all the animals! She did not want to be contained in a stroller haha. We went out to lunch at a place called Jack Allen's (highly recommend Fat Jack's burger -- it's what all three of us got!) which was super tasty, also. That evening, Russ and I went to Ryan's work so he could adjust us (he's a chiropractor).
Other tidbits about our trip --
We get guest passes for Alaska Airlines (essentially 10% cost for standby seats) each year because Russ's dad is a pilot. Our 2017 passes were about to expire, so we started brainstorming where we wanted to go. My only requirement was a new state. Russ wanted to go somewhere warm and suggested Texas or Florida. Since my sister lives in Texas, I suggested that, and we went with it!
Since it was Ada's first time flying, I was suuuuuuper nervous. My girl is super sleep trained and super scheduled. That means when she misses a nap, she does not know how to handle it, and pretty much loses it. It also means she is pretty much incapable of sleeping in our arms or even a carseat. However, we got super lucky for all the flights! For 3 out of 4 flights, we got a whole row, despite having standby tickets and having Ada as a lap sitter. On the way over to Texas, Ada developed a fever, so on our 4 hour flight, she cuddled and slept in our arms the whole time. It was such a blessing. On our way home, we didn't get quite as lucky. She was a lot more wild and difficult to contain. BUT, we did make it on both flights we wanted, which was a MIRACLE. We thought we were going to have a 12 hour layover between flights because loads were looking so bad, but we made it on the first flight we could, so we were so happy!
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| sidenote - i'm usually in sweats or really comfy clothes for travel, but wanted to bring this hat but not pack it in a suitcase . . . it ended up making me look very put together during travel for the first time ever 😂 |
While in Texas, we did several things.
On Thursday, we went to Waco to see all the Magnolia stuff. Unfortunately, it was "Silobration," so the place was PACKED. We spent most of our time waiting in lines, and with a napless toddler, the event was not as fun as I'd hoped. It's kind of a bummer, because I'm sure under different circumstances the experience would have been much more fun, but oh well, it is what it is! Maybe next time.
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| ada has no fear of dogs -- thus far it hasn't been a problem 😂 |
On Friday, we played at a nearby park in the morning and went on a little hike in the afternoon; Ada insisted on walking by herself as much as possible during the hike. We did a little more chilling that day to let Ada catch up on some sleep and fully recover from her fever.
On Saturday, Russ and I drove to Round Rock to visit some friends of ours. Mike and Aleisha are friends from our first (and only) married student ward. Aleisha and I clicked right off, and then we added our husbands to the mix. They moved away nearly 3 years ago. So crazy how time flies by. Ada napped at their house while Russ and I chatted with Aleisha and her daughter Callen (Mike was finishing up some yard work for a bit before joining in). We just caught up and I admired her cute home decor :) After Cooper (Mike & Aleisha's son) and Ada woke up, we all headed to lunch at a BBQ place called Rudy's. It was so yummy! Then we went to Andy's frozen custard for dessert. (Russ and I had Andy's on a family trip to Branson, Missouri, in 2013, and we loved it; it was one thing we wanted to make sure to do while in Texas! Haha.) It was fun catching up with Mike and Aleisha :)
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| ada's smolder 😂 |
While we were gone, Brooke had also been gone, doing some hike thing with the cub scouts in her ward because of her Primary presidency calling, so by the time we all got back, we were pretty tired, but Ryan really wanted to get out of the house. We ended up getting a babysitter and going out (the four of us) for the evening, and I'm so glad we did because it was my favorite part of the trip! :) We went out to eat at this place called Gourdough's (highly recommend the Country Clucker), which has a donut in every menu item. The food was AMAZING! I mean, I already loved donuts, but this made me love them even more. The whole dinner process took quite a while, but we didn't mind since it was date night and it gave us all a chance to talk more. After dinner (and dessert), we drove and walked around downtown Austin for a bit and took some fun pictures. There's just something so free about being away from kids after you have them hahaha. Like don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade Ada for anything, but it's really nice when I don't have to worry about her at all for a few hours :)
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| we're all laughing because we pointed something out that brooke and ryan had never noticed before 😂 |
Sunday was pretty chill -- we just went to church and maybe took some naps. Ada was a wild child during Sacrament meeting (go figure) and then we dropped her off at nursery for the first time ever and it was SO AWESOME. Haha I set her down and she walked right over to some toys without looking back. When we picked her up after two hours, the leaders said she did great!
On Monday, the girls went back to school, so Brooke, Russ, Ada, and I all went to a little zoo in Austin. Ada was so intrigued by all the animals! She did not want to be contained in a stroller haha. We went out to lunch at a place called Jack Allen's (highly recommend Fat Jack's burger -- it's what all three of us got!) which was super tasty, also. That evening, Russ and I went to Ryan's work so he could adjust us (he's a chiropractor).
Other tidbits about our trip --
- We played games almost every night, sometimes with the girls, sometimes after they were all asleep. With them, we either played Apples to Apples or Catch Phrase. Without them, we played Code Names.
- The girls were obsessed with Ada haha. They all wanted to sit by her at mealtimes, hold her as much as possible, and just love on her in general. It was cute, but a little overwhelming for all of us haha :)
- Brooke made such yummy food throughout the whole trip -- pancakes, burgers, curry chicken w/ rice, and other stuff haha. But it was all very tasty :)
- I planned ahead of time to not let Ada's naps rule the vacation, so we were a lot more lax than normal. Ada did alright with that, but she was definitely sleep deprived. Missing sleep in the day meant that she'd wake early in the mornings, too, so she just missed out on sleep overall. She spent about three days after the trip catching up -- taking two long naps each day (rather than her usual one long and one short). It was fine, but I'm definitely glad to have a scheduled baby most of the time :)
- Ada's hair was so curly in Texas! It was so stinkin' cute!
All in all, it was a truly great trip :) I'm so happy that I'm close to all my siblings and that it is a fun vacation to spend time visiting any one of them :)
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