Texas Trip

We left Tuesday morning around 4:30 am for the airport. The kids complaining and cold but
they were happy once we were on the airplane. It was a nonstop flight and very quick, only 3
hours. The kids were great, no crying or anything. We had a rental car which was great, the
coolest car in the world :) I made a reservation on line and it was really cheap. They gave
us a Toyota Siena with only 2,600 miles on it, almost brand new. We had 8 seats and still
plenty of space for our suitcases. We got a little lost on the way to Steven's house but
made it on time for lunch. We were so happy to see Olivia and Amber again. After lunch we
went out to explore the stores and got some groceries to keep up with the hungry people. We
had a little nap and just relaxed for the rest of the day. Steven has a very nice house in a
very nice and quiet neighborhood. We went to a cool Aquarium in downtown Houston. It was
lots of fun for everybody. Amber and Olivia came with us too. We saw Sharks, Siberian
Tigers and all kinds of fish. Shayna, Dan and Victor went on a couple of rides. The next
day we went to the NASA Space Center and spent almost half of the day there learning about
astronauts and letting the kids look around. We took a tour that lasted an hour and a half.
We were able to go see the training facility and the control room and a huge space shuttle.
After that we went to have lunch somewhere else because food there was very expensive. Dan
bought some Astronaut food for the kids and it was really good. We then drove to down town
Houston again to meet with Steven and Amber at the Children's Museum. A very cool place for
kids too, Thursday night is Family Night there so the entrance is free. We were one of the
first families to get there so at the beginning was really cool and kind of quiet but then it
got a little crazy. The whole place is just cool for learning and exploring. They can touch
everything they want and pretend to be anything. Friday we just drove around looking at the
neighborhoods close by and I went to see some model homes. Yes we are thinking about moving
to Texas, we really like it there. In the afternoon we celebrated Olivia's birthday and had
cake. Saturday we went to the Beach, we drove to Galveston which is an Island and had the
best time there. I think it was my favorite thing to do in Texas, it didn't last as along as I wanted it. I am a beach person and Dan is not, but the kids liked it too. We built sand castles and the kids looked for sea shells. FUN FUN FUN. On the way back home we stopped at a new neighborhood close to Steven's house and we all went on a tour there, we saw 4 model homes but the best one was 3,800 sq feet and had 6 bedrooms, lots of space every where and a beautiful kitchen (my dream home). I think they said it was $ 196,000.00 compared to the houses here, that is a bargain. But we are not buying a new home. It was fun anyways.
Monday we went to the Zoo, the coolest Zoo I have been to. The Monkey place was one of my
favorites. They had some sea lions perform for the crowd. We walked a lot trying to see
everything. They also had a petting zoo which was great for kids. After the Zoo we went to a
cool Mall "The Galleria" where they have an skating rink in the middle of it. Shayna wanted
to go in and try it out but she wanted me to come with her, it was going to be lots of money
so Dan decided to skip it. Instead we just watched the people skate which was fun too. If we go back I'll take Shayna :)
So that is the end of it. We got back Tuesday afternoon and were very tired, Wednesday Dan
stayed home to enjoy his last day of vacation, we had my brother come over and played Rock
Band for a while. That was fun too.