Dallas (Days 1 & 2)...

One of the many fun things about having young kids is that 1) going any place out of the ordinary equals a 'vacation', and 2) they are easily impressed by cheap entertainment.  This bodes well for Matthew and me, since we're not currently rolling around in piles of extra money.  My kids love staying in hotels--for them, that alone is considered a vacation.  So I decided that this summer we should pick a city within 3 or 4 hours driving distance (my kids don't enjoy long car rides, so anything more would negate the fun of the vacation.)  Then we would stay in a hotel for several days, and enjoy some kid-friendly, fun activities in the area.  We decided to head to Dallas, because we don't go there often, and we hadn't spent an extended amount of time there since we moved from that area five years ago.  The first night we were there, we got to meet up with a dear friend of mine who I hadn't seen in five years.  She was my neighbor when we lived in Forney, we went to church together, and I kept her precious little boy in my home the last year we lived there.  The last time we saw them, this is what our boys looked like:

I have so many sweet memories of my days with these two.  It's hard to believe that the years have passed and these boys are now going into the second grade.  It was really something special to see Mason and Samuel together again...they picked up right where they left off five years ago:

My dear friend Brooke and me:

At the time, Mason and Samuel were our only children.  Now there are 5 between the two of us!

Thank you, Brooke, for spending time with us during our days in Dallas.  It meant the world to me to get to see you and Samuel again.  How I've missed you both!

Our second day there, we decided to ride the light-rail train in Dallas (the D.A.R.T.)  Hooray for cheap public transportation that my kids think is a really awesome train ride!!  Some family friends of ours from here in town also happened to be in Dallas that week.  So we got to meet up with them and enjoy several activities together. 

Riding the train with Bryson; and Ellie looking out the window as we traveled downtown.  

We enjoyed lunch inside the trolley car at Spaghetti Warehouse:

Ellie and the boys:

Not sure why she had this expression in every picture...she really was having a good time.

Waiting on the train--I love this picture...

We spent the rest of that day at the Legoland Discovery Center in Grapevine. 

Mollie liked playing in the 'Lego Duplo Village' for toddlers.  They had a bigger play area that the older kids enjoyed, as well as a couple of small rides.  It was very crowded though, and the adults all split up with the kids, so unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of those activities. We also watched a short 4D movie:

...And enjoyed the interactive models of all the well-known Dallas/Fort Worth landmarks...made entirely out of Legos!

The rest of our trip in a post to follow...

Dallas (Days 3 & 4)...

During our time in Dallas, we wanted to visit a waterpark, and luckily I found one that was perfect for the girls, with lots of smaller slides and things for younger kids to play on.  And the guys had fun too...

The boys racing to see who could get across the lily pads first...

I'm pretty sure Matthew won.

The girls getting ready to enjoy the lazy river:

Bedford Splash with the Vaughn's:

Our hotel was right by the airport, so the kids were continually fascinated seeing all the planes coming in to land.  Matthew heard about an observation site where you could get an up-close view of the planes landing, and there were also speakers where you could actually hear the radio chatter between air traffic control and the pilots, clearing them for landing.  We spent some time here before we headed home.  

The kids loved this, and even as an adult, I still become so intrigued watching these magnificent machines take off and land. 

The girls loved these statues:

And before we could go home, we wanted to drive over to the east side of Dallas, where we lived when Mason was just a baby.  We got to see our former church, the high school where Matthew taught and coached for two years, and of course we drove through our old neighborhood to see our old house.  The kids were so pooped out from the previous few days, they slept through it all.  But Matthew and I had a fun time seeing all the familiar places and reminiscing about the life we lived there five years ago.  It was such a great trip...building new memories with the kids, and recalling past memories we once shared there too.  

Mason's New Job...

Daddy says it's time for our boy to start helping with yard work.  Mason had lots of fun mowing for the first time (although  I'm pretty sure the awesomeness of this will quickly fade for him after a few more rounds.)  Matthew got his yard work done much quicker too, since he can edge and weed while Mason mows.  But boy was Mason tired afterward...can I mention our mower is not self-propelled?!  I can't believe my little guy is already big enough to be doing this: