Emily and Momma's BIG Texas Vacation...

5am Saturday, May 10 until about 5pm Wednesday, May 14...Emily did not stop talking... that's what we're calling the "official" length of our vacation to visit A. Tamara in Texas. Flying was great (albeit difficult for Momma to force a smile during a few bouncy spells so Emily didn't get scared), the visit was wonderful, Daddy and Zachary did great at home without us, and we returned to our normal schedule of school and work w/ only a small amount of adjustment required..... here are the highlights...

It was a whopping 97 degrees w/ as much humidity when we arrived. Momma thought it refreshing in a HOLY HOT sort of way. We were also happy to visit w/ U. Fred, Derek and Brianna..... bubbles, coloring, laughing, tickling, pizza and milkshakes... couldn't have been a better visit!The girls were very very silly...

Emily found Derek's tickle spot...

Before posing for a very nice cousin-ly photo...Thank gosh for automatic timers... they are just wonderful!!Then Brianna requested a silly picture.... who'd have thunk we could be so silly!Momma got to spend Mother's Day doing whatever I wanted... coffee at Starbucks, watching Emily and A. Tamara play on an armadillo (statue), and a nap outside enjoying A. Tamara's garden... no laundry and no dishes... which is my wish for any Mom on Mother's Day!!!

Emily and A. Tamara in the garden...

And making birthday cupcakes...

A. Tamara's friends brought a chef over for her birthday (wow) and we had a yummy pasta birthday dinner. Emily and A. Tamara (with her birthday crown) waiting for friends to arrive....And some of the friends. Emily was so excited to play hopskotch and visit w/ the big people....

For A. Tamara's birthday day, she got to pick whatever we did... it was a bit cloudy, so she chose a visit to the Austin Children's Museum. We figured out the trick to stay in between several large classes of kids so we could spend some time in the different areas, and then move on when the kids arrived.

Emily checking out the static electricity... or maybe it was heat sensors... I'm not really sure. I couldn't read the directions that were in Spanish....

Emily spending time in the kitchen...At one point we hit the jackpot.... there was a rather large room, dark and quiet. NO ONE was there. It was an audio studio, and had a stage, and buttons to push that would play a song from Austin City Limits. Standing on the stage, there were clothes and props to play with and you could play the song and sing, and see yourself on camera singing along with the original recording artist.

One guess as to the song we picked....

Of course they had Willie... On the Road Again. Emily was a bit starstruck watching herself on camera. After playing the song twice, Momma was not surprised that people started to filter in.... so time to move on! Funny on the way out of the studio, we saw that there were also video screens at the studio entrance... facing the museum's lobby. Uh ya. Apparently anyone in the lobby could also enjoy our rendition w/ Willie.

One more area to play in where we crafted with all kinds of art supplies (did you know they made scotch tape in every color of the rainbow!!!), and Momma was also right at home w/ this "build a beam" table....(use 3 sheets of paper to hold up 30 pennies over the "water"... and Momma's so smart I only needed 1 sheet of paper :)The one thing we hadn't been able to do in our almost 4 day trip was use the pool. Timing or weather wasn't right when we were ready. But on the last day, the clouds parted enough that we jumped in anyway... which is a good thing, because I think it was one of Emily's favorite parts of the trip!And one more picture of the beautiful garden...