New Years and Dallas

This year for New Year’s I was hoping to go to First Night.  However we didn’t make it.  With all the holiday activities, I think we were all wore out.  We went to the grocery store as a family and got snacks for dinners.  That is a holiday tradition for Brian and I.  We got cheese and crackers, pretzels, corn dogs, and shrimp.  Austin and Sydney went to bed at regular time.  However Austin made Brian promise he would wake him up at midnight to see the ball drop.  And sure enough Brian woke up both kids and brought them downstairs.  However Sydney remained sleeping though it all. 

We went to a Cavs game as a family after New Year’s.  It was fun.  With all the holiday activities we haven’t went to many Cavs games. 

My nephew got married in Dallas.  It was a difficult decision for us to decide on what to do.  However we decided to go.  Austin went back to school for one day then he was out for a day to go to Dallas.  We had a late flight Thursday night from Detroit.  The airfare was cheaper and it was a direct flight.  We stopped and got Wendy’s to eat at the airport.  I was nervous we were going to be late since it was all new to us.  The flight was delayed so we had plenty of time. 

The kids were really good on the plane.  There were lots of kids on the plane.  However most were not so good.  The stewardess even gave Austin and Sydney M+M’s for being so good.  They did fall asleep too since it was so late.  Once we arrived to Dallas, it took forever to get our luggage.  Finally Brian and Austin went to the rental car place to get that done.  I met them there. By the time Sydney and I got there they already had the car which was nice.  We drove to the hotel and went to sleep. 

On Friday we let the kids swim in the pool after breakfast.  They loved that.  Then we went over to Dean’s.  My parents were there.  They were hungry so we went to Chick Fil A so the kids could play somewhere.  Austin and Sydney loved it!  It was freezing in the playroom but they did not care.  It was actually snowing in Dallas.  Karen was excited to see it.  We were not. 

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner.  The entire family was there for dinner so we went too.  It was nice seeing everyone.  Because Austin and Sydney were on opposites sides of the table there was no issues with them either. 

On Saturday we took Austin and Sydney to the Perot Museum.  Austin remembers the children’s play area with the blocks.  He wanted to do that again.  He played there for like two hours.  He took it very seriously moving the blocks all around.  They also played at the art area and grocery store area.  We went on a trip to Mars as well.  They played in the sports arena for a bit. We were there for about 4 hours and didn’t leave the ground floor.  We then needed to leave so the kids could rest before the wedding. 

Austin and Sydney took a brief nap.  They were hungry so Brian stopped at McDonalds for them for some pancakes.  It was a good thing since they did not care for the food at the wedding.  Austin was a bit difficult at the wedding but we made it through without issues.  Austin enjoyed taking pictures at the reception.  Sydney had fun dances with all the princesses (bride and bridesmaids).  She would even dance by herself and pretend she was dancing with a princess.  We could not believe how much she danced.  She didn’t care that she did not know them either. 

On Sunday, Austin and Sydney swam again after breakfast.  Then we had to check out of our hotel.  That was very traumatic for Austin.  He was so sad we were leaving.  It did not help he was tired.  We then went to grocery store for some food to bring to Cheri’s and snacks for airport.  We decided on apples and cantaloupe.  Sydney still loves cantaloupe.  Austin like apples especially with caramel sauce.    Then we went to Donnie and Cheri’s for the afternoon.  We hung out inside for a bit.  Then Austin convince Uncle Dean to go to the playground with us.  We played outside for a bit.  Once back inside we had dinner and then it was off to the airport.  Austin and Sydney easily fell asleep in the car. 

Once we returned the rental car, we took bus back to the terminal and checked in.  There was no line for check in.  It was great.  However once we got to our gate, we realized our flight was delayed at least an hour.  We already were not getting in until midnight.  We tried to get the kids to sleep at the airport but that did not work.  Austin basically went to sleep right as we needed him to get on the plane.  Then he was up for a while.  Finally he fell asleep. 

Once we got to Detroit we had to wake them up again.  We had to get our luggage and wait for a shuttle bus back to our car.  Then it was a 3 hour drive back home.  Brian and I both stayed awake.  We talked to keep each other awake.  We were home and in bed around 4:30am.  I woke up at 7am to get Austin to school.  He was not very happy but he needed to go.  Then I came back home and slept until about 10am.  We had a great short trip to Dallas. 

Austin and Sydney continue to be in the same swim class together.  Sydney also does gymnastics and loves it!  Austin is doing basketball.  He doesn’t like they don’t play games but that should be coming soon.  Brian is the coach for Austin’s team and he likes that. 

We have really started focusing on reading with Austin.  He has a hard time with combination sounds.  Brian even made him flashcards.  We still go to the library once a week and get about 40 books a week.  Sydney enjoys reading more and is able to sound out words better.  Austin is better at math and he likes that.  We are waiting for Austin next report card.  That will come out around his birthday.