500 Babies Take a Road Trip

This past Monday we drove my sister Elizabeth from Kerrville home to Houston. We planned a couple of things to do in Houston and after dropping Elizabeth off we went to our first stop, the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. We hiked one of the trails, and J. had a blast! I don't think I've ever seen him so excited. It might have had to do with the fact that he was glad to be able to run around after a 4-hour car ride. He was fascinated with everything he saw and stopped every few feet to point at something.

We then wanted to give the babies a chance to crawl around and since the Nature Center is right next to Memorial Park we found a shady, grassy area to spread a blanket and let everyone get some exercise. Here I discovered some new taste preferences of the babies: D. likes to eat dirt and pine cones and M. prefers pine needles. Good to know.

Our last stop was the Galleria. By then it was around 6:00 and we were congratulating ourselves on how well the trip had been going. All of our stops had been close to each other and after doing the hot outdoor activities we were ending with a leisurely cool walk through the mall. All we needed to do was find the Food Court. Little did we know. After 45 minutes of many trips up and down the mall, several elevator rides, asking directions and receiving directions that didn't work, and carrying a double stoller down a flight of stairs, we finally made it. And of course by that time J. needed a complete change of clothes. But when we were finally all seated around our table, the babies in high chairs and J. in a booster seat, we were still very happy with our decision to make the trip. (As long as we didn't think about the fact that we still had to carry the stroller back UP the stairs and had a 3 1/2 hour ride home!)