ever since being married, we've talked about getting to texas. drake went by himself once when his grandmother had passed, and we went to a dallas cowboys game once, but that trip only left enough time to see the game and fly home. finally, this spring break our goal was accomplished! and what made it even better was we were able to spur his immediate family into taking the trip too! since i am pregnant and couldn't take as many days off as his family did, we flew down on friday evening. his parents, caden, kali, and dassia began their 30+ hour drive on thursday afternoon.
we were really anxious about taking zenna on a three hour flight. she won't sit on our laps through an entire sacrament meeting, and the last thing anyone wants to listen to is a screaming toddler. we stocked up our carry-on with treats, new toys, the iPad, and extra binkies. she was very interested in the window and hitting all the buttons on our arm-rests and then became bored with her surroundings. we switched activities every ten or so minutes, but luckily we were able to make it to our first stop in Houston without a meltdown. we had an hour to make it across that huge airport to make our next flight- and we were all starving. so we did our best to race through the terminals and get where we needed with enough time to quickly grab a few slices of pizza to eat on the flight. the stroller was a lifesaver since carrying zenna has become quite a workout. we barely made our flight in time and then scarfed our pizza. the second flight was only an hour long and zenna did great. finally, we were in harlingen and drake's aunts were waiting to pick us up! i had met his aunt irma once when she visited idaho for his graduation, but this felt like getting another family and it was great! his aunts (Chris' sisters) are so similar to my family that i felt right at home and loved visiting with them! they took us straight to their house and after eating a little bit more, we hit the sheets. the roadtrippers were expected to arrive the following morning.
the next morning, drake's family finally arrived! i couldn't believe that they didn't even want to take a nap! we just hung out and soaked up the reunion while eating awesome food. eventually we had to hit the grocery store to prepare for the week. i could tell we were going to be eating really well all week. we also made last minute preparations for easter. a lot of drake's cousins came over and we had a bbq followed by some games. it was so much fun! we kept this day a little low-key because traveling is exhausting! BUT i did try my first REAL tamales and loved, loved, loved them!
sunday was zenna's second easter. last easter she couldn't even crawl, so it was really fun to see her experience the basket, chocolate, and egg-hunting. her basket this year was focused on spring break, so she had some summer clothes, but mostly she and beach stuff. Sandals, swimsuits, and beach towels. she didn't care about any of it, except the candy. she loved the candy! then, drake and i took her outside where we taught her how to find eggs and put them in her basket. she loved this game! and since we've been home, she still carries around her basket and fills it with things she finds in her toy box. after our private family's egg hunt, people started waking up, and we prepared to go visit drake's uncle's house for more easter fun. there, we prepared for another easter egg hunt, complete with hidden eggs and money rewards. i was also introduced to the family's favorite tradition of "confetti eggs" which is a colorful egg that has had the inside drained out and confetti filling the hollow inside. then, you crack the eggs on other people's heads (or throw them at people). you can imagine why it's a favorite tradition! we had an amazing brisket dinner - and i mean the most amazing brisket i've ever eaten - and the night ended with karaoke minus the words. so if you knew the words, you sang along. i have special memories of drake and dassia singing mulan rouge, being serenaded the "i wanna grow old with you" adam sander song from my cheesy husband, and even drake's grandpa sang some traditional mexican music. it was a blast!
monday was a fun day where the girls took a day-trip to go wedding dress shopping for dassia! it was so much fun getting to know tia irma and tia emma better. they reminded me of my own aunts and going shopping together. we laughed all afternoon and had so much fun! following our girl's day, we headed for the beach! tia emma had to leave the next day, so we knew we had to get some beach-time in. we stopped at the store first and all picked up some essentials: cheetos, sun hats, and a body board. zenna first discovered her intense love for cheetos at the beach, and it became a little bit ridiculous. she basically ate an entire bag all by herself- and refused to share. she did look absolutely adorable in her new easter swimsuit, matching gold visor that she refused to take off, and new life jacket. when we first got to the beach, it was a little windy. since the sun was out we all tried out the water anyway. it was a little colder than preferable, but not bad at all! zenna hated the ocean. she'd play on the beach in the sand, but didn't want anywhere near the water. i think it was the loud sound and pushy feeling of the waves. we tried multiple times to ease her into the water, but she refused to give it a real shot. she loved playing the sand though. getting sand in all her nook and crannies didn't bother her one bit. once it wasn't warm enough to play in the water anymore, we watched the intense soccer game that broke out in the sand.
after a night of heavy sleep, we hit the brownsville zoo. zenna definitely loves going to the zoo. she gets outside, a chance to stretch her legs as much as she likes, and gets to see the animals. she's been obsessed with animals and their sounds for a while now. she knows her farm animals best, but at the zoo we taught her how to make a fish face at the aquarium. being outside at the hottest part of the day in humid southern texas started to take it's toll on me at the zoo. i immediately started feeling nauseous and dehydrated before we even got started. i ate a snack and tried a slushy, but wasn't helped much. i was near passing out and feeling bad that i couldn't enjoy the trip more. then i stripped an under layer and started showering myself from the water fountain. soaking my feet, back, and neck really helped. then a slight breeze finally picked up and it was almost an immediate fix. i perked up and was able to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. zenna took a trip into the petting zoo and loved the goats, chicken, and pot belly pig! after the zoo, we visited drake's grandpa house. five kids, a grandparents, and two parents lived in the smallest amount of space at one time! it is amazing how spoiled we are today. we enjoyed looking through old pictures and visiting, but the mosquitos were seriously killer!
wednesday came and meant we were headed back to south padre island for a three day stay in a beachside resort! we were all excited for another chance at the beach and a pool. drake and i took zenna down to the pool where she was extremely hesitant for a while. finally, with a lot of patience and manipulation, we got her into the pool with us and she started to loosen up a tiny bit. we tried taking her to the beach again too, but it was the same story and she hated it. the rest of us however, got a lot of fun time in the waves playing on the body boards. the water felt great in the hot sun and i was wishing we had more days to play! on wednesday night, drake and i taught his family how to play our favorite version of mafia which we call van helsing. it's just like mafia except with a van helsing character, vampires, and a doctor. his whole family loved it and as could be expected, there was a lot of hilarious rivalries and dramatic turns of events.
thursday meant it was my last night with everyone in texas. because drake and zenna were riding home with his family to get the road trip experience, and i couldn't be in a car for 35+ hours due to being pregnant, i was flying home alone. after playing on the beach and pool again with zenna, drake and i decided to leave zenna with grandma while we went on a date on the island. all i wanted was souvenir shopping and seafood. so we had a late lunch/early dinner eating shrimp and oysters. i definitely wasn't a fan of the oysters, but the shrimp was yummy! then we went to a little souvenir shop and picked some things out for my family and bought a volleyball because we discovered there was a volleyball net set up on the beach. although i'm not willing to embarrass myself in a soccer game, i'll play volleyball! so we went back to the family and gathered everyone up to go play volleyball. zenna got play in the sand with grandma and loved every second! it was a very successful last night on the island.
the next morning, drake and i took zenna down to the pool again. this time she got in much quicker and easier. she splashed and played a little more, but still maintained a firm grip around either mine or drake's neck. it was a great morning, but i was dreading leaving my hubby and baby to fly home alone. i knew it would be a long day with two layovers, but then i'd have all day saturday and sunday to recover from vacation-mode before going back to the real world. drake's family wasn't planning on starting the drive until sunday so they were guessing they'd be home late tuesday night. it would be a long wait for my baby to get home! i admit, i got the tiniest bit teary before leaving drake in the airport. i sure do love that guy. once on the plane, we sat on the runway for over an hour due to bad weather in houston (our next stop). so we ended up getting rerouted which meant we needed more gas. so we pulled back up to the airport, refilled with more gas, and finally took off. but the long delay meant i missed my next flight out of houston. at first i was terribly frustrated. i've never missed a flight before so it seemed like it would be a difficult change to make. i didn't want to end up staying the night alone in an airport! so after a few frustrated phone calls and waiting in a really long line, the airline did me a favor and just put me on a direct flight into salt lake taking off in a half hour! so instead of having a three hour layover in las angeles, i just got to head back home and instead of arriving close to midnight, i'd be arriving at 8! tiny little blessings, right? all the rushing around the airport attempting to make the first flight built up quite the appetite in the pregnant mama, and i definitely treated myself to a big mac, chocolate, and new book for the ride.
then, i waited all by myself for the whole weekend. even dassia was gone on the trip. i got a lot of cleaning done. it's amazing how much freedom is involved in cleaning around nothing but your own schedule. for example, trying to remember to have the floors ready to be mopped during nap-time makes mopping a stressful and easily-ignored chore. but that goes for pretty much any chore. unloading the dishwasher is rough with a helper that just loves to unload things and throw them on the floor (actually, she has gotten better at putting some things away in their right places!). doing laundry is almost impossible because nothing stays folded for long! but i still missed everyone terribly. i begged for pictures all day long, and i got some gems :) i was worried about zenna being rotten on the drive home because she generally doesn't like her carseat, but the iPad and movies in the van helped a lot, and apparently there was only one meltdown!
then, i was expecting them home around 1 in the morning. drake pulled a usual stunt and arrived at 8! i should start expecting things like that, but i never do. it makes for a very happy homecoming!!
monday was a fun day where the girls took a day-trip to go wedding dress shopping for dassia! it was so much fun getting to know tia irma and tia emma better. they reminded me of my own aunts and going shopping together. we laughed all afternoon and had so much fun! following our girl's day, we headed for the beach! tia emma had to leave the next day, so we knew we had to get some beach-time in. we stopped at the store first and all picked up some essentials: cheetos, sun hats, and a body board. zenna first discovered her intense love for cheetos at the beach, and it became a little bit ridiculous. she basically ate an entire bag all by herself- and refused to share. she did look absolutely adorable in her new easter swimsuit, matching gold visor that she refused to take off, and new life jacket. when we first got to the beach, it was a little windy. since the sun was out we all tried out the water anyway. it was a little colder than preferable, but not bad at all! zenna hated the ocean. she'd play on the beach in the sand, but didn't want anywhere near the water. i think it was the loud sound and pushy feeling of the waves. we tried multiple times to ease her into the water, but she refused to give it a real shot. she loved playing the sand though. getting sand in all her nook and crannies didn't bother her one bit. once it wasn't warm enough to play in the water anymore, we watched the intense soccer game that broke out in the sand.
after a night of heavy sleep, we hit the brownsville zoo. zenna definitely loves going to the zoo. she gets outside, a chance to stretch her legs as much as she likes, and gets to see the animals. she's been obsessed with animals and their sounds for a while now. she knows her farm animals best, but at the zoo we taught her how to make a fish face at the aquarium. being outside at the hottest part of the day in humid southern texas started to take it's toll on me at the zoo. i immediately started feeling nauseous and dehydrated before we even got started. i ate a snack and tried a slushy, but wasn't helped much. i was near passing out and feeling bad that i couldn't enjoy the trip more. then i stripped an under layer and started showering myself from the water fountain. soaking my feet, back, and neck really helped. then a slight breeze finally picked up and it was almost an immediate fix. i perked up and was able to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. zenna took a trip into the petting zoo and loved the goats, chicken, and pot belly pig! after the zoo, we visited drake's grandpa house. five kids, a grandparents, and two parents lived in the smallest amount of space at one time! it is amazing how spoiled we are today. we enjoyed looking through old pictures and visiting, but the mosquitos were seriously killer!
wednesday came and meant we were headed back to south padre island for a three day stay in a beachside resort! we were all excited for another chance at the beach and a pool. drake and i took zenna down to the pool where she was extremely hesitant for a while. finally, with a lot of patience and manipulation, we got her into the pool with us and she started to loosen up a tiny bit. we tried taking her to the beach again too, but it was the same story and she hated it. the rest of us however, got a lot of fun time in the waves playing on the body boards. the water felt great in the hot sun and i was wishing we had more days to play! on wednesday night, drake and i taught his family how to play our favorite version of mafia which we call van helsing. it's just like mafia except with a van helsing character, vampires, and a doctor. his whole family loved it and as could be expected, there was a lot of hilarious rivalries and dramatic turns of events.
thursday meant it was my last night with everyone in texas. because drake and zenna were riding home with his family to get the road trip experience, and i couldn't be in a car for 35+ hours due to being pregnant, i was flying home alone. after playing on the beach and pool again with zenna, drake and i decided to leave zenna with grandma while we went on a date on the island. all i wanted was souvenir shopping and seafood. so we had a late lunch/early dinner eating shrimp and oysters. i definitely wasn't a fan of the oysters, but the shrimp was yummy! then we went to a little souvenir shop and picked some things out for my family and bought a volleyball because we discovered there was a volleyball net set up on the beach. although i'm not willing to embarrass myself in a soccer game, i'll play volleyball! so we went back to the family and gathered everyone up to go play volleyball. zenna got play in the sand with grandma and loved every second! it was a very successful last night on the island.
the next morning, drake and i took zenna down to the pool again. this time she got in much quicker and easier. she splashed and played a little more, but still maintained a firm grip around either mine or drake's neck. it was a great morning, but i was dreading leaving my hubby and baby to fly home alone. i knew it would be a long day with two layovers, but then i'd have all day saturday and sunday to recover from vacation-mode before going back to the real world. drake's family wasn't planning on starting the drive until sunday so they were guessing they'd be home late tuesday night. it would be a long wait for my baby to get home! i admit, i got the tiniest bit teary before leaving drake in the airport. i sure do love that guy. once on the plane, we sat on the runway for over an hour due to bad weather in houston (our next stop). so we ended up getting rerouted which meant we needed more gas. so we pulled back up to the airport, refilled with more gas, and finally took off. but the long delay meant i missed my next flight out of houston. at first i was terribly frustrated. i've never missed a flight before so it seemed like it would be a difficult change to make. i didn't want to end up staying the night alone in an airport! so after a few frustrated phone calls and waiting in a really long line, the airline did me a favor and just put me on a direct flight into salt lake taking off in a half hour! so instead of having a three hour layover in las angeles, i just got to head back home and instead of arriving close to midnight, i'd be arriving at 8! tiny little blessings, right? all the rushing around the airport attempting to make the first flight built up quite the appetite in the pregnant mama, and i definitely treated myself to a big mac, chocolate, and new book for the ride.
then, i waited all by myself for the whole weekend. even dassia was gone on the trip. i got a lot of cleaning done. it's amazing how much freedom is involved in cleaning around nothing but your own schedule. for example, trying to remember to have the floors ready to be mopped during nap-time makes mopping a stressful and easily-ignored chore. but that goes for pretty much any chore. unloading the dishwasher is rough with a helper that just loves to unload things and throw them on the floor (actually, she has gotten better at putting some things away in their right places!). doing laundry is almost impossible because nothing stays folded for long! but i still missed everyone terribly. i begged for pictures all day long, and i got some gems :) i was worried about zenna being rotten on the drive home because she generally doesn't like her carseat, but the iPad and movies in the van helped a lot, and apparently there was only one meltdown!
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