Holiday Vacation

I'll go ahead and state the obvious--I'm WAAAY behind.  But that is just one of the lovely side effects of having children.  Particularly when they are of the "don't you dare put me down" variety.  Only this week have we finally found a device that keeps Declan entertained for longer than a few seconds.  Since he is currently bouncing away in this new exerciser, I will try to compose an update.


Over the Xmess holidays, we decided that it was time for my family--mostly based in Texas--to meet my husband and son.  As the prospect of flying from southern California to Texas with an eight month old was not ideal--not to mention expensive; we decided to do something potentially sillier, we drove.  By driving, we knew that we could stop in Phoenix to see some of Brian's family.  We also knew that we would not be beholden to someone in my family to cart our happy butts around.

Declan did surprisingly well, actually, on the drive.  He had only two meltdowns, one each way.  And each meltdown was eventually soothed with a prolonged stop.  Ultimately, I am glad we drove as it allowed us some liberty to go and do a few fun trips.

One such trip was an afternoon of wandering downtown Fort Worth.  I have always loved the city, though I did spend a LOT of time playing in Dallas in my twenties.  But there is something special about Fort Worth that I cannot quite put my finger on.  Perhaps these photos will do the city justice.

I LOVED the Water Gardens as a child.

Sadly, this was as far as I could go due to my fear of falling.

Taylor braves the wall.

I can recall climbing it often as a child.

Almost there!

The Bass Hall

Gorgeous Angels

Deco theatre!

More Fort Worth Deco--detail

More Fort Worth Deco

More Fort Worth Deco

Fort Worth Deco

Fort Worth Deco

Another trip was a few hours at the San Antonio Riverwalk.  Not much Deco, but still a beautiful place.

Naturally we found an Irish Pub

Declan wants some of Daddy's brew.

For Brian's (and Declan's, too) first trip to Texas, it really was rather pleasant.  We managed to have a great balance of family time, free time, and time with good friends.