We planned to stay the weekend in downtown Dallas with one of Caleb's good friends and his family {James, Barb, Maddie - age 3, Braden - age 1}. Each family got a suite right across the hall from each other at the Magnolia Hotel. This is the same hotel that Caleb and I stayed at on our wedding night and pretty much the extra same room, also! The atmosphere was slightly different. You know, with a pack-n-play next to our bed for Hudson and a pallet on the floor for Savannah. Nonetheless, those two nights were just as sweet as our wedding night.
By the time we all made it down to the hotel and hauled all of of stuff into the rooms, it was late afternoon so we just let the kids run around and play a little before heading out to eat dinner. Savannah and Maddie always have such a great time together. Singing, dancing and playing with babies. Having two boys so close in age was perfect and they just tried to do whatever the girls were doing.
After dinner, Barb and I put the boys to bed. Hudson went to sleep {and stayed asleep} so perfectly both nights {and for nap time, too!}. 'How well will they sleep?' is always the big question lingering in my head whenever we are sleeping somewhere away from home.
Savannah and Maddie stayed up a while longer playing games. When it came time for Savannah to go to bed, she did pretty well, too. She got up a few times for random reasons, but once she was asleep, she was perfect.
Once the kids were in bed, us adults were able to hang out and visit thanks to having video monitors set up in each room to help us keep an eye on the kiddos.
On Saturday morning, we all ate breakfast at the hotel and then drove just a few blocks over to the Dallas World Aquarium. We have taken the kids a couple of times before, but it's just one of those places that never gets old and is always fun. Hudson was not a fan of riding in the stroller and loved seeing all the animals.
As usual, Savannah was a little more reserved than Hudson and didn't mind riding in the stroller. She enjoyed the animals, but she wasn't as enthused as she has been in the past. Maybe staying up two hours past bedtime was keeping her from being so alert. =)
She did put a little bird food in her hand and let the bird eat it straight from her hand! Anyone who knows Savannah very well at all, knows this is a big deal!
After lunch and afternoon naps for the kiddos, we went somewhere new {for us}. The Museum of Nature and Science {which will be changing names and locations soon}. I have heard about this place from some of my play-group friends, but never made the long drive down to Dallas just to check it out. And having gone now, I'm glad I didn't make that drive alone, with two kids, just for that. While it was fun and the kids had a good time, it's too big of a place for me to let two kids run free. There is no way I would have been able to keep up with them. And I felt like most of it was geared towards school age children. But since we were down there for the weekend, it was most certainly something that kept the kids happy and busy! Here are a few pictures from our time there.
We went out to dinner and then back to our hotel to get our tired babies into bed and the rest of the night was just spent hanging out.
Sunday morning, we checked out of our room after breakfast and went over to the Dallas Zoo. James and his family decided to go on home because their kids had not slept so well in the hotel. So, it was just our little family.
It was nice to be at the zoo within 30 minutes of it opening. There was virtually no one else there and we were able to see everything we wanted to see before lunch. Again, Hudson was not interested in being in the stroller, but did love all the animals.
Savannah was in a much more chipper mood, but had her heart set on seeing a coyote and didn't really care about anything else. I know, a coyote? I have no idea where that came from that day, but it's all she could think about! And no, there were no coyotes at the zoo, which did not make her too happy.
We really enjoyed our family time and stay-cation. The kids really did so good and had lots of fun. But as always, it was nice to be home in our own rooms and our own beds. I can't wait to create more memories like these with our kids!!
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