Houston
I nearly wept after seeing the "Welcome to Houston" sign. The happiness to be home as well as the relief of getting off of the plane I had been on alone with Michael for 14 hours was overwhelming! We quickly got down to the business of relaxing and visiting with Grandparents! ;o)
We spent Tuesday afternoons at Toddler Time at the library and many other hot afternoons in the pool that my mom got for Michael! He loved it!
My dad had the great idea to go to Moody Gardens so we did! It was fantastic and had plenty of things to do for an entire day. We swam in their lagoon, visited the aquarium and the rainforest, and had dinner there overlooking Galveston Bay. Michael loved the awesome splashpad that they had:
And here is Galveston bay in the background with Grandparents and Michael:
Then, my good friend Renee came down from Austin to spend the weekend shopping, eating, and relaxing! My parents cooked an amazing crawfish and crab boil to welcome her into town. After which, we met an old college friend of mine, Shane, for wine at a local wine bar. On Saturday, we went shopping at the MEGA asian super store, Hong Kong, and had dim sum at Ocean's Palace. DELIGHTFUL! I sure do miss my best friend:
Michael and I spent a lot of time sleeping, relaxing, and playing with Grandma and Grandpa. It was awesome to see him eating and enjoying the Asian food my mom prepared! He loved every bit of it and proves that he is, after all, half Vietnamese! Here is a picture of him with my parents near the last day:
Arlington via Conroe via The Woodlands via College Station
After our visit with my parents, Grammy picked us up and drove us to Arlington. Little did we know we were also going through Conroe, The Woodlands, AND College Station! ;o)
We went to Conroe to see the new additions on their new home and swung by The Woodlands to visit with Aunt Tina, Kayleigh, and Great Grandpa! Michael loved being in Aunt Tina's pool. Aunt Tina even got in and showed him how to kick! Michael would kick and then he'd hold his foot in the air like this:
Michael got to visit with the wise Great Grandpa:
We had a great time catching up and enjoying the Houston Heat!! Then, we drove to College Station to visit Michael's Godmother, Christina. Grammy bought us A&M shirts and took pictures of us!! I am so happy to have these! A&M holds so many great memories for us. It's where I met Brian; it's where we got engaged; it's where we began our life together! Here we are at Kyle Field!!! Michael is SUPER happy about it:
Denver
Michael stayed in Arlington while I flew to Denver to visit my sister! We had an awesome time! First order of business, visiting the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory! It was amazing. Seriously! We got to taste lots of teas, and we were required to put on a hairnet before going into the factory. When my sister had forgotten her hair tie, I pulled on my knowledge of hairnets at Samsung and helped her get her hair in there and stay! Who knew smocking up would come in handy in real life? Here we are outside the tea shop:
Then, she took me all over Boulder and Denver. She fed me, clothed me, and shopped with me. What more can you ask for? On Saturday morning, we went running in an awesome park in Downton Denver. Then, we had lunch with her sweet friend Wendy at a diner, which reminded me of EZ's Diner in Austin. *sniff* Then, we saw the Saturday matinee showing of The Dark Knight and had sushi afterwards. We had an awesome time and ended our trip watching chick flicks before I flew back to DFW.One of the best moments of being a parent is seeing your child after an absence. It can be just an hour or 2-3 days! It doesn't matter because they always greet you with outstretched arms, a huge smile, and love that never stops raining in. It's amazing! I saw Michael in DFW and found out about HIS fun weekend in Dallas.
He got to go to the zoo and interact with animals:
He helped Grandpa clean the cars, which involves a hose. His favorite thing:
He got to eat PANCAKES. PANCAKES! Gotta miss Bisquick! And he spent lots of time playing fun games and enjoying his Grandparents.AND! He got to see Dada!
Then Mommy came back! Grammy and Mommy took Michael ALL OVER DFW. We went to a Southern Living Idea House, out to lunch at Piranhas (AWESOME), and fed the fish at the Japanese gardens in Fort Worth:
Then, we visited my good friend Gina and her 2 kids, Sarah and Zef. Zef was born 10 days before Michael. We took them to the pool!
Came back, had lunch, put the kids down for a nap, and had grown up time. TRES AMUSANT!
Then, Grammy watched Michael for me one day so I could have SPA day with Gina! It was awesome. We got facials and massages. Had lunch in our bathrobes. And then got pedicures:
As if that weren't enough fun, we then flew to:
Philadelphia
Where our nuclear family was reunited with Brian at the rent a car place! Michael was ECSTATIC to see his dad!
We rented a car and drove to meet the rest of the family at Uncle Wild Bill and Aunt AK's new townhome in...Washington D.C.
We had an amazing time catching up, eating, and enjoying the ALL American life in our nations' GORGEOUS capital. We had a family picnic, went to a baseball game:
And explored quickly our nation's monuments at night:
It was awesome. The whole trip was awesome!
Delaware
There is a reason why the only thing they can put on their license plate is "The First State." Not too impressed with Delaware I was! We stayed in Newark because Brian had to work a bit and the research office is there. We wandered over to Pennsylvania to do some shopping and I must say I ADORE Pennsylvania. Not too crazy about Delaware!
We had a great time anyways though hanging out with the Schleismann's. Tony worked with Brian in Paris and they have already relocated back to the States. Michael and I hung out with his wife and daughter, Joen and Nicolette, during the day and had fun watching movies, playing on the neighbor's playscape, and just relaxing. So there IS something nice about Delaware! We have a friend there now! ;o)
And then we went back to Paris. See some of the blogs below. This is all out of order and I apologize!
I think that's it. Hopefully, no more ginormously long blogposts.
