Adios, Tejas

Sadly, we did have to end our Texas vacation, no matter how much fun we were having. I even woke up early enough to go running before it was deathly hot, and it was amazing - I ran twice as far in the same amount of time. A good note to depart on. But not before we did a few things . . .

Katie fed Lissy peaches. Yes, with an s at the end. She devoured them.

These boys' dreams of going to the drive-in came true. We have one near our house, are  never able to go. Something about being at Grandma's house . . . We saw Madagascar 3. It was ok, but they loved it. Kept singing, "Apple, circus, apple, circus," all day long. (If you've seen the movie, you know it's afro, not apple. They cannot grasp this, it's cute.)

Lily and Katie came, too.

As did we all . . .

So, we kissed and hugged everyone and stayed up late playing games, and headed out. On our first night driving in the homeward direction, we stopped in Lubbock. It's on the way, but mostly we stopped there because Hannah lives there!!! She prepared us a lovely pizza meal, and the boys all sat on a bench and giggled in delight of Hannah's presence as they ate. She even took them out back to see her alley, which is a magical-mysterious thing we do not have. Gary took these pictures of that adventure.

They found feathers, and had to examine them closely.

Lest they forget how awesome it was to seriate them . . .

What, Hannah and Lissy in a swimming pool? Yeah, that's right, she came swimming with us at the hotel!

We stayed until we got kicked out . . . sounds extreme, but it was less than an hour. But we are extreme.

On the way out of Lubbock, we had to stop by the house we lived in when I was little. Good, good memories. The trim was a different color, and there was a garage, but here it is. My parents (and all of the neighbors) kept the lawn a lot nicer and had a cute little flower bed out front, but such is the way with neighborhoods, they tend to get a little more rundown as time goes on. It was so fun to see it, and the things I remembered - Target nearby and 7 Eleven on the corner, are still there.

The kids had a grand time at every hotel we stayed at jumping on the beds, and back and forth between them. They would comment on which beds were the best for jumping (bouncier, but less comfy, I was told at one place). I remember doing that as a kid - no sense taking away one of the amazing joys of travel-life. The kids also loved the continental breakfasts. Um, hello, as much juice as they wanted . . . The one in Lubbock had waffles shaped like Texas, which added much to our enjoyment.Here's a little snippet of the bed-jumping party in Farmington, New Mexico.