Texas!

I had a wonderful time visiting my family in Dallas this week! I took over 300 photos while Sophie and I were there, and that didn't include the day we visited Hurricane Harbor (I refuse to take my camera anywhere near splashing children)… but don't worry, I won't load them all here. 🙂

After we drove the 45 minutes from the airport to my sister and brother in-law's home, we all went to an awesome Mexican restaurant called Abuelo's. This is my cutie-pie brother, Paul. I think he should apply to be on The Bachelor. (Oh quit rolling your eyes, Paul.)

And here's my favorite brother in-law, Shaun. On the drive from the airport, Sophie asked how long it would take to get to their house. "Twenty more minutes," Shaun said.

"It's only been twenty minutes?" Sophie lamented.

"Everything in Texas is bigger – even our minutes," Shaun said.

Shaun cracks me up. 

(Don't you love his shirt? I bought that for him.)

The next day we headed out for a day of shopping, our first stop being Sprinkles, which is a darling little cupcake shop…

Here's my sister, Audrey, holding our purchases…

Here's my favorite cupcake…

The heat was melting Natalie's chocolate-marshmallow cupcake before she could eat it…

After we were finished, we walked over to a nearby fountain that had caught our attention… it appeared as if someone had poured laundry detergent in it – not only from the enormous suds, but from the freshly-laundered smell!

 
Our next stop was the Galleria Mall, and the first place we came to was Saks Fifth Avenue, and the first price tag I saw was for $1,989.00, attached to a homely dress.

Saks Fifth Avenue cracks me up.

Inside the mall there was an ice-skating rink. Sophie loves to ice skate, but Natalie had never been, so Sophie put on her teaching hat and went to work on her little cousin… watching her learn to walk in the skates was the cutest thing… Audrey and I couldn't stop giggling at her!

Audrey and I chewed most of our nails off, nervously waiting for Natalie to get the hang of it. Sophie was extremely patient, but for the most part, Neenee didn't want any help. It's both a terror and a blessing when a child has no fear – depending on which emotion wears you out first.

For two hours, Neenee was content to make her way around the rink with a death-grip on the railing. Kind of like how I choose to ice skate.

I eventually ended up loaning her my jacket when she got chilly…

She loved "skating" as much as her older cousin did, but as worn out as Audrey was from the worry, I doubt she'll be taking her again any time soon. 🙂

The next day we went to Hurricane Harbor, as I mentioned earlier. The heat was insane, but it was still a super fun time, and Soph and I got to ride a whopping two rides in 3 hours! Here's a photo of the girls in their matching outfits before we left…

One of the cutest things about Neenee is that she loves to have someone play Super Mario on her Nintendo DS while she sits close to them and watches. It keeps her entertained for hours – literally. Sophie played quite a bit for her, but once in a while Natalie take over the controls and become engrossed in the game…

She truly is a delight.

And on that note, I suppose I'll go. I'll get the rest posted tomorrow, but for now I have lots of laundry and cleaning and some stitching to do! Deadlines loom, and my backside hurts from sitting here editing all these photos!

Btw, Sabrina called and said she's in Chicago now.. she'll be home in four hours, and I'm soooo excited to have her back!