Vacation - The Drive.

Last weekend we headed out for our vacation to Texas. We were so excited and ready to be there, just not quite ready for the 14 hour drive that it takes to get there! Elena did really well in the car. We stopped just north of Dallas in Denton for our stop for the evening.

We checked into a La Quinta hotel and Elena immediately had to test everything out. Phone? Check!

Bed? Check!

Shorty after we got in the room we soon head the loudest train ever right outside our door! Robert went down to the front desk to find out how often it goes by - at 3, 4 and 5 am! Um...no thank you! So we packed back up and decided to grab a bite to eat and then find a different hotel. The front desk lady directed us to this neat little area for dinner. It was a courthouse in a square with a bunch of cute little shops all the way around the perimeter.

The trees around the courthouse had lights on them that were so pretty!

We decided to try out a grill and bar called the Loop Hole - (I know, pretty funny right?!)

Where Elena got her first try at the deer hunting game - nice.

A little scary with how much she liked the gun!

On our way back to the car I insisted that we stop in this little yogurt shop that had a 'Grand Opening' sign on it. This was the coolest thing ever. It was a self-serve yogurt shop - fill up with your favorite flavor, pick your toppings, and then you pay by the ounce. Awesome.

Why have I never head of this before? What a great idea. Robert and I start dreaming about opening one in Wichita...

Later that night I see some facebook posts talking about how great this place called Orange Leaf is. So I googled it - oh, a self-serve yogurt shop. We already had a place like this in Wichita? Where was I on that one?? Bummer. I was totally ready to start a new business, oh well - guess I will just have to go and support it instead!!

We finally checked into our next hotel which randomly was also a La Quinta. But not just any La Quinta - this hotel was brand spanking new and I have never seen one this nice!! It was awesome!

Elena checked everything out again. Pillows on the bed? Check! (I think we may need to get her one of these round long pillows - she was obsessed with it!)

Phone? Check and Check! Even better because there were two - this little chatterbox was in phone heaven!

After a good night's sleep we relaxed a bit and then hit the road.

We decided to stop at a huge outlet mall on the way. I always comment on going there each time we head this way but we have never stopped. We had a yummy lunch and shopped for a little bit. We didn't pack the stroller so we were happy to find this little car stroller to push Elena around in. She loved it and cried when we had to leave it!

I thought I would share a simple idea that I found for a non-messy car activity. A baking sheet and some magnets! Oh my, Elena had tons of fun with this!! Who would've thought? She played with this for at least 30 min at a time!

Almost to our destination! To be continued...