The DeLorme Family: Trip to Texas

A few weeks ago, Ashlyn had some time off of school for parent/teacher conferences. On a whim, Joey and I decided to take advantage of her time off from school and make a quick trip out to Texas. Adam and Jane recently bought a new house and we all wanted to see it and them. It was a very quick trip because we did not have a lot of time. We left right after Ashlyn's conference on Wednesday, and came back Monday night. Even though it was a lot of driving, it was totally worth it because we had so much fun! We love Texas.
I want to speak about Ashlyn's conference briefly first. Ashlyn's parent teacher conference went so well. I really like her teacher this year and I think she is a very good fit for Ashlyn. Ashlyn is just thriving in her class. Her teacher said Ashlyn is very bright and doing so well. She excels at all subjects and is reading like such a champ. Her teacher said Ashlyn is such a joy to have in class and she enjoys her thoroughly. Such nice things to hear about your child. As her parents, Joey and I already know what an incredibly awesome child Ashlyn is, but hearing it from an unbiased person is always so nice.
Back to the Texas trip, as soon as her conference was over, we loaded up in the van and drove to Amarillo, Texas. It was not a bad drive as at the kids fell asleep about halfway there and it was easy driving. We didn't get to our hotel room until around 11:00. Gracie was a little hyper and just wanted to play, but we eventually got her to calm down and sleep.
We woke up early the next morning and drove the rest of the way. Gracie did really, really well and only got antsy and fussy towards the end. It was a long day of driving. We got to stop for our beloved In and Out on the way. It was a great rest break and the delicious food carried us through until our final destination. We finally arrived at Adam and Jane's new house. We all loved it!

The brothers hanging out

Our girl takes after her mom and often has her nose in a book.

After we toured their new house and got settled in, we headed to dinner. Food in Texas is so good and we had to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant down there for some good Mexican food. It was amazing as always.

Such a cute couple

Ashlyn and Dawson love their Uncle Adam so much

Checking out the aquarium at the restaurant

Dawson ordered a corn dog and he definitely got a Texas sized corn dog. He got such a kick out of it.

Cuddling with Daddy and enjoying some ice cream.

The next day, the weather was perfect so we decided it was time to go to the park. When we were last out there in March, they were working on finishing this incredible new park. We were very happy to see that it was finally open. The park had the neatest playground equipment. The kids had a blast playing.

This girl loves to swing

This contraption was a big tree you can climb on that was also a merry go round

Always climbing like a monkey

Gracie loved going down the slide with mommy

She has mastered the monkey bars

So many slides to try

Silly girl

They made me try it out

Not sure what Gracie is doing in this one

Love that smile

After so much playing, we were all ready for lunch. We went to our very favorite Tyler restaurant, Stanley's barbecue. It is seriously the best bbq in the world!!! They lost our order and we ended up waiting a long time for our food. The wait was more than worth it as it was amazing as usual. I'm just sad we only squeezed in one Stanley's trip this time.

Waiting for our food

I always get the frito pie and it is out of this world!!!

Jane is an athletic trainer for a local high school. On Friday night they had a big homecoming game. Joey and I were very excited to be part of the big "Friday Night Lights". Football is life in Texas and it was fun to see how much different they treat Friday games out there. They are definitely a big deal. The kids had more fun then I thought they would. Joey had to walk around with Gracie, but Dawson and Ashlyn managed to sit through the first half. We left at halftime because it was getting so late.

Dawson loved using his binoculars

The field

The marching band

Gracie loving her dad

The next morning, we got back in the car to go on another short road trip. This time we headed up to Dallas for the state fair of Texas. On the way we finally got to stop at a Bucees. Adam has talked for a long time how cool of a gas station it is. They finally built one nearby and we had to stop, It is definitely the most incredible gas station I have ever been to. It is hard to describe, but they have everything and it the size of Texas.

Standing in front of the Buccee beaver

Don't feed the beaver!!!

Our next stop was the Texas state fair. I was so excited to see what it was like. It definitely blows Colorado's state fair out of the water. The only downside was that we went on a Saturday and it was very, very busy. I would say it was as busy as Magic Kingdom on a Saturday. Despite the crowds, we still had a great time. The kids enjoyed looking at the animals. The food there is out of control. They have every fried food you can ever imagine. The choices were overwhelming. We didn't try too much as the food was on the expensive side. The things we did try were incredible! We spent most of Saturday at the fair and had a great time.

cattle area

Checking out some cows

Of course there was a Texas flag

Miss Independent likes to walk

Sweet sisters

Taffy stand

The kids trying some corn dogs

The fair was next to some stadium that we got to go into

I promise Gracie had more fun than that

My girl and I

Both of my girls

One thing we did try were these pretzel coated chicken and cheese balls. They were amazing!

Eating some fried pie

The famous Big Tex. There was such a large crowd around him. We definitely weren't the only ones that wanted a picture here.

He's pretty big

Ashlyn's one request was a funnel cake, so we got her one and she devoured it.

Displays made out of canned food.

After our trip to Dallas, we wanted to just relax and not go anywhere the rest of the time. We spent the rest of the weekend at Adam and Jane's house. The weather was beautiful and their backyard is huge. The kids had such fun playing outside. The Broncos played on Sunday and it was nice getting to watch a game with Adam and Jane.
Joey and I couldn't decide if we wanted to head home Sunday night or Monday morning. We took a huge risk and decided to leave Monday morning around 5:00 a.m. We were very concerned how Gracie would do in the car driving straight through. She was an absolute champ and did so good. We have the best car kids in the world! I'm glad they do so well in the car because I foresee a lot more road trips in their future. As usual, we had an incredible time and we were so sad to leave. We are already planning our next trip to Texas!