Texas Tour '11

November 7-14 (seems so long ago now---sorry I'm behind on my posts, as usual) we had the opportunity to go to Texas.  Erik had a bunch of interviews set up there so we figured that the kids and I might as well tag along.   Most importantly though, there is a good chance we may end up in Texas so I figured I should check it out as well.  

 Houston, Part I

 My babies in the morning

 Texas-shaped waffle from our hotel in Houston.   I guess it's backwards. Whoops.

Gabe took this pic.  He's getting pretty good!

 Hangin' out in the hotel room.

 Gabe fell asleep on the hotel room floor.  This tends to happen when his naps get skipped.

 Eating out on our way to San Antonio

San Antonio

I think San Antonio was my favorite place to visit.  We stayed at a nice hotel, so that helped San Antonio's image.  I love that has a new feel, but is so old the same time.  Erik was impressed with the residency program and the fact that they told him San Antiono is 'family friendly'. 

 Us at the Alamo

 Daddy and Gabe at the Alamo grounds

 At the RiverWalk.

 Gabe playing at the kid's play place in the mall


We went the the San Antonio Zoo.  It was much better, not to mention cheaper, than phoenix zoo.  We enjoyed the little train ride around the park, and getting quite close to the animals.

  

 

Had dinner with some friends, Lindsay and Jay.  Thanks guys! We had fun.

Saw this incident on our way back to Houston.  I'm guessing it was something for Labor day.  Pretty neat!

Houston, Part II

We went back to Houston because it was on our way to Galveston and to meet up with some friends, Dan and Angie.  I didn't care too much for Houston the first time visiting.  We did stay in a crappy hotel with roaches though and it reminded me too much of Illinios, but I liked it much better the second time around.  They have a ton of neat restaurants that I would love to try!

 We went to a fabulous park in downtown Houston...

...and went to a super delicious Texas BBQ restaurant.  Yum!

Galveston

Galveston was a neat little place.  It's actually an island, and it feels very touristy.  Erik wanted to check out the residency program because they require the least amount of hours.  I just can't imagine living there.  It definitely seems more like a vacation spot than a place to live.  Even so, it was lots of fun going to the beach (it was almost warm enough to swim!) walking around Moody Gardens (didn't want to pay the admission price of $50 so we didn't see much) and playing mini-golf (provided by our hotel)

Baby feet in the sand! So cute

  The beach

They had a lot of these weird bicycle-car-things. 

Carnival cruise lines leave from this island!!

Half of the island is industrial

I really don't know where we would live if we were to move to Galvestion.  It is mostly apartments and 150-year-old dilapidated houses.  Just off Galveston they have a place called "Tiki Island" which harbors the weirdest houses I've ever seen.  They are all on stilts in case it floods, and I'm sure the cheapest house is a mere half million.  I'll pass on these!

I just had to have Elisa pose, she was just learning to sit up and was all smiles :)

Dallas

No photos, because we only said a day there and did basically nothing.  We went stayed at the crappiest hotel on earth.   I'm not kidding you--it was absolutely revolting and disgusting.  I am so mad about this.  Our first room wasn't even cleaned (bed not made, garbage all over the place) and it was also a smokers room.  The jerk at the front desk said we had reserved a smoking room.  No we didn't, even if we did, we expect it to be cleaned!  Our next room was "cleaned" but the sheets sure weren't.  Nastiness all over the sheets.  You don't even wanna know.  I had to request new sheets.  And the smell.  OMG.  Fresh dirty dog.  Anyone who knows me knows how much I HATE dog smell!!  I slept horribly and had bad dreams all night.  That place is cursed.  Curse that hotel; it should burn.  And do you know what just FLOORS me??  We could have stayed in a nice hotel FOR FREE.  *sigh* In conclusion, husbands should listen to their wives.  Sorry for the rant.  I hold nothing against Dallas though, I didn't even get to see much of it.      

Despite the last night, we had fun.  It is nice to get away sometimes and see new places.  Who knows, we may just end up in Texas after all!