Houston, we have landed

A couple of weeks ago we snuck down to Houston for a long weekend to visit my sister and her family in Houston.

I tried a new method of packing that made me feel a little Howard Hughes-ish, but it worked. Both kids and myself always pack in one big suitcase. No matter how neatly I pack, whenever we reach our destination the contents are more like soup and less like a TV dinner, which is what I prefer. Make sense?

Starting out was a bit rough. My kids are seasoned fliers but no one was ready for a 4 plus hour delay. We were all ready to get on the plane all ready and get this vacation started!

Her eyes shut as soon as the cabin doors did.

We ended up crawling into bed that night/morning around 2:30 AM, which made for an interesting next day but we rolled with it - we were on vacation! Little did we know that these late nights would become a common theme during this trip...

The next day was laid back - pool time and S'mores. It was so nice to just sit and relax by the pool.

Early the following day everyone except the kids, my sister, and myself went to the shooting range. When in Texas!

We then packed up and headed out to Beaumont, Texas for my nephew's baseball tournament. An adventure within an adventure!

I'm not sure if Beaumont has a city motto but it should be, "It's hot in Beaumont!" Here's Vaughn happy that we found some shade.

Here she is again a few hours into our 7 plus hours at the field. She was in no mood, but was a trooper. She normally malfunctions when she gets too hot and just. shuts. down. I caught in on camera one day. Remember this one?

Vance started out as bat boy but decided it was too hot on the turf and "not as much fun" as he thought it was going to be, so he kept score instead and loved every minute of it.

It was around the time that I took this picture that I looked up to see a player on the other team walking up to bat, stop, vomit twice, then stepped up to bat. That's Texas baseball for you! Not for the weak! OTSS, baby!

The last game didn't end until well after 10:00 PM. Jack played 2 great games and won both which advanced them to the next round. We raced to Papadeaux's afterwards before they closed for dinner. Hot, tired, sweaty, stinky, and in need of cajun food. What a site we must have been walking through those doors!

You know what though? So worth it. To see Jack in his element, to meet their awesome "baseball family", to watch my dad watch Vance watching Jack play ball. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

They unfortunately lost their game the next morning which meant it was time for us to pack it up and start the 2 hour trek back to Houston.

Cooling off with more pool time!

Getting out and doing things is of course fun when visiting family, but I like when there's enough down time that you are able to see what everyday life is like for them. To see where they grocery shop, to see a little bit of the town, to take a walk around their subdivision, that sort of thing. Maybe I'm weird but it takes the unknown out of the living apart equation and makes me feel closer to them. I guess I just like having visual.

This trip was a perfect mix of action and downtime and I'm looking forward to our next visit!