Girls' Trip 2007
Girls' Trip 2008
Beth and I implemented an annual girls' trip 3 years ago with a trip to Eureka Springs. We had an amazing time and that's saying a lot since we went over Spring Break which we discovered was before the town really opened up for travel season. Last year, we went to Florida with her mom and her mom's best friend. It rained literally the whole time we were there so even though we had a good time, it didn't live up to our lay-by-the-beach-all-day-long expectations!
This year, we knew that we would have a new addition to our trip... Finley... thank goodness she met the requirements of being a girl! =) We knew we wouldn't want to spend a lot on this year's trip with Beth's wedding plans and my having a baby so we decided to go to Dallas. We stayed with her aunt and uncle which also helped us save a little money and I admit was a complete blessing having a baby with us. It was so nice to have an actual kitchen to mix bottles, wash out bowls and spoons, and even bathe the little one.
Finley being bathed in the kitchen sink
Here's a run down of our time in Dallas...
Saturday, June 27th:
We drove into Dallas around lunch and stopped to eat at El Fenix. It was so yummy! They have THE best salsa!!!! (Beth and I both have the philosophy that good food is the primary focus of every vacation so pretty much this whole post is going to be about FOOD!)
Julie had this plastic food that Finley LOVED! She couldn't put it down.
We then drove to Aunt Julie's and got a tour of the house they had JUST moved into! Oh, how I desire to be as hospitable as sweet Julie! They were still in boxes and didn't mind at all that we were adding to the chaos! We then spent the afternoon by the pool just relaxing.
For dinner, we went to this restaurant called Buco di Beppo. It was a family-style Italian restaurant that was amazing.
They sang Happy Birthday to this girl behind us, but I think Finley thought it was for her!
All of us
While there Uncle Steve got the one and only picture of me and Beth. Sad to say, but we were so pleased with this first attempt that I think we decided not to even try to get another one the whole trip. It's so rare that we actually get a picture of just us these days (that sneaky little Finley always manages to get in the picture with us! Hee, hee!) that we were ecstatic to get just one... and we even liked the one he took! Amazing!
After dinner, we went back to the house where I began to discover that vacation Finley does not like to sleep! It took forever to get her to bed, but she finally succumbed.
Sunday, June 28th:
We began the day lying by the pool. Another thing about vacations with me and Beth... we like to relax! I tried to keep Finley on a schedule, but she again was too distracted to sleep. She wasn't in a bad mood, but I just knew that she needed sleep and was afraid that if she didn't get her naps that she would be irritable.
Around 2:00 or so, Beth's mom offered to watch Finley while Beth and I went shopping and to eat at our FAVORITE restaurant in the whole world... Fogo de Chao. Well, we drove to the place we wanted to shop at only to find they were closed on Sunday's.... so we decided to drive towards to the restaurant (that didn't open until 4) and ended up trying to waste an hour in Target. We were tired, hungry, in pain (stupid heels!), and grumpy! Thankfully, the food made us ALL better. Except that we ate so much that we hurt!!!!!! We were completely miserable. Completely.
We got back to the house and hung out for awhile. I attempted to put Finley down for the night with absolutely no luck. I remember taking her back out to the living room (everyone else was upstairs) to play and just feeling incredibly frustrated... not really with Finley, but just the situation. I knew I was being irrational because Finley was fine and happy and no one was upset that she was awake, but I was just feeling very emotional. I went to wash my hands at the kitchen sink and saw Julie's little verse-a-day calendar. I immediately saw the date... June 28th... Really? It was June 28th? I thought it wasn't for a few more days yet, but no, here it was. 18 years. Could it really have been so long since my mother's death? It's amazing how powerful our sub-conscience can be. I wish I would've realized what day it was sooner so that I could've better anticipated (and handled) my emotional state. I continued to play with Finley and sufficiently wore her out. Thankful that I knew what was wrong with myself, I put her to bed easily. Obviously, she was sensing some of my stress and I absolutely hate that.
We ended the evening by watching the movie Taken. It was really good and I admit that it was especially enjoyable to me that we all watched it in the living room as a "family." I hope that one day our almost-grown kids are all sprawled out on our living room watching a movie with us and not thinking it is uncool in the least.
Monday, June 29th:
MARKET!!!! Beth and I went to Market with her mom. It was absolutely overwhelming! Hannah (Beth's cousin) kept Finley the whole day so that we could shop (babies weren't permitted) and though I felt a bit guilty knowing that Hannah was giving up her whole day, we called several times to find that she was having a great time with Finley and didn't need me to come back early. It was nice knowing that Finley was in good hands and that I could concentrate on helping find the perfect jewelry and decorations for Beth's wedding. We found a lot of great stuff and thankfully, I didn't have a chance to meander through all of the Christmas shops or I'm sure I would've maxed out a credit card or two!
That night, Beth and I met her friend, Ali, for dinner at North Park mall. I think I embarrassed Beth by taking my paparazzi like pictures of Finley playing with the Etch-a-sketch!
(Notice Finley's reflection in the Etch-a-sketch)
After dinner, Beth and I wanted dessert so we drove to find this bakery we had passed several times. Well, when we finally found it, it was closed!!!! So we went and had very sub-par dessert at La Madeline's. When we got home, we found out that the bakery we had been looking for had another location at the very mall we left! We were so disappointed!
Tuesday, June 30th:
Home! We drove home where I immediately attempted to get us repacked for our trip to New Mexico! I'll post about it tomorrow!
I'm already looking forward to Girls' Trip 2010!
