a texas quickie

with the hub's grandpa celebrating a milestone birthday this year - 80! - we braced ourselves for a whirlwind pre-christmas trip out to texas to be present for a big family dinner party in his honor.  his birthday happens to fall three days before christmas, which also happened to be a saturday this year.  we'd checked out flights a few months ago after confirming that the old lady would be able to take off work to come with us, and came across a screaming deal that got all four of us round trip tickets for just under $1,000.  even better, it was a flight out of ontario airport and not LAX, which was a huge bonus.  the bummer was that it was a 1am flight, landing somewhere around 5am texas time, but the price couldn't be beat and so we booked it.

we arrived at the airport somewhere around 11:30, and  even though it was prime time for holiday travel, it was late enough that we got through security without waiting in line for even five minutes.  we got to the gate with about half an hour before boarding began.

there were a ton of people waiting to board, and because of our super duper cheap economy tickets we were in the very last group to board, with our seats being in the very back of the plane.  it was so crowded that there weren't any seats available in the waiting area, and so we stood around for awhile until the boarding process finally began.

as it turned out, the flight was oversold without a single no-show.  everyone who'd bought a ticket showed up to board that plane, and pretty soon the attendants were offering airline vouchers to anyone who was willing to give up their seat and take a later flight.  we didn't really pay much attention to it, as we continued to wait for our group to be allowed to board.  but then they bumped up the voucher value to $700 per person, and we started to consider it as no one seemed to be taking them up on it.  after all, we didn't have a plan as to what to do when we landed at the ungodly hour of 5am - we couldn't check into the hotel, and we weren't going to wake up the ILs that early.  and so after we all agreed to go for it, the hub got up to have a little chat with the folks at the desk.

the next flight was scheduled to depart at 6am the next morning, arriving in dallas at 11.  and as he was waiting for our tickets to be rebooked and have the vouchers issued, the voucher value went up again...this time to $1,000 per person.  YESSSSSSSSS.

with vouchers in hand, we grabbed our bags and made our way out of the airport and back to the car to head home and get a few hours of sleep before catching our rescheduled flight.  we arrived back at the airport around 5:00, this time finding a parking spot within walking distance to the terminal for not much more than what we were going to pay at the remote lot.

it was an uneventful flight, and we even landed a little ahead of schedule.  we caught the shuttle to the rental car center, picked up our sweet cadillac and hopped onto the highway to grab some breakfast at cracker barrel.  i LOVE cracker barrel.  can you tell?

the bean and i already knew what we wanted to eat, and i was extra excited to see a new item from their coffee menu - the goo goo cluster latte.

it was definitely sugar overload, but i enjoyed every bit of it.

while we were waiting for our food to arrive, i noticed something - the old lady's apple watch was somehow coming apart.  the face of it was dangling by a thread:

so weird.  but the hub said he'd seen it before - somehow the battery had expanded, probably due to all the sweating she does while working out with the watch on.  and what she didn't know was that santa was bringing her a brand new apple watch for christmas in just a couple of days.  he's a clever one, that santa.

chicken & dumplings with hash brown casserole and mac & cheese on the side.  it's not a pretty photograph, but it sure was tasty.

the old lady opted for chicken fried steak:

the hub's entree was even more boring, since he was still sticking to his keto diet.  he seemed to enjoy it anyway, and then as he waited at the counter to pay for our meal the rest of us wandered around the country store.  i eyed the candy section longingly, but i knew i couldn't really buy anything because we only had carry-on baggage and i didn't have a lot of room to play with.

afterwards, we made another stop at the nearby bass pro world to do some christmas shopping.  we'd decided to buy all of the ILs' presents in texas so that we didn't have to pack it all in our luggage, and this was the perfect place to get it done.

texas loves their presidents bush.  this was the first thing we saw when we stepped inside:

i know it's no big deal for a lot of people, but i was a little taken aback at the sight of guns for sale just hanging out on the shelves, as well as the ammunition kicking it in bags and not behind a counter in a locked cabinet or anything.

the bean loves a good photo op as much as her mother does.  i didn't even have to ask her to pose here.

we found perfect gifts for everyone, and after we got through the registers with bags in hand we headed back to the car.  check out our cadillac:

since we needed to wrap all of our gifts, we stopped at a target close to the ILs' house and ended up squeezing in mani/pedis at a nail salon in the same plaza.  we had just enough time to get changed and hop back into the car to get to the restaurant and help get the banquet room set up with fun decorations for the party.

grandpa was in his element all evening, surrounded by his friends and his whole family.  he seemed pretty excited that we'd all come out to celebrate his big birthday, and it was fun to hear him tell stories about his life and career and accomplishments.  i even managed to get some fun pictures of us:

after helping to take down the decorations and saying goodbye to everyone, we made our way to the hotel.

we were at the hilton in plano for the night, although the bean decided that she wanted to go back to her grandparents' house to spend the night and get as much time with them as she could.  the old lady was excited not to have to share the bed with her, and the hub found a spot to enjoy a cigar and relax after he'd dropped off the bean at his parents' house.

the next morning, we headed over there to have brunch with them and exchange presents.  thanks to the hub, i got to enjoy some mimosas with my breakfast.

he had some fun playing with his cousins and the new nerf guns they'd just opened.

and brother wan had gifted us with some fun kitchen goodies.

the ILs had given us a huge gift basket full of snacks and treats, and with not much room in our luggage to pack it all in the hub and MIL ended up heading to a local fedex store to pack it and ship it all to the house.  when they got back, we had just enough time for hugs all around before leaving to drop off the rental car and check in at the airport for our flight home.

it was a super quick whirlwind trip, but it was all time well spent.  we hadn't expected to be able to see everyone for christmas, so that was an extra added bonus.  and we still got home with plenty of time to relax and get ready for santa to come.

ah, the holidays.  truly the most wonderful time of the year.

bean-free for ten whole days

so yeah...the bean and MIL took off on friday to texas for the third annual session of grandma camp.  i know MIL has a whole week's worth of activities for them all planned out, and with the bean pretty familiar with all the area has to offer, she was really looking forward to a few of the things on the itinerary.

the old lady had to get up at her usual time to head off to work, and the bean dragged herself half asleep into her room to say goodbye and get one last hug before disappearing for ten days.

luckily, getting her packed was pretty painless.  i'd just gone to target and stocked up on a few basics she could mix and match, plus i took a handful of stuff i'd sewn for her last year and repurposed it all into tank tops.  way to upcycle, right?  go me!

after getting a couple of emails with flight delays, it was finally time to get in the car and head to the airport.  we sat down on the couch to take our traditional "goodbye" photos:

it turned out that the old lady was able to come with us to the airport after all to drop them off, since their flight got delayed just enough for her to get home from work.  and because it was a holiday weekend with all of the traffic you'd expect at that hour in southern california, the hub mostly took sidestreets and pulled up to a fairly crowded terminal at ontario airport.  we all hopped out for hugs and kisses, and then with bags in hand and a final smile and wave, they disappeared into the building.

you guys, i was so proud of myself - i didn't cry even a little this year!  that's quite an improvement over the first time she left for texas, when i sobbed like a baby the whole way home.  heh.  and i knew we both needed the break and that grandma camp is something she looks forward to all year long.  she looked pretty stoked for her trip, based on this picture we got just before they took off:

we've gotten a bunch of texts from her via her iPad since she's been gone.  she's having a blast, spending time with grandpa as well as the hub's grandparents.  and she's even gotten to FaceTime us a few times, which is pretty fun.

and from the looks of this picture, she's having the time of her life.

donuts and grandma and texas?  oh my!
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way up on cloud 9

for our last day in texas, MIL took us to see something fun - reunion tower, high atop the hyatt hotel in downtown dallas.

on our way there, we passed dealey plaza - the city-owned park that is best known as the location where JFK was assassinated.

inside the hotel, we purchased our admission tickets:

took a silly photo:

and headed up to the cafe for some lunch.

the tower is 561 feet tall, and has three floors - the observation deck, this casual dining area, and a more upscale, wolfgang puck-operated restaurant upstairs.  after ordering our food, we relaxed at a table on the floor that rotated around the tower's center, giving us a great 360-degree view of downtown dallas.

i was starving, so i was pretty excited for my pulled pork sandwich.

and because we had to, we shared the "celebration dessert," a concoction of chocolate mousse and chocolate cake inside a milk chocolate tower, served with toasted meringue clouds and fresh berries.

this is the bean's best "thinking chair" pose.

then we stepped out onto the observation deck to check things out.

from this vantage point, the book depository came into view.  if you look really closely, you can see the "x" painted on the street where the fatal shot found its target.

i took a turn at the binoculars and found the cotton bowl (which actually means nothing to me, but i was proud of myself for being able to take this picture).

a few obligatory group shots before we headed back down to ground level:

while we waited for the car to be brought around, we checked out the hall of historical photos.  i always like looking at stuff like this.

then it was back to the house to gather up our stuff and head back out on the road to love field to catch our plane home.

virgin america is my most favorite airline.  and this time, not only did we get the cool mood lighting, but the humidity or something in the air was causing the air conditioning to look like fog.  i guess you can't really see it here, so you'll just have to take my word for it - it was kinda nifty:

we'd been separated from the hub, who was sitting closer to the front of the plane.  i tried to use the onboard messaging center to say hi, but he wasn't having it - stuck in the middle between two officemates who kept up an ongoing conversation right over him, he just wanted to zone out and chill.

bye, texas!

and because she's just like her mother, the bean requested a snack box from the kids' menu.  and as she always does, she was more than happy to share the goodies with me.

i'm not sure when we'll make it out to texas again.  we definitely had a great visit with the ILs this time, though.  and if nothing else, at least the bean's "grandma camp" looks like it'll turn into an annual thing.  i'm excited for all of the fun memories they're going to create together as the years go by, and she's already looking forward to next summer.

which, of course, will be here before we know it.  yikes.