Spring Break 2012 ~ Part 2

Now that Jon was finished with the work that he had gone to Dallas for, I felt like we were really on vacation. We knew that there was a lot that we wanted to do and see in the two days that we had left. We really tried to pack in as much as we could and not feel like we were on a tight schedule. Obviously we still wanted to have fun and not feel stress.

On the way downtown we spotted, what my friend, Deborah, refers to as "God's microphone". She said that we should go up to the top, to the observation deck, to get a good look at Dallas. When I first asked what this place was called or how I would know where it was, all she said was, "Oh, you'll know it when you see it."

Yep. She was right! There is no denying that that looks like God's microphone.
She did tell me before we left for our trip that the real name is Reunion Tower. I was very disappointed, when I checked into it, that the observation deck was closed for renovations.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before, but palm trees make me HAPPY!!

Another friend told me that we really should consider checking out the science center while in Dallas. She mentioned that it was something that the whole family would enjoy. Sooo...off we went.

We started off at the Museum of Natural History. I knew this would be something Luke would LOVE with his love of dinosaurs and all! Unfortunately, we were all a little bit disappointed. I wasn't expecting it to be as awesome as in the movie Night At The Museum, but I was hoping it would be a lot better. It was very small and the exhibits were seriously lacking. It was sad listening to listen to Luke constantly asking, "When can we go see the live animals?" We knew what had to happen. (That's coming soon.)

This had to be the highlight of our whole science center experience. We all really enjoyed watching the turtles sunning themselves!

Before we headed out, and since we paid for it, we checked out the science building. It was a little bit better than the first building, but completely overwhelming to Luke.
I think I can safely say that we won't be going back to this museum/science center or recommending it to anybody.

We knew that, being in Dallas, we couldn't pass up the JFK museum. Ben was very interested in checking this one out!

This museum is phenomenal! I knew about JFK and what happened to him, but I really didn't know all of the details of that day or who was who. It was a little bit eery to be standing in the spot that Lee Harvey Oswald fired those fateful shots! I am so thankful that we went and learned about such a monumental day in our country's history. I highly recommend The Sixth Floor Museum.

This gave me and Jon a chuckle. He was ready take that exit!

So, I don't love it when Jon has to travel for work, but I just might have a new perspective. Thanks to Jon traveling, he has earned a lot of hotel rewards points. That is, after all, how we were able to have this little vacation and stay a few days after he was done working.

This is what those precious points got us! WOW!

This is the most amazing mall I have ever been to! It is gorgeous! Palm trees inside the mall?! Yes! Abby and I were in love, that's for sure!

When Abby heard that we would be going to a mall that had an indoor ice skating rink, that quickly became the only thing she cared about over our whole trip! That was the only thing that she wanted to do. She didn't care about anything else.

She LOVED it! Yes, she fell and got a pretty good knee wound, but she wouldn't have traded it for anything! Just to see my baby girl so happy...I wouldn't have traded it for anything either!

Vacation is great and I love my kids, but I really needed a break at this point in our trip. Jon was down in Dallas a day or two before the kids and I headed down, so I felt like I had barely seen him. We went out for a little stroll and found the hotel pool. It was so cool! Outdoor and on the roof! (Well, only the second floor roof, but still...) When we got back to the room I asked the big kids (Luke was already asleep.) if they would like to go for a "night swim". Of course they did!

And they loved it!

And so did I!

It's hard to believe as I look at this that all of the events in this post happened all in ONE day! It was a fun day that really didn't involve any stress. Well, unless you consider the crazy, insane, big city traffic. That could have been a little bit stressful.

More fun to come!