It Doesn't FEEL Like Christmas Yet

We've had 80-degree weather here in Dallas, so between the heat and no leaves changing color, we're just not feeling the holiday season approaching.

We had the rare treat of hanging out with one of our friends from my Houghton days. Dan was in town this week at a convention at the Gaylord Texan, so after picking up some scrumptious kolaches (one of the best discoveries I've made so far in Texas -- beats DD hands down in every way) for breakfast, we drove out to Grapevine to catch up with him before he flew home to PA.

It was so nice to see a familiar face in this new place that we're calling home. It has been over four years since we last saw Dan. We got to see Jamie (his wife) and their girls almost exactly two years ago, but Dan was on a hunting trip, so we missed him.

Little Miss M was just a newborn, and I was about five months pregnant with B

We brought Dan a kolache to try, since he had never had one. We like them so much ourselves, we couldn't let him leave the state without having one, too.

Once Dan left to catch his shuttle to the airport, we perused around the hotel and convention center, because we had paid $12 for parking there was so much to see! The entire place was beautifully decorated for Christmas already, and we very much enjoyed watching all the little trains that were zooming around the atrium of the hotel and feeling the first stirrings of holiday cheer.

Little B was offered his first chance to sit on Santa's lap. However, with him being sick, we didn't think that would fly over well, nor did we want to pass on germs, so we declined.

On our way to the "Kung Fu Panda" snow tubing exhibition, I glanced down at what I had assumed to be the standard, crazy floral carpet that you often find in hotels. Instead, this is what I saw:

N commented today that Dallas has a lot more Texan pride going on than Houston (where he grew up) ever did. We decided that's mostly due to the presence of the Cowboys.

We peeked in at the snow-tubing and watched Po dancing to some rockin' music, but we didn't stay long because it was a frigid 10 degrees in there.

I also found this to be quite interesting. I saw no vending machines other than this one.

Little B fell asleep soon after we pulled away from the hotel, so we drove around historic Grapevine for a little while (really pretty Main Street -- it actually reminded us a lot of Saratoga Springs, though on a much larger scale with many more shops). We popped into Lowe's after he woke up to check out refrigerators for our new house, and then decided to get Mexican food for lunch.

Which brings us to another one of the best things about Texas: Mexican food is so much better here, as is the variety of ethnic foods that are available.

The host greeted us and then said "Hola!" to Little B, who just happens to have a toy cell phone that says, "Hello? Hola!" So B cheerfully said, "Hola!" right back to him, which earned him major cuteness points with the staff.

Once we got back to our friends' house, N and I took turns dozing while B quietly played in our room. I must have fallen asleep the minute I lay down on the floor next to where B was playing, because N said I began snoring! What can I say? We were up multiple times with B last night.

While I helped Heather get dinner ready, N took B out to the backyard to play. When I went to peek at them a few minutes later, our sick, tuckered out little boy was fast asleep in the swing.

Here's to hoping that tonight will be a better night of rest, and that he's feeling much better tomorrow. We'd love your prayers, friends!