Houston visit! (Week 151/21)

Warning: lots of pictures in this post!  Feel free to skim through - I won't be offended I promise!

What a week it's been.  We headed to Houston last Wednesday to visit my older sister Grace and her family in Houston, Texas.  Third year in a row that we've gone!  (Note to self: never visit in the Summer again. E V E R!!).  It was our first time traveling with 2 kids, and (obviously) Katelyn's first time flying.  I was nervous but figured everything would be fine as long as Tyler had my old iPhone and Katelyn nursed the whole time.  Positive thinking!

We headed to the John Wayne airport bright and early on Wednesday morning.  We had requested a minivan from the Taxi company but got a regular sedan.  Hmm.  Ended up with Tyler sitting in the backseat with a seatbelt - gasp!  Not sure if it's illegal or not when you're in a taxi...Anyway, Tyler was excited and ready to go!

We didn't pack too heavy and checked in one large piece of luggage.  On us we had Tyler's carseat, Katelyn's carseat and a rolling piece of luggage.  I think next time I'd like to bring some type of small stroller - Katelyn's car seat was heavy!  (Tyler's car seat we were able to attach to the rolling luggage so that he could sit in it while we pulled it).  Did you know there's a separate security check-in line for families with young children?  What a relief - the line was probably 10x shorter than the normal security line (which was super long - summer travel I guess).  Here's Will and Katelyn waiting in line.

After we got through security, we had a quick McDonald breakfast (Tyler ate some egg and orange juice) and waited for our plane.  Tyler was really excited looking at all the planes.

I had Katelyn in my ring sling - didn't even need to take her out to get through security.  (When Tyler went through security, the TSA person motioned him to pass through the metal detector, he ran through on the outside of the archway - they had to send him back to do it again).   Katelyn was asleep as we waited around.

On the plane!  Southwest no longer has families with young children boarding first.  Instead, they board passengers A1-60 and THEN board families before they start those with the letter B.  I checked us in exactly 24 hours before our flight the day before and the earliest letter we got was A60.  Not much of an improvement.  Anyway, we usually send Will in first to get the carseats set up and I stay outside with Tyler to let him run around (less time to be confined to his seat).  The flight was pretty full so we had to check Katelyn's carseat at the gate - not a big deal since she's not much of a fan of her carseat anyway!  We just wanted to make sure we got 3 seats together that weren't TOO far in the back.  Here we are - ready for Katelyn's first flight!

Quite an uneventful (thank goodness) flight.  We all mostly slept the whole time.  Katelyn nursed almost the whole time on/off and wasn't fussy at all.  Yay Katelyn!  Tyler wasn't too happy to find out that we had to get off and get on another plane (layover at Denver).  Next time we're really going to try to do a nonstop - we couldn't get a Southwest flight that was direct from John Wayne.  Ugh.  At Denver we had about an hour layover and Will got Tyler some vanilla ice cream to help pass the time.  I have a vague recollection of telling Tyler to not lay on the dirty carpet floor while he played with his cars (we let him pick 4 Disney Cars to bring with him).  Here's Katelyn and me during the layover.  She's a big fan of the ring sling!

Flight number 2!  There were more empty seats on this flight so we were told we could use Katelyn's carseat to take up a spot.  Since carseats need to be next to the window, Will got us 2 rows to use (one behind the other) and we took the inner two seats for each.  I wasn't a big fan of having a stranger sit next to me (and I could tell no one really wanted to sit next to a baby!) but the flight filled up and an older guy was forced into the seat.  Definitely a little awkward making sure I was all covered up while I nursed Katelyn...but he was really nice anyway.

Here's Katelyn keeping herself occupied with all the toys I had linked off her carseat.  I had a BAG of toys to keep her occupied, but she never stayed in her carseat long.  She's not a fan.

Tyler and Will were sitting in front of us.  Tyler was really excited and energized (now that he had had a long nap on the previous flight) and discovered all the new Thomas and Friends videos we had loaded on my old iPhone.  Lots of watching...not a lot of talking...

All of a sudden, in the middle of the flight, Tyler started complaining that his seatbelt was too tight, struggled out of it and onto the floor...and threw up! EWW!  Poor Tyler.  Vomit in an enclosed space?  Puke!  I was sitting behind and was trying to hold my breath - gross.  The guy sitting next to Will on the aisle seat was quick to find another - ANY - empty seat.  Poor Tyler - not sure if it was the McDonalds eggs or airport ice cream.  It was quite smelly.  After all the commotion, he didn't want to sit back into his seat (I think his tummy still hurt) and instead fell asleep on the chair.  Poor little guy - when I feel sick I just want to curl up too!

But we MADE it to Houston!  I was quite proud of myself for packing extra clothes for Tyler so that we could change him out of his smelly clothes.  Will caught a bit of the action, but wasn't lucky enough to be able to change!  Hello Houston!

OMG was it hot the moment we stepped out of the airport.  O M G.  You really appreciate air conditioning there.  We had a pretty easy going night - ordered in Thai food and the kids played and read books.  Tyler got the hang of their routine pretty easily - he just follows what his cousins are doing.  After dinner, while they were playing, Tyler was kind of quiet and playing with a car.  I look away, and then back, and he's thrown up!  Ack!  All over my sister's carpet and himself.  Not pleasant.  Awwww.  Will (I think) did a thorough job of cleaning and Tyler borrowed a pair of Thomas pajamas from his cousins.  Poor guy.

Here's Katelyn and my sister Grace!

Here' Katelyn with Annie.  My oh my, Annie is SO nurturing and sweet!

We were pretty exhausted from a day of travel and turned in early.  Katelyn slept in Annie's room in a pack'n'play but ended up in our room around 3-4am when she wouldn't go back to sleep without nursing.


Friday morning breakfast - garlic bread!  Tyler was not into it but I thought it was yummy! :)

We all headed to the bayou behind my sister's house for some quick fishing.  The boys had these cute little kid fishing poles and Tyler caught himself a bluegill fish!  It was very exciting.  Will actually cast the bait into the water and Tyler held onto the pole.  His cousins both caught a catfish - one of them was huge!

I put Katelyn in an umbrella stroller - her first time ever!  Thank goodness it had a 5 point harness. With her size though, I don't see why I don't have her in the actual stroller setup on our UppaBaby!  She's so big now!

After fishing, we all headed out to meet Annie and her class at a field trip nearby.  We couldn't fit all the carseats (5!) in the minivan and didn't want to take 2 cars...solution? - kids in the back without carseats.  Heeheee, hey, we're on vacation! :)

We headed to join Annie and her class on a field trip that morning to a place called "Forbidden Gardens".  Interesting place.  Some dude in Texas decided it would be cool to make a replica of the Forbidden City.  I've never been to the Forbidden City - but it definitely was cool enough that I want to make sure that we do visit in the future!  Tyler was very happy to hold hands with Annie and walk around - he's always liked Annie!

The Forbidden Garden.  OMG it was so hot - especially since we were walking around outside.  The miniature models were outside under some sort of hangar - I had no idea how huge the palace was!

I liked how Tyler looked like a giant next to the walls.

Not sure where he got the idea to wear his hat off to the side...although I don't think that's "IN" anymore, heehee - we'll need to get him a baseball cap where the lid is straight!

Tyler being silly.  This is where I started getting mosquito bites, I think.

Katelyn was SO hot too!  I had her in a onesie and these little shorts and she was just emitting heat!  Poor K.  I think she definitely liked sitting in a stroller though - it was SO new to her - being to just chill and look around at everything!

Outside the entrance there was a large lake with turtles.  WOAH those turtles move fast in the water when there's food thrown at them.  There were some really huge turtles (looked kind of like soft shell - pointy nosed ones), catfish and huge koi fish too!  (Reminded me of a visit to Thailand once - outside this temple on the river lived these catfish that had these "holy" marks on their heads)

There even were terracotta soldiers to see.  (By this time I couldn't take the heat anymore and had hidden away with Katelyn and Grace in an air conditioned room).  Tyler didn't even seem to notice how humid it was!

Roaring like a lion!

Hanging out with Adam and a stone horse.  (I had made a beeline for the car - did I mention how hot and humid it was?? hah!)

On the way home, the heat finally took its toll and Tyler fell asleep in the car.  He's never sat without a carseat, so falling asleep was quite tough.  As he got sleepier and sleepier, he started leaning towards one side and and another.

Unfortunately, he was between Adam and Ryan and they aren't big fans of having someone fall asleep on them.  Adam was at least not to rough about it...Ryan on the other hand... here's a video of poor Tyler.  Note to self: keep Tyler away from the boys in the car.  (Ooh which reminds me - at one point on the trip, Ryan said that he didn't want Tyler to sit next to him.  This made Tyler VERY sad!)  

We had a quick yummy lunch at a French restaurant - and Katelyn hung out in a sling for her carseat.  She sure does have a lot of things to keep herself entertained, huh!

After naps, we headed to the local branch of the Houston National Museum of History.  This place is super close to where my sister lives (Telfair in Sugarland) and still big enough to keep the kids interested!  Tyler liked checking out the bugs...

Upstairs they had a section that was just like the Discovery Science Center we have here in Santa Ana - lots of cool exhibits to try out and think about.

And dinosaur bones!  We managed to get a shot of all the kids in front of a T Rex.

And a silly pose!

The one group shot of the entire trip!

The coolest part of the museum - the dig pit!  The place was pretty empty since it was near closing and a weekday, so the kids had the dig pit all to themselves.  There's basically some giant fake fossils hidden under a ton of rubbery "dirt" for the kids to search for.  Really cool!

Here's Tyler about to start his fossil search.

Getting down and dirty.

I think I found something mama!

Working together with Ryan.

Here's a video of Tyler digging and excited to find stuff!


Somehow my sister convinced me to go on this ride they had next to the pit - the Gyroextreme or something.  It was not as fun as it looks!  Either that or I wasn't strapped in tightly enough - the sphere goes around in 3 different directions and there was like a couple inches I would move each time.  Not so great, haha!

Day 3 started nice and early and I snapped this picture of Will in bed with Katelyn.  How cute is that!

We got the kids all dressed in their swim gear and headed to Moody gardens!  (Notice Tyler is on the side now, and next to Annie...)

So Moody Gardens is quite an interesting place - it has 3 gardens that consist of an aquarium, a rainforest, and ... hm I forget what was in the last one.  Oh, a museum of some sort.  But on top of that, there's a man-made beach with a water park!  Yippee!  This was Katelyn's FIRST time in a swim suit and with sunblock SLATHERED all over.  Good thing we hit the waterpark first (10am) and it wasn't scorching yet.  Here's Katelyn with my sister - she's wearing a 9 month swim suit!

Here's Will with Tyler and Katelyn - ready to hit the water!

There were 3 different water areas that we went to.  The first one was like a pool that got deeper in the middle.  Lots of kids in it, Tyler liked floating around in this one.  Family picture! (Yes, I am hiding behind Tyler! haha!)

Katelyn's first time in the water!  She doesn't look so excited huh!

We headed to the second water area just for kids - it had a playground of some sort with lots of different buttons/levers to push/pull to make water do different things.  My favorite were the water guns you could shoot at other people!  They also had two twisty slides.  At first Tyler didn't want to go on them, but I finally convinced him to go down one on my lap.  He loved it and before we even hit the bottom he was saying: "I want to try again!".  We did the slides nonstop after that - we would barely have gotten to the bottom and he was running to get back on them again!

KaBoom!  Oh, and you can see the entrance to the two slides in the background.  Doesn't the lifeguard seem so excited to be there?

Here are a couple shots of Katelyn - she was pretty much just chilling and observing everything.

I don't think she got wet much.  I was really excited to be able to play in the water with Tyler while Will held Katelyn!

After a while we headed back to the pool.  Katelyn fell asleep on Will.

Yay Palm Beach!  We don't go to the pool much (if at all) so Tyler was really happy to play in the water.

After a pool side lunch (Tyler had strawberry milk!) we changed and headed to the aquarium.  Yes - indoors and air conditioned!!

Another first for Katelyn - she was in a shirt and shorts.  I know, seriously, not all that special - but I ALWAYS have her in a onesie!  Check out her thunder thighs..

Lots of fish to see at the aquarium - there even was an area where the kids could touch starfish and things... except they couldn't reach any!  Tyler didn't seem to mind though, he was happy touching the rocks!

Tyler checking out the underwater tunnel - I think there were sharks in this exhibit.

I think we're just about ready to transition Katelyn to the regular seat in our UppaBaby stroller (before we were still using the bassinet or carseat).  She likes it!

Tyler was really cute - he was showing Katelyn the different stamps he got on his aquarium pamphlet.

Next we waited to ride one of those rides where you watch a movie and you sit in something that moves - kind of like Star Tours at Disneyland.  But darnit, they wouldn't let Tyler ride because he was too little! (Needed to be 42 inches, and Tyler eh, is not very close).  Tyler was not happy about being pulled off the ride - he had his seat belt on and everything!  They said we could watch from the back of the room - which Tyler wasn't too happy about either.  But whew- we caught a break - the movie was this "Extreme Log Ride" that was scary for Tyler and he wanted out of the room!  Can you imagine if he was actually strapped onto the ride and they had to stop the whole thing for him?

Here are a few photos of Katelyn we took while we were walking around.

You can see her little teeth!

Hmm?  Surprised look. :)

Next was the butterfly habitat.  Outside.  Super hot.  We sprayed ourselves with lots of bug spray and I even slinged Katelyn to keep her close and the mosquitos away.  BOY was it hot slinging her - Ahhh! - she fell asleep quick though.

There was a maze for the kids to go through with different exhibits in there.  This one was "walking like a caterpillar" - basically the point of it is that everyone has to work together - the person in the back has to go first and then go forward from that so each person has enough slack to move their piece.  Were the kids able to figure it out even with our help?  Fail!

Here's Tyler climbing a spider web.  Nice fake smile Tyler!

And they had a butterfly zip line for the kids too!

Tyler held on tight, and didn't even wait for us to get him at the end - he let go and landed on his feet (quite impressive because it's pretty high up!)

Blech.  Checking out the spiders at the museum.

Rainforest habitat!  Even though it's "indoors" in a pyramid it was still quite humid.  Here's Tyler with 3 parrots.

Family picture! Boy do I look hot and sweaty.  Lovely.  Even Katelyn looks unhappy with the weather!

Cute - Tyler and Annie posing with more parrots!

Grace me and Katelyn.

Here's Ken holding Katelyn - she has a funny expression in this picture!

Back inside (air conditioning!) we checked out a 4D Happy Feet movie.  It was cute watching Tyler reach out for things.  We saw a 3D movie last time we visited - but it was about INSECTS and, eh, kind of gross.  I thought Tyler might get scared with the killer whale part but he was fine (whew) but the 4D part was fun (water/air shooting out and bubbles!).  We even bumped into the mascot (?) of Moody Gardens outside - a big toad!  Surprisingly, Tyler wasn't scared of him - and even gave him high fives.

Family picture!

Tyler was really into looking at the model of the amusement park - lots of little buildings/trees/people/cars.

Then we decided to watch their IMAX 3D film about sharks.  Perfect because it was quite, dark and air conditioned!

Tyler liked his 3D glasses.  I think everyone napped during the movie.  I nursed Katelyn and she fell asleep, and Tyler fell asleep lying across Will and my lap.  I even got a nice nap in - which I totally needed - the heat/humidity was so draining!

Here's a video of Tyler watching the movie - he's waving his arms to try to touch the 3D water bubbles. :)


After the movie we decided it was a good time to take off and head for an early dinner.  We went to this place called Kona Grill which had an awesome happy hour menu - but it was funny because we were surrounded with young people drinking/smoking since it was Friday.  Haha, and here we are with 5 kids.  I even ordered an alcoholic drink, but ended up spilling it all over myself in the mayhem.  Oh well.  Here's Grace and Katelyn.

Whew what a day!  After baths we took some group pictures of the cousins.

And a silly face pose!

Grace got Katelyn this super cute ballerina tutu dress - how ADORABLE is that?  Poor Katelyn had a bug bite over her left eye (see how its swollen?).  Love the dress!

Here's how the sleeping arrangements were for the kids in the boys' room.  Tyler was on an air mattress next to the futon where Annie slept.

Annie was great in talking to Tyler and helping him sleep (he was a little unsettled that he was in a different place) - she is such a great big sister and would tell Tyler that she'd watch over him because she was the oldest.

But sometimes she would try to keep him awake by talking or playing, when he was trying to sleep. heehee.

Saturday morning!  Katelyn was in a tank onesie!  Another first - a tank!  Look how rested and asleep she is in this picture with Will!

Tyler was pretty good at sharing on the trip - he would let Adam/Ryan/Annie each play with one of his Disney cars.  Adam/Ryan were really into playing with Tyler's Dinoco King car and would argue over it.  Annie wasn't too into the cars.

We headed out to meet up with Tyler's BFF Vincent.  Vincent and his family moved out to Texas last Summer and we were SO sad to see them go.  Julie (Vincent's mom) and I are good friends and she was the only person we really felt comfortable watching Tyler for us.  We would help each other out every once in a while by picking up the other person's kid and taking them home to have dinner/playing - Tyler and Vincent loved these playdates! This allowed Will/I to do a day trip to Big Bear to go snowboarding once, and also get a couple ultrasounds in when I was pregnant with Tyler.  Julie and I have been friends ever since we were both pregnant. :)  I had a really hard time accepting that they were leaving (abandonment issues!) and we were so excited to be out in Texas and see them!

Tyler and Vincent picked up their friendship without missing a beat.  Lots of playing at this place! (Stomping Grounds - an indoor playground with a cafe attached - WONDERFUL way to get out of the heat!)

Tyler loved the slides - he would actually get to the bottom and purposely propel himself off to land on his face.  I think he liked that the bottom was padded?  It looks painful for him but I have a bunch of pictures showing that he was actually doing it on purpose! Silly Tyler.

More slides!

Sliding with Vincent.

This was a funny photo - Vincent was really into his cheetos - he actually walked up to us with a bag of Cheetos and none of us could figure out where he got it from (turns out he walked up to a kid near the cafe and got it from him- when you're super cute people just give you stuff I guess! :D )

Just hanging out.

Tyler was very excited about the Hiro train that Vincent and Julie got him.  He even said: "I waited a long time for it".

Picture with Julie and Vincent!  It was so good seeing them!  Can't wait to see them in October when they will be in California!

After naps, we decided to hit my sister's local pool.  Their pools are nothing like ours - there are water slides and playgrounds and spray guns, etc.  Here's Katelyn getting dressed - more pool time!

Grace and I had snuck out to get a quick manicure/pedicure while the kids napped.  It took a little longer than expected and all the kids were lined up at the door waiting to go to the pool when we got home.

Tyler had a great at the pool and was especially excited to wear goggles.  He doesn't like getting water in his eyes and this kept them nice and dry!  Except that they were neon.  Haha!  Unfortunately our pool time got cut short because the lifeguards heard thunder.  Boo.  There was a storm coming in and they had to close the pool.  :(  

We headed home, had dinner and then started getting things ready for our flight home the next day.  Here's Will making a silly face with Katelyn after baths.

Last group shot of the cousins!  Even though these trips are quite tiring (and HOT!), I think its wonderful that Tyler will have these memories of visiting his cousins every Summer.  It'll be even more fun once Katelyn is older too.  Future plan: joint Walt Disney World trip!  Yay!

Sunday morning we headed out to the airport.  The curb side check in line was very long.  And hot. This time we decided to just check in Katelyn's carseat - I end up holding her most of the time and its quite unwieldy to carry around.

Back on the plane!  Next time we'll definitely need to do a non-stop flight.  Both flights I pretty much held her and she nursed sleepily the whole time.  

Tyler kept himself occupied watching videos on his iPhone.

We were so tired after we got home!  We had missed Tyler's nap window so we just had to plow through it.  We had an early bath for Tyler and afterward he climbed into our bed and fell asleep!  What a trip!

Hmm, any updates for this week?  Tyler has become scared of sleeping by himself at night - he wakes up scared and crying.  Argh.  Katelyn is still not napping so great, but hey what else is new.  I'm thinking at some point we'll need to start sleep training her a bit - she'll be 5 months this weekend.  She just doesn't seem to know how to soothe herself back to sleep, sigh.  Not looking forward to teaching her how...