Dear Loyal Brown Girl Followers,

This is our last post from our Texas vacation. It was a wonderful vacation full of laughter and good friends. We are so glad that all of you could be with us on our vacation.

To the Souths - we love you and are holding you to your promised visit.

To Padrino Pablo - thank you for the hospitality, the dance lessons and the wild ride through Dallas.

To Karyn - thanks for watching the cat, watering the lawn and taking care of Mom's house so that we could go on our vacation with no worries.

To Mom - we are so thrilled that you came to Texas to be with us (we know that Ann had nothing to do with your trip south!)

To Peter and Beth - thanks for giving us your girls for just a very brief two weeks, we loved the time together. Apologies in advance for anything we may have taught them...

A Big Texas Adios to all our fans, until the next vacation...

Memphis

Hello Brown Girl Followers! This is our last night - it is sad faces all around. We did start the morning off with a dance recital from Jessica and Godfather Paul - Guiness even got into the act! After many laughs, we put on our Texas shirts, packed our bags and started heading north. But, before we could leave Dallas, we made one last stop at the 711. Although we were able to fill the car full of gas, we were unable fill our tummys one last time with a cherry slurpee - bummer. We didn't let this get us too far down, though as it was a last opportunity to drive fast - really fast. I am certainly going to miss that. We encountered some pretty heavy traffic but finally made it to the hotel - although according to Jessica, the Godfather Paul Inn is the best! We did make it in time to watch the season finale of Zach and Cody on Deck! After this, it will be off to the pool and then straight to bed and back to KY. Being in Memphis, I feel inclined to say a musical good night to all.

Dallas - old times and good friends

Good Morning Brown Girl Followers. I am blogging in the early AM instead of in the evening - It was an exciting day yesterday. We got up in the morning and finished our Shrek movie, we have now watched I and II, I guess I will have to get III, watch it and go to see Shrek IV, good thing it is summer break! It was then off to brunch and then a trip down memory lane.

We went to see some of the Dallas sites - the grassy knoll, the home of George W. Bush and the home of Paul R. Bush. Both of the homes are in gated communities, we did note that two unmarked cars watched our picture taking at the home of George W's house and it was two graffiti-marked cars watched our picture taking at the home of Paul R's house, hmmmm, I guess it must have been the age difference between the two Bush men!

After the home watching, we went to see our old Texas home and found it was for sale - What! We couldn't believe it, who would sell such a landmark? We immediately called the realtor and found the cost to determine how much we should make on the sale, everyone can now rest easy, we will make enough to return home now so no need to sell the dolls or the girls! Next we were off to our elementary school and then the Piggly Wiggly, the Dairy Queen and found the 711 to have been changed to a Shell Station, but loyal fans, do not stress, the 711 only moved down the street.

After a short swim, we headed out to meet Granny Sande and the rest of our Texas family. Laura recommended a fabulous barbeque restaurant where we enjoyed some melt in your mouth ribs, mmmm, great barbeque and great friends, could it get any better?? Then back to Ann's house where we talked and laughed, talked and laugh some more - until finally Katie and Jessica fell asleep and we realized how late it had become. As Amy and I reminisced about our being with our Texas family we were happy at how comfortable it all was, we all just fell right back into being one big happy family. South family, we love you! Can't wait to see you in Lexington in September :)

Dallas - Day 1

Hello Brown Girl Followers! We have finally arrived at our last Texas locale - The Godfather Paul

Inn, located in the heart of the city. We took our time driving this morning, getting a great start with an IHop breakfast. Then we headed to the pioneer village only to find that it was closed :( that was a bummer - it looked cute, like it would be a really good time, but we understood once we saw the sign that said that it was closed due to a family member being in the hospital, I guess it was a family run business. So from there we headed to Arlington, home of the greatest Texas landmark of all - Cowboys Stadium. It was enormous! I was suprised that we were able to actually take a self-guided tour that took us down on the field. How exciting is that! I even got back to the players locker room. Do you see me next to Tony Romo's locker? Do you see the note I have in my hand? Do you notice that the note is missing in later pictures? Hmmmmm... Sorry, Karyn, this time I left my phone number.

We spent our time in the car listening to the Shrek soundtrack so tonight, there will be a double feature of Shrek I and Shrek II (for those who can stay awake) at the Godfather Paul Inn this evening. We are looking forward to it. Tomorrow it is off to do fun things in Dallas and spend time with some fun friends.

PS - Peter and Beth, have run out of money, may have to sell children or dolls to get home, it's a toss up - preference??

Houston - NASA

Can you believe it - 8 and a half hours at NASA today! It is a good thing we got plenty of sleep last night because those astronauts sure kept us busy. We met a nice lady first thing walking into NASA that gave us the low down on what to see and when - it was perfect! We started with a tram ride to see the astronaut training facility and rocket park. All I can say is WOW, the rockets, the space station simulation - all of it is huge. It is amazing. We went and played on some equipment and then off to learn what it takes to work on the space station and how to become an astronaut. It is a good thing that Aunt Amy's suitcase wasn't in the car, she might have stayed to realize her lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut!

Katie was thrilled that we were able to watch the live liftoff of the Russian spaceship that was headed towards the international space station.

Houston - Day 1 Pictures

Aren't these pictures great?? A big Texas sized "THANKS" to the Brown family for getting me this great camera :)

Houston - Day 1

We started our morning heading towards the caverns. We dressed appropriately with our tennis shoes and capris and even a jacket! When we arrived at exactly 9 AM, we thought we might be the first ones there, but alas, we were not, we did however make the first tour with our tour guide Alex. Katie worked the whole tour to be right next to Alex - better to hear what he was saying. It was quite a workout - and incredibly warm. We certainly did not need the jackets. After the tour, we hit the gift shop and then off to Houston.

The trip took us about 3 hours. I was slightly disappointed that the speed limit between San Antonio and Houston was only 75 miles an hour, I am getting used to driving about 85...

As soon as we arrived in Houston, we changed into our shorts and the girls into swimsuits and it was off to Galveston. We wanted to take a ferry boat ride but after an hour wait, we decided that it was cutting into valuable beach time so did a quick u-turn and it was off to the beach. We arrived during high tide so the beach was covered in sea weed, but it would not deter our fun. After Jessica tried to bury Katie in the sand, we went and ran around in the water a little and then head back to Houston for a good night sleep before our big day tomorrow at NASA.

I am having major difficulties with the internet tonight so the pictures will be up - eventually

San Antonio - Day 3

At church this morning, the most bizzare thing happened - the lights dimmed during the middle of Mass. I had to ask Jessica if it was my eyes, but she said, "no." Thank goodness! After a pretty quick Mass we walked out to find that the expected rain had come but was already done - yeah! After Mass it was off to the IHop for breakfast - yummy, Jessica had smiley face pancakes and Katie had - you guessed it, fruit and mac and cheese. After breakfast, it was off to the wild animal preserve.

We fed all kinds of animals including the zebras. We are sorry to tell all our loyal Brown Girls followers but unfortunately, Katie was eaten by the zebras. It was sad but she went out giggling. We plan on losing Jessica in the caverns tomorrow...

After the wild animal safari we came back to the hotel to play with the doll stash and then out for dinner on the waterfront at Casa Rio. There was so much food that even though we shared, there was still food left over! Jessica fed most of the leftovers to the ducks, I guess she was still in the animal feeding mode from this morning. Swimming in the hotel rounded out our evening. We did learn something important at lunch today - Katie enjoys double dipping and Jessica, well, she thinks it is "horrifying."

Big Texas hugs and kisses to all our loyal followers. And, since we won't post our blog until late tomorrow evening - a big Texas sized "happy birthday" to mommy!