Well whew! once we got out of Dallas and got to Lexington, things started to get much better. It took all of 2 seconds for Max and Samantha (his 6 year old niece) to become 2 peas in a pod. They played so well together that I don’t think we had to intervene at all! None of that “Don’t bug her, don’t hit him” or anything – it was really flawless. The weather was pretty darn cold – so I’m glad I packed all the scarves and hats, etc. We used it all.

Some highlights included:

-Our day trip to the Natural Bridge about 1 1/4 away. Max, Sam, Rob, Matt and I went to this resort (not especially fancy) where we had lunch before our hike. Matt tried a KY specialty – the ‘Hot Brown’ – a meat filled sandwich with meat in it (and more meat), served in a bowl totally smothered with cheese. Really good for the heart – you know? Then we went on this great hike up to the Natural Bridge – it was cold but clear and really fun. The kids loved the adventure of it.

-Matt and I got to have a date-night where we ate at a local Applebees (which is what Rob does – he is the big boss over many of these in KY) and got to see the Harry Potter movie. Crazy – in the absolute climax of the movie -the projector broke 3 times. I thought there was going to be a riot in that totally full theatre! But – it got fixed and we saw the rest – really good flick.

-Thanksgiving Day – My mom and Don joined us at Di and Rob’s house – it was really so fun. For the big meal several of their local friends came to – it was a full house. I played Activity Director and led the ‘what are you thankful for’ rounds and then we did some Thanksgiving Trivia that I got from the internet.

-Kentucky Lights – We ventured out into like 17 degree weather for a drive-through light show situated in a horse racing property. They also had a petting zoo, miniature train museum, little train rides. The kids just loved it! Did I mention that it was coooooooooollllllllddd? We were doing ok when Lucy just burst into tears – she had no good coat (only layers) and no mittens (dumb Mommy forgot them) and she was fed up! We warmed her up in the car and all was well.

-Just hanging around the house – Di and Rob have a really lovely and large home. It fit us all quite well – with space for the kids to play. Bounce house in the basement included! Better than Chuck E Cheese – cuz you could stay in your pajamas.

What a blessing our family is to us; it was a very memorable time. We’ll put pictures up soon. 🙂

From Toby’s previous
post, you know that we were in Dallas for an overnight. Toby did not have any
of her sleeping accessories for that night. I didn’t have any chance of getting a white noise machine but I felt confident I could find some ear plugs. Toby had already been to the Qwik-E-Mart at the Shell gas station, and they didn’t have any ear plugs.
Since we were in an area with so many hotels, I thought that it wouldn’t be any problem to get them at a gift shop (our hotel didn’t have any). I took Max with me to walk to another hotel. It was about 9 pm local time, but 7pm body time. We walked to the closest hotel, and they didn’t have any either. The next hotel we walked to had just sold the last pair. I didn’t want to be out all night, so I thought I would go to the most likely place to have them. There was a big Marriott hotel looming over all the rest.
The Marriott was farther than the others, it appeared to me to be about a quarter mile away. But I could walk that, no problem. Max and I started off. We cut through the parking lot of one hotel, and then across a field to get to the road that led to the Marriott. We stepped over a little cable fence and were walking on the shoulder of the road. It was much farther than a quarter mile. As we were walking alongside the road, I wondered why there was no side walk. But it was Texas. Maybe they don’t have sidewalks.
Also, cars would pass us at very high speeds. I decided that Max and I would walk in the dirt next to the blacktop. Max quickly got tired of walking, and so I hoisted him on my shoulders. Cars were passing us at much too high of speeds, and when I saw the big green sign over the street, I realized I wasn’t on a street, I was on the shoulder of the freeway! But the Marriott was just a little further…
It took about 35 minutes of speed walking to get to the Marriott. We came up on the back side of the hotel, and almost immediately a security guard came up and shined his flashlight in my eyes. He said that we couldn’t use the back entrance to the hotel and I would need to go around the hotel to main entrance. I replied that I was looking for the front entrance. He seemed a bit confused by this and after a couple turns of the wheels in his head, he decided that he could escort us to the front of the hotel. As we were walking he explained that the Dallas Cowboys were staying at the hotel and the back portion of the hotel was sealed off. I didn’t really care, I was just hoping that the earplugs were here.
Praise God, the gift shop was open and had ear plugs for sale. 89 cents. After the purchase, I asked the concierge where the cab stand was. He said the cabs were right out front. I went out and didn’t see any vehicles with any markings that identified them as cabs. I went back inside and asked where the cabs were. In an exasperated voice (and a slight eyeroll) he said they were right outside the front. In fact, he said, there were 3 cabbies coming in at that moment. I asked the group if I could get a cab back to my hotel. Sure, one said, my cab is right out front. I followed him to the ‘cab’. He opened the back door of a Lincoln and motioned for me to get in. There were no signs, no markings of any kind that this Towncar was for hire. I got in and told him where I needed to go. We went a different way (not on the freeway), but the distance from the Marriott to our hotel was just under two miles. Quarter mile, hah!
That cab ride was the best $10 I spent in Dallas.