NASA

Field trip to NASA.  One word:  AWESOME!

 A model of the space shuttle greets you right outside of the museum. 

"Houston, we have a problem". We got to tour the actual mission control where they actually ran all the Apollo missions from.  It was so cool.

 We also saw the floor were they have life size mock-ups of the international space station so the astronauts can practice.  They also have new models of the next vehicles to space.

The Saturn 5 rocket is huge!!  I thought the space shuttles were big. 

Houston and Pookie's!

We got to Houston around 5pm on the 11th of June.  We were so happy to see Pookie and Aaron and Alex and Sophie!  The kids were so happy to know they weren't going anywhere far for a week.  We were busy the whole time we were in Houston.  We explored the city and saw and ate lots of yummy things!

First stop-Blue Belle Ice Cream Factory-this ice cream gives Tillamook a run for its money.  To bad we can't get it out here. That might actually be a good thing.

 Look at all those yummy Flavors.  Wish I could have tried them all!  We did our best though.

 On the way home from Blue Bell we stopped at a place for lunch.  It serves Kolaches, which are a Chech Pastry.  They were way yummy.  I love how in love with the shape of Texas this state is.  Had to take a picture of the sign.

 Another temple stop:  Houston

Texas Part 3-San Antonio

We got to San Antonio around 8pm on Monday the 10th.  We drove through some ugly parts of Texas and some really pretty parts.  We stayed at my cousin's house in San Antonio.  They weren't there, but were so nice to let us stay there.  Thanks Lisle and MaryAnn! It was nice to have a bit more room to stretch out in instead of a hotel room.

Our first stop was the San Antonio Temple.   It's in a nice spot up on a hill on the north side of the city. 

Ever since I was little and watched the movie Clock and Dagger I have wanted to visit San Antonio and the Riverwalk.  I've always wanted to visit the Alamo too.  The city was alive with spirit the day we were there because the Spurs were playing a game that night for the NBA finals. 

The Alamo was very nice.  I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed as we walked around the place.  We love visiting places of history, because it makes it all real.  Adam noted how he was happy to be there, but also sad to remember what happened there.  That's exactly what makes places like this special.  We "Remember the Alamo!"

 Three separate people told me that Rudy's was the best place to stop by and eat while in San Antonio.  It didn't disappoint.  We enjoyed our BBQ and also the peach cobbler with ice cream afterwards.  After lunch it was on to Houston!

Texas Part 2

After our stop in Farmington we drove down to Artesia, New Mexico with a stop in Albuquerque and Roswell.  Damon wanted to stop by as many temples as we passed.  We missed the Dallas one, but got all the others.  Roswell made us laugh.  There were aliens everywhere.  We finally stopped to meet some.

 After our night in Artesia (wouldn't recommend that place) we drove down to Carlsbad Caverns National Park-Monday June 10th.  That place was super cool!!  We met some people from Germany there. I honestly thought we were going to descend forever.  We eventually hit the bottom.  It was hard to take pictures down inside the cave, but a few did turn out.

 Lily got to become a Jr. Ranger at Mesa Verde and Carlsbad Cavern.  This was her swearing in ceremony.  After this we left for San Antonio!

The Great Texas Road Trip!

Damon thought I was crazy when I said I wanted to drive to Texas for our family vacation this summer.  Yes, I was crazy, but we had an amazing vacation that was well worth all the craziness and miles in the car.  I'll have to break the vacation up into sections because it would be a Texas sized blog if I didn't.

First stop- we took off Friday June 7th around 5pm.  We drove to Cortez, Colorado.  We drove through Moab and right past Arches National Park (we decided to save that for a fall field trip).  We were headed into uncharted territory for all of us so it was a bit fun.

After breakfast the next morning we headed into Mesa Verde National Park.  We always joke about how many foreigners we meet at national parks.  The first we met here were from Italy.

 We started at the visitors center and then headed to Spruce Treehouse and the museum.

We then went on a guided tour of Cliff Palace.  It's one of the bigger cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde.  It was amazing!  Noah got to be a pueblo Indian.  After our hike out we stopped for some ice cream.  It seems to be our tradition to get ice cream at the national parks.  It's always so good!

 We saw some interesting landscaping on our drive to Four Corners National Monument and then on to Farmington, New Mexico.  We stayed with our old friends, The Larson's, who used to live near us in San Diego.  There is nothing like seeing friends.  I forgot how much I laugh when I am around them.  The kids enjoyed seeing each other again.  Didn't get any pictures of them though.  Melissa was one of the first people I met when we moved to Scripps Ranch and she befriended me and made me feel so welcome.