joie de vivre: Thanksgiving -- Part One

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week! I still can't believe that it's over and we're on our way to Christmas.

We'd been planning for months to go spend Thanksgiving in Texas with my family. Then awhile back, my Dad called and said that he was able to get some rooms at a really nice hotel in Dallas, using his points and would we be interested in stopping off there first?! What a wonderfully fun time and great way to start off our week! We got up super-early on Sunday morning and headed down to Dallas! The kids were so good on the trip and we made it to Dallas by lunchtime. :) Our first stop was the mall -- it was too early to check into our hotel and the kids need to run off some energy. We got met up with Mimi & Grandad, got some lunch, checked out the Lego Store and rode the carousel.

I loved watching all of them on the carousel, but I especially loved watching Charlotte. She was a bit unsure at first, but once it got going, she was soaking it up! She looked quite proud of herself up there!

I didn't take any more picture that day -- I forgot and left my camera at the hotel. But, after checking in and unloading our gear, we explored the hotel. Then, we headed out for some dinner at my favorite mexican food place -- El Fenix. I think Matt's now a big fan (we left with a bag of chips for the road home, which we're now rationing) and it's a good thing since it's a family favorite spot -- my parents have been eating there for 35+ years.

We got some good sleep that night and woke up the next morning bright and early. Since Matt had stayed up working on a paper the night before, we let him sleep in while the rest of us went downstairs for breakfast. I have to mention the breakfast -- it was the most expensive breakfast I've ever had at the point in time. We'd gotten an upgrade with my parents membership so we were on the executive level, which generally gives you breakfast there. Well, they were renovating the breakfast area up there, so we got free breakfast at the restaurant downstairs. Did I mention this was a really nice hotel (The Intercontinental)?? Well, that morning breakfast cost $80 -- and that was just for my parents and the kids since Matt was sleeping and I was still full from stuffing myself on mexican the night before. Thank goodness it was free! :)

Our next stop that day was the Galleria. Thankfully, we were staying just a mile down the road so it was a quick trip. The kids had been anticipating going ice skating, so that was our first stop. We were there early and it wasn't busy at all! Yay! Matt wanted to be the one to go with them, so Charlotte and I hung out and watched from the sidelines.

Harrison pretty much hated it from the first moment he set foot on the ice. He did not like falling or not having control over his feet! But, we'd shelled out some good money to do this, so we made him give it a try before quitting.

Madeleine, on the other hand, took to it right away. She was unsteady at first, but kept on going, determined to master it! And, she did!

After only about 15 minutes on the ice, they had to clean it and the kids had to sit out for a bit. Matt gave Harrison a pep-talk and he was ready to give it another try.

This time it was much better. I think he did a total of around 5 laps before calling it quits. I was pretty proud of him for giving it a try. Later, he told me that he "loved" ice skating, so we'll be doing it again soon.

And, Madeleine spent over 2 hours on the ice that day! She was a natural at it and gained confidence with each lap. I can't wait to take her back! By the time she was finished she was exhausted, but even exhaustion and blisters could not dampen her spirit.

After all that work it was time for lunch! We found a spot at another of my favorites -- La Madeleine's where Matt and I shared my favorite fat-free ceasar salad and a croque monsieur. Yummy! Seriously, this is one of my most favorite places to eat.

While Harrison ran out some energy at the play area, Matt and I took Madeleine and a sleeping Charlotte to The American Girl Store.

After weeks of pouring over the catalogue she had a good idea of which girl she wanted. I really wanted her to have at least an idea of what she would choose, because I had a feeling the store would be overwhelming. She'd chosen Kanani, the doll of the year, and was thrilled with her. I had my doubts about her choice (surf gear? hawaiian clothes?) but she's still very happy with her doll. I would have thought that she'd want one of the little blond-haired, blue-eyed dolls (or one that looks like her), but Matt brought up the interesting point: she's a product of the school that we've chosen to put her in and she's surrounded by diversity. She doesn't see color or ethnicity and she chose the doll because that's what she liked. That made my heart melt.

Madeleine and I could have spent hours in there looking around and I was just as enthralled with it as she was -- oh the things they make for dolls! We had such fun looking! While Matt took the kids back to the hotel, Madeleine and I had afternoon tea that the Bistro upstairs.

We must have chosen a really good time, or just gotten lucky, because it wasn't busy at all! It was very nice and casual and they took such good care of us. We ordered our tea -- hot chocolate for Madeleine -- and had the best time talking and laughing. They even brought her doll her own cup and saucer with real drink in it! They also gave us a craft to do while we waited for our goodies -- we made party hats for the doll.

This was our tea tray. It was yummy, although we didn't even eat half of it. We were to busy admiring all of the fun things around us.

It was the perfect afternoon. We add a few things to our American Girl collection before leaving and looked around even more. It was so wonderful to have a few hours to devote just to my Madeleine and make these special memories with her.

That evening, we explored the hotel more and ate (more food!) at Fuddruckers. Charlotte discovered that she like ice cream that night too! I think our Braums trips are about to get more interesting. :)

The next morning we headed down to breakfast at the hotel again. With Matt and I also eating, we topped the amount spent the morning before. Our breakfast total the morning was......$150. Yes, $150. Crazy!! And, it really wasn't that much food, it was just one of those super-expensive places, which we were only eating at because it was FREE. And, yes, the food was yummy!

After breakfast, Mimi & Grandad headed on down to Temple and Matt and I took the kids to the Dallas World Aquarium. We wanted to wait and travel while Charlotte was sleeping and this was a perfect place to spend the morning.

The kids got to feed the monkeys...

We saw an albino crocodile that was the biggest thing I've ever seen! Seriously HUGE! Harrison was mezmerized.

It was such a neat place. You start at the top and wander through a rainforest down towards the aquarium part. We saw lots of creepy spiders and snakes, monkeys and flamingos, gators and tropical birds up top.

The bottom part was filled with areas of fish from different parts of the world grouped in areas that look like their natural habitat. The jellyfish in the dark and seahorses were some of our favorites.

Then we found the shark tunnel. It was awesome! We sat in the tunnel and watch all kinds of sharks and stingrays swim over us. Harrison and Madeleine were quick to point out a hammerhead shark which we've only ever seen in books.