Dallas Trip

The last week of June, Matt had to attend a conference in Dallas. Originally, I'd planned to go with him by myself and get some good R&R. But, as we got closer and closer, we decided that we wanted to take Madeleine with us as a fun treat for her! I was so excited about this one on one time with my big girl. And, it was exactly that -- so much fun! We had the BEST time that week! It was a treat to be able to spoil her. As much as I love all 3 of my kiddos, I feel like Madeleine takes the backseat most often when it comes to time/attention. Charlotte takes so much time and energy and Harrison still does a lot of the time too. So, this was a perfect chance to have tons of time with just Madeleine!

 

We drove to little rock and spent Monday night with Mimi & Grandad -- they had very very thankfully agreed to keep Charlotte & Harrison for the rest of the week! We got up Tuesday morning and headed out to Dallas! 

Traveling with an almost 9-year old is fun! She read and I got in the back and we watched a movie. The trip went by pretty quickly! We got to Dallas in the late afternoon, and headed to check out our hotel. Matt had to go check in at his conference that night so we got that out of the way. Then we set out to find us some yummy dinner. Our choice that night was easy -- Pappisitos. It's the best! Anywhere that gives you a side of garlic butter for your fajitas is gonna be good, right?!

We drove around for a bit after dinner and then stopped at Baskin Robbins for ice cream! Yum!

Then we headed back to the pool to swim. Our hotel wasn't that great, but it was free --- so no complaining! It was downtown and it had a rooftop pool and we hit the pool that night! It was fun to swim surrounded by some of the cool Dallas building--right next to the green building and we could see "the ball" in the background. Fun!

We went to bed late most nights -- ususally around 11ish which is late for Madeleine. :) Wednesday morning, Matt got up early and headed to his conference and Madeleine & I got to sleep in. Then we got up and headed to our big event of the day -- the American Girl Store! We had lunch reservations and had planned to do some shopping before that.

Lunch was tons of fun and Madeleine had been saving her money to make some purchases. She got her doll's ears pierced and bought some fun accessories. Then we walked over to the Galleria to do some exploring. Matt and I had told Madeleine that she could get her ears pierced while we were there -- she was pretty hesitant at first. She really wanted to do it, but was scared it would hurt. So, after one failed attempt the night before, she decided to go ahead with it that day and surprise Daddy that night!

After a fun day, we headed back to swim and wait for Matt to get back from his meeting.

All that shopping and swimming worked up an appetite and when Matt got back that night, we headed out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory! Yum! It was soooo good!

I would have never thought to get a burrito at CF, but when I was in Dallas last fall with friends, they ordered this and I had to have it! It didn't disappoint either -- by far my new favorite thing there!

And, of course we had to have Cheesecake. Madeleine got to choose her own and she loved it!

Then we went across the street to NorthPark Mall which is my most favorite mall in Dallas. We went there each year at Thanksgiving and it hasn't changed too much. :) It's full of great stores and our first stop was the Lego Store to pick up a treat to bring home to Harrison. We spent a lot of time in there -- Madeleine was in heaven!

She though the indoor pond with turtles and ducks was pretty neat too!

Then we went to Barnes & Noble and picked out a new book for her to read. She had a hard time narrowing it down. She and I could spend hours looking at books! I'm so thankful that she has such a love of reading.

It was another late night with more swimming. Thursday we got up pretty late (poor Matt had some eeeearly mornings!). Our Thursday plan was to head up to Frisco and go to IKEA. We stopped there and had breakfast first -- this is a picture of our $.99 breakfast. Everything is cheap at IKEA!!

We shopped and explored and had such a fun time! We came home with some great things too! By then Madeleine was ready for lunch so we headed to La Madeleine for a late lunch and shared a salad trio! Yum! We love LaMads!

We hit a Half Price Books and found a few goodies and then hit a Super Target which was awesome! Then we headed back to swim again and wait for Matt to come back for dinner. Our last night there we went to El Fenix -- can't make a trip to Dallas without a trip to El Fenix in our family! Sooo yummy and we stocked up on chips to bring home. :)

Matt really wanted to go to Half Price Books and we'd seen a huge one the night before, so we headed back there after dinner. Madeleine & I hit the jackpot there. We found tons of books in the clearance section -- for just $1 each! We ended up with almost 30 books for her!

Friday morning we got up, went swimming, packed and waited for Matt to finish up. Thankfully, the afternoon session was for "teams" and since he was the only one there from his team, he was able to get done a bit early. Sadly, we packed up and headed home. We stopped only briefly in Little Rock and actually made it all the way home to Fayetteville -- Matt & the big kids were planning to participate in a fishing derby on Saturday morning so we had to be home.

I am beyond thankful that we had this chance to spend some one on one time with our big girl. She is such a joy to be around. She has grown up so much this year and is pretty much always happy to help out. She helps Charlotte and includes her and is full of patience for her. She loves to help me out around the house -- setting the table or helping with dinner. But it hasn't always been this way -- we had a rough year or so with her but that has changed dramatically this past year.

These last 9 months she has grown up and into such a sweet young lady. The 9 months before that were tough -- full of stubborn times and frustrations. I have spent more time than ever in prayer over her and how we needed to parent her. And, in His goodness, God has answered my prayers immeasurably more  than I could have imagined. She has grown into such a beautiful girl -- both inside and out. I wish I could claim responsibility for this, but I can only thank God for allowing us to be his tool for making this happen. I am proud to be her momma. This trip was maybe even more fun because of the work we've put into helping her become this sweet girl.