Houston

On the day after Christmas, we piled i the car and drove down to Houston to celebrate Christmas with my Grandma Karen, Grandpa David, Aunt Julie, Uncle Andy, Jack, Alex, Palina, Sofia, and David. Wow! That's a big party! Marley was a great sport on the way down there, sleeping the entire way, which is becoming a habit of her's lately! We got there around noon and spent the afternoon opening presents, visiting with everyone, and eating some delicious fajitas. Sofia is two and a half, and I was excited to see she and Marley play together. but unfortunately they didn't really want to play with each other. Marley loved sitting at Sofia's miniature table, climbing the stairs with Jack, and "going shopping" in Sofia's shopping cart, but they didn't actually want to do any of that together. Marley especially loved an electric car that is Sofia's. She wanted to ride in that thing all afternoon and I finally had to hide it so that she would spend some time with the rest of us.
We decided to stay the night in Houston that night and have fun there the next day as a little getaway for the three of us. Once the festivities were done at my grandparents' house, we packed up our new presents up in the car and headed to our hotel! Luckily Marley slept the whole way there, which made the rest of the night much better. We have never stayed in a hotel as a family, and Asa and I have only stayed in one once before. It felt pretty exciting the be there, acting all responsible and stuff.

After we got settled in our hotel room, we headed out in search of a place to eat. This is where our iPhones came in very handy. We could search for nearby restaurants and then get the directions to them, and read and write reviews about them. But in route to one restaurant we had never been to, we spotted on my all time favorites: La Madeline! We had to stop and let Marley eat in one of the places we all grew up eating in! It was totally delicious and I had to text my mom and sister to let them know how jealous they should be!
What made it even better was the fact that Marley actually ATE! She had cheese, croissant, chicken, croutons, and even swallowed a few small pieces of lettuce! I know she would love this place.

After dinner (and dessert) we decided to walk around the stores that were nearby. We live in such a small town, it was so nice to feel like we were somewhere exciting, with things going on, and people actually out doing things! We got countless compliments on how cute Marley was and she had a blast walking all over the stores and chasing us down the sidewalks.
After our fabulous shopping experience, we decided to make a plan for the next day. We had the Natural History Museum, the Children's Museum, and the Houston Zoo as our choices. We ended up coming to the decision that we should just go to the Houston Zoo. We are an animal kind of family, so since we were so close to such a nice zoo we couldn't pass it up. I do want to take Marley back to the Children's Museum one day though.

So, we decided that if we were going to spend the day walking around the zoo, we were going to need a new stroller. And with all the Christmas money we got, we could make it a good stroller! So, we searched for the nearest Toys R Us and found that it was only a minute away. We went there and picked out a great Jeep stroller that they had two of on display. We loved it, even sent my mom a picture of "our stroller." But it turned out they didn't have any more in stock and they were not willing to let go of the ones on display. So, I got a little grumpy with the jerk who was helping us and eventually gave up. So, we looked up the next closest Toys R Us, which was 15 minutes away. We decided it was worth it and drove there.

They didn't have our original choice, so we picked out one that was a little big better and even on sale! We put Marley in the display one and she loved it too! But guess what. They didn't have one in stock. You think we would have learned our lesson. So, we finally found the perfect stroller. It was more than the other ones, but I am so glad we ended up getting that one because it was so nice! I love it!

We rushed back to the hotel, so excited to put it together. Who would have thought that a 21 and 22 year old we be that excited about a stroller?! I set it up while Asa and Marley took a bath. It was a little harder than i would have liked, but oh so worth it! Our new stroller is the best stroller in the world! And Marley loves it!
We got Marley to sleep and then watched Duplicity together. It was definitely nice to be back in a king size bed, where we could spread out! I felt like such a grown up staying in a hotel with my little family. Wait, I am a grown up.The next morning we got up and went to the nicest continental breakfast I have ever been to, and then packed everything up for the zoo! Our trip to the zoo will have to be a separate post, because it would take was too long to put it here.