Vacation!!!

We were able to take a short little vacation this last week, which was Gracie's first real vacation :) We went to Dallas for the Dallas Safari Club Expo with Grpa and Grma Rael and Ty's step-brother Phil and his wife Becca. We went to Billings on Wednesday (Jan. 5) to do some shopping and stayed the night up there. I was so nervous to fly with little G. She decided that she wasn't going to take a bottle (she usually takes a bottle if it's breast milk) but it was a no-go. So I breast-fed her as we were taking off, and she crashed shortly after :) She slept the whole time until we started descending, but she was still good...just noisy! Such a relief. It was the same story on the flight from Denver to Dallas, except she decided to have a minor blowout. No problem, we were in the front row and had a little extra room, so I just changed her on my lap.

The majority of our time in Dallas was spent at the Expo. It was held at the Dallas Convention Center, which is HUGE!!! There were approximately 780 different booths. Here's a picture that shows about half of the booths. Just an idea of how big this place is...

We spent almost two days at the Expo and didn't make it through everything! It was mostly hunting/fishing outfitters, guns/ammo, and stuff like that. I only wish I were as into it as the guys were :) There were a few things that I enjoyed. There was a lot of artwork, and some home decor that were fun to look at. However most of my entertainment came from watching all different people. Yes I know Lovell has it's share of crazies, but there was a whole different kind of crazy there :) Gracie was such an angel through the whole thing. I think she loved ALL the attention she got from strangers :) I decided next time she goes somewhere, where no one knows her, she is going to have a bow on her head no matter how much she hates it :) We got told "oh HE'S so cute" so many times!!! (She looked exactly how I felt...TIRED)

On Saturday night, we went to the Dallas Mavs/Orlando Magic basketball game. Once again I was worried that G wasn't going to like it. She usually hates anything that's too loud, but she was intrigued by all the lights, music, and especially by the people sitting behind us lol. She did great up until the last few minutes. She was so tired and started to get hungry. Now was one of the times I wished she wanted to take a bottle.

Over all we had a great time!! We ate some really good food, and had enjoyed spending time with everyone! The weather was great (compared to here :)) until we left on Sunday. It rained all morning, and then started snowing as we were leaving to go to the airport. We were told they had already cancelled a bunch of flights out of Dallas that morning, so we were worried we were going to be stuck there another day. Dave and Jennie were going flying to Cancun from Dallas, and they were able to fly out, and luckily they didn't cancel ours either. So we got all checked in and through security and had a half hour or so to wait. So we got a little lunch and walked around to keep Gracie occupied. A few minutes before we were supposed to board, she started getting hungry, so I started feeding her some veggies. Then they call to start boarding, and instead of doing it by section (we were in the last section) they decided to board everyone at once. So I kept feeding her as long as I could. Well she decided she wasn't done, and started screaming as we are trying to board! Anyone who has heard my child scream knows she has a good set of lungs, so I'm sure everyone in the airport was able to hear her. To make matters worse, as we gave the lady our boarding pass, she told us we couldn't sit on the side of the plane that we were assigned to. So since we were one of the last people to board, it took what seemed like forever to figure out where we were gonna sit, all the while Gracie is still screaming. I wanted to die I was so frustrated. Finally I got sat down and got a boob in her mouth (haha yes in times like these this is the only thing that will calm this child down).

After sitting in the plane for an hour and a half (waiting in line to get de-iced) we finally took off for Salt Lake. As I look at our itinerary, I realize we are going to miss our connecting flight to Billings. Awesome, so then I was stressed about that the whole flight. Then to add to my embarrassment and stress, Gracie has a MAJOR blowout as we were descending into Salt Lake. I'm talking up the back and the front!! There was no way I was going to be able to change her in our seats without getting it all over us lol. So we waited till we landed so we could change her in the bathroom. Well, we landed, but sat there for 15 minutes waiting to be taxied into the jet way. So my poor child had to sit there forever with poop all over her before we could finally get up to change her. Poor girl was not happy! To wrap things up, we get off the plane, find out that the next flight to Billings wasn't till 10, and that we were going to be on standby for that flight. The next flight wasn't till the next day. We weren't about to stay there another night, so we try the flights to Cody and were lucky enough to get seats on that flight. Right before they start boarding for that flight, they announce that they need 6 volunteers to stay, because of bad weather?! And that there was a possibility we would have to take a detour to Bozeman. We chanced it and went ahead and got on and made it to Cody!! I won't even get started on our luggage dilemma :) Grma Marla and Grpa Jim, bless their hearts, came and picked us up in the middle of the night, and let us crash at her place!

I was never so glad to get back home! Despite the trip home, it was a fun vacation :) Thank you Grpa and Grma Rael for the fun trip, Grpa and Grma Isbell for rescuing us, Kristin for the ride home from Cody, and Grpa Angell for taking Ty back to Billings so he could get the truck!!! Have I ever mentioned we have the best family ever? :)

At our hotel...

Dallas Mavs game...

Gracie with Aunt Becca...

View from our hotel room...

Place where Pres. Kennedy was assassinated.