Home Sweet Home - Our Texas Vacation Part 2

Howdy!

Back to the end of our vacation and our trip back to the island with a guest.

So after Junction, I got to go visit with my friend Lauren whom I worked with at RCHS. She was my classroom neighbor. It was so good to catch up, do a little shopping, and then see some more coworkers.

Oh I miss my friends so much! Me and JoLynn

April, Kaela, Misty, Me and Holly

Me and Lauren

I really miss all my coworkers! We were like family for 9 years. I also miss teaching. I also miss doing math everyday.

There might be something wrong with me, I know, I know.

So after my fun days in Dallas, I headed back to San Antonio for some marathon packing and good-byes.

Shop 'Til You Drop...

Let's talk about shopping for a minute.

One of Josh's friends said that we'll be overwhelmed when we get back to America. Everything is so big and fast and loud. Yeah right! It's America. It's where I'm from. Where I grew up. NO WAY

Ummmmm....yeah.....I was totally wrong. The first time we walked into Walmart...whoa! I was totally overwhelmed and had a panicking need to put everything in the cart. LET'S TAKE IT ALL!!

Plus, it was so big. Very colorful and new. The shops here are so tiny and the merchandise already seems like it's old, or at the very least has been on the shelf for quite a while.

Look what I found at Walmart. 

And cheap!! Holy cow!! Everything down in Grenada is at least twice as expensive, if not more, than anything at Walmart or Target.

ahhhhhhh Target.....and Target with Starbucks......oh how I miss you! I think I tried on every pair of shorts and swimsuits that Target has....and I loved every minute of it. Yay!

Since we were home for only 3 weeks, and we had a long list of items to restock and bring back, Josh and I had to walk the entire Walmart store....each. and. every. isle.

Oh I do not kid you! I did not want to miss a thing! We did it very systematically over about a week. Overkill? Sure. Would I break down in tears if we had forgotten something? You bet! It's not like we can just go to IGA and buy, let's say, hair spray, let alone our specific brand and hold. I mean, we couldn't even get butter for like 3 weeks around here!!

Lauren Joins the Chaos

Lauren is a good sport. She and I worked together, right next door to each other in fact, for many years.

Lauren is awesome! She is good with kids too. Specifically, my kids, but probably all kids.

She joined our circus in Dallas and flew with us back home. Home sweet home. It actually was really nice to get back. I missed my bed and my little apartment. Lauren was such a good sport. She was so happy to just be here and see all the Grenadian stuff. The first night we got home there was a millipede invasion (they were house-sitting for us) and as I'm trying to sweep the suckers out the door she's taking pictures. I love it!!

Together we got to do so many fun things! Beach, pool, chocolate plantation, Gouyave fish Friday, St. George's, and we hiked to the 7 Sisters waterfalls.

Lauren at fish Friday

Steel band in Gouyave

This is so cool! That is a nutmeg. The center is the nut. The red is the mace. 

We hiked to 7 Sisters 

We went to the crab races. I won $44 EC. Whoo hoo!

Go crabs go!! 

Cheers to a fun adventure! Thanks for coming Lauren!! 

We seriously had so much fun! I think the driving kinda freaked her out a few times, and I got over my fear of driving up mountains. Yay us! We spent a lot of time at Grand Anse Beach and sometimes the kids came with us. It was a fun vacation! Thanks Lauren!! 

Well, as I write this Josh just finished his final exam of 3rd term. That means Tuesday starts the dreaded 4th term. Dreaded because it's really hard. Really really hard. So we are going to enjoy our 3 day weekend with Josh and see him while we can. Starting Tuesday he's just going to be "that Daddy guy" we occasionally see when he stops off for food and sleep. 

Hope your summer was fun and relaxing. And if not....here, enjoy....

Tarryn

I'd like to thank Lauren for letting me use her pictures of her trip. My camera just didn't make it out with us very much. Thanks Lauren!! 

Home Sweet Home...Our Texas Vacation Part 1

Hello again! Ready for another exciting year in Grenada?

Are you ready for an adventure?!

Before we get back to that, I have to tell you about our trip home. Part of the reason I started this blog was to keep a journal of our travels and adventures through medical school and beyond. I know we've been back for a month now, but I have to start over in June before I can move forward. Make sense?

In June we got to go home to Texas for 3 weeks. And boy was it an adventure! We drove up and down the entire state visiting family and friends. It was a quick trip but oh so worth it!

Our very own Aunt Susan cake...yum yum!

Here is a run down of our whirl-wind tour of Texas:

 First, we had to get there.

We had to take 3 planes: Grenada to Miami, Miami to Dallas, and Dallas to San Antonio.

It really wasn't bad going home. Flying was a relatively new thing because the girls were too small to remember flying to Grenada the first time. Everyone acted so nicely and was just happy to be on our way home.













On the first flight, the captain told everyone that kids were allowed to visit the cockpit when we landed. It was really a neat experience for the kids. Ethan and Analeigh got to see how to "drive" a plane. Then they played Plane for weeks to come after we got back home to Grenada.

 We must have been a sight to see! We had 4 large suitcases, 5 carry-ons, and 4 back packs. It was not easy to maneuver the airport like that, but we managed. That is, until American Airlines broke the stroller.

No matter. I was so happy to be in the United States again, that we just went with it.

When we got to the Dallas airport we saw 2 cowboys, as in, full get-up: boots, Wranglers, cowboy hats.

That will make ya feel like home.

And then we ate some McDonald's. Happy happy happy!

Noelle slept like this the entire 2nd flight. Analeigh slept too. You can't ask for more than that when flying with kids.















Once we got to Texas, most of our time was spent like this:

In the car, again....

We first spent 2 days in San Antonio, then drove to Corpus Christi to see my parents. There we hit the beach, Mustang Island to be exact, and the Texas State Aquarium. 

Her 1st time in the Gulf.

This girl loves to skip!

   The kids had a blast!

Ethan was a natural in the ocean. 

Her favorite part of the ocean...not being in the ocean. 

We play "tourist" well I think. 

The Texas State Aquarium is great for kids. 

Analeigh is always doing her own thing.

She's trying to call the fishy. 

We spent a week in Corpus and then back to San Antonio for a night and then up to Austin to see Josh's sister Lori, her husband Garrison, and their son Joseph. Joseph is only 10 weeks younger than Analeigh, so it's adorable to see them play together. 

Is this not totally ADORABLE!! Analeigh enjoyed being driven around. 

These cars are Ethan's dream come true. 

...and so did Noelle.

We stayed overnight at Lori's and the kids had so much fun together. So did we! Josh's brother drove up and all us "kids" got to hang out together. So much fun! 

Having fun at Aunt Lori's house.

Aunt Lori has the best toys!

Uncle Matthew shows Noelle the fishies in the pond.

Next we headed north to Dallas/Ft. Worth to stay with Josh's brother and to see my sister and my friends.

I played around with my camera a little bit while we were at Matthew's house and got some neat shots.

The view across the street from his house. 

The girls playing with a tricycle. 

This one knows how to pose. 

Matthew's street. I love Texas. I miss these gorgeous wide open spaces! 

The view from Matthew's front yard. Gorgeous!

So we spent several days in Dallas. One day was just for errands, doctor's appointments and so on.






The next day we went out on the lake in Matthew's boat. That was a lot of fun and it was the perfect day for the lake. There were hardly any boaters out and the lake was nice and calm. Perfect for swimming and floating!


We also spent one day hanging out with my sister and her 3 kids, the littlest one having been born only a month or so before. It was really fun getting the cousins together.

Cousins. I love all the crying...ha ha. 

Cutie little baby Macey. 

I know this one is blurry, but Noelle and Grayson are 6 months apart and they are so cute together. 

Ethan was reading to Riley.

And Noelle was poking poor Boomer. She loves dogs. 

A special treat for me was that I got to go visit with my 2 best friends. Josh dropped me off and I spent a couple nights catching up like old times.

First I got to spend time with Nikki and her newborn baby that is a cutie pie! We did some shopping during the day, but at night it was country line dancing time!! This is the night I most looked forward to on this trip.

Flashback time: every Thursday night when I was living in Fate, Nikki and I would meet up at Southern Junction and go line dancing...for free! There is no cover because it's a steak house too. There is a live band and a dance floor....what more do we need?! It worked out perfectly, especially since Josh is not a big dancer and I love to go. I'd wait to put the kids to bed and then head out. I had to be back before Josh had to leave for work. It was the perfect set up! I even went when I was 9 months pregnant with Noelle. I bet that was a funny sight since I was as big as a house!

Back to June: Nikki and I went with her mom and another friend, Jan, and we danced the night away. I loved every minute of it!

Me and Nikki at Junction. 

 PS - this is when I fell in love with Instagram. Don't we look so young and adorable!

 This is the Junction.

It's got good food and good music. The live band that night was really good.

God I miss Texas!


And No, I've never been on that bull.                                                        







Ok, I'm going to stop this one here. There is a lot to tell about our trip and I don't think one blog post will do it! Especially since we brought back a friend of mine, Lauren, with us to Grenada...which is a whole other adventure in itself!

Hope you enjoyed and I'll get to work on the next installment....I know you JUST CAN'T WAIT!!!

Toodles,

Tarryn