Elena and I got back last Sunday from a really fun trip to Texas (Dallas) and Tulsa. We had a fabulous time. We spent Sunday through Wednesday with my sister and her family in Dallas. My sister treated Elena to her first pedicure, which she loved. On Monday, my sister arranged for a very special surprise for Elena: a visit from a real ballerina, dressed as the sugar plum fairy (a friend of the family). After a few minutes of just being in awe of her, Elena and the ballerina shared lemonade and cookies and danced together. Very sweet.
We had fun shopping as well. Dallas is dangerous for me: IKEA, plus we discovered a mall with an actual Hanna Andersson store. Suzan treated us to our first visit to Sam Moon. I wish I could have had a picture of Elena’s face when she saw the case full of tiaras. You can even buy your very own scepter to go with said tiaras. Only in Texas. Elena had lots of fun following her cousins around (Tony is 14 and Marc is 11). I think her favorite part of the whole trip was my sister’s dog, though. Hudgins is a teeny tiny yorkshire terrier, no more than 5 pounds. She couldn’t get enough of carrying that poor dog around like an accessory. Alas, I didn’t take a single picture of the pair.
On Thursday I rented a car and Elena and I headed up to Tulsa to visit my girlfriend Julie and her family. What was supposed to be about a 3 1/2 hour drive turned into an all-day trip. Just after we got into Oklahoma we got stuck on the interstate for almost 2 hours. A crane fell on the highway, of all things. I think the people around me were worried I might go into labor right then and there. Thankfully not, and we had a great, but short visit in Tulsa. Julie is trying to launch a photography business, and she took some really amazing pictures of me and Elena. If you’re ever anywhere near Tulsa, you have to let her photograph your family! Here a couple of my favorites:
And not part of the photo shoot, but Julie got a great pic of Elena and her daughter, Millie, having hot cocoa after a trip through the sprinkler. Don’t they look like a pair of drunken sailors? I think Julie and I have a very similar picture of us in New Orleans . . .
I have a few other pictures to post, as we had a very important event here last week: Elena’s 5th Birthday. That will have to wait a few more days, though. For some odd reason, my family wants me to pay attention to them right now 🙂
Happy 4th of July!
