Trip To Dallas Part I

My brother-in-law, Brian, is like a professional photographer and he took like 200 pictures while I was in Dallas, so this first part of my trip is going to be underwhelming to say the least. Watch for the sequel to this, though, as it promises to be picturesque. Oliver and I left last Wednesday to visit his cousins, Kate and Taylor and my twin sister, Rachel. It was sooooo much fun. Here are some pictures of the kiddos playing with the cart and strollers that they loved pushing all around the house and yard.

Kate, Taylor, and Oliver.

He was the leader of the pack.

A visit to Sprinkles... (taken by Brian)

On the trolley in Dallas (taken by Brian).

So, here comes the travelogue- brace yourselves. We came in to Dallas Wednesday and stopped on the way home at Potbelly's- the best sandwich and cookie place in Texas, possibly on this side of the Mississippi. That night, we just relaxed and planned out the week. The next day, we went to her gym where we burned 650 calories in an hour-long class- need I say more? That day we went to Old Town McKinney and ate a yummy lunch at Spoons with the yummiest chocolate cake I've about ever had. This whole town is filled with cute little antique shops and kids boutiques. It was really fun to pop in and out of the cute stores.

We burned another 600 calories in our class at the gym on Friday and then it was an all-out shopping day. For those of you who don't know Dallas- it's one of the best shopping places in the U.S.. Rachel let me know that I really have no style and since she has impeccable taste, I let her show me the way at the malls. By the way, I really do think that serving a mission kind of permanently put me about 2 years behind in the fashion world- more on that another time. Anyway, so we walked away with some crazy stuff and it was very enlightening...:). That night, we rented some good flicks and just relaxed. We probably went out to eat, too, but for all the eating-out we did, I really can't remember.
Anyway, so Saturday, Brian got home from his business trip and after a run that morning, we hung out for a bit at a really cool park for the kids with some friends of theirs. It was Rachel and Brian's anniversary, so I babysat the kids that night and watched the food network while they celebrated.
Sunday, I helped Rachel out in the nursery because she had tweaked her back while stretching that morning. Then, Rachel made one of the yummiest dinners of all time and we just hung out the rest of the night. Oh, Brian "camped out" with Kate and Taylor in their backyard so Rachel and I were on our own.
Monday, we drove into Dallas and rode a trolley around a cute little part of town. The trolley conductor was an 80-something-year old man that was soooo cute! It was really fun to see part of the city that way. We stopped again at Potbelly's for sandwiches while on the trolley, and of course, the day wouldn't have been complete without a stop at Sprinkles cupcakes in North Dallas. After dark chocolate and banana with chocolate frosting perfection, we headed home. Rachel and I had a girls night out at California Pizza Kitchen, topped off with The Bachelor before calling it a day. Oh, wait, I almost forgot one of the highlights of my trip! Rachel's indoor soccer team let me play with them in their game that night at 10:45 (Kind of an unreasonable hour, right? Don't worry, we drank lots of Coke beforehand.) . It was soooooooooo, soooooooooo, sooooooooooo fun to play again. It's been about 5 years for me, so you can understand my excitement. And, we won! Oliver and I flew home the next day and we were equally as excited to see Christian/Daddy. I love, love, love spending time with Rachel and we always have the best time. Until next time!:)