Our Super Fun Texas Vacation

We left for vacation on Jan. 1st for two weeks in Texas. We had an awesome time. Josh did fantastic in the car and we had to make only a few emergency bathroom stops along the way. The weather wasn't great, in the 30's and 40's most of the time, but it was definitely better than the the zero degrees in Indy.

On our trip we stopped in Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin and Corpus Christi with a few other stops along the way. We did have a few problems with the camper. First, the heater didn't work on the very first night. It was really cold so we all slept together in our heavy sleeping bag. Josh thought that was great fun. We couldn't find a place to get the furnace fixed until Monday. It took about 4 1/2 hours and 11 dollars to get it up and running. It was still covered under warranty. Then, as Matt was locking the camper door the key broke in the lock. Thankfully, he was able to get it out. Lastly, the brackets for the sway bars shifted and Matt had to tighten them back up. Fortunately, all things were pretty minor so we chock it up to vacation adventures.

We have a ton of pictures, but we are only putting a few up here.

Josh on his new Cars bike. He loves to ride his bike and gets better every time he rides it. We all went for our first bike ride together. By spring everyone better get out of the way, Josh will be super fast!

This is Joshie's monkey towel. It even has a tail. To cute!

This is our friend Nadia and Josh. Louanne and Mike, Nadia's parents, we met as we went through our adoption process over the internet. They adopted Nadia a month before us. We had never met in person. It was awesome to finally met in person, although we didn't get to meet Mike because he needed to finish some work.


The kids loved playing together. They terrorized the house. Sorry Louanne for the mess. We had a fantastic home cooked meal, which of course the kids didn't eat because they were so excited.

Louanne, Nadia, Jenny and Josh

This is Josh using my iPhone. I have loaded some education games on their for Josh. He is really good at using it too.

When we stopped in Austin is was to visit the Boatrights. Their daughter Rachel is one off Josh's China friends, as he calls them. This was the first time we had seen Bryan, Michelle, and Rachel since we left China 2 1/2 years ago other than on the computer. The kids were so excited to see each other.

Playing at the park

Daddy's and kids romping in the back yard after dinner

Aren't they the cutest things ever!!

Also while in Austin, we visited the Great Wall offices since we had never been there. There office is in a very very rich part of Austin. Everyone was super nice and they gave us a tour of the office. Josh flirted with every girl in the office.

This is Leanne and Josh. She was one of the ladies that helped us with paperwork questions/problems.

This is the front office.

We stopped at a place called Choke Canyon SP to see a Jacana. A very rare bird for the US, which we did see and it was very beautiful. Josh was fascinated with the fire ant mounds. Here he is putting grass on the mounds so the ants will have food.

I'm so cute!

Matt saving another bird. Last time it was an eagle, this time it was an Eared Grebe. It was very weak. Matt took it back to the water and it was gone the next day. Hopefully, it recovered.

This is Andy's Kitchen. A mom and pop place we found on the internet. It was yummy!! We went here because they have a train and we knew Josh would love it. He spent his entire meal watching the trains.

This is the Texas State Aquarium. It was small, but the programs/shows they had every half hour were really good. Since it was so cold, the dolphin show was at the underwater viewing room, which was a totally different perspective. Josh loved the touch and feel pool.

One of the shops in Corpus had this big shark as it's main entrance. The boys were eaten alive as they went in.

Josh soooo wanted to see alligators, but we couldn't find any. It was just too cold. So, one day we drove all the way to Aransas NWR , about an hour long drive, to find gators. Still no gators. It was still too cold. Next time I guess.

Josh + Sand = Crazy Boy

Every heard of sand angels?

After leaving Corpus we went to Dinosaur Valley SP. The park has dinosaur foot prints in it's river bed. It also has two dino replicas - a Brachiasaurus and T. Rex.

Super scary!!

Just before the park entrance was Dinosaur World. Josh loved it!! He ran from one dinosaur to the next and roared everytime.

The last stop of our trip was to visit the Gray's. Claire is another one of Josh's China friends. Mary Ann, Jason and Claire were at our reunion in July and it was still good to see them again. The kids were running all over the place.

Claire, Josh, and Mary Ann

Our vacation was wonderful, but the real world calls. Matt went back to work today and I start back tomorrow. The past few days have been filled with tons and tons of cleaning and laundry. Matt put the camper away for another four months until our next trip. How sad.

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures,

Matt, Jenny and Josh