Texas Sightseeing

Have you ever traveled 16 hours in a van with three kids and a 60 pound lap dog? We made that trek once again over Christmas on our way to visit Derrick's family in Texas. It is such a blessing that Derrick has enough time off work to make the trip worthwhile. We spent great, quality time with Derrick's parents, and they enjoyed spending Christmas with five of their seven children and assorted grandchildren. The trek is long, especially when Farley decides that he can get a better view from my lap (which I only tolerate for short stretches.) Our children are great in the car. On this trip, we were introduced to the world of Beverly Cleary and loved listening to "Henry and Ribsy" on tape.

Texas is such a big state, that we cannot possibly see everything on one visit. Each time we are there, we try to see at least one new sight. For this trip, we decided that our "tourist stop" would be Cabellas, a giant sporting goods store that is a favorite of Scott's Godfather, Mike. Each time we are at his house, he sends the boys home with a catalog. They act as if he has given them a treasure and pour through the pages for weeks.

So you can imagine their excitement when we told them where our "field trip" would take us. I think they expected just to look at the bows and arrows and other hunting gear. We certainly did not expect what we saw.

The store was magnificent and amazing. Throughout the store were displays of stuff animals. By "stuffed," I mean taxidermy-stuffed animals. I think (and hope) it is the closest I ever come to these types of animals.

Amanda was enthralled with the animals and kept pointing and saying "doggie!"


This moose was huge!


My favorite part was the African plain.


This elephant looks fake in this picture because of the lighting, but it was magnificent. (There was a little sign in front of this display that explained the policy of "controlled hunting" to help preserve the endangered animals.)







As I post these pictures, I realize Andrew is not in many them. He and Aunt Stephanie had a fantastic time in the store. She is so much fun to shop with. Every time we ran across them, she was encouraging Andrew on a new game of hide & seek, find the color, or (Andrew's favorite) explore the camping tents. They zipped and unzipped every display tent in the store. What fun for a three year old! We were so thankful that she was with us. Later, as we grocery shopped, she taught the boys how to lie down under the shopping cart and go for a wild ride through the store.

(These fish were alive, swimming in a huge tank.)