We’re back from Texas!  And since everything is bigger in Texas, I took MORE pictures, made MORE messes, and spent MORE for a haircut!  We loved every minute of it (except for the part when we almost got wiped out by a tornado). 

Sunday: 

We left our house a bit late.  About 20 minutes.  That caused us to feel hurried and rushed at the airport.  We almost left the car seats in the car, but made the shuttle driver turn around so we could retrieve.  We made our flight and had no issues, especially since we had a 2+ hour layover in fabulous Atlanta.  The girls seemed to like flying, when they weren’t fighting over who got the window seat. 

Tori and Risa were waiting for us when we arrived at baggage claim, so we shoved all our stuff and the two wild, keyed-up girls into the FunBus (aka Expedition) and headed to the house.  Casa de Bliss was nice before - but deeyam, it’s now called Spa Bliss.  The guest ‘room’ is nice enough for me to actually look forward to the day when Mike divorces me for a trophy wife and I can move in with my sister.  Between the pool and hot tub, pool table, TVs and super comfy chairs everywhere, it’s heaven on earth.  Except if you have to clean it. 

I took lots of pictures that will embarass my sister, but I am head over heels in love with her house.  If I could have any style of house I wanted, it would be hers.  It’s Spanish, it’s curved, it’s comfy, it’s cool, and it’s full of weird, quirky, and pretty things to look at.  It also might look weird sitting in the middle of a colonial suburb in Virginia, but I wouldn’t mind.  It has horses and animals, and a steady stream of teenagers tramping in and out of it. 

Risa made a delicious brisket for dinner.  I had to physically restrain myself from eating all four pounds of it. 

Monday:  We spent a lot of time in the pool and watching the tons of landscaping going on.  It was so impressive how that many people can accomplish so much in minimal time.  It made me want to hire a crew of 100 to come into our house and just redo everything.  Then reality hit and I stopped that fantasy train. 

In the afternoon, Risa and I took the girls to see Up in 3D.  Risa and I actually cried. It’s kind of sad!  Thankfully the girls didn’t really get the sadness parts and seemed to like the movie.  Her theatre spoiled me - it’s way more comfy and luxurious than any of ours here in VA. 

On the way home, Risa explained that the newest thing in Southlake is spires.  First everyone who was anyone had to have turrets on their houses. The more turrets, the better.  After the turrets of 2008, 2009 brought in the advent of spires.  We renamed some of the more obnoxious subdivisions:  St. Emilion’s became St. A-Million-Plus.  Patterson’s Pond, which truly is Spireland, became Patterson’s Sewage Swamp - these houses were put onto swampland and they are large, be-spired, and kind of ridiculous.  Costa Azul is now Costa Lotta Bucks.  Southlake is a haven for snarky sisters, I’ll tell you that much.  We were even treated to a tour of the most ridiculous houses in S’Lake.  If you look at nothing else, be sure to view them in the Flickr show.  It’s hilarious! And Risa, I’m not kidding.  For Christmas I am sending you a set of 28 spires that you can duct tape to the top of your tin roof.  Mark my words.  You will be the most spired house in Southlake. 

Tuesday: Risa and I left the girls behind with Mike and Nate and headed out for haircuts. I desperately needed one and her guy was great. Too bad I am still left looking for someone in Richmond because flying to Texas for a haircut is not really in the budget.  Nate and Mike had lunch together and we took Tori, Whitney and the girls to American Girl Place at the Galleria in Dallas.  We had lunch at the AG Bistro. Risa wasn’t all that impressed, but the girls thought it was the coolest thing ever to have special seats for the AG dolls and to be able to shop for clothes for the afore-mentioned dolls right there.  I had to talk them out of the $180 doll beds and into some other, more budget-conscious clothing for their Bitty Babies.  I was successful. 

When we returned home, Risa’s Jefe of the landscaping crew had determined that a huge tree meant for the backyard was going on top of the septic field, and while digging the hole, they’d flooded the hole with yummy smelling sewage.  She was thrilled.  (A side note:  El Jefe’s real name is Jesus, but his nickname is Chuie, which meant that meant spent the entire week roaring like Chewbacca.  Anytime anyone said something about Chuie, Mike would roar.)

Wednesday: We headed off to the Fort Worth Zoo.  First we had lunch at the most delicious IHOP ever.  I don’t know what the deal was, but the chef there was apparently under-challenged and everything was amazingly good.  I wish that guy cooked in Richmond!  It was half-price day at the Zoo, so it was packed. We parked in a remote lot and hoofed it in.  Unfortunately the girls were “tired” after the Battan Death March to the Zoo. It was also pretty hot (hello, it’s Texas in June), and very humid.  Risa thinks they didn’t enjoy their time there, but they really did.  We saw lots of weird funky animals (some of them very stinky,  I might add - especially the Warthog that peed while I took her picture).  We rode the new train, and a carousel.  We ate cotton candy and drank a lot of water.  We listened to the Grackles (sp?), an incredibly loud and black bird. 

When we returned to Southlake, we had a few moments to make dinner and cool off before the storm of the century blew in.  Risa had just taken the chicken enchiladas out of the oven when the power went off.  It stayed off til around 10 the next morning. 

We have lots of thunderstorms in Virginia, but this was much closer to Hurrican Isabel than anything thundery.  Within minutes, all of the poolside furniture was IN the pool (pictures in the slideshow).  The infamous inflatable dragon from the pool was wrapped around a fence.  Tree limbs and newly planted saplings were blown over.  It was a thunder and lightning and wind-fest.  We were all a little tense, because you just kept expecting the sky to fall and the house along with it.  Turns out there was a tornado a few miles away.  Lots of flooding, lots of trees down.  Tons of fences blown over or broken in half.  This went on all night. No one really slept (except Tori - that girl could sleep through an atomic blast).  The lightning was so incredibly loud. 

Thursday: 

The ice in the freezer melted all over the floor of the kitchen, so instead of sitting around being cranky and tired and hot, we went to Corner Bakery for a yummy breakfast.  The power was back on right before we left, yay!  We did a storm-damage tour - it was frightening and cool all rolled into one.  We cleaned out the 42 pounds of sand and dirt and leaves in the pool and swam and relaxed.  Risa had planned a fun trail ride for the adults, but because of all the rain and flooding we weren’t able to go.  Next time . . .

We had an adult-only dinner at a hibachi restaurant in Town Square.  It was delicious!  After Frank gave us a tour of the new sections of Town Square, including the newer brownstones (one of them goes for over 1.5M).  Seeing Southlake Town Square grow is like watching Frank’s small baby become a full-fledged man (or a woman with big hair and a lot of money).  I am such a country dweeb - half the stores I’ve never heard of.  It’s all very pretty and unlike Short Pump Town Center here in Virginia, they actually thought ahead about traffic flow and it’s easy to get in and out of. 

That evening after the girls were in bed, we watched My Bloody Valentine in 3D with Nate.  It was kind of gross and kind of funny all at the same time. 

Friday: 

We left early in the morning!  Wahhhh!  The planes were all on time, but it was VERY turbulent coming out of Dallas and again when we landed in Atlanta.  We only had about 20 minutes to catch a connecting flight to Richmond, so it was rushed to say the least between bathroom breaks and trying to grab lunch.  We missed lunch but the girls were big troopers and made it to Richmond on a lot of Teddy Grahams, Oreos and airplane pretzels. 

Everytime I spend time with my sister and her family I realize how much we are both missing. I am missing her cool kids, and she is missing mine.  There is little to no chance we’ll end up in Texas (but if we did, I’d totally pimp my Volvo out with spires), and little to no chance that she will be in Virginia, so we just have to deal with that fact. 

I do, however, have one gift from Texas that is still with me:  I gained 1.5 pounds while there.  My butt thanks you, Risa.