Texas was fun. It was a quick trip and we wished we could have stayed longer. The kids did pretty well on the flight over. They were preoccupied with our iPads (something they never get to play with otherwise) and all the terrible treats I had stored away in my bag…potato chips and swedish fish, anyone?

The majority of the photos were taken on our first morning in Houston. Gabe, his father, and his grandfather walked the kids around the horse pasture and let them climb over the farm equipment. Sam loved the tractor but Eddie was more interested in the garden hose attachment that she found underneath the tractor. Afterwards, Gary, Gabe’s father, took the kids for a ride on the riding lawnmower while the rest of us watched. The older gentlemen with the dog is Gabe’s grandfather, Howard. He is a WWII vet and such a sweet man. He and Sam really hit it off with one another and spent a lot of time together during our visit.

The farm has a man made pond stocked with fish and Sam, Gary and Gabe spent the rest of the morning trying to catch a fish, with no luck. That afternoon, we were visited by six step-sisters and one half-sister, plus husbands, significant others, and children. It was loud, chaotic and so much fun.

By the time we boarded our return flight for Washington a few days later, I think the kids were beyond exhausted. Sam was okay on the flight back. He was a little fussy but nothing we couldn’t handle. Eddie, on the other hand, acted like the devil incarnate. It was horrible. Non-stop temper tantrums, for four hours. The flight attendants were offering to hold her and when that didn’t work, they brought me a free vodka soda, which I thought was both funny (because obviously it wasn’t my imagination that Eddie was being a complete hellion) and sad (because I’m seven months pregnant and couldn’t drink it.) She spent the last two hours of the flight crying and whining in Gabe’s lap and after the plane landed, Gabe turned to me and said, “We are never, ever flying with children again.” There was an explicative or two in his statement that I am choosing to omit but I’m sure you can use your imagination and fill in the blanks.

We arrived home at 10:00pm than night and fell into bed. 36 hours later both kids had developed a high fever and runny noses and so we skipped all of our extra curricular activities and stayed home for the remainder of the week. While I felt badly for the children, it was nice to have an excuse to stay at the house and finish the unpacking and laundry.

Knitting was nonexistent this week. I didn’t knit a single stitch during our trip or for the next three days after we returned home. I am totally okay with that. After our trip I needed something mind numbing. While the kids were sniffling and napping on my lap, I spent my time curled on the couch with them reading a trashy romance novel.  (gasp!) 

I apologize for nothing.

I spent most of today finishing my hat and catching up on all my usual blogs. Its been fun. Like Netflix binging, but better. Looking forward to seeing what everyone’s been up to. I’ve missed you all!

Side note: thank you to everyone who offered suggestions for gender-neutral baby knits. My Ravelry queue doth over floweth. I can’t wait to cast on my first baby knit.