Here you see them...

I took Megan to the Orthodontist yesterday for one of her routine appointments. When the Orthodontist came over to check her teeth, he said "So, are you ready to get those braces off?" It shocked the pants off of both of us because we had no idea that she was going to be done soon.  We thought she would have them on until next spring. It was a fun surprise.  And so after a year and eight months and a few thousand dollars later (which we are still paying, by the way)...

HERE YOU SEE THEM

The day she got them on

AND NOW YOU DON'T!

The day she got them off

Happy Election Day!

Just wanted to share an item that we had the opportunity to vote on. It is an Amendment that would remove a section of our State Constitution, which reads:  

"No idiot or insane person shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector."  

I'm not joking.  Mike thought it was so hilariously unbelievable, that he decided to vote against amending it. 

Howling Hoopers

It was a crazy couple of days celebrating Halloween around our house.  The kids have been looking forward to it for weeks. Noah dressed up like a red Power Ranger, Sammy dressed like a bat, and Megan dressed like a Twister game.  Noah had his preschool party on Thursday. They had lots of yummy food, had a costume parade, and then a carnival.  He had a lot of fun.  We carved our pumpkins that night.  Each of the kids designed their own face, and then we helped them carve it, except Megan - she did her own!  On Friday Sammy wore her costume to school and also had a costume parade, and then a fun class party after.  We had our traditional pizza for dinner, and then went trick or treating around the neighborhood.  Afterward, we went to our friend's house to roast s'mores in the backyard.  We were so glad it was a Friday, everyone was pooped by the end!

Megan didn't get to celebrate Halloween at school.  Instead they had a Halloween dance on Saturday night.  She is on student council this year, and the dance was put on by them.  She had to help plan it, set up, and clean up after.  I got to go and help too.  It was fun watching her at her first school dance - a little weird too!  I think the highlight was that she won the costume contest - as voted on by all the other students that were there.  She was pretty excited.  

We were all grateful for an extra hour of sleep after such a busy weekend.  Sammy and Noah weren't ready for it to end, and were begging us to take them trick or treating again on Saturday night.

In Memory of Casey

Our Buddy Casey

June 14, 2001 - October 21, 2008

Our favorite memories of Casey:

Mike - I will miss having him there to greet me at the door everyday when I come home. He was like a shadow to me, and followed me around everywhere I went. He was always there to listen to me when my kids wouldn't. 

Stefani -  I will miss having him kneel with us at family prayer and sneaking licks on us when our eyes are closed. He kept me company during the day, and slept next to my bed at night. It will be lonely not having him around.

Megan - My favorite thing about Casey is when my friends would come over and he would be all over them. I'll miss him because he would always come up to us and try to get us to give him love. 

Samantha - My favorite memory of Casey is when my Daddy would tease me by having Casey lay on my bed. I will miss having him in the backyard when I go out to play. He liked to take naps in my room during the day.

Noah - I will miss Casey because he always liked to lick me. He would let me sit on him and try to ride him like a horse.  I will miss having him lay by me when I play in the sandbox.

We love you Casey and we will miss you so much!

Finding Joy in the Journey

These last couple of days have been sad ones in our family. Today we found out that our dog Casey has cancer. I know that we have quite a few family members and friends that just don't understand the whole dog thing. Many of you have heard me complain about having a dog. I didn't grow up with a family dog, and didn't really plan on having one as an adult either. Mike however always had a dog growing up, so when we bought our first home that was the first purchase on his list. A dog can be so frustrating and annoying. They are messy, hyper, they poop in the yard, they are expensive, they want lots of attention, and on and on. But they are also loyal, comforting, protecting, and always loving. We got Casey 7 years ago to replace our first dog who also died of cancer. Watching that dog suffer with it and then be put to sleep because of it was so sad for us. I was convinced that I never wanted to have another dog. It wasn't until she was gone that I realized what a place she had formed in my heart, and how lonely it was without her around. So we decided to try again and got Casey. It breaks my heart to think about doing that all over again. I just loved this past General Conference. One of my favorite talks was President Monson's on Finding Joy in the Journey.  It has been on my mind since hearing it, and ironically I watched it again this past Sunday morning. In it he says "Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each one of us will run out of tomorrows." I realize that he probably wasn't talking about pets, but this thing with Casey makes me realize how quickly things can change in life. Mike noticed a lump on Casey's side a week and a half ago and decided to keep an eye on it. He kept acting normal until this past Sunday when he stopped eating and started sleeping all day and night. We took him to the vet today and found out that this growth is past the point of being operable, and brought him home with some medication that will hopefully make him feel a little better so that he will possibly live through the week. He is an important part of our family and the kids love him so much. Noah calls him his best buddy. We are really going to miss him so much when he is gone. I wonder if we have treated him with as much love and kindness and enjoyed him as much as we should have. Things can change quickly like that in any part of our lives. Unfortunately, we usually don't realize it until it is too late. This is true with our family and friends also, and this experience has really made me realize that I need to enjoy each of my today's, and to be more loving and kind in all of my relationships. We are going to enjoy each today that we have left with Casey.

Who Knew?

Back when I was a first time mom with Megan, I felt the need to be a perfect mom and do things to make sure she was a perfect child.  I would talk to other moms with kids her age, and we would compare what each other child could do.  As soon as I found out there was something she wasn't doing yet, I would stress out that something was wrong with  her, so I would work extra hard on bringing up her skill level.  This led to many anxiety ridden, tearful experiences trying to teach her to use the potty, learn the alphabet, write her letters, read, etc. And it wasn't just me that would be upset when we would have these teaching sessions, it would be her too.  It seemed like the more I pushed her, the more defiant she would be about learning what I was trying to teach her.  I figured out with Sammy and Noah that kids will learn the things they need to know when they are ready to learn them, not always when I am ready. It usually comes at different ages with different kids.  Knowing this has helped me to just relax and enjoy each new thing that they learn. 

Yesterday I was on the computer and Noah came into the office and grabbed a piece of paper and a crayon.  He started asking me how to spell each of our names.  I would tell him the letters and he would write something on his paper.  Sometimes he would ask me what a letter looked like, so I would show him what it looked like.  When he was finished, he came over to show me his paper.  We haven't worked much on learning letters or writing, so I fully expected to see a bunch of scribbles and characters that didn't look like anything to me.  But this what he showed me: (it might be kind of hard to see in the picture)

Apparently he knows his letters pretty good and he can write a lot of them too. I think kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for! 

Empty Nest

Today was Noah's first day of preschool.  It's a day he has been looking forward to for months, and a day that I have been dreading. It's been tough for me thinking about my baby taking the first step toward being in school.  I really enjoy being home with him, and I know it will be so lonely when he is at school.  Fortunately it is only Tuesday and Thursday mornings for now.  He is going to the same preschool Sammy went to, which helped him to feel more comfortable since he knows the teachers and all the fun things they do there.  He was awake this morning before his sisters were, and was ready to go by 7:00.  When I dropped him off, he was a little unsure, but let me leave without having a breakdown.  He ended up having a great time, and can't wait to go back to school on Thursday!   

7 Things I Would Never Say

We were tagged by Jeff and Amy to post 7 Things that Mike and I would never say.  Here's what we came up with:

7 Things Mike Would Never Say

1. Not tonight - I have a headache
2. I wish I went to BYU
3. Do you like my outfit?
4. I can't wait for the Twilight movie to come out
5. Please and thank you
6. Tell me how you're feeling
7. I could really go for a soak in a hot tub

7 Things Stef Would Never Say

1. I've come to a decision
2. I'm not going to shower today
3. I want to eat fish tonight
4. I don't feel like going shopping
5. I won an argument with Mike
6. Let's go camping this weekend
7. Turn up the Pink Floyd

Now we tag all of you who read this to make your own lists!

Good Things Come in 3's

Alissa tagged me with this list:

Good Things Come in 3's

3 Joys

1. Mike
2. My kids
3. My friends

3 Fears

1. Getting old
2. Being lonely
3. Tornados

3 Goals

1. Balancing my checkbook
2. Getting some decorating projects done
3. Organizing!

3 Current Obsessions

1. My caterpillar (actually Sammy's)
2. Twilight Series
3. The Olympics

3 Surprising Facts

1. I've never mowed a lawn
2. I am obsessive about showering
3. I'm not a very confident person

I tag all of you to do this list too!

Here We Go Again...

I'm still sitting around waiting for the lazy days of summer to come, and instead my kids headed back to school this morning!  How is that possible?  It seems like just last week I was stressing about what we were going to do all summer to stay busy, and now it is over.  The girls were both very excited for school, although Megan was also nervous about starting Junior High.  Actually I have been pretty nervous about it too.  And instead of having me take her to school for the first day like usual, she opted to go with a friend so that they could walk in together. A little sad for me, but I understand. At least she is letting me pick her up today. I don't feel like I should have a daughter in 7th grade yet.  Sammy did much better this time around - starting kindergarten last year took some getting used to.  Now she's a big 1st grader, and feel much more confident about the whole thing.  There weren't even any tears when I left. Now we have a couple of weeks, and then Noah gets to start preschool.  He is very excited about it.  My Mom asked if I was looking forward to having some free time to myself.  I'm not sure that I am, but I guess I'll get used to it. Until then, I will just enjoy him while I still have him home.

California Fun!

After waiting for what seemed like forever, our summer vacation that we were so excited for has come and gone.  We had such a great time.  Things started off a little rocky when we arrived in California with one less bag than we had checked in at the airport.  Fortunately, it was the bag with all of our toiletries, although for hygiene sake we couldn't go without most of the stuff in it. After a few trips to the store to get what we needed (at the expense of the airline) we were good to go again. Our bag finally showed up 9 days later, the day before we came home! The first few days that we were there my little brother Jeff and his wife Amy were there too. After they left, my sister Nicole came with her family.  Even though we were packed in my parents house pretty tight, it was so nice to be able to spend time with my whole family.  

The weather was so nice while we were - in the 70's the whole time.  It even felt a little chilly when we were at the beach.  It made coming back home just that much more dreadful because it has been so hot here. The kids also were able to experience their first earthquake while we were there.  They thought that was pretty cool - not nearly as terrifying as tornadoes!

We stayed very busy - we didn't want to waste any of our time.  Here is a list of what we did - followed by pictures.  Went to an Angels game, miniature golfing, rode go-carts, climbed rock walls, went to the beach, went swimming, shopping, the Newport Beach Temple, played at the park, went to Wild Rivers Water Park, went to Los Angeles to the American Girl Store, went to the Orange County Fair, and ate at a lot yummy restaurants that we miss so badly!  It was a great trip, and we were so sad to leave.  Sammy cried for 3 straight days after we left.  We can't wait to see everyone again!

My Baby Boy is 4

Noah's 4th birthday was this past Saturday.  It's so hard to believe that our youngest is 4 already. I remember when we found out we were going to have a boy after having two girls, I was so nervous!  I didn't know what to do with a boy.  But he has been so much fun.  He has quickly extinguished any fears we had of him being girly since all he has is sisters - he is definitely all boy! It has been amazing to me how he just picked up on all the things boys do and like without us pushing it on him.  When he was born we were trying to decide on the name. It was between Noah and a couple of others.  We decided to look at the meaning of each name we were considering.  At that point he was such a quiet, content baby, and the name Noah means calm and peaceful.  That's how we decided that it was the perfect name.  Boy has he proved us wrong!  But he really is a sweet and loving little boy and we love him so much. He brings so much fun and excitement to our family and I can't imagine not having him be part of our family. 

For his birthday he got a Speed Racer bike, an electric guitar (so he can jam with his dad), and a Spiderman costume.  I'm not sure which was his favorite - he loved them all.  We went to the movies to see Kung Fu Panda, and went to dinner at Red Robin.  It was really a fun day!

Blueberry Pickin'!

We have heard from several families that they enjoy going to a blueberry patch in the early summer to pick their own blueberries.  I have to admit that I don't buy and use very many blueberries, but I thought it sounded like a fun new family experience.  So we set out on Saturday morning to a place fairly close by to pick ourselves some blueberries.  It was really a lot of fun! We ended up filling two 1 gallon buckets.  After coming home and freezing and bagging them, I ended up with about 36 cups of yummy, fresh blueberries!  We made a blueberry cobbler for dessert on Sunday, and I have plans for making syrup, jam, and other tasty things! I'm thinking this might become a new Hooper Family tradition each summer!

A Summer Glitch

Last week we had a first in our family.  Actually it happened 2 weeks ago, but we didn't know it until last week.  Noah was playing on the couch a couple of Sundays ago, pretending it was a garbage truck.  He was sitting on the arm of the couch and fell off head first onto the tile floor. He broke the fall with his arms.  I was fixing dinner and didn't actually see all of this, but heard the cries that resulted.  We checked him out, and everything seemed fine.

  Over the course of that week he seemed fine, but would complain now and then that his arm hurt.  Finally by Saturday when it still was hurting we decided to have it x-rayed.  Sure enough, it was broken.  We took him to an Orthopedic doctor on Monday so that he could get it casted - he chose blue of course (not because of any collegiate affiliation). Luckily he only has to have it on for 3 weeks total, the week before we knew it was broken actually counts as a week of recovery.  So we have 1 week down, 2 to go.  It has been a real drag having to figure out what to do with 3 kids during the summer that doesn't involve water.  We are counting down the days!

   

Sammy's Dance Recital

Sammy had her dance recital a couple of weeks ago.  I think she was glad when it was all over. She hasn't been sure whether she likes being in ballet, so this year has been a challenge. The dance was to the song "A Dream is a Wish" from Cinderella. She really did well for her first recital.  Megan was a sweet sister and decided that she was going to buy Sammy some flowers with her own money.

End of the School Year

I'm a little behind on some of our events, but wanted to post pictures from the end of school. The girls did really well this year.  Megan earned the citizenship award for her team. It is an award that is given to one girl and one boy from each team of 120 kids.  We are so proud of her because it shows a lot about her character.  Sammy got an award for learning all 300 sight words that they were supposed to learn.  It was a lot of work, but she is becoming an excellent reader because of it. 

Sammy with her teacher, Mrs. Stamps

Sammy's Kindergarten program.  It was called Bugz.

Megan's last choir concert.  She is on the top, in the middle.

Megan is 12!

Yesterday was Megan's 12th birthday.  Other than the fact that my age tells me that it is indeed possible, I can't believe that I am old enough to have a 12 year old child. I have spent the last couple of days going through pictures of her and wondering where the years have gone.  She is such an amazing girl - she is everything I wished I was when I was her age.  She is friendly, confident, smart, pretty, talented, adventurous, fun, outgoing, and the list goes on.  I often grumble about dealing with her emotions and attitudes, but we truly are so lucky to have her in our family, and we love her so much!

Since I was going through all of her pictures, I thought I would post birthday pictures of Megan through the years.

Megan had a birthday party this past weekend with 2 of her 3 best friend from school.  I took them to the movies to see "Prince Caspian". Afterward we went to dinner at Pizza Hut.  We came back home and the girls went swimming for awhile.  Then we came back and did a chocolate fountain for dessert.  The party was a sleepover, so they went upstairs, and we didn't hear from them the rest of the night.  I truly think that parties get easier as kids get older!  This one was a piece of cake!! We celebrated her birthday quietly as a family yesterday.  Her main present that she wanted was a Rip Stik, so she was excited to get one.

In case you don't know what a Rip Stik is, I posted this video of Megan riding one.  It's a 2 wheeled skateboard, and Megan is really good at it. Mike tried riding it too, and after several tries, and one fall, finally got the hang of it.  I however will not be attempting it!

  

Gateway to the West

Last weekend we decided to take head out for another adventure to a city we had never been to before - St. Louis.  This time we went with 4 families that are friends of ours.  It is only a 5 hour drive, so we were able to be there for 2 days.  We split up and traded off going to the temple and watching each other kids.  We also visited a really fun children's museum called the Magic House.  The guys went to a Cardinals baseball game, while the girls went shopping.  We also got in a little swim time at the hotel, and did a big group lunch at a restaurant (there were 28 of us!).  The last thing we did before leaving was go down to see the Arch.  It was awesome to see something that we've only seen in books.  It was huge and very impressive.  The trip was a lot of fun and we really had a great time!

16 Years of Marital Bliss!

I want to share with you some events that took place in the year 1992:

• George H.W. Bush was President of the United States - Bill Clinton defeated him in the Presidential election later that year.
• A Winter and Summer Olympics was held that year in Albertville, France and Barcelona, Spain.
• Johnny Carson retired from the Tonight Show and was replaced by Jay Leno.
• Silence of the Lambs won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
• Miley Cyrus was born.
• And most importantly, on May 23rd we were married in the Logan, Utah Temple!

Mike and I met in September 1991 at Ricks College.  We were in an Interpersonal Communications class together.  On one of the first classes of that school year, we ended up sitting next to each other during class and started talking.  At the end of class Mike said to me

"Maybe we should do something sometime", but didn't say when "sometime" might be. I wanted to give him another chance to ask me out, so I saved a seat for him the next time we had class.  At the end of class he did indeed ask me out, and drove me back to my apartment. Our first date was the following Saturday.  He was an hour late, and I thought I had been stood up.  We drove to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and wandered around the downtown.  We had dinner at Pizza Hut, and then went to see Terminator 2.  After that first date, we were pretty much inseparable.  We got engaged Christmas Eve, and were married in May.  

It's hard to believe that 16 years have passed since that day.  I don't feel like we are old enough to have been married that long.  I think we keep each other feeling younger than we are.  We have had our ups and downs over the years, but our love and marriage have grown through it all.

Time for an Update

It's been brought to my attention that some of you might be getting tired of my Earth Day post. I guess that it is probably time for an update of the past few weeks.  I do have a couple of excuses in my defense.  About 3 weeks ago our computer decided to crash.  We had it happen last summer, and paid to have it fixed.  This time we decided that rather than put any more money into it, that it might be time to just give in and get a new computer.  Of course it couldn't be just an easy trip to the store to buy a new computer.  Mike really had his heart set on a computer that we had to order (an iMac for any of you computer experts).  Once it finally came I practically had to make a reservation to schedule just a little time on it (you know how men are with their new toys). 

The other thing that has kept us busy was having Mike's parents come and visit us for 10 days. It was so nice having them here.  The kids enjoyed being able to spend time with them.  It is like a vacation for me - the kids don't want anything to do with me.  They also helped us get our yard in shape for the year - now I just have to keep it watered and weeded (ughh!).  We got to celebrate Grampy's birthday with him, and Mother's Day with Grammy.  It was a great visit, and we were sad to see them leave.

We are finally getting some nice weather, so the kids took advantage of it on Saturday and pulled out the swimming suits and made their own water slide.  It was great to spend some time outside.

This past weekend was Megan's dance recital.  We left the guys at home - they don't enjoy watching 2 1/2 hours of dancing.  Megan did so well - she is really a great dancer.  I will post the video of her 2 dances after Mike gets them downloaded.  

Happy Earth Day!

As I have written about previously, Mike and Megan went on a camping trip a couple of weeks ago. It was a retreat that Mike's company sponsored in which they talked about "sustainablility" and what type of carbon footprint we are leaving. I have to say that Mike has never been into the whole ecological thing, especially where the global warming stuff is concerned. But the things that they talked about that weekend made an impact on him, and as a family we are trying to do a few things to be more ecological friendly. And so in honor of Earth Day, I am going to share a list of easy things everyone can do that will have a significant impact on the environment.

1. Skip a car trip each week.
Skipping a weekly 20 mile trip represents less that a 10% decrease in the average American's driving and can reduce your weekly carbon dioxide emissions by more that 18 pounds.

2. Eat one less beef meal each week.
Livestock currently consume 70% of America's grain production. Grazing accounts for 800 million acres of U.S. land, and 18% of all water consumption is devoted to producing feed for livestock. If only 1,000 people take this action, we will save over 70,000 pounds of grain, 70,000 pounds of topsoil and 40 million gallons of water each year.

3. Don't eat shrimp.
For every pound of shrimp caught, over five pounds of marine life is killed, including endangered sea turtles. If only 1,000 people stopped eating shrimp, 12,000 pounds of sea life would be saved each year.

4. Declare your independence from junk mail.
Catalogs and other direct mailing account for 5.2 million tons of waste each year, and only 19% are recycled, leaving over 4 million tons to clog landfills. Call unwanted catalogs and asked to be taken off their mailing lists. To be taken off pre-approved credit card offers, call 1-800-353-0809.

5. Replace four standard light bulbs with energy-efficient compact flourescent lights (CFLs).
Not only will this reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, it will also reduce your electricity bill!

6. Move the thermostat 3 degrees.
Heating and cooling represents the biggest chunk of our home energy consumption.

7. Eliminate lawn and garden pesticides.

8. Install an efficient showerhead and low flow faucet aerators.

Even Megan is a believer, and this is how she looked when she left for school today (look at her shirt and bag)!

Moab

Mike went on his annual trip to Moab this past weekend. Like always, he had a great time getting away with some old friends. This is one of those things that helps him feel like he is maintaining his youthfulness. I wouldn't be suprised to still see him doing this at 65!

ONSC

I wanted to post Mike and Megan's pictures from their trip last weekend. They had a really great time, and it was a good father/daughter bonding opportunity. It was fun for Megan because there was another girl there about her age that she became fast friends with. Megan is so adventurous, and loves doing these types of outdoor activities. Obviously she gets that from Mike, which is good because it gives him someone to do all of this stuff with (it takes the pressure off me!).

The Missing Links

Things have been really different around here this weekend. Over the years we have become accustomed to having Mike out of town periodically. It took us a little while, but we've learned how to function while he was away. But even still, things don't feel complete when he is gone. As Megan gets older it seems as though she is gone away more often to sleepovers, late night babysitting, etc. I also notice that when she is gone that I get that same incomplete feeling. This weekend they are both gone at the same time! They went to a company retreat at ONSC (Ozark Natural Science Center), which is the same place that Megan went in 5th grade, and also last summer for her "Shiner" camp. We bribed Megan that if she got all A's for the 3rd quarter, that she could go with him on this retreat. She did it (yeah Megan!) and off they went Friday afternoon, not to return until Sunday. To make things even worse, they can't even call because there is no cell phone service where they are at. Everything has gone fine while they have been gone. Sammy and Noah have been great. Our ward had a fund raising dinner and auction last night, so we went to that. Today we ran some errands, watched conference, went to Walmart, got dinner at Sonic (their choice), and then had a movie night watching Alvin and the Chipmunks (again, their choice). And I have even been more productive than usual. I've kept the house pretty clean, I cleaned the office and my bedroom, and have even kept the dishes washed. Plus I even got to have a friend over after the kids went to bed to chat and watch a movie! But even still, a big part of our family is missing, and things are just not the same. I'm so grateful for each member of my little family, and for what they each contribute to make our family complete. It's so nice to know that everyone brings something unique and special into a family. I'm looking forward to having them come back so that we can be whole again!

Our Missing Links!

A Welcomed Sight

My friend Amy tagged me to post a picture of a welcome sight at our house. Last night the kids and I were just finishing dinner, and Mike was gone on a bike ride. All of a sudden the storm sirens started going off outside. I thought it was unusual because there wasn't any threatening weather expected. But I turned on the t.v. and sure enough we were under a tornado warning because of a tornadic thunderstorm that was moving through our area. Fortunately, Mike got home right about that same time. We went out in the back and watched the storm move through. The line in sky above the doghouse is called a "wall cloud". When those clouds form, there is usually rotation behind it. This picture is a welcomed sight because that storm was moving in a direction other than towards us! I don't think there was any tornado that actually formed with the storm, but living in this part of the country is sure an adventure!

Easter

Easter kind of snuck up on us this year. It was weird having it so early. The kids were excited to wake up and find that the Easter Bunny had visited. They all had to find their hidden baskets, and were excited to find in them candy and a fun surprise. Megan and Sammy each got a new Webkin, and Noah got a Lego garbage truck. They all had a new Easter outfit to wear to church, and they all looked so cute.

Spring Break

After looking forward to Spring Break, it got off to a crummy start with Sammy being sick with a cough and fever on Monday. A trip to the doctor and an antibiotic took care of that. Then Tuesday comes along with a rain storm that I swear was never going to end. I think it rained for over 12 hours straight, and left us with 4-6 inches of rain, which made things pretty soggy outside. Thankfully my friend Amy invited us over for an inside Easter Egg hunt on Wednesday. The kids had a lot of fun, and got plenty of candy (I think we hid 190 eggs).

Going to the "Big D"

We decided to stop being such homebodies and get out of town for a few days while the girls were out of school for Spring Break. Mike needed a little vacation after working hard for the past few months on his summer planning. Noah and I have had cabin fever and needed a change. Since we had never been to Dallas, we decided to go check it out. Our friends Greg and Amy Bench decided to come along with their 3 kids, which made it even more fun. We spent 3 days eating, shopping, and checking out some interesting spots in downtown Dallas. We decided it is a great city that we actually wouldn't mind living in (it's always nice to have options). By the time we left, we were all ready to get back home. The kids did great in the car, and are anxious for us to get another mini trip planned. It was a great way to end our Spring Break!