Our Holiday Trip to Texas

Dave, Sophie and I traveled to Texas on Christmas Day to visit Dave's Mom, Dad, and Grandmother. Sophie hadn't been on a plane since we arrived in Hawaii over a year ago. She might never go on a plane again. Who knew she could scream for 40 minutes straight. She literally cried herself to sleep. A combination of over-stimulation from Christmas festivities, over-tiredness (I might have just made that word up) from staying up until our 10pm flight, and wearing a lap belt for the first time resulted in a tantrum to end all tantrums. We arrived in Texas exhausted the day after Christmas, but Sophie was on her best behavior for the rest of the trip, and the return flight resulted in 0 tantrums. I have learned that my kid could out stubborn a mule however. A new development from the trip, Sophie now officially likes stickers. We had a fabulous time hanging out with Grammy, Grandad, and Gram-Gram. Sophie ate popsicles and ice cream (although how she managed that in the freezing cold Texas winter, I do not know. Here's some photos of our trip.

Grandad, Grammy, Gram-Gram, Jen, Sophie, and Dave

Jen, Sophie, and Dave. Miracle of miracles, Sophie did not fall into the pool at all during our stay. She has a habit of backing up when she gets immersed in something and it was a near miss more the once. Dave and Gram-Gram

Sophie got to make cookies with Grammy. She loved baking, her new apron, and especially tasting the cookies after they were baked.


Here's Sophie and I all bundled up for a walk around the neighborhood. It was probably around 55 degrees on this day. That warm Hawaii weather has thinned our blood because we were freezing!


Sophie is becoming quite the little piano prodigy. She enjoys playing on Dave's keyboard at home. She really loved sitting on the piano stool because it swiveled.

Here's Sophie opening more presents. She opened presents from Christmas Eve until... well she still has presents to open. Of course she gets through about two a day. So it might be awhile before she's done.

Here's Sophie trying out her Aunt Anne's rocking chair. This was Anne's chair when she was little and Sophie LOVED it. She would move it around the living room until she was happy with where she was sitting and then just grin at all of us.

Sophie and Dave trying out sparklers on New Year's Eve. Sophie was not happy about being outside in the dark and the fact that there were strange popping noises going off all around her. She did better than last year. So maybe next year she'll be excited.

Here's Sophie and I. I am 32 weeks pregnant in this picture. Not fat, just pregnant.

Here's Sophie before she knew we were going to be setting off fireworks.
We had so much fun visiting Texas. It's always fun to see Sophie grandparents getting the chance to spoil her. It's hard on all of us that we live so far apart. I know how much Sophie benefits from having time with all her grandparents. We're looking forward to Ken and Missy visiting in March when the new baby is born.