Everything's bigger in TEXAS

During the second week of March, Mike and I took a fun trip to Houston, Texas. We desperately needed a vacation, some time together and wanted to go visit my brother, Matt, and his family. We had so much fun and saw so many amazing places! I have never been to Texas before and since my brother moved there 4 years ago, we have wanted to go see them, their house and where they lived.

The day we arrived, Matt picked us up from the airport and drove us straight to the Reliant Center to witness the world's largest rodeo in downtown Houston. It was full of yummy food, better than any fair food I have ever had! Have to say my favorite was "Fried Pickles" and the yummy sausage! Mike loved all the BBQ and is still craving Brisket. We saw the livestock show, all the fun happenings of the rodeo and then watched Rascal Flats perform in concert. It was great.

The next day, Matt took Mike golfing. It was beautiful weather there! 75-80 degrees the whole week! We left with two inches of snow on our yard and even came back to four! I guess I didn't realize that Houston is considered sub-tropical. Green, warm, lush flowers and foliage, palm trees and all. After 18-holes, Annie, the kids and I met up with the boys and drove down to Brazos Bend State Park. Otherwise known as Alligator Park. We saw over 30 alligators that day. Everything from 10 inches to 10 feet! They were out and everywhere! The scary thing is that they were just on the sitting on the banks of the trail and we were only 3-4 feet away from them.

Yikes!

The next day we drove to see the headquarters for NASA. "Houston...we have a problem" means so much more to me. We took a tour of the facility and even saw "Mission Control" and sat in the seats where the family of the astronauts sits to watch a shuttle take off or land. It was incredible. We saw the Saturn V rocket, moon rocks, how the astronauts train and live abord the shuttle. Mike was in heaven! Each muesum, display, tour, and simulators he had to see and try. It's the engineering nut I married! We were only planning on staying an hour or two, but we were there almost 5! We loved it and made us appriectate all the hard work, sacrifices and so proud to be an American!Satun V Rocket
Inside the cockpit of the shuttle
We also drove down to Kemha, Texas. To go visit the "boardwalk". A beautiful day to visit the Gulf of Mexico and watch the sailboats go by while eating yummy food. We even rode on the largest wooden rollercoater in the world! The Boardwalk Bullet! I couldn't believe how huge and scary it was! We had fun and at least no one wet their pants...at least in our group!