Vacation to Texas

So, I am sure many of you are wondering, "why were they in Texas?" Our good friends/old neighbors/former classmate of Matt's are now in Texas near Ft. Hood, where Drew is working as an optometrist for the army. We (especially me) miss them terribly, as we had gotten used to just walking down the street to friends with children the same ages as ours. It was so nice to be able to pop in and not have to worry if you forgot a diaper or a change of clothes, etc. Anyway, I asked Matt if we could please go visit them for my birthday, and without hesitation, he agreed. A month later, we strategically packed our suitcases (we had to weigh one of them three times at home to make sure we were under 50 pounds!) and headed to Austin. Matt and I were more than a little nervous to take two babies on an airplane, but Micah was so excited about the idea that we were hopeful that it would turn out all right. He actually did great besides the near fit when we had to take his shoes off and make him walk through the security stand. How do you explain to a two year old that someone might be hiding a dangerous object in his tennis shoes? Micah got so excited for takeoff and screamed "faster, faster" as we made our way down the runway. He loved watching out the window, and when he got bored, he had fun listening to "Dada's ipod" Owen did fairly well too, except he did not want to take his nap because he was too busy watching all the other passengers. After we arrived, we had fun watching the kids play outside. Micah had fun hanging out in the fort, and Sam and Riley loved swinging. We adults enjoyed playing Settlers after all the kids went to bed and just getting to hang out. The second day of the trip, Drew and Jamie showed us around the army base, hence all the pictures of tanks and helicopters. Micah and Sam loved climbing on all the army equipment while Owen and Riley enjoyed the stroller. I had fun taking pictures until a near catastrophe involving a bed of fire ants.
Another highlight of the trip was our visit to IKEA. We had heard it was a neat place, but were not prepared for the gigantic building with so many affordable things. I was sad I didn't bring another suitcase to bring home my great finds. Alas, I guess we will have to make another trip! I did manage to squeeze in a couple of Christmas gifts for the boys. The last few days of the trip were uneventful and spent relaxing and having fun with all the babies.
Riley (11 months) absolutely loved Owen and would give him huge hugs whenever they were on the floor together. Micah thought it was really neat that Riley crawled as his means of locomotion and spent a couple of days at home crawling on the floor saying "remember baby Riley". Owen like the idea of crawling too and spent more time on his tummy in Texas than ever before. In fact, he hated it before the trip. I must confess I am in no hurry for him to crawl. I have a hard enough time keeping my eye on one mobile one! Sam kept us entertained with her "dress up" skills and the silly songs she would make up. Now that we are home, and things have calmed down, I miss the sweet chaos of having all the kids together again.