frank's b-day trip to dallas, texas.june 30-july 5

it was a lot of fun planning this surprise trip for frank's big 3-0 birthday gift. i called frank's boss (without him knowing) and got the approved time off work for him, found some incredibly priced plane tickets, had a free hotel lined up for the week with breakfast and dinner provided most days and inexpensive (but fun) attractions lined up for our week in....dallas, texas! frank wasn't even told until three days before we left. at that point, he thought we were going to williamsburg, va. ha! it was great creating the whole thing without him knowing!

one of our first stops after checking in was to get some groceries for lunch at the local walmart. after that we just checked out the area around our hotel and relaxed.

our agenda for the week was full of different things, but was still open for a lot of relaxation--something we both really needed!

one of our stops was at the dallas arboretum. it wasn't quite 100 degrees that day, so we enjoyed the time in the "cooler" weather checking out the beautiful gardens...


within the arboretum is a home from the early 1900's. it was complete with air cooling systems and electricity--unheard of in that time period. my favorite room was definitely the library with floor to ceiling bookshelves and two secret doorways into secret rooms. and we definitely can't forget Rose, our 80+ tour guide who was showing us around on her first day on the job--notes in hand. :)

just a few of the beautiful flower arrangements we saw...

my little nephews would have enjoyed these lifesized storybook "houses" illustrating famous children's stories such as this one with: "one fish, two fish"

...and this one displaying a giant treasure chest from "treasure island"...

i couldn't resist catching a shot of this shaded walkway on the way to the other storybook houses.

...this "gingerbread house" was pretty sweet (ha! ha!)...

we couldn't leave without seeing the Jolly Roger...

the arboretum was very empty and peaceful. i guess native texans even thought it was too hot to be outside. eh...what's a little heat when you have all of this to walk through?!

...this was tori's favorite flower display...

...and here's the inside of the purple flower hut...

a cool tree...

the arboretum is used a lot during the school year for school trips and had this unique, crawl-around pioneer village. so...we crawled around in it!

...and this is where we stayed for the week. j/k :)

frank was going to crawl into this for the sake of the picture, but seeing at this point is was probably over a 100 degrees and the tub was more than likely at least 150 degrees to the touch, we didn't want to get too close. :)

and we think our health care is bad?!

this is where chad would have published his many books back in the day...

the squirrels were very friendly in texas!

one night, we traveled down to cleburne, texas to see a small town theatrical production of "singin' in the rain"--and i do mean "small town!" we were in a small theatre with about 50 seats, had front row seats and enjoyed being splashed by the "singin' in the rain" tap number as water poured down around the stage inches in front of us. :)

another day while in texas, we went kayaking on a lake. it was only 102 degrees on this day with no shade to be found around the end of the lake. we had to take a couple of breaks during that hour to sit under some trees on the banks for fear of roasting.

on july 4th, we stopped in to visit frank's aunt gloria and uncle ron in the dallas area. when we told them where we had kayaked, they said that it was one of the most dangerous lakes in the area. they said that tons of people die there every year from boating and drowing accidents. we were wondering what that smell in the water was!

and of course, a trip to dallas, texas wouldn't be complete without a trip to the rodeo. it was the one event we were most looking forward to, and, of course, it was the one event where i forgot the camera! we enjoyed the two-hour show though and left wanting to join life out west and ride lots of horses! :)

the july 4th fireworks celebration was probably one of the coolest things we did in texas. the fireworks were shot off right outside the cotton bowl and we had great seats in the stadium to hear the dallas symphony and airforce band followed by the Grucci Family synchronized fireworks' show once the sun went down.

i have no pictures of the fireworks because i was too mesmorized by it all! :)

all in all, the trip was fantastic, and like most true vacations...it was too short!