Spring Break in Review

OK so while Zach left for spring break nirvana in Europe the rest of us were left to fend for ourselves.  We originally had thought we may go check out New Mexico (a better part than we drove through last year) but then some things didn't work out so we thought we'd maybe go to Virginia and pick up the houseful of things we left there but then we decided driving 6 days and hanging out and packing stuff up for 1 day didn't sound like much fun.

Ultimately we ended up hanging out and doing some little things around here.  I finally decided we are living here for the duration (please don't ask me to define duration...I am usually altogether wrong about how long we'll be someplace, but at this point I think we may be here until one or all of our children go to college).

At any rate here is a quick list of our spring break happenings:

• we hung curtains in our living room and in our master bedroom..I'll show some photos of that when I finally paint the walls...which will be in the next two weeks! (that is potentially, but not intentionally, a lie...just thought I'd let you know) 
• we forced strongly encouraged Miles to choose a color for his bedroom, under threat that mom thought pink would be pretty if he couldn't decide. He is smart as a whip...but a decision maker, he is not!
• we went to the movies to see Race to Witch Mountain, which was pretty good.
• I relinquished my Alaska driver's license and got a Texas license...along with every teenager on spring break in the county
• we lunched at one of my personal favorites....Panera...LOVE it! 
• then the rain came for days...which we needed and I was happy to see, but it made it a bummer for doing some fun outdoor stuff, especially when I just got my bike back from the bike shop and we were looking forward to checking out some new bike paths.
• finally we headed to Houston to pick Zach up from the airport at the end of our spring break week and on the way there we experienced the LOVE that is BUC-EES...

Now if you aren't from Texas you may not have heard of this rest stop wonder.  I should mention this is a chain with some serious followers. For my east coast friends think South of the Border style billboards many miles before arriving and for my Valdez friends..think The Hub..a little bit of everything.  Now let me just say...Buc-ees was a very nice and very clean gas station/convenience store/destination.(I know you people are wondering about our family's need to eat from gas stations..honestly it's ridiculous)  And this place was wall to wall packed with people...so we weren't the only crazies Buc-ees lovers.  

And what, you ask, did we buy at this fine establishment???  Umm, it's Texas...what else...

BBQ sandwiches....

 

More BBQ sandwiches...

More ....

And of course there's so much more than BBQ...there's also...yummy fajitas....and JERKY

....note Brooke in her jerky induced coma...

there were other favorites too...

Dublin Dr. Pepper...made in Texas and uses the original recipe...the 10-2 and 4 numbers on the bottle are the recommended times of day when you could use a pick me up, by of course drinking..Dr. Pepper...see this is an educational site!!

In case there is any confusion...this is the general sentiment here in Texas!!!

Texas pride is a real and tangible thing. They feel about their state how Alaskans feel about Alaska, and how I personally feel about Virginia ***little known fact...I would love to work for the Commonwealth of Virginia (tourism and relocation) (yeah it's not technically a state but it is a state of mind) promoting the history, beauty, mountains and beaches of the great "state" of Virginia...I mean come on "Virginia is for Lovers"...who wouldn't love that...and 

I ♥ Virginia!!!***

OK back to Buc-ees....there are longhorns to ride...

There is so much really fun stuff here that honestly who could enjoy it all the first time in...that's why we stopped again 6 hours later on our way back from Houston so we could get some beaver nuggets...oh come on you know you want some...

and so Brooke could bat her little eye lashes and get daddy to buy this....

her very own Bucees tshirt.  

And yes, the economy is alive and well here in Texas..mostly thanks to the Nowak family!!!

Ok, I know.... enough already...I'm wrapping up...our last spring break hurrah was to head into town for Market Days.  The kids and Charlie got questionable vendor food and we poked around a little, seeing all the things people were selling.

And that, my friends, was our spring break in a nutshell...a very large, and longwinded nutshell!!!!

PS.....

Long Live Bucee...

Sorry I couldn't resist!!!