The Full Story

I said it before, but I'll say it again...Hannah was a GREAT traveler. Joseph and I were a little worried that she would go uncharacteristically crazy on the plane, but of course she was content and slept most of the way out to Houston. She was a little more bright eyed and bushy tailed on the way back, but was easily entertained by a giraffe, empty water bottle, and crazy Mommy sounds.

Now that we've had a little time to reflect, here are the highlights, lowlights, and everything in between from our trip:

Travel: A++ for Hannah. A- for Joseph. Super helpful carrying bags and getting us around, but awfully bitter about being "puffed" and "profiled" by the TSA 4 years ago. He took the full scan this time around in stride. Joseph rates me a A++ for keeping Hannah entertained (see crazy Mommy sounds above). Delta receives a F for failure to deliver our baggage. Upon landing in Indy, we received a voice mail that indicated our baggage did not travel as intended...i.e. didn't make it out of Memphis. No worries though, it arrived this afternoon...broken. Glad to see the checked baggage fee is being put to good use.

Andrew's place: super cool (though not so cool temperature wise...A/C went on a strike on Friday) and in a neat neighborhood. He has cable and DVR, so he rates high in my book. Oh DVR, how I miss you...

Nekked baby airing out. And Hannah taking her mid-afternoon nap. In Grandpa's suitcase...in the closet...next to soccer cleats. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Houston in general: BIG! Wish I would have gotten a few more pictures, but the city doesn't even compare to Indy when it comes to size and the sheer number of people.

Sightseeing: Lots of places to go and lots of neat places around Houston to visit. We went to Kemah boardwalk (pic below with the rain over the bay), Galveston, Sam Houston National Forest, and the parking garage of the Museum of Natural Science (haha, after the fact). We're planning a return trip to San Antonio next time we visit Uncle Andrew.


Food: No shortage of interesting places to eat around Houston. We had really good TexMex, Greek, and I found my new favorite sandwich place...Which Wich. Forgive the elaboration, but I am kinda obsessed with this place now, and luckily (or not), there's one in Carmel, IN. So, you find the paper bag with the category you want (turkey, beef, vegetarian, etc) then you take your sharpie and mark on the preprinted menu the type of bread, cheese, veggies, and condiments.

Uncle Andrew showing Hannah how to play the ukulele and guitar.

And now for the lemon...my poor parents found out a pipe in their upstairs bedroom broke and flooded the house. We spent most of Monday morning getting that under control, but it was most frustrating that they were on vacation and coordinating from afar. Hopefully the water restoration crew was able to get a good start on the clean-up before my parents arrive home and have a cow.

All in all, it was a fun trip. Mucho gracias to Andrew for showing us around town and putting up with his OCD I-need-a-plan sister. I'm sure he went home on Monday, popped a top, and enjoyed his new and improved A/C. It definitely takes a little more planning to travel with a kiddo. But we made it, and after calling in sick to work today, I'm feeling rested, recharged, and ready to get back into my routine.