Spring break has come...and gone!

Today is back to reality - and I start teaching 3rd graders full time for a few weeks!  Spring break was nice and long, we had 10 days off, score!!  It wasn't too bad of a break:

Saturday - celebrated a friends birthday with a mexican dinner at the Hacienda

Sunday - worked in the AM, then played volleyball that night

Monday - got things done around the house, ran errands then did Zumba at our gym

Tuesday - printed things for my sister's bridal shower, then had a big dental appointment that knocked me out for a few hours and ended the night with spinning class

Wednesday - met Keith for lunch, ran errands, cleaned our non self cleaning oven (oh so fun), Zumba with my seester at her gym then watched Keith play soccer

Thursday - met a new ear doctor and won't see him again ha (oh what a story there) then had to work my PT job

Friday - Keith was off so we ran 1 million errands, ate lunch out then finished my sister's bridal shower invites and they are ready to mail!

Saturday - spinning class then cleaned the heck out of the condo

Sunday - church, birthday party/Easter celebration for Keith's family then Easter at my parents.

Monday - prepped for my start with 3rd grade and worked my PT job

So needless to say I was a busy bee!!

2 months until summer!

Hoppy Easter!

I hope you and your families had an amazing Easter Sunday yesterday!

We started off the day at church, which I'm extremely happy I was given the time off from the hotel to attend.  I don't get to go much so it made it extra special.  After that we headed to Keith's sister's house for his niece's 2nd birthday/Easter celebration:

After a few hours with them we trekked over to my parents to have our 3rd celebration of the day at the house on the ridge:

We finally headed home after a few hours with them, a few games of Mario Kart to end our night.  I used my selfie stick a lot today, Keith gave it to me awhile ago and I'm finding out that even though people make fun of them, they get some good shots when you want everyone included.  So there :P

How did you celebrate Easter?

Sky Zone Fenton

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St. Louis Blues at Dallas Stars at the AAC

After our visit to the Perot Museum, we trekked back to the hotel to charge phone batteries and relax before heading back out to the whole purpose of the trip - the Blues vs. Stars hockey game!!

Our goal every year is to go to a different hockey city to see the Blues take on that city's team.  Dallas was our 5th visit and honestly one of the most fun we have had at another arena.

Before the game, we grabbed a bite to eat at the Victory Tavern-City Grille, which is right next store to the American Airlines Center.  It was delicious and we were starving after being so busy around town all day.  We then headed next store to the AAC where there was live music outside and tons of activities for the kids and adults of all ages.

Once inside we were taken away!  The stadium is gorgeous, very clean and very well kept up with today's modern lifestyle.  The prices of items didn't break the bank either, unlike St. Louis.  We got a souvenior cup for a mere $8 that was refillable all night - score!  Something like that would have been $15 in St. Louis - goes to show you how some cities view their fans.

A family friend has a business account with a company in Dallas so for Keith's birthday present, she surprised us with glass seats at the hockey game, with access to their premium club if we wanted to go there - score again!

We were in hockey heaven!  The Blues and the Stars have a great history of their rivalry and it clearly showed tonight.  We loved hearing how the Stars arena explodes with their fans on their feet, their background music and even when they yelled "who cares" when we scored, it was a great time!

and to make the night even more great, the BLUES WON!!!  The game went into overtime and once it was over, we left and jumped right on their DART system that has a stop outside the AAC and it took us right to our hotel.  We had thought about using Uber but I nixed that idea after hearing a not so great one recently and I couldn't complain about the DART - it was cheap and our stop was the 2nd one.

Needless to say our Dallas trip was one for the books and we had an amazing time.  The only thing that I would have wanted to do that we didn't, was go to a Dallas Mavericks game as neither one of us has been to an NBA game, and an acquaintance from STL is now on their team (#42), however that would have made for a long day at the AAC and there was a ton of other stuff we had on our list.

I think Keith had a pretty good birthday weekend!

Perot Museum of Nature & Science

After visiting the West End area of Dallas, we headed to the Perot Museum of Nature & Science:

Everyone we met, had a conversation with or overheard talking said this was one of the best places to visit while in the city.  We had a few hours until the game that night still so we figured why not.  As we approached the museum, we saw quite the long lines and someone walking with his son suggested to us to get online, buy the tickets that way and we'll skip the line - score!

It was very neat!

It is 4-6 floors of science galore.  While STL has a science museum, this one takes the cake, just like the ones in Chicago and DC.

We had 3 favorite areas - the dinosaurs, the weather area and the sports.

I think I found my new calling if this teaching gig doesn't work out ;)

On the bottom floor is the traveling sports area where you can test your running skills, and your other skills in terms of hockey, baseball, etc.  Most of the people were down there so it was crowded but it was all fun and we had plenty of time to get through it all.  We even got to do an earthquake simulator:

It was quite a fun day playing around with science!

Our final excursion on our Dallas trip gave us a little ice time - come back tomorrow to find out!

JFK Memorial/Dealey Plaza - Dallas

After visiting Southfork, we headed back into the city, parked the car and headed out on foot for the remainder of our "step back into history" day.

One of the reasons we picked the Westin was because it was right smack in the middle of the things we wanted to do and everything was walk-able.  The weather was perfect this Saturday so we headed to the West End Historic District and our first stop was the JFK Memorial:

This open tomb in remembrance to JFK was erected where it is because of its location to JFK's assassination.  At night there are lights that make it a beautiful lit up landmark.

A block away is Dealey Plaza, the location of JFK's assassination:

If you look at the upper left hand corner of my picture, you will see the open window where the shooter was located that hit JFK, who would have been in the car where the group of people are standing.  Its a very moving sight to see because hardly anyone is speaking as one stands there and relives that moment in history.  The area is been recognized as a National Historic Landmark to preserve all the areas that were a part of that day.

People to this day still are trying to make money of the incident.  There are tons of people selling the pictures we've all seen, then newspapers that were made for it, among other things.  I dislike when I see people doing that for whatever reason they have.  In this particular case we didn't see many buying the items.

This lawn area is known as Grassy Knoll, which played a major role of the police running down to assist with the President, as well as people who were there for the motorcade, taking cover with their families on it until things settled down.

My Dad remembers the above happening and remembers that school let out for him the moment it happened and everyone was told to get home in case other things happened around the United States.

The building with the open window has a museum dedicated to it.  So many people were in line for it, and already inside that we didn't know if we'd get to enjoy it that much, that we didn't get a chance to go in but seeing everything on the outside put us there.

History still speaks and this is one place to visit if you're ever in Dallas!

Southfork Ranch - Dallas

After a wonderful brunch at the hotel, we hopped in our rental and trekked up north to the famous Southfork Ranch:

I grew up with my Mom & Dad watching the famed tv show "Dallas" that starred Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray.  The show started in 1978 and boomed from the moment it aired.  You wanted the Ewing's ranch, you wanted their lives and to think my parents loved the show like I like some shows today makes me smile.

The ranch itself is gorgeous.  I mean, who wouldn't want to live in a place like this:

The tour was already filled so we didn't get a chance to go on it but they recommended we go down to gate 3 and get our pictures and walk what we could, so we did just that:

A few years ago they started a newer version of Dallas, based around the younger Ewing generation.  It was fun watching and catching things from the earlier shows:

It was a great little adventure stepping back into time a tad with memories of a show that people still talk about to this day.

Do you know who shot JR? ;) (if not, ask your parents if they watched it and they know)

Westin Dallas Downtown

Our home away from home while on our Dallas adventure was the brand new Westin Dallas Downtown.

While I have daily frustrations with my PT job, the industry travel perks I receive are amazing.  This hotel just opened in late January so we jumped at the chance to stay at it because new is always a plus in my book.

Dallas is filled with one way streets and finding the entrance to this hotel was interesting.  Then finding the garage to self park, which was simply underneath, was interesting as well but we figured it all out.  The hotel is home to several boutique shops on the floors which if you don't remember where you're going, you'll for sure get lost.

Upon check-in the supervisor said that because they love their fellow associates, they were going to give me free parking, free breakfasts both days, free drinks in the bar and they upgraded me to their Trinity Suite, which overlooks the Trinity River:

Every single window had this view:

I certainly wasn't going to complain!!  We ventured down to the restaurant/bar in the lobby, Grill & Vine, to partake in the Westin welcome:

Keith partook in Deep Ellum's Dallas Blonde beer while the bartender whipped me up a Dallas specialty but I forgot what all was in it - but it was good!  The mix was a great accompaniment to the drinks.  We sat and watched the Dallas Stars game while talking with the bartender and others to get ideas on what to do the rest of our trip.

To end the night, we took a dip into the pool that was located on the 33rd floor:

The pool light changes color, it was cool and it was fun swimming on top of the Dallas skyline.  If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend this hotel - you'll love it!

Come back tomorrow as we will step back in time and relive history for just a bit!

AT&T Stadium - home of the Dallas Cowboys!

After starting our Dallas trip out with thrills at Six Flags over Texas, we grabbed a bite to eat and to warm up.  That's when someone asked us if visiting the home of the Cowboys was on our list of things to do.

We had considered it but wasn't sure if we'd have time but it was very much recommended so we trekked down the road to the AT&T Stadium:

Now, with all the NFL drama surrounding the Rams the entire time they were in STL, we knew that anything would beat what we had, especially since the Cowboys are a winning team - and boy they didn't disappoint:

We chose to do the self guided tour, which it was very easy to navigate the stadium.  The only difference was we didn't have someone telling us everything, but you could easily hear the guides if you were around them.  The tour led us to the top of the where we got to see the entire field before being allowed to go play:

Needless to say my techie loved the screen, which is the biggest in the NFL.  Once on the field we got to kick the ball around, score touchdowns, pretty much just relax and watch others have the time of their lives.  We then went into the cheerleaders locker rooms which then led to the main player locker room:

Off the player room is the press room, where they are showing old videos of the various talks that have happened there:

and that room led us to the area that the players run out onto the field from and back to where we started.

I may not be the biggest NFL fan in the world but man there's something about being on a winning team's 50 yard line and seeing just how a team's franchise could be...

And, dude, its the Cowboys!!

After our tour, we trekked back to the city to our home away from home and were given some perks to our stay which were high-fives in my book!  Come back on Monday to hear about the rest of our Dallas adventure!

Six Flags over Texas

We had a blast in Texas:

...after almost missing the plane!  We arrived at the airport 2 hours early, like normal, and made the plane by 2 minutes, no thanks to the check in lines and the TSA line.  We were the lucky ones though because as we raced on the plane, we noticed a lot of empty seats.  Turns out the plane was supposed to have 101 people on it, only 89 made it (and 2 people after us raced onto the plane as well).  I guarantee you that there will be tons of complaints!

Once in Dallas, we found our luggage and the rental car desk pretty easy and they upgraded us to a SUV - score!  It was raining at the time, so I felt better sitting up in a brand new Nissan Rogue than I would have in an economy car.  We decided to find a Panera to eat breakfast and chill out until this opened:

Six Flags Over Texas is the first park ever and the biggest.  Since we have season passes, that allows you access to any park in the USA.  We were super excited and spent the day full of thrills while it rained on and off - but it was still fun!  Their biggest ride is the "new" Texas Giant - if you paid attention to the news in the past year, you'll know why its "new" - if not, google it or just ask.  But it is a great coaster:

If you ever get a chance to visit another theme park, do it!  Its so much fun and it lets you see what other cities do.  My sister had been here for meetings before so we had heard about it and since we had a free day, we figured why not.  The rain didn't stop us from playing all day!

After starting our trip out with thrills, we decided to toss the ol' pigskin around a bit...come back on Friday to see where we did that at in Dallas!

They say everything is bigger in Texas...

...ask me next week if its true as we are on a jet plane down to Dallas for our first time, for a fun filled weekend!

Once we land and get our rental we are off for a day of thrills (any guesses as to what I mean by that?), then on Saturday we'll be tourists before getting some ice time in then on Sunday we will do our best to not miss our plane due to the time change.

I love little getaways like this!

Have a great weekend!!