Spring Break in Brenham

For Spring Break, we went to Brenham, Texas. We drove about an hour and a half to get to our hotel. After checking in and giving Emily time to jump on the beds, Matthew informed the housekeeping lady that the bathroom floor was sticky. She came in and mopped it up, which made it was about 5 times stickier, at least on my flip flops! Next, we headed for the indoor pool. It was very humid in the room, but Emily says the hot tub was even more humid. Matthew said there was not enough chlorine in the pool, judging by the cloudiness of the water. He is also very experienced with pool chemistry. Emily said it was crowded and stinky. I went to the lobby to get some fresh air, and overheard another tourist asking the lady at the front desk about where the best place in town was to go for dinner. She recommended Arby's, saying it was better than any of the local restaurants, and their bread is always fresh. We could not find Arby's, but as we drove around the quaint downtown area, we spotted a nice little restaurant called Dominic's Capitol Grille. They specialize in fresh, sizzling pizza, but they were out of pizza that night. =( We decided to try out the restaurant anyway. I had the 15 layer lasagna, and Emily had the chopped steak, which was more like a burnt hamburger. She used lots and lots of BBQ sauce to cover up the burnt taste. The bread was absolutely delicious! We shared a Granny's Peach Cobbler (tasted just like peach kuchen) for dessert. The restaurant was attached to a 100 year old inn, so we got to check out the fancy restroom at the inn. We were so impressed with the chandaliers, stained glass windows, and flower paintings on the walls, I told Matthew that he had to check out the men's restroom. When Matthew came out, he asked if the women's restroom had paintings of nude men. No, we told him. Just flowers. Apparently, the men's room has lots of paintings of nude women. (very tastefully done, I'm sure!)

After dinner, we went for a stroll and looked at all the little shops with their windows lit up at night. It was a nice, cool evening, and we could even see the stars! It was nice to get away for a little while!

Our Baby Boy

We are expecting a baby boy in May! We are so excited, and feel so blessed. Emily is really looking forward to having a little brother. On Christmas Eve, we had an ultrasound, and found out that we are having a boy. He is kicking a lot, and seems to be growing right on schedule!

A Morning Guest

The other morning as Emily and I were leaving for school, I opened the front door and looked down to see a guest waiting quietly to come in. He hopped right in the door and began hopping and sniffing around the house. We realized that Thumper had gotten out of the backyard through a hole under the gate. We were so glad that he didn't run away or get out by any of the neighbor dogs. Thumper is such a nice pet, Emily wishes that she had 50 more just like him.

Friday night at the Aquarium

For our first post, we would like to tell you about our eventful trip to the Aquarium. When we arrived at the restaurant, we had to run inside, because hundreds of birds were flying overhead. Suddenly, Matthew felt a plop on his hat. We all ran for cover!

Next, we were all excited about eating the fried calamari appetizer. Some of the squid made us feel slightly queasy.

During our main course, Matthew smelled some mildew and wanted to report it to the manager. Instead, he asked our waiter if they make their own spaghetti sauce at the restaurant. It turns out that this was not a compliment. Matthew thought it tasted about the same as opening a jar of spaghetti sauce from Food Town, but it cost about 5 times as much.

For dessert, we decided to order a Big Shark Attack. It is the only dessert on the menu that is baked to order, and takes at least 20 minutes to prepare. Shortly after we all devoured the dessert, I began to feel very queasy.

We were intrigued by the marine life and the salsa dancing that was going on outside the restaurant. Then we watched two ladies laughing as they rode around on the carousel.

Emily got to ride the enormous ferris wheel, which was O.K. except for when it stopped at the top, and rocked back and forth in the wind. Then she wanted to look through the telescope, but it ended up being really "cheap" and she couldn't see the moon at all. Grandma Doreen felt bad for her, so she went to the gift shop and bought her a nice little stuffed animal seahorse.

At the end of the night, we were all exhausted and happy to get home!