Trip to Bentonville

 We heard about Crystal Bridges Museum from our friend Lani Graves.  This is a museum in Bentonville Arkansas near the headquarters of Walmart.  The museum was built under the direction of Alice Walton, one of the heirs of the Walmart fortune.  It had a great reputation and Liz really wanted to see it so we set up a trip to do that.  We took the motorhome and scooter and left on May 14th driving to Fort Smith the first night.  

The next day we drove the motorhome further up to Beaver Lake near Bentonville, Arkansas, where we stayed at Horseshoe Bend Campground for 3 nights.  On May 16 we boarded the scooter and drove to the Crystal Bridges Museum where we spent the day going through the museum and exploring the trails around the property.  Below are some of our favorite museum displays.

Depression bread line.

Hanging ornaments

Broken tea set

Our favorite item on display was a picture of a man that was looking back at you.... and his eyes would periodically move back and forth!  On the way back to the campground we stopped in Bentonville at the original Walton's (Walmart) store and toured the building.  It contained a replica of Sam Walton's original office in the store....very interesting.

At the original Walton's store in Bentonville, AR

On May 17 we drove the RV back to the Crystal Bridges Museum and unloaded the bikes so we could bike the trails around the museum.  The trails are beautiful and quite extensive and have unique outdoor sculptures along the paths.

Spider sculpture along the bike path

Two other interesting outdoor sculptures along the bike path 
at Crystal Bridges

On May 18 we left Horseshoe Bend Campground and headed back to Texas where we stayed the night at Pat Mayse Lake.  We then drove home the next day.  This was a very interesting trip that is not too far from home.....I think we'll do it again somethime.

Easter Holiday

 On Friday, April 15th all of the Texas clan (Topher Daytons, Keetons, McLaughlins) came to our house to celebrate the Easter holiday.  We met at a new indoor water park called The Cove in Little Elm.  This place was amazing and the kids loved it.

Reayen going down the water slide

The grandkids climbing to the top of the slide

Denae going down the wave machine

Beau

Elynn

Akston surfing

Reayen

Elynn on the water slide

On the way home from the water park we stopped to eat at Hat Creek Burger Company where the kids got to play some more.  On Saturday morning we took the grandkids for scooter rides and did some outdoor walking on the Roadrunner trail near our house.

Reayen riding on the scooter with
Ryder driving (not!)

Reayen stopping for a pic with the llamas

Grandkids on the Roadrunner trail
with the bluebonnets

Saturday afternoon we set up a table outside so the grandkids could dye easter eggs.

Hard at work dying eggs

That evening we all gathered in the dining room for a family dinner together.

Family dinner - adult table

Family dinner - kids table

On Sunday morning we did an Easter egg hunt with each grandchild getting a room in the house.  We had plenty of excitement trying to find all the eggs.

Grandkids looking for Easter eggs

Sunday afternoon the families had to pack up and return home to get ready for another week.  We had a great time and made some wonderful Easter memories with everyone that was there.

Graves Visit to Texas

The Graves stopped by to visit us in Dallas with the specific purpose of visiting our kids in Texas.  We started on April 5 with a visit to Abuelos Mexican restaurant, one of our favorites here in Dallas.  The next day we drove down to the Grassy Knoll since the Graves had not seen the JFK memorial.  

Visiting downtown Dallas

Graves and Us at JFK memorial at Grassy Knoll

On April 7 we drove down to Austin and visited the LBJ Library on UT Austin campus.  Then we stopped by Rachael & Kevin's home in Austin and the Graves got to meet Quentin, our newest grandchild.  That night we stopped at an Airbnb just outside of Dripping Springs.  The next day we went to the LBJ Historic Park where we toured the LBJ Ranch and checked out the LBJ presidential jet.

LBJ Presidential Jet

One Room Schoolhouse
in LBJ Historic Park

Schoolhouse where LBJ attended school

After the LBJ Ranch we drove to Fredericksburg to see the National Museum of the Pacific War and then on to Kerrville to see the river trail.  Finally, we drove to Bulverde to stay the night with Keetons and see the grandkids there.  We spent the next day at Keetons, met the Topher Dayton's at Bigz Burger Joint for dinner, and spent that night at Tophers.

On April 10 we went for lunch with Topher's family to the Sweet Paris Cafe.  

Lunch with the Topher Dayton's and Graves at
Sweet Paris Cafe

The Graves departed for the west from that point headed to Denver and their son Ryan's house.  Liz and I headed for home but stopped in Georgetown, TX to see the McLaughlins new home under construction.

New Georgetown home
looking up the driveway

Rachael, Kevin, Reayen, and Quentin
inside the new house

We arrived home in the evening of April 10 after another great trip with the Graves.

2022 Trip to Riverside

 On March 22 we flew from Dallas to Riverside California to stay a week at d and Zhouyi's house.  Since our Christmas visit to their house, d had brought in contractors to finish the upstairs rooms that were made accessible by the stairs he had installed.  This opened up a whole new floor of space for d's office and a large playroom for the kids.  It was a great addition to the house.

Top of the stairs leading down
to main floor

d's new upstairs office

New rec room and game center

New upstairs toy storage

The first few days we spent around town doing local things.  On March 25 we drove to Lego Land where we spent the day.

On March 27 we drove to the Getty Museum in LA.  This is a very beautiful space with gardens that overlook Los Angeles.  

Hanging out at the Getty Museum

Looking over LA from Getty Museum deck

One of the most beautiful gardens

On March 29th we flew back home after another wonderful week in California with d's family.

Padre Island Trip

We left on February 11, 2022 for a trip to Padre Island in south Texas.  We first stopped for the weekend at Kathryn's house in Bulverde where we stayed for 2 nights.  On Sunday we left Bulverde and drove the RV to Padre Island where we got a beachfront campsite.  We stayed at the beach for 3 nights.  This was the first time we had the scooter at the beach so we had fun exploring some of the backroads inside the park.  In addition to exploring on the scooter, we love biking down the beach for miles and observing the people, wild life and scenery.

Liz getting ready for a bike ride

Padre Island beach front

Our camping spot

Walking the beach

On Wednesday we left Padre and headed to Austin where we stayed a night at McLaughlins.  On Thursday (2/17 ) we headed home.   We decided it's really nice to have a beach to go to in the middle of winter!