Sunday, November 20, 2011

Dallas - Part 1, the Stadium tour

Last weekend Ronnie and I had our first vacation since the girls were born - we spent a long weekend in Dallas, TX. For his 30th birthday in August I surprised him with tickets to the Cowboys/Bills game. A lot of people don't realize, but Ronnie lived in and around Dallas until he moved to Kentucky when he was 11 years old. I had never been to Texas but was super excited to go there for the first time! We had a busy weekend so I'm going to do two posts about this, to not leave anything out.
Lucky for us my mom and dad were able to take Friday/Monday off work and watch the girls. We had an early start. Our plane left Nashville at 8 a.m. Friday morning, so we were up bright and early (well...dark and early!) to head to Nashville. Travis even got up and rode to the airport with us and Dad...I think Dad bribed him with breakfast! Not gonna lie, I was a nervous wreck before our flight. Flying has never bothered me before, but this was the first time I'd flown since we've had the girls, and I was certain our plane was going to crash. I watched way too much September 11 anniversary coverage. :( Halfway through our flight I finally loosened up and began talking again. Seriously. I think I said maybe 5 words the entire morning before our flight...two of those being "oh no!" when Ronnie sat next to me at the airport with a plate full of greasy breakfast food that I was certain would make me throw up if I had to see it. He went somewhere else eat, ha ha. Once we got there we got our rental car (a beige Malibu, of all things!) and headed towards our hotel. We stayed at the Sheraton in Arlington. We were so excited when we pulled up and saw it sitting right next to both Cowboys Stadium and the beautiful park where the Texas Rangers play. We were giggling like little school girls! Check in time wasn't until 3 p.m., and it was only about 11:30 a.m., but they had a room ready so we were excited to be able to go on and get settled in. Our VIP tour of Cowboys Stadium was set for 2 p.m., so we went to a nearby Sonic and grabbed lunch, then went back to the hotel and began the walk to the stadium. The stadium is AMAZING. Even if you aren't a Cowboys fan, or even a football fan, if you are ever near Dallas you have to tour the stadium. I promise you will not be disappointed! We got there early so we hung out in the massive pro shop. It was huge, and they had any and everything Cowboys that you could imagine. Needless to say we were on cloud 9!
Finally it was time for our tour. We were so excited! They took us everywhere. We got to go inside Jerry Jones' suite on the 50 yard line where he watches the game. They gave us tons of information and fun facts about the stadium and how it all came together. While talking about the huge videoboard they told us several fun stories. One was about the Jonas Brothers. They were one of the first concerts to perform after the stadium opened. One of the things they requested was to play Halo 3 on the videoboard, so they got it all set up and the Jonas Brothers played Halo 3 on that huge screen. How funny! We went inside the Cheerleaders' locker room, and even the players locker room! They told us that the players lockers are made out of this rare, expensive type of wood from Africa (only Jerry Jones would do this...ha ha). It was so fun to be in the locker room, where we often see the players interviewed after games! After the locker room we were able to walk the same route the players do as they go from the locker room out onto the field. Then we were able to play on the field for like 30 minutes! Ronnie immediately slipped off his shoes to have his bare feet on the grass! We had lots of fun and took tons of pictures. According to their website, my camera wouldn't be allowed because the lens was too long, but thankfully no one said anything so I was able to take lots of pics with my new camera! Here are a few:

Texas Rangers park, how beautiful is that?!

Inside the stadium, and the huge videoboard!

A kid in a candy store!

There are so many cool artsy pieces in the stadium...love the football shaped lights!

Best elevator ever!

Inside he Cheerleaders locker room...
In the players locker room...

Romo's locker!

D-Ware!

Love this star! The 'boys run under this light as they run out onto the field.

On the field!
50 yard line


In the endzone

The star!

We had an amazing time touring the stadium. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience! Next up - visiting with family and the Cowboys game!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Ella Bella Ballerina

One day the girls and I were at Half Price Books and we stumbled upon a book called "Ella Bella Ballerina and Cinderella." I thought it was pretty funny, since we've always called Ella "Ella Bella", and Ella was (and still is) in the middle of a princess phase. So we bought it. We read it tonight before bed, appropriately, since tonight I really had an Ella Bella Ballerina...it was her first night of dance class!
Last month I bought a Living Social (love living social...and groupon...and try it local...and all those awesome deal sites!) deal for one month of dance class at Jennifer's Academy of Dance...which happens to be 3 minutes from our house. When I told her about it she was waaaay more excited than she ever was for wee ball or soccer or anything else. It's easy to see that Ella's current interests are in music, singing and dancing. Maybe the sports will come, but as for now we are just having fun watching her be excited about dance! We went to the Zappos outlet in Shepherdsville on Monday and were so excited to find both ballet shoes and tap shoes in her size! ($7.50 for ballet shoes, $16 for tap shoes...boo yah!) Her class is one hour long, the first 30 minutes being ballet and the last 30 minutes being tap.
All day she anxiously awaited class. Thankfully she took a nap beforehand and was well rested. She was so excited when we arrived and she saw all the other little girls running around in leotards and tights. (We found tights, a black leotard, and a silver tutu at Target, all very reasonably priced.) When it came time for class the girls were led into a room without parents. I wasn't sure how that would go, especially since two youngers girls had full blown, screaming melt downs right in front of her. I led her into the room, and the instructor said I could stay in the room if I needed to since it was her first time. I hung out by the door for the first half of class then worked my way back into the room with the other parents. But I had such a great time watching her...my only disappointment was that parents aren't really supposed to watch. I understand why, because it distracts the girls, but it is so cute and I want to watch!! :) For the first five minutes or so she didn't really participate, just watched very closely, sizing it all up. But after that she jumped right in and fully participated. She did great! One of the other moms who was hanging out in the doorway said that she was doing great for her first time. She smiled the entire time...which was a nice change after literally having to force her to stay on the soccer field this fall! Here are a few pictures of our Ella Bella Ballerina...