Vacation

We just got back from our first vacation with Emma. We went to New Mexico for "The Gathering", which started out as the Graham Family Reunion about 9 or 10 years ago. It was soooo much fun!!! Emma did really well traveling. Emma, Grammy, Pops, Meemaw, Cliff and I rode together in my grandma's suburban. Jason and Jessica rode with Jason and April Sapp.

We left on Wednesday morning, July 8th. We stopped at Lake Waco to have a picnic lunch. They had a nice playground that we played on before hitting the road again. We stopped in Abilene and had dinner with my grandma's sister and family. We met up with "the girls and the Jasons".

Thursday morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and hit the road again. We stopped at a park in Post to have another picnic lunch, then headed into Ruidoso. We were hoping to get there for the quarter horse races, but we only made the last race of the day. After we left the racetrack, we went to dinner at Farley's. Then, we made our way to Alamogordo to stay the night.

Friday morning we ate a quick breakfast and drove to White Sands National Monument (not sure why it is called a monument). We slid down the sand dunes and just hung out for about an hour. It was a little hot, but so much fun! I think Emma is not into getting dirty. We tried getting her to crawl around in the packed sand, but she wasn't too sure about that. I don't know if it was just a new feeling or if she really didn't want to get dirty. After White Sands, we headed back to Ruidoso for the races. There were only 4 Quarter Horse races and the rest were Thoroughbred races. I am more interested in the Quarter Horses, so we left for lunch after the 4th race. We had lunch at Cafe Rio ,an AWESOME pizza place in Ruidoso. Then we went to check in at our hotel and meet up with everyone. We had dinner (hamburgers and hot dogs) on the patio at our hotel. After dinner, Cliff and I stayed with Emma at the hotel while Grammy, Pops and Meemaw went to the casino.

Saturday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel. They have a GREAT breakfast buffet. Emma stayed at the hotel with Daddy and Pops, while Grammy, Meemaw and I went shopping. We went to a few of the shops and then went back to the hotel to pick up Cliff, Emma and Pops. Then we all headed to the Turf Club at the race track (our last day at the races). After the races, we headed back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. The hotel chef cooked us dinner and it was YUMMY! We had Cesar Salad, Roast with Carrots and Potatoes, Chicken stuffed with cheese and artichoke harts, Steamed Veggies and Pie a la mode for dessert. Yep, it was DELICIOUS! After dinner, Grammy stayed with Emma while Pops, Meemaw, Cliff and I went to the casino for a little bit. Cliff and I like to play the nickle slots. He was a little more successful than I was this year, but we still had fun (didn't loose too much).

Sunday we ate breakfast at the hotel, packed up the car and hit the road. We stopped in Roswell and had lunch at the Farley's they have there. Then we continued on our way to Abilene, where we spent the night again.

Monday we had breakfast at IHOP and continued our journey back to Houston. We stopped and had lunch at DQ and then back in the car. We finally made it back to Houston.

It was a good trip, but we were happy to be back home. So, all in all it was a successful first vacation with Emma. Enjoy...