Weekend in Dallas: Best Laid Plans, and All That Foolishness

We're back from a weekend getaway to Dallas, and I'll post more in the coming days about the big events we did.

I had wanted to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge this trip, but rooms were over $500 a NIGHT after taxes!! No hotel with a waterpark is worth that expense. So I looked into staying across the street at the Gaylord, where we spent a wonderful time over the winter holidays. It was all booked up on Saturday night. :( We ended up with the Embassy Suites for $109/night, and this was a great choice. We had a two room suite, a wonderful shower, and free breakfast buffets for all of us. The boys enjoyed the glass elevators, and the atrium inside the hotel.

They also enjoyed that it was attached to a Bass Pro Outdoor World that had an archery range and shooting gallery.

One perk to our hotel: we had a great view from our window of the fireworks set off by the Gaylord 1/2 a mile away.

Thanks, Gaylord. :)

We had a busy weekend planned in Dallas, so OF COURSE I ended up with sick children.

We met my cousin Julie and her family at the Dallas Arboretum early Saturday morning in an attempt to do our outdoor fun before the temperatures reached their expected 108 degree high. The kids splashed in the water fountains for a bit there, and about 90 minutes later, Ryan started complaining about sharp pains in is ear. He can be a bit of a drama queen at times, so I first brushed it off a bit and thought perhaps it was from his impropmtu nap in the car.

But the screams and cries of pain inside the Nature and Science Museum were getting worse, and we finally had to bail on the museum and head out to find a clinic that would look at him.

(Photo taken at Ryan's request so he could see what was wrong with his ear).

A short while later, we were at one of those Minute Clinics in CVS my pediatrician told me never to take the kids to. I decided being out of town meant I got a free pass. The nurse practitioner there diagnosed him with an inner ear infection, and yes, apparently they can come on within minutes of the water staying too long in the ear.

Go figure.

A little bit longer, and we had two filled prescriptions for Ryan for antibiotic ear drops and pain relief ear drops. And another 30 minutes later, and he was all smiles as we cheered Carl on as he got ready to drive his Indy Formula One race car at the Texas Motor Speedway.

On Sunday, we then went to visit the Gaylord hotel for Dragon Training Camp, a new Dreamworks-themed experience they had added since our December visit that sounded right up the boys' alley, and a visit to the nearby National Scouting Museum. Who knew the Boy Scouts were founded in Irving? Not me...

I had a lot of pre-paid, non-refundable events planned for this weekend - the hotel nights, the race car drive, and the Dragon Training - and almost ever minute was planned out in advance. I get nervous doing that with kids, and this was a good reminder that they are not, in fact, old enough for me to do such foolishness. We're pretty lucky that we were able to get Ryan's ear treated as fast as we were, and the biggest inconvenience to our weekend was a shortened Science Museum visit and no pool/rest time at the hotel before the race car time. Thank goodness our upcoming beach vacation next month has no plans other than sand and sea attached to it at all!