Melissa's Memorial Day Weekend...

... was spent in Dallas visiting some friends. Niki (Stevens) Spangler, husband Greg, and adorable kids Addie and Scott. Thank you Tyler for letting me abandon you with Maggie on Memorial Day weekend to go visit her. It was a real treat!

I've known Niki since I was 15. She was the maid of honor in my wedding. And I love her to death. She went to The Master's College in California and never moved back to Seattle, and then Tyler and I up and moved to Nashville, so we've lived far, far apart for a long time. So I was VERY excited when Southwest lowered their summer ticket prices. I rebooked tickets I had already purchased and ended up with enough travel credits for another ticket. And since James is "little", and so far a good traveler, I thought why not? I haven't had to chance to go visit her in such a long time, and this seemed perfect.

I was greeted in Dallas with a big hug from Niki and this:
That's right. Someone's boxers on the baggage carousel. Joy!

Friday night we stayed up until 1:30. Greg had to tell us to go to bed. Because really, even though we could've stayed up and talked all night, children don't know that and they'd be up around 7 am. And also, a HUGE thank-you again to Greg for putting up with two crazy-chatty women AND taking care of his own two munchkins so I could crash in their house with James and have some Niki time.

Niki and Scotty at Chick-Fil-A. We went after a visit to this huge outdoor flea market. We needed some SERIOUS A/C after that - it was in the 90's with a hot wind.
I educated them on the kids' stick-on placemats, crayons and cheerios cups. They introduced me to Chick-Fil-A sauce. I didn't know about that sauce. It was delicious!!! (and I can't believe I didn't know about that sauce!)

Here's Greg. He too has been afflicted with "my-wife-takes-too-many-pictures"-itis, Symptoms include the inability to smile nicely for any camera pointed in his direction. Even if it isn't his wife taking the picture. Sorry Greg!
Here's Addie. She's about the same age as Maggie. and such a hoot! Maggie would've loved her.
Then for some walking around with the kids we went to a big mall. They had an ice-skating rink inside. How cool was that?! This girl worked there, I think. She skated beautifully and I got this great picture of her spinning.
Sunday night we went to Hard 8 BBQ. Here we are, thick as thieves.
The dinner. We split this big tray of brisket, ribs, smoked sausage, corn and poppers (Chicken chunks stuffed with cheese and roasted jalapenos). It was some really good Texas BBQ!
And here's Scotty enjoying his first corn on the cob. It was so cute - he just loved it!!!
It was a great trip with a great friend. And it was so much fun to spend time with her children and get to know Greg better, too!