Road Warrior Momma: Day 3

Day 3 – June 29, 2013

Allen TX

Temperature 99 degrees

We woke up lazily…it was very quiet with just three of us this morning. I think Bear was missing Hunter, as I could NOT get him out of bed! But eventually we did and made it to Barbie’s on time. We loaded up the kids and headed into the city, to the G.W. Bush Library.

The library is beautiful! Gorgeous. It even has a restaurant – a first for us. Kind of a bummer though, that we had to go through security that would rival the ATL airport. Poor Georgie – people are still after him. The place was packed. Crazy busy. I couldn’t believe it. It was hard to get to some of the displays. I won’t bore you with a blow by blow, but some observations:

Very high tech. Lots of interactive stuff.

Lots of video footage, which was cool.

We got to walk THRU the oval office and sit at the desk! VERY cool.

Lots of focus on the White House and its staff, which I thought was very nice.

A video of the funny, silly Bushisms.

Lots of rude people all over the place – one lady seriously, not accidently, pushed both Bear and Barbie out of her way – on two separate occasions.

Lots of focus on policy, it needs more about Bush pre-presidency and his family.

Needs more focus on the time period and what was going on in the country during his time in office.

The 9-11 section took my breath away. The have a large part of the Trade Center and a wall, similar to the Vietnam Memorial, with all the names of the victims. It took me right back.

Well worth the money, time, heat and effort! Even though I was praising the Ford Library a couple weeks ago – this was my favorite Library so far. I left with the warm fuzzies about W again. I didn’t think that was possible.

When we left, there was a big van parked next to Barbie’s car, from some Church of Christ. Barbie opened her van door and the kids all started piling in. Not a big deal, but apparently it was to the woman driving the church van. She lost her marbles. She was screaming at the kids though the closed window. What she was saying, I could not tell. I reacted immaturely, but really thought her tirade was irrational. I asked her if she was okay (to be fair, my tone was unpleasant). Her head snap back, and she replied, “Yes, I’m fine.” Okay then, stop yelling at my kids. It was ridiculous and not very nice.

It was good prep for our next event – a hockey game. We grabbed a quick bite and then headed to the ice rink to watch Bobby play. What a rock star! The next GretzkyJ. We got to see him score four goals! His team won 5-1. It was fantastic. I walked out with him, and everyone’s like, “Great game Bob!” “Way to go Bobby!” “Way to score, Bob!” It was like being with a rock star.

Then we hung out at the house and the kids swam, before heading out for authentic Tex Mex. Food was great, Margaritas were great, company was great! Back to the hacienda for a night swim and grown up chit-chat with Barbie and Jeff – I love them, I miss them. Poor Barbie, I talked her ear off for two days, I couldn’t stop.

But very quickly, like a tornado, I felt that the Smith Storm brewing. Audie jumped up in the pool, under the waterfall, hitting the top of her head on a rock…big ole egg on her head. This was followed by drama, which triggered an internal mom debate about whether or not to go to the ER. She was working it, but Barbie deduced that she was fine, just enjoying my panic. Barbie was right. Grown-ups were having deep conversations, followed by over-sharing on my part. Then Barrett christened Bobby’s bathroom...literally. Very sorry for the TMI, but he bombed the place out. There was some collateral damage, involving urine, which resulted in Bear wearing Hunters PJs (too small) sans underwear. So we had to walk through the hotel lobby, in front of the Miss Texas wannabes…looking like the Clampetts! Time to buzz out of town! It was Great Allen, TX – till next time!

Quote of the day: Camden, “Wow, this place glitters like it’s decorated with gold.” Cammy’s comment about the hotel lobby. Not sure if it’s the decorations, or the beauty queens.