National Park #1

Sunday, March 13, 2011
Well today we began our national park ("NP") quest.  Since before we had kids, I had the crazy desire to make sure our kids get to every NP before they graduate from college. We left Dallas at around 6am and drove to Abilene where we stopped to have breakfast at Whataburger.  We kept driving and stopped in Andrews, Texas to stretch our legs.  Grant met a nice man who let him ride on his "bicycle".  He was very excited because I've told him since he was born that he will never ride a motorcycle as long as he lives in my house!

We arrived in Carlsbad around 1pm.  We checked into the Holiday Inn Express then ate lunch at Cortez Famous Mexican Restaurant.  Whenever we eat Mexican food, Grant (age 3) gets a side of rice and Ryan (age 5) gets a side of beans.  It works out well.

We went back to the hotel and sat in the hot tub and swam in the indoor pool (which is why we chose this hotel). Ryan, who is a great swimmer, is also going through a phase of being extremely shy when trying anything new that involves people she doesn't know.  She did not want to swim because there were other people in the pool.  She even went and stood in the corner for a while.  But eventually she gathered up some courage, got it, and really enjoyed swimming with her friend she made from Houston, Georgia, also 5.

After swimming, we went to Walmart to pick up a few things and Grant fell asleep in the car so we grabbed some Subway sandwiches and went back to the hotel.  Ryan, Nick and I had a picnic on the curb outside of our hotel because they were re-finishing the floors and it stank!  In the process, Ryan stubbed her toe BADLY (blood everywhere) and I was sure we'd be hearing about it the rest of the trip but she was a trooper.