Daddy-Daughter-DFW Weekend

Last weekend, Audra and I took a trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Jessica stayed home to (finally) have some time to herself and to continue packing for our impending move. Zoe also stayed home.

This trip was the first time Audra and Jessica have ever been in different cities, so it would be a test of how well she would do with just me. There was also going to be a lot of driving on this trip, so we would also see how well she would do with all of the traveling.

This was likely to be our last visit to DFW for a while, so I wanted to visit as many friends and family as I could and to have them see Audra. The weekend schedule was in flux with an external research campaign that was wrapping up on Friday, but we were able to leave for the Dallas area at a reasonable time for dinner with some of my closest high school friends.

Audra slept for about 2 hours on the 3-hour trip.

She clung to me for 30 minutes before deciding that the rolls looked delicious enough to try. She had two.
Strawberry shortcake ice cream was also a hit.

We then went to my parents' house for the evening where Audra went straight to sleep. In the morning, my brother cooked us a breakfast of eggs and waffles! Audra helped a bit.

Afterwards, we had a short video chat with Mommy. This would be the first time Audra would not see her in person for the entire day.

Audra, my brother, and I then went back to the Dallas area to see my extended family and celebrate a few birthdays at a dim sum restaurant.

My brother teaching Audra how to use chopsticks.

Audra takes apart a fried lobster ball.

We hung out with the family a bit at their house. As a bonus of this visit, I got copies of my uncle's synopsis of his time escaping Viet Nam after the fall of Sai Gon and after he left reeducation camp. I've been bugging my parents to do something similar, since I want to know their stories and to pass it on to my children when they're old enough. I also got copies of old family photos to look through later.

Always so shy at first.

She was happy in my aunt's arms until she saw me again.

Seems pretty content with my other aunt.

One of my cousins was working at the time we were having lunch, so we stopped by to see her since she said she would get Audra a strawberry smoothie (and a cherry, too).

We also went to the columbarium where my maternal grandmother's ashes are housed. She was my only grandparent in the United States, and she helped raise my brother and me for much of our young childhoods. I'm glad I took Audra to "see" her on this trip, since it's unlikely we'll be back for many years.

I planned on taking Audra to the Fort Worth Zoo on Sunday with my parents but rain was in the forecast, so I decided to try on Saturday. However, the weather was cooler than expected and the Dallas lunch trip was longer than planned, so I decided that it wasn't worth the drive and money. Plus, my parents would like some extra time to just chill at home with Audra. My cousin (the one who got Audra a strawberry smoothie) and a friend of hers came over for dinner. (Food was definitely a constant this weekend).

After breakfast Sunday morning, my dad helped me in my mission to expose Audra to as many aerospace-related things as possible.

Audra loved the plane taking off from the backside of the couch.

Don't mind the fact that the model is an F/A-18 when my dad worked mostly on the F-16.

My parents prepared even more food (I told you it was a constant) for lunch when one of my friends and his girlfriend would come to visit. Whenever this friend comes over, my mom makes minced pork rolls (sometimes improperly called egg rolls, I just found out), and he delights in them. Again, Audra helped a bit.

Mincing shrimp (my mom adds this in addition to the pork).

Audra "prepares" food with my dad.

Audra "helping" my dad grill the skewered pork and fry the minced pork rolls.

After a long lunch, Audra and I stopped by my aunt to visit for a short bit before making the drive back to College Station. After a long, off-her-normal-schedule weekend, Audra slept for 2.5 hours and probably would've slept the whole way had I not needed to stop to get gas.

After clinging to me for most of the weekend, Audra instantly clung to her Mommy the second we got home.