Thanksgiving Trip-Part Two

Our second day in Dallas didn't start out so well. The night before Eli was up most of the night screaming and crying and not sleeping. The next morning he was still really fussy and not acting like himself at all. For those of you that have been around Eli, you know that for the most part he is always in a good mood so whenever he's fussy, you know something is wrong with him. We decided to play it safe since we were out of town and find a walk-in clinic that could check to see what was going on with his little body. We got there and while we were waiting for the doctor to come in, Eli had lots of fun playing on the step stool. He didn't act like he was sick at all while we were waiting for the doctor, but once he came in, Eli got very sick. Turns out both of his ears were beet red, so the doctor prescribed some antibiotics for him. We were sad that he had an ear infection, but were thankful that we knew what it was and that we had some medicine for him now.




We decided to go ahead and continue our day with Grandpa E, but stayed pretty close to his house just in case Eli started running a fever or feeling bad and needed to go back to the house. After a nap in the car, Eli was in a pretty good mood, so Grandpa E took us to a really neat event that was being held at the Gaylord Texan nearby. It was called ICE! They created scenes from How the Grinch Stole Christmas using over 2 million pounds of ice. You can go here to read all about this incredible event. If you're in the area, stop by and go see it for yourselves. It's something to see!

Eli checking out the scenery.

Inside the lobby, before going in to see ICE!

Eli LOVED this train and hated that he had to "share" it with the other kids waiting to take pictures. He wanted to be the conductor all day!

Before we went into the exhibit, they handed out parkas to us since it was going to be around 9 degrees inside. Since Eli was so little and was in a stroller, they handed us a blanket to wrap around his little head and body. I didn't think that was enough, so Grandpa E took off his fleece jacket he was wearing and wrapped that around him as well. If you know Eli or have read about him, you know that he HATES confinement of any kind. I was worried that he was going to get cold, so I made sure the blanket was tight around him, and that just made him even more mad. We went inside the exhibit and BRRRR! Was it cold! I was so paranoid about Eli, but after checking on him several times, I realized he was actually warmer than I was inside his little cocoon I had created. He didn't like the music from the Grinch that was playing or the lights being out because he had a hard time keeping up with me, so we made it through about 3/4 of the exhibit before he and I had to leave. Josh and Grandpa E finished the exhibit and said the manger scene was definitely the best part. I hate that we missed it, but next year I know we won't be able to pull Eli out of the exhibit he'll love it so much! Here are some pictures from our ICE experience.























After ICE, we walked around the hotel looking at all the decorations and out of the corner of his eye, Eli spotted the fountain. We walked down and went to watch it for a little bit. Josh had a death grip on Eli because our little daredevil wanted to go IN the water.






Before we left, Grandpa E decided to show Daddy one of the biggest TV's in the world that was in one of the restaurants at the hotel. He was very impressed and in awe!



On our way out, Eli and I snapped one cute picture in Santa's sleigh. Next year if we go, we'll both be in Christmas attire because this would make a precious photo!