Going: Weekend in Dallas

I just got back from a weekend in Dallas with my family. It was SO much fun! I think one of the things I liked most about this trip was that I didn't plan a single thing - I just showed up! (Hence the lack of a "Planning" blog for Dallas!)

It's not that I don't like to plan trips - I really, really do. But the circumstances of this trip lent itself to being planned more by Mom than by anyone else. Which ended up being great for me since I haven't had much free time since I started school in October...plus I've been planning other trips to Chicago (blog coming), Mazatlan, and London. So this time around it was nice to just show up at the airport. I didn't even buy my ticket! I have very generous parents!

Every fall, my family goes to a Vikings game at a stadium we've never been to. Other than the "never-been-to-that-stadium" requirement, we also try to pick a game that isn't during the Holidays, and we try to pick a place that we think will also be fun to be tourists in on Saturday. The last few years it has worked out to have friends visit us who aren't far from the city we are visiting, and they've also joined us at the game. 

This year we chose Dallas. Mom worked on the plans with our friends who joined us from Oklahoma, and we had a blast. 

We flew in on Friday night and met up at the hotel (maybe I'll write more about the Residence Inn in another post - a GREAT option for traveling with family). Saturday was packed. We toured AT&T Stadium in the morning, which was awesome, and then grabbed a quick bite on the way to the tour at the former Texas Book Depository, where JFK was assassinated. Then we headed to the Fort Worth Stockyards where we took pictures on a steer, ate some steak, and watched an honest-to-goodness rodeo! It was quite an experience - and MUCH more anxiety-inducing than I anticipated. I thought that I might want to find myself a cowboy while I was in Dallas, but after the rodeo, I think I would settle for a cowboy who has no interest in bull riding! After the rodeo, we headed back to the hotel because we were EXHAUSTED after all of our activities - peppered with great conversations and lots of laughing during the car rides. Good thing we got an extra hour of sleep thanks to Daylight Savings.

Sunday was the Vikings game. We didn't expect to win, so the fact that the game was even close was fun. The stadium had the "windows" and ceiling open, so it was a really fun outdoor/indoor atmosphere. And we had the best stadium nachos we've ever had in our lives. We headed straight from the game to the airport, and I even said hi to some of the football wives who were also on our flight :)

All in all, a WONDERFUL football trip. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite family traditions. 

Here are some fun pictures from the weekend (please excuse the phone-quality photos):