Spring Break 2011--Houston

We all went south for spring break.
Three of us went to Houston, while the remaining three + the dog stayed with the grandparents in northern Missouri. Everyone had a great week! The spring-like weather helped so much!

Byron, Brandon and I went to Houston to visit Byron's relatives.

They were so hospitable and made a lot of effort to pamper us. I considered staying for a very long time.
(I couldn't help but want to stay! My clean laundry was left folded on my bed at Aunt Norma's house--what more could a girl want in life!)
These dear people were our hosts:

We had a great time seeing the sights of Houston, dining on delicious food with good company.
Three Carson men:

We enjoyed 80 degree weather, sunshine, blooming flowers, and green grass.  We loved getting a chance to be outside in t-shirts!

We visited the Houston Museum of Art and saw a huge exhibit of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings.

We went to NASA's Johnson Space Center and saw spaceships and "behind the scenes" work.
We're pretty sure that there was some stuff they didn't show us at NASA, since the stuff we saw didn't look very "high tech". This computer is really old. Rather surprising, since its NASA:

 I was also surprised to see that they use sewing machines at the space center:

We went to Rodeo Houston, which lasts 20 days and is the largest in the world. They raise tons of money for scholarships, youth programs, and charities every year.
I thought it was funny to see Brandon and Aunt Norma texting at the same time:

We saw lots of fun things like the calf scramble, where a bunch of calves and kids are turned loose in the arena. The kids are supposed to catch a calf, which is pretty difficult. Even if they do manage to catch a calf, it's about impossible to keep ahold of it.

There was never a dull moment and we loved every minute of it--bull riding, calf roping, barrel racing, bronc riding, etc.

Zac Brown Band was the entertainment after the rodeo. (We had to choose which night to go--Alan Jackson and Brad Paisley were playing the other 2 nights!)

He and the band were amazing and sang all of our favorite ZBB songs.

This picture shows that there were ALOT of people there:

Then after the show, we left ... at the same time as all those other people... and waited in this ridiculously huge maze of people to get on the bus back to the parking lots:

It was well worth it though. We had a wonderful time!


Ellyn, Ryan and Meggan stayed in Missouri with the grandparents and also had some nice weather. They enjoyed sewing, crafting, fishing, a cousin ballgame, a cousin sleepover (three girls and a lab slept sideways in the same bed).

Since we've been home, it has not felt like spring. We are looking forward to warm and sunny days in the near future!