A Family Vacation in Dallas 2019

A Family Vacation in Dallas 2019

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for December 1, 2019

My sisters Tammy & Tracy both moved to Texas many years ago, but we are still lucky enough to get to see each other on a semi-regular basis.  Mostly we go see them rather than they come see us, but who's counting?

I grew up in a household with these three ladies.  They shaped me into the weirdo I am today.

My boys and their cousins love spending time together.  Grandma Linda likes seeing her grand-kids and great grand-kids just as much.

We get to see my sister, Tammy, and her fun family.

Tracy and the Mohars were kind enough to host us for the 4 nights we were in town.

Mallory's entire family wasn't able to join us until the next day, but it's always so cool seeing all of them.  The dang kids just keep growing so fast that it's starting to make me feel a little old myself.

Bailey and her husband just bought a new house and we were able to see it the day after they moved in.   It was great to see them doing so well!

We're getting to be a pretty big crew so getting everyone together for each activity can be tough, but we love to try.

When we flew out of Minneapolis, we were literally minutes away from a major blizzard which dropped about a foot of snow on our house over the next few days.  I must admit, it's pretty nice walking outside in November and only have to wear a sweatshirt.

Especially when getting the opportunity to go out and interact with Happy Christmas trees like we did in downtown grapevine.

On the first morning I was there, I was still trying to close a couple of deals at work.  I had to stay close to my phone and computer.  I was really bummed when I didn't get to join my family for their Camp Gladiator workout.   Really bummed.

I was happy to join in the hot tub with them afterwards, though.  That's much more my speed.

We spend a fair amount of time just standing around taking pictures of each other.  It's fun to see what we look like in different poses.

We tried to sprinkle in some fun activities like Karaoke.  That didn't work out so well, though.  Unfortunately, we are all just so shy when we have microphones in our hands.

Grandma Linda loves to go bowling even at 77 years old.  I forgot what an Ace of the Alley she really is.  She was dropping bombs and knocking down strikes left & right.  The PBA sure missed out with this one.  

Thanksgiving came and we regaled ourselves with stories, laughter, and tales from our mutual histories.  We were literally in tears as we went around the room and everyone told each other what they were thankful for in life.  We're not the most functional family all the time, but generally we self correct and support each other through life's tangles.  Generally.

We love to play games and seek out adventures with one another.  Giving advice and making each other laugh is usually included in there somewhere as well.  And every now and then just a wee bit of drama sneaks in there.

We're all very blessed to have one another in our lives, though.  I can't wait until I can see all my family together again soon!