Final Detroit Post

I'm finally going to wrap this up. For real this time!

Day 5: Tuesday, April 7

We checked out of our hotel and went into Detroit (I think I forgot to mention previously that our hotel was about 20 miles outside of downtown Detroit) to find some souvenirs from the games. Everything was half-price, so we got some good deals on the NCAA Final Four gear.

We did some shopping in the towns surrounding Detroit, then headed further away from the city toward my good friend Kadee's house. We stopped at a massive mall on the way, and did some real shopping. I guess there are bigger malls in existence than the one we stopped at, but not in Idaho. I scored some new jeans, a few new shirts, a jacket and the Easter dress I got for Samantha. David got a few new shirts, too. He even got a brown one! (The majority of the shirts in his closet are gray because it "goes with everything." I've been trying to teach him that there are other neutrals besides gray, but it's not sinking in.) We got everything for bargain prices, too, which was great.

We had dinner at a very disappointing Thai restaurant. The waiter wasn't Thai and the food wasn't good. It tasted like Chinese food. I love Chinese food, but this wasn't good Chinese food, either. So sad.

We got to Kadee's house early evening, just in time to meet her cute kids before they went to bed. Kadee and I chatted a little, then she introduced us to "The Biggest Loser" TV show--I'd never seen it before (I had at least heard of it), and I gotta say, I'm a little hooked! After the show was over, David and I made a McDonald's run because there's no better way to enjoy watching a weight loss program than with fries and a shake!

Day 6: Wednesday, April 8

My favorite part of our trip (besides getting some new clothes) was hanging out at Kadee's house. Her kids are so cute! And even though I had to do some homework, the rest of the time we spent doing pretty close to nothing; just sat and chatted and played dolls (with Kadee's daughter; not like Kadee and I just sat and played dolls with each other. I think we've outgrown that...). My kind of vacation.

We did go out to "Big Boy's" burger joint for dinner. It was delicious. And we rented the movie "Yes Man" starring Jim Carrey. Hilarious! I thought it was the perfect way to end a vacation.

Day 7: Thursday, April 9

Our flight was scheduled to leave Thursday afternoon, so we headed back toward Detroit to see a few more of the sights without the crowds that were there for the games. We wandered around the gift shop at the Tigers' stadium, Comerica Park, then we went over to Hockeytown Cafe to have lunch.

After lunch, we returned our rental car and sat around at the airport for a while. We had an uneventful flight to Salt Lake, then a two-hour layover there. I did chat with a Laotian couple; I overheard them speaking with each other and it sounded like Thai (Laotian is very similar to Thai) from where I was sitting (pretending not to listen), so I asked them where they were from. They were both born in Laos, but moved to the U.S. when they were very young. They were on their way to visit the guy's mom in Fresno. So even though I didn't get to eat yummy Thai food in Detroit, I did have a Southeast Asian experience of some sort. Following our ridiculously long layover, we enjoyed a quick half-hour flight to Pocatello.

I'll be honest: by the time David and I take our annual vacation, a whole year or more having passed since the prior vacation, I'm a little tired of the kids and definitely ready for a break from the homemaking duties. So for the first few days I don't get too homesick. On the way home, though, all I could think about was giving my kids hugs and kisses. I got a little giddy, actually. It was kind of weird.

We got home around 10:00 p.m. Pocatello time. The kids were all in bed, but we woke them up so we could see them and say goodnight. I hadn't planned on waking Samantha, but she sort of woke up on her own (probably because the cat and dog were going crazy--they missed us, too!)

Thanks again to Kadee for letting us crash at your place. And humongous thanks to Roz for watching our kids for an entire week! I hope it didn't make you not want to have kids ever.