The Fambam Takes on Florida Day 3

The Fambam Takes on Florida Day 3

The day started out getting the girls to rise from their slumber and prepare for another day of what Dinsey describes as magical. The plan for today was two parks. The first being Hollywood Studios for me and Little D to get our Star Wars on and then the Animal Kingdom.

I have been looking forward to Hollywood Studios since Pam came up with the idea of coming to Disney four years ago. Rigo has tickled my fancy with tales of the Star Wars attractions and seeing Darth Vader in real life. I was over my "It's Tough to be a Bug" pity party drama from the night before. After all, I was about to meet and greet my favorite Wookie, Chewbacca!

As we walked in with the rest of the entire population of Florida, Pam's quick Candy Crush thumbs went to work on the Disney App and discovered the Tower of Terror only had a 20-minute wait. We have been told by many Disney goers that this was a must ride so we headed that way. The line seemed to be moving quickly as our excitement grew. We soon realized that the closer we got the line would backtrack and go off in another direction. Twenty minutes soon turned into an hour as AK was growing fidgety as she learned that Walt forgot to put restrooms in the lines of his attractions. After an hour-and-half of waiting patiently, we went on the attraction for our thirty seconds of fun.

The long wait left very little time left for Hollywood Studios to be explored properly. Pam decided she needed to go into a few stores and I opted to watch the Darth Vader show at the entrance and run through the park to see all it would have to offer on my next trip to Disney in another 43 years.

I met up with the rest of the fambam to load back up in the car and go to the Animal Kingdom. Pam knew the girls were getting hungry so, She ordered some BBQ sandwiches from The Flame Tree Barbeque restaurant at the Animal Kingdom to eat upon our arrival.

When traveling with Pam, she is always two steps ahead of everyone continually reviewing any and all possibilities to make the vacation more enjoyable. With her uncanny ability of preparation, she told AK to go and get napkins and condiments. She directed me and Little D to find a table to sit at, and she would pick up and pay for the food. After Pam's play calling, we broke the huddle and set out on out tasks. The table area was packed, and our attempt to get a table looked futile until Little D used her Ninja skills to scope out a table and get to before anyone else could. 

The table was a mess from the party before. A Disney employee came over to clean it up. We were the only ones at the table and I asked Little D to go help out Pam and let her know where we would be dining. I talked with the staff member for a few minutes while sitting at the table. Once he was done a man from a foreign country approached me at the table holding trays with his family behind him looking slightly upset that I was sitting down. He told me I had to move because his family was hungry and ready to eat. At this point I saw two options, go to full-blown fisticuffs and risk being put in Disney jail or firmly stand my ground and refuse to move. Luckily my new Disney friend walked over and let the man know I had been there waiting for my family.

After our meal, we bumped, got pushed and slowly shuffled our way through the park as we hit up the rapid river ride and a roller coaster for fast passes. Both were great but not worthy of the long lines to get on. 


We continued on and watched the magic take over as people were starting to become hostile and angry with each other. At one point a lady was screaming that she was just trying to get through a walking path as she pushed people to the side with her robust figure. Pam pointed out that everyone was trying to do the same, but apparently, the rules of walking on a path did not apply to her.

Pam dipped into her magical bag of tricks and gave the girls money to find some food and sit down and relax. She then escorted me to the car to help retrieve our sweatshirts for the evening. Pam once again proved why she is Supreme Ruler of the Fambam as the girls were revved back up for more Disney fun, and I desperately needed some space to be away from people for a little while.

We met back up and did the African Safari. I am sure it would have been cool to see, but it was night, and I quickly grew tired of the guide saying things such as, "Look, in those bushes, behind that huge rock, a rhino might be sleeping."

We got off the ride, and Pam knew she needed to come up with another magical plan as we were tired and desperate looking. She put her Candy Crush fit thumbs into action and found us another Fast Pass at the Magical Kingdom. The best part was we could see the fireworks over the castle before the ride.

The Magical Kingdom had, even more, people than the Animal Kingdom. We let Little D navigate the way through all the people since she is small and nimble. We initiated a knew fambam move called the Conga Line as we all held on to each other's shirts while D found a spot to view all the glory.

The fireworks did not disappoint and we were all satisfied to ride the "Small World" attraction. While we rode, Pam was able to secure another Fast Pass on "Pirates of the Carribean". Once there, it was decided that Captain Jack Sparrow would be the last of the Disney Magic for the night as we had early morning passes, and the girls were tired from their day of jockeying through the masses.

We went back to the condo and made a frozen pizza. AK crashed the second we walked in the door only to rise from her slumber thirty minutes later to eat some pizza. Little D put her new found treasure Eeyore to bed while Pam and I found ourselves planning Day 4 where it was determined that the early morning Fast Passes would be replanned so the girls could sleep in and we could regroup for our last day of Disney Magical fun!

The Fambam Travel Tips of the Day:

-Do use the My Disney Experience App for Fast Passes and ordering food (It makes life easier and easier is a code word for magic at Disney).

-Bring a water bottle and fill them up with the water fountains in the parks (not only will this save you some serious money, the water tastes great and is always cold).

The Fambam Takes on Florida Day 2

The Fambam Takes on Florida Day 2

Christmas morning started out early with me getting up and heading to the hotel Starbucks to get a candy bar cup of coffee for the wife and smoothies for the girls. After all, the end of the year is coming quickly upon us, and I needed to get some extra bonus points in the battle to win the Coolest Parent of the Year Award. This has not been easy, as Pam has taken home the trophy for the last six years.

We exchanged gifts, wolfed down some breakfast and soon found our selves in a full sea of strollers, kids, Mickey Mouse ears and parents hoping to accomplish the same thing Pam did four years ago when she struck gold with her idea!

We navigated our way through security to find our first Fast Pass experience of the day called Living the Land. I determined that it was educational enough that it would count as homeschool credit and AK could drop out of school if she would like. She declined, and we were off to our next adventure of Finding Nemo.

It's no secret that AK loved Nemo when she was little. Her face lit up with glee is we loaded our clamshell and rode the adventure with Bruce the Shark. Although we enjoyed the ride, the aquarium we explored after the ride was spectacular, and one I would put up with any I have visited before.

After two rides we still had one more Fast Pass to use. Pam noticed Little D getting hungry and offered up a Mickey Mouse Pretzel to stave off her pre-teen hunger. With Little D satisfied with her food consumption, we traveled the many countries Epcot had to offer up.

Little D loved visiting each country, and I was on a quest for a new beer to try. While Pam and AK found themselves watching a mime, Little D and I explored her favorite place on earth, Italy. Little D dreams of the day she can leave behind the fambam and become a full-time Italian. I soon settled on a beer from Italy as the price was not too outrageous only to discover that I had a shot-sized glass. After chewing my way through several bites of my beer, we found the other half of the Fambam and went on to train for space exploration at Spaceship Earth.

To no one's surprise in the Fambam, Pam took on the role as ship Commander. AK was the Engineer because they are not in charge of much. I was assigned the task of navigator because I was the only male in the crew and Little D was the Pilot which proved to be disastrous in trying to land us. Little D did get us safely to the ground, but let's just say NASA will not be calling anytime soon.

With Fast Pass number 3 down, Pam was able to get on her Disney App and find us some new fun in the Animal Kingdom. Pam's quick thumbs from playing years of Candy Crush proved to be advantageous with the Disney App as she scored us a ride on It's Tough to be a Bug.

We loaded up the car in search of bugs. We arrived at the Animal Kingdom to find it very dark and hard to navigate with the lack of lights and thousands of people we had to swim through. As always, Pam took charge and led us to the Tree of Life where the show on bugs would take place.

I was slightly excited to see "It's Tough to be a Bug" because cousin Maggie had highly recommended the show, and it starred my boy Flick! With the Fast Pass, we found ourselves first in line, which should mean we would have any pick of seats in the house like proper theater etiquette allows. After all, I do live by Ricky Bobby's mantra of "If you're not first, you're last!" Apparently, Talladega Nights is not a Disney Movie because they do not share in Ricky's sentiments.

The doors to the theater opened, and we were told to go all the way to the end of the aisle and not stop in the middle. I had little concern at this point, but the usher was telling everyone it is a 4-D movie and there were no bad seats in the house.

This proved to be a lie as big as Mickey's ears. Once the movie started everything was blurry from being at the end of the aisle, and I felt very little of the physical effects. Like an angry kid who just got hosed out of his favorite baseball card, I let the usher know I was not pleased with the so-called "no bad seat" talk. She merely smiled at me and got on the microphone and gave the directions on how to exit the theater.

Pam soon sprang into action and realized that I was suffering from too much Disney excitement and hangry Mike was coming out. She grabbed my hand and loaded us up into the car. I continued to whine and complain until I found us in the parking lot of Giordano's Pizza. Pam knew she could stuff my face with pizza from the land of Chicago to bring my blood sugar level back to normal and welcome her third child back to her brood.

With the votes tallied on the day, AK brought home the gold for Toughest in the Fambam as she was sick and achy all day and never complained once. Little D received the honors of the Happiest Child as she loved EPCOT and all it offered. To know one's surprise I won the award of Grumpiest Kid for my late day meltdown, and Pam went way ahead in her quest for the Coolest Parent of the Year Award standings as she had to calm her third child down after a disaster failed ride.

We chowed down on our grub and discussed the fun from Day 2 and mapped out the plan for day 3 as the Fambam heads to Hollywood Studios and back to the Animal Kingdom for a possible redemption at the Tree of Life for the Bug Attraction!

The Fambam Takes on Florida Day 1

Day One:

The day started out at the early hour of 4:30 am in Midland, Texas. It has become a tradition to walk the dogs before we go out of town as it helps ease Pam's guilt of leaving her four fuzzy friends behind as the rest of the fambam sets out for fun and adventure in a faraway land called Florida. 

Pam came up with the idea of going to Disney for Christmas break four years back. With the day upon us, we loaded up the girls and headed to the airport to set out and see why Rigo calls it the most magical place on earth.

We blew through security at the Midland airport and found Dallas Love virtually dead for Christmas travel. Pam was delighted to see the line to Dickeys BBQ empty as she ran to the counter to order her favorite breakfast of brisket and egg tacos smothered in spicy bbq sauce. I followed suit while the girls opted for much healthier options of wraps and fruit.

Pam and I laughed at the girls as they have much to learn about the difference of healthy eating when you are at home and indulging in the finner junk foods when you are on vacation. Pam gave her usual 4.8 slices of brisket out of five for Dickey's while the girls came in at 2.4 for their choice of living longer lives free from heart disease.

It was soon time to line up for our flight to Orlando. Pam and I checked us in the day before, and AK got A60 while Pam, Little D and myself got B1, B2 & B3. The thing about Southwest is they allow family boarding in between the A group and B group. Usually, this is not a big deal, but going to Orlando means everyone under the sun with kids gets on before the B group. AK secured a spot for her and one other person. Pam being one to think quick on her feet told Little D she would be babysitting AK in the back of the plane while we found a couple of seats further up. 

Once again I beamed with pride as Pam gave us two luxurious hours of complete kid freedom and let the row in between us create a child-free buffer! Southwest says they don't have a first-class option. But I beg to differ; you just have to travel with Pam.

It turns out that most of the free world came up with the same idea Pam had four years ago to visit the land of Mickey. The Orlando airport was mobbed with kids crying and stressed out parents making threats of Santa not showing up if they did not straighten up. We grabbed our bags, got the rental car and were at our hotel in no time. As usual, our Hilton property did not disappoint with excellent accommodations and a large apartment for the stay.

Pam decided that we would run to the store to get some groceries while the girls stayed behind. It turns out that grocery store shopping on Christmas Eve in Orlando is as bad as of an idea as it is in Midland, Texas.

After wishing the good folks at the store a merry Christmas with a few elbows into our ribs, some banged shins from too many carts in the aisle and lots of colorful language being thrown around by people in the holiday spirit. We bagged our essentials items and headed back to the hotel to get ready for Christmas Eve Mass.

With Pam being a traditionalist we headed to midnight Mass except it was 8:00 at night.  I have very few roles when it comes to travel as Pam is the supreme ruler of the fambam and makes all the critical decisions for a good reason. She did however, ask me to find a church close to our accommodations. Like most technical hip people, I googled Catholic churches. Several came up, and I opted for the one called St.Nicholas Catholic church since it was Christmas it felt like the place to be.

Upon our arrival, something seemed a tad different from what we are used to seeing for Mass. When church started, AK turned to me and with a strange look and asked if we were at a Catholic Church. I replied yes, as technically we were. It just happened to be a Byzantine Catholic Church rather than a Roman Catholic Church. The two are somewhat different in their rituals of the Mass as we soon discovered. 

Needless to say, we had quite the experience but still enjoyed the Mass. After church, we kept another tradition alive as we arrived at Waffle House for our late night Christmas eve meal. We feasted on the usual dinner delicacies and enjoyed the time together as we mapped out the plan for Day 2 as the fambam takes on Epcot!

Only Me and Sweet Pea!

The day started off early as AK, and I decided to put the hurry-up offense into full effect so we could take in the entire college football experience. Our destination was the campus of Texas Christian University to observe TCU take on Big XII rival the Bears from Baylor!

Pam scored huge points several weeks early in her never-ending quest for the awards to become The Most Loved Spouse of the Year and Worlds Greatest Mama. She scored two tickets to the game for AK and I. Just like a quarterback leading the offense down the field and steering the team to victory; Pam knew that the anniversary of losing my dad was going to be a terrible day for me. To combat the sorrow, the leader of our fambam knew that a day with my AK to college football game would make all the difference in the world!

We loaded up the Road Warrior, and AK climbed into the captain's chair to drive us 2 hours east. After a quick stop at Chick-fil-A for sustenance we were on our way. AK's highway driving has been coming along nicely with little to no high blood pressure moments occurring. After several hours in the car and sharing stories of her freshman year antics in high school we soon arrived on the campus of the Horned Frogs.

AK and I decided we wanted to take in the entire college experience and arrived early to tour the campus. Immediately upon arrival AK's eyes lit up bigger than Little D's do when she sees a stray puppy! Pam and I have been making it a point for the last several years to visit college campuses on our different trips to get the girls excited to further their education. The purpose of this decision is for the girls to make enough money to take care of in our golden years!

The first stop was at the campus store to look for some TCU apparel as AK decided to attend TCU after five minutes of being on campus. I could hardly blame her as the school is beautiful with the rolling hills filled with huge oak trees and architecture that probably makes a lot of kids want to pick TCU for their institution of high learning.

We walked over to the TCU arena to see their Hall of Fame display. We were pleasantly pleased to see Jake Arrieta from the Cubs had received a much-coveted spot in the TCU Hall!

With AK wanting to explore the campus more we headed to see the residential dorms. The dorms at TCU look just a tad different from the prestigious Dodge City Community College I attended for my freshman and sophomore year. A good day living at Sheldon Hall at DCCC was when the power worked. Something tells me the freshman class of TCU lives a little bit better than we did back in the day when the food from the cafeteria was so bad that Bogey and I survived on 99 cent Whoppers from Burger King!

We continued across campus on found our way to Frog Alley for the pregame festivities. We tried to score a prize while participating in various carnival games, but AK soon realized her old man no longer could throw very well or accurate for that matter. Instead of winning my oldest daughter a shirt for being able to show off my athleticism, AK had to settle for free fries that McDonald's was handing out!

Pam obviously knew I would be enjoying the usual stadium fare of nachos, BBQ sandwiches and pizza, so she brought us the Ueker seats to burn off the extra calories. We hiked high enough to feel light headed with the lack of oxygen from the high altitude!

Once we got to our seats, I soon realized why Pam was in charge of the fambam and always carried a bag full of stuff to take care of her brood. The temperature was 88 degrees and we had no sunscreen which was not good for our pasty white Irish skin!

We toughed it out and took on our sunburns to watch the mighty Horned Frogs beat the Bears in the battle for who was the better Christian school. AK and I had a great time watching the game and taking in all that college football has to offer. With the game ending, we walked back to campus and snapped a few more pictures to send to Pam and Little D so they would not forget us!

Pam and Little D were helping BJ pack up some boxes to move to storage and found a picture of Delaney from long ago. Little D decided to send us a before-after-picture so we wouldn't miss her too much while we were gone!

After the game, we decided to check in to the Hilton Homewood Suites that would play the role of our sleeping quarters for the night. Since this was AK's trip, I let her pick where we were going to eat and do after dinner. AK quickly decided with all the restaurants at our disposal in the greater Dallas area to pick Olive Garden despite the fact that we live two blocks from one in Midland! AK ate her usual meal of Alfredo with unlimited breadsticks while I stuck to the salad knowing we were heading to the movie and I was going to have to save room for popcorn with jalapenos. AK was pleased with her Olive Garden experience and gave the pretend Italian restaurant a rating of four-and-a-half eaten breadsticks out of five. 

We still had an hour before the show, so we walked to the various shops at the outside mall. I am not by any means a shopper, but I knew AK would enjoy it while we killed time. I was amazed at the lack of people in the stores for it being Black Friday. Perhaps everyone was shopped out or maybe people have come to their senses and realized that stores really are open all year around!

We soon found our way to the theater where AK picked Daddy's Home 2. After getting the jumbo-sized tub of popcorn and enough jalapenos to keep Sam's Club in business, we settled into our seats to enjoy the show. AK and I liked the movie as our ribs hurt from all the laughter only Will Ferrel could provide!

We made our way back to the hotel and after a long day they started at 6:00 in the morning and driving two hours, eating several nuggets from Chick-fil-A for breakfast, walking many miles across TCU and watching two Christian college football teams breakout into a fight that delayed the game for ten minutes, one TCU sweatshirt for AK and a football for Little D purchased, a feast of unlimited bread sticks at Olive Garden for AK and one funny movie watched, we called Pam to thank her for the trip as she declared the AK Daddy day over and summoned us back to Abilene to pick her and Little D up so the fambam could reunite for next weeks adventure as Pam takes on hills in San Antonio to run a marathon!

The Desparrois Family Trip to Meet a Real Life Cowboy!

The trip started much later than usual as Pam was driving the girls from Midland and I was driving my rental car out of Houston. The plan was to meet up at the rendezvous point in Dallas late Friday evening for another fun-filled fambam adventure. The last two weeks have been a grind for the entire family. So when our good friend Leslie asked Pam if we would like tickets to watch Oklahoma State take on the mighty Wildcats from Kansas State, it was a no-brainer!

 Pam and the girl part of the fambam were running a little late coming to Dallas as they stopped in Abilene to see Daddy Bill, Pam's great uncle. Daddy Bill is an extraordinary man and someone we treasure dearly. Unfortunately, he is in the hospital and would appreciate any prayers. Pam and the girls went in to see him and give him some love and a few hugs to help with his spirits. AK reported that despite not feeling well, Daddy Bill was still himself and filled the room with stories and laughter that only Daddy Bill can do!

 After a quick bite with more stories and humor from cousin Hayli, the girls loaded up for the last stretch and rode into Dallas around 10:30 at night. Since I arrived earlier, I had already checked us into the Doubletree hotel which would serve as our sleeping quarters for the evening. It was a beautiful reunion to get the fambam back together in one place as I had been in Houston for most of the week. We enjoyed catching up, but soon realized that it was late and time to turn as we had another four-hour drive ahead of us in the morning to Oklahoma for the game.

 We got up early and enjoyed our usual free Doubletree breakfast and found ourselves on the road. AK turned 15 this year and had jumped through the hoops to acquire the proper documents to get her driver's permit. Pam and I decided early on that our daughters were going to learn to drive well before they turned fifteen in parking lots and back roads.  So now that she has her permit, AK has come along nicely and is learning to drive rather well. Pam’s simple rule of thumb is If we are going somewhere and AK is with us, then she is driving! The rule also pertains to long distant trips. We strongly feel that our girls need every opportunity to learn and we have to be comfortable with allowing this to happen and not just "do everything for them". The hardest part of the whole kids driving thing is giving complete and total control over to kid!

Pam's stomach started to growl and I remembered that I stopped at to pick up the much sought after Beaver Nuggets the day before on my trip from Houston at the worlds largest convenience store called Buc-ees's. To avoid a "hangry" Pam, I pulled out the southeastern Texas delicacy and fed them to my wife and Little D so peace would be kept in the back seat of the road warrior!

 With it being our first time to eat Beaver Nuggets, we honestly don't know what all the hype is. As a family of four, we only ate a quarter of the bag leaving lots of beaver morsels left in the bag. We all agreed that Rigo had it right when he claimed that Allsups fried burritos with taco sauce are the only way to go on a road trip!



















We soon arrived at Boone Pickens stadium and met up with Leslie. The tickets were in a great spot, and the girls were eager to take in some college football. 

Little D was eager to see the stadium, so we snuck off and found our way to the stadium store. Like most sports stadiums we visit, Little D had her sights on a game ball. Little D is well known for playing catch regardless of the sport. She is kinda like a puppy dog. You just cannot throw it to her enough. She just keeps coming back for more until your arm is ready to fall off!

 

We enjoyed cheering on the Pokes and were hoping they were going to pull off one the greatest college football comeback ever. Unfortunately, they came up a few points short on their final drive. After the game, we thanked Leslie for the tickets and took the opportunity to get a picture of the girls favorite Cowboy and starting lineman Johnny Wilson #72!

 

Johnny is an awesome kid and has taken the college playing field by storm this year being named a team captain and getting the MVP for the game against Texas. We were honored to be asked to come to a game and look forward to watching Johnny's success in the future!

We once again loaded up and headed to Oklahoma City to find rest for the night. The girls were starving and we sought refuge for their hunger pains at Waffle House. Many families have dirty secrets they keep hidden away for no one to know. Ours is the pure pleasure of the greasy cafe food from Waffle House. I can't exactly tell you why we like it so much, be we do and we are proud to say it could be a Top Ten spot for us when it is available.

After stuffing our faces full of sweet waffles, biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon and their world famous hash browns we found ourselves ready for a long food-induced coma and settled in at the local Hilton Garden Inn.

It didn't take long for the girls to pass out and Pam to take control and declare that we would be in no hurry to return home. She decided the girls were needed some rest for the long journey back and was going to allow them to catch up on some much-needed teenager sleep.

As usual, I was up early the next morning and enjoying my free Hilton morning coffee when Pam came down to join me. We spent several hours just drinking coffee and enjoying some time to ourselves. We are so busy with work and the girl's activities that we appreciated a simple cup of coffee together.

Little D woke up and decided to join Pam and I for our free complimentary Hilton breakfast while AK opted to snooze longer. Little D was eager to get some pool time in and try out her new football. I loosened up my arm and Pam dragged AK out of the bed so we could all go to the pool together. We had a good time playing catch and having chicken fights. The girls may be getting big, but are still not match for their parents in a good old fashion chicken fight.

We soon checked out and headed to lunch at Braum's for lunch. Pam and the girls had never had eaten there and thoroughly enjoyed their first trip while scarfing down Braum's burger, french fries and washing it down with the delicious Braum's shake!

Before heading home, Pam and I participated in a friendly game of rock-paper-scissors to see who would have to play parent and sit up front with AK as she navigated the way home while she drove. I won and Pam had to sit in the pressure seat while I enjoy a leisurely ride home watching Wonder Woman and Spider-Man with my best buddy, Little D.

After spending over 13 hours in the car, one college football game, trying out some unimpressive beaver nuggets, a picture opportunity with a Cowboy, and two different hotels, Pam officially declared the weekend over as we arrived home at our little zoo filled with roue dogs and two cats.

The Desparrois Fambam to the Big D! Day 2

Day 2

The day started out early as I played the role of primary hunter and gatherer of the family. The game would not be birds like most of the men hunt in Texas during the Labor Day weekend. Instead, I would be on the hunt for petrol in the great city of Dallas. My theory was to wake up early enough so I could beat the traffic and find enough gas to be able to make it out of the city when we were ready to head home. After six different stations, I was able to pull in and find my gas destination. I was more than ecstatic to pay the $2.65 a gallon If it meant my hunt was over.

I filled up and headed back to the hotel and set up shop to write yesterdays blog. It was still early, and Pam once again showed why she was declared Supreme Leader of the Fambam as she made the decision the night before to allow the girls to sleep in. The water park did not open until 11:00 so there was no hurry in getting ready for the day.

The girls finally woke from their teenage coma and came down to eat some free complimentary breakfast from the Hilton Garden Inn. AK went for the traditional eggs and toast while Little D felt it necessary to load up on an all carb diet of biscuits and gravy with a waffle and a side of flapjacks to prepare herself for a day at the water park!

We arrived at the water park early and lubed up our bodies with sunscreen in an effort to thwart away the oppressive Texas sun from burning our pale white bodies. Pam tans naturally but unfortunately the girls have my Irish genes and are as pale as a tall cold glass of milk. AK complained of being"oily". I quickly put my best dad advice forward and told her it would just make her fly faster down the water slides. She seemed satisfied with the response, and off we headed for the first slide of the day!

Little D decided we would go on the "Taco Slide". Its a large slide shaped like a taco the tow people ride together on a joint tube. AK declared that she wanted to ride with her daddy since I was"fat" and simple physics would suggest that we would go fast and higher than anyone else thanks to my girth! AK's theory proved to be correct as we screamed with glee as we reached maximum height and speed on the ride.

The lines were short, and we were able to hit all the fun stuff with little waiting time. We hopped from slide-to-slide and pool-to-pool without any issues. It was a great day to be at the water park and I smiled at Supreme Leader of the Fambam knowing that it was her genius that planned out the day.

It was soon time to feed the girls as we had been at the park for a while and we know from experience the more food we supply the younglings, the more fun we are likely to have. We spent about $30 for an order of fries with bacon and ranch, a medium soda and some chicken tenders that were so small we had to dig through the fries to find them. Six Flags wears me smooth out with their price for food. Lucky we were able to stick it to the man as we snuck in a bunch of our own water bottle and snacks to avoid paying the ridiculous price of $4.50 for water!

We continued on and hit the lazy river, the pool of waves and another round of slides. As the day wore on, the sun burned into my bald head. No amount of sunscreen could prevent the sun from beating down on me like the beating Jonathon takes on his Vegas vacations at the blackjack tables!

Between the sun, my old man back and the heat I tapped out and followed the girls around as they continued their quest for more Fambam fun. AK soon found herself exhausted but Pam and Little D still had more good times in them. AK and I watched from shaded areas of the park as Pam and Little D got maximum fun out of their day. After several more slides Little D declared she was hungry and Pam decided it was time to call it a day.

Pam let Little D decide where to eat since she lasted the longest at the water park. Without hesitation, Little D demanded we head to "Waffle House" for some greasy diner food. All families have dirty dark secrets they like to keep hidden in closets so nobody can find out how weird their family is. Our dirty secret is the pure love and pleasure we have from eating at Waffle House. Before you judge, I suggest you get some waffles and eggs!

After getting our fill of grease, we drove around and saw some sights. We returned to the hotel, and each took a long shower to get all the oil from the sunscreen off us. Little D led the family prayer, and we all passed out from all the Fambam fun Pam planned out!

The Desparrois Fambam to the Big D!

Day 1:

With a crazy summer packed full of volleyball camps, work, a family reunion, travel for work, and a mission trip across the world for AK...Pam decided that the Fambam needed to get together and get out of town for some Desparrois family fun. It may have been the call of carnival food, perhaps it was the lure of going up-and-down on wild rides really fast, or maybe it was the fact Pam and I had not been to Vegas in a really long time.  Anyways, she felt the need to gamble and see if we could even get back to Midland with the total lack of gas in Dallas. Either way, after a long exhausting first week of school that found AK starting high school and Little D beginning her final year of elementary, The Desparrois Fambam loaded up the gas guzzling Tahoe and headed out to the Big D to hit Six Flags over Texas!

We made the wise choice to let the girls sleep in for a while before we set out on our drive. They were tired from the start of school and Pam's theory was the longer they slept, the less time we would have to spend in long lines while sweating in the humidity of the North Texas heat. Pam choice proved to be a wise one as the drive was easy going for the first three hours.

Since Little D rarely gets to pick where to eat, we let her have the choice and she didn't disappoint with wanting some Golden Chick. The food was good but the free ice cream made AK and I smile with delight as we cleaned our plates to appease Pam so we could enjoy the cool summer treat.

Full of fried food and carbs we headed out for the final hour of the journey as the girls mapped out their plan of attack on what rides they would hit. Pam and I agree the best thing about the girls getting older is not that they are independent and can care for themselves. it's the simple pleasure knowing they both love all the scary twisty, loopy rides we want nothing to do with. This means we no longer have to go on them and can wait in the shade as we drink ice cold water and enjoy our pre-golden years in peace.

Pulling up to the park the girls were pumped to see the park was relatively empty for a holiday weekend. The quickly decided they would hit the much anticipated Mr. Freeze. The line was short and in no time they were churning their guts with delight. I was pleased to see we were not raising any sissies as they took the last seat on the roller coaster for extra fun!

Since Pam declared herself Supreme Leader of the Fambam because of her smarts and great looks. She determined it would be a good idea to bring a couple of cold water bottles into the park. With the high humidity and the Texas heat beating down on us similar to the beating Rigo has been known to dish out to Jonathan on the poker table, the water did not last long. Pam refused to pay the ridiculous amount of $4.50 for a water bottle. She told the girls to go have fun while we hiked through the parking lot to load up my backpack full of ice-cold waters from the cooler. 

We soon came back to find our worst fears coming true. AK looked a little green and declared she must be "outgrowing Six Flags" because she "no longer felt very good" when she went on all the "crazy roller coasters!" Now, normally this would be welcoming news as perhaps we would no longer have to come to said amusement park. Instead, it meant that Pam and I would have to determine who would go on the rest of the rides with Little D. With Pam being Supreme Leader of the Fambam...I knew I was screwed on this deal and would become the new chosen one!

I decided on some diversion tactics as Little D talked about her deepest desire of riding the brand new coveted Joker ride. I lured her away from her thoughts and offered her some food. The girls we happy to eat as it had been a few hours since their last intake of food. In teenage years that is like an eternity. I decided on some carnival nachos and pretzels while the girls discovered a Panda Express in the park. 

I was soon disappointed to learn they didn't serve jalapenos on the nachos. Maybe this is a sign of bad things to come as Trump continues to push for his wall to be built. I declined the nachos as eating them without jalapenos would be a vote for the dark side! Pam and I chowed down on our extra large pretzel with salt as the girls devoured their amusement park Chinese food.

During the meal, Little D kept talking about The Joker ride wondering who was going to be the lucky rider to go with her. I still had some more tricks up my sleeve and led the girls to the car ride. I figured if we did enough slow rides the girls would get bored and want to leave.

This soon backfired as it only meant that Little D craved more excitement. My last ditch effort was to take the Fambam on the Texas Giant roller coaster hoping this would tame the beast that is Little D. The Texas Giant is an oldie but a goodie, but most importantly, it doesn't have any loops or spins. I rode with Little D and made sure I screamed like a little girl the entire way to let her know this was as scary as her old man could go in the world of amusement rides. Little D was not willing to budge as she wanted more fun and grabbed my arm and lead me across the park to the much-dreaded Joker ride.

The Joker is a free hanging roller coaster that flips you while moving and has several loops and tilts and spins. It has everything my brain and stomach no longer need or have any desire of doing. We waited in line and Little D could sense that her daddy was not digging the thought of going on the ride. Instead of telling me that we could walk away and do something else, Little D hedged her bet and double down by telling me that she "would go on the ride alone" and that I could "take the walk a shame and go back through the line as everyone stared and laughed at me!" Since Little D laid down the gauntlet, I stepped up to the challenge and buckled myself into the dreaded coaster. 

I would like to say I walked off the ride a hero to my daughter. Instead, she told the rest of the Fambam tales of her daddy screaming and begging to get off the entire ride! 

It was soon time to hit the road and find some very late dinner. We scoped out an Olive Garden and enjoyed our meal as Little D and I watched Pam and AK have a breadstick eating contest. I won't tell you how many they ate, but I will tell you the manager was happy to see us leave! We checked into the hotel, took some quick showers and were fast asleep dreaming of the sunburns to come as we take on the water park on day 2 of the Fambam exploring the Big D!