Mini Vacation

Back in February over President's Day weekend, we decided to take a little mini family vacation and go see some local attractions we hadn't been to before: the Legoland Discovery Center, SeaLife Aquarium and Ft. Worth Zoo. We didn't tell the kids where we were going until we got there! They were excited.

Legoland (which is what I will call it even though it was a smaller "discovery center") had a bunch of things to do inside, but the space was fairly small. Here you could build your own Lego car and then race it down the ramp. 

There were three rides. When you first enter you are given a little explanation on how Legos are made, then you are immediately in line to ride the first ride - a laser tag type ride where you can shoot guns at targets while you ride a car in the dark. So we didn't go back and do that ride because it was always busy. And I didn't take pictures because I was too busy shooting targets (plus it was too dark). The 2nd ride was little cars that you could drive around a track. Neither Wyatt nor Lila were brave enough to ride those (and Ben and I were too big). BUT, the third ride was a winner. It was a two-seater with pedals. The faster you pedaled, the higher your seats would rise as you went around. This is the best picture I could get of Ben and Lila (I just used the camera on my phone). She also rode it with me twice. We couldn't get Wyatt to try it though.

Meanwhile, Piper was having fun in the Lego pit. 

"Can't go over it? Then I guess I'll just have to go under it!"

Second time to ride!

This was probably Wyatt's favorite area too.

Piper decided she needed to gather up all the windows.

Legoland also had a 4D movie theater... where in addition to the 3D glasses, we also got misted with water or "snow" during different parts of the movie. We watched both movies they had (about 12 min. each).

Legoland had a small miniature city with several Dallas landmarks. It was neat to see. Every few minutes the overhead lights would dim, so we could see the city at night!

Here Lila is standing next to downtown Dallas, so you can see the scale.

Finally, right before we were about to leave, we convinced Wyatt to give the ride a try. You can tell he isn't so sure in this picture, but he enjoyed it once it was over! :)

We ate lunch before heading over to the Aquarium. Everyone enjoyed this too, but by far, Lila had the most fun of all the kids. She loves animals and asked all kinds of questions about the various creatures we saw.

This little bubble was under one of the fish tanks.

This picture is kind of hard to see because it was so dark, but Piper is laying flat on the floor looking through the window. We were above the large tank which had some sharks in it.

Looking through an aquarium.

Toward the end, there was a pool where you could reach in and touch some starfish.

Piper could have stayed in the water forever!

To continue the adventure (and decrease our driving), we decided to stay in a hotel that night since we were planning to go to the zoo in Ft. Worth the next day (which was pretty close to where we were already.) I didn't take any pictures at the hotel. We made sure to pick one that had a pool, so we could swim. The water was so COLD even though it was inside. We didn't swim long... ok, I didn't even get all the way in... that's what dads are for :) Everyone did a pretty good job settling down and once asleep, we slept all night long. 

The next day we went to the zoo. The weather was perfect - sunny and in the low 70s. Again, Lila loved the zoo. Piper did too, but mostly because she could get down and run!

One of the favorite things we did at the zoo was feed the birds.

Here's the moment the bird finally came over to her feeder. I had to hold her up to get her a little closer to the birds, so I took this picture by holding my phone out.

Wyatt also got a turn to feed the birds.

Taken with my DSLR. I love his bright little cheek. God is so creative!

I wish I remembered what this was called. Some weird type of eel I think - with lots of teeth. I took this through a window, or I would not have been that close! :)

This guy was sun-bathing right outside the food court where we ate lunch. I'm lucky the zoo employees keep their windows so clean!

This was Piper trying to pull Lila off, so she could have a turn "riding" the kangaroo!

Waiting for Piper to pet the goat before we moved on to the next exhibit.

Petting the goat (with Daddy's help).

Group shot!

Near the petting zoo there was a shoot 'em laser tag type game you could pay to do. We didn't pay, but Wyatt and Piper enjoyed pretending :)

When we were done at the zoo, we went home. It was a great little get-away!

Olympic Fun

We've been battling colds this week... by we, I mean Wyatt and myself. Wyatt, poor guy, has had it the worst since he's had fever and a cough. I've just been congested. I took him to the doctor today, and they ruled out strep and the flu (which has been going around). So we just have to wait it out. Sick days mean stay at home days, yet somehow my house doesn't get any cleaner when we have to stay home. Hmm... perhaps that's because even though Wyatt is content to lay on the couch, Piper is content to pull everything out. 

Speaking of Piper, today she said "okay" instead of "otay" for the first time. I'm not sure yet if that was a fluke, or if it means she's going to start pronouncing her Cs and Ks now. For the most part she speaks in full sentences, but has a few sounds she hasn't mastered yet... including R and L. She can say words that start with L like Lila but flash is "fwash". And a fork is a foke :) We've also noticed in the past week or so that she has started to show a preference for the color pink.

Anyway, about a month ago Wyatt had an Olympic day at school. They had their own Olympic games including a medal ceremony, followed by a pizza lunch.

The Olympics started with an Opening Ceremony where the kids entered the gym with the torch they had made.

After singing the National Anthem, they were divided up into teams of four - two kids from each class. Their badge color indicated which team they were on. Wyatt is sitting next to Samuel, the other boy from his class. During the Anthem singing, I had to strap Piper into the stroller, as she made it very clear she wasn't going to stay with our group otherwise!

There were six stations: the long jump, shot-put (with bean bags), discus (with foam frisbees pictured here), a catapult (no not a real Olympic event but the kids enjoyed it), a relay race (made more fun with scooters) and the balance beam. We spent 3 minutes at each station and rotated through the stations twice. Discus was our third station, and it was at this point that Wyatt's teacher brought Piper some toys to play with while she watched.

Here are a couple of Wyatt's throwing stances! This was probably his favorite station. We were in the hallway for this, and the little foam frisbees would bounce off the walls and go pretty far.

I took a picture of the two of them together while Wyatt waited for his turn at the next station. (He is holding a paper baton for the relay race.)

Wyatt also enjoyed the scooters.

The balance beam was challenging for all the boys in our group.

Standing in front of the wall of flags that the kids made.

I love Wyatt's smiles :)

After they finished the games, they had an awards ceremony. Everyone came up when their name was called to get their medal and shake the teacher's hand.

Wyatt's class waiting during the medal ceremony.

Random picture I took of Piper :)

Wyatt's teacher had asked if I would make some Olympic rings cookies to go with lunch. They turned out really well! I used candy melts for the first time at Wyatt's birthday party, and they are so easy. They worked great for the rings on these cookies.

Wyatt's class

(Teacher is on the left; assistant teacher on the right)

Holding his torch and wearing his medal!

Two Years

Well, I was listening to my little girl chattering away today, and I don't know why but I thought "I need to get some pictures of her at this age." I have a picture of Wyatt and Lila at age two, but when Piper turned two in December, there just wasn't time on the schedule for a trip to the Target portrait studio (where we normally go). So here they are - her "official" two year pics... no waiting to get to a studio... let's just go out on the back patio. It's worked for us before. 

I told her she could bring along "Tay Bear" as she calls him. It looks like this little furry friend is going to be her George... he goes EVERYWHERE with her. She looks kind of indignant in this picture, but I think I just caught her talking. She talks constantly. Not all of her sounds are correct yet, but that just adds to the cuteness :) Like today when she tried to squeeze through the dining room chair, and I heard, "Mommy! Me tuck! Help me! Me tuck!" (She got herself free before I could assist - or get my camera!)

So sweet.

This is one happy camper. I mean, she can be so (very) stubborn sometimes and gets upset occasionally when she doesn't get her way, but in general, her mood is always happy. Happy when she wakes up, happy in the car when we take Lila and Wyatt to school and back, happy as she chatters constantly around the house, happy when it's bedtime. 

Just happy!

This is the face I get if I ask her to smile.

This bucket has been a great photo prop... not sure I'll be able to squeeze her in there next year though :)

Back to the Blog

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated this blog. Four months! A lot has happened since I was on here... Wyatt's birthday; State Fair; Preschool Fall Festival; Thanksgiving; Piper's birthday; Christmas (including a trip to Wichita); Christmas school parties... not to mention a few international trips for Ben during that time. And then a few days ago, our Maggie dog died. It was both unexpected (she's had issues with nervousness and upset tummy for a few years) but also kind of sudden. She suddenly stopped eating and then a week later, she was gone. The vet discovered she had a tumor in her intestine and removed it, but she just never recovered.

It will be awhile before I stop referring to our "dogs" and get used to being a one dog family. Kelsey doesn't seem to miss Maggie very much. Maggie was "the boss" so maybe Kelsey is enjoying her new freedom. I am relieved; I don't think I could handle it if she seemed depressed or sad. Here are some pictures of Maggie at the Rescue organization when they first found her. The organization, StrayDog, kept a blog, so I copied the entries about Maggie and Kelsey and thought I'd share them on here. (They had different names for the dogs, but I changed them to make it less confusing.)

"When we rescued little stray puppy, Maggie, from the hands of Angry Neighbor, who had boasted he would have killed the little “chicken killer” had we not immediately gone to get her, Maggie took over our little puppy kennel. Now another little stray puppy is in need of a home, and this little pup can share the puppy kennel with Maggie. They will both be in quarantine together and will enjoy having each other to play with. Six-week-old Shepherd/Chow mix Kelsey is much smaller than 10-week-old Retriever mix, Maggie, and it was really cute to watch these two little puppies as they got to know each other. Maggie danced all around Kelsey, happy to have a little playmate, while Kelsey wanted to sniff around her new big kennel first. Then she began playing with Maggie. Now the pups are curled up back to back sleeping in Maggie’s favorite scoopy snoozy hole beneath the shade of her shelter porch top.

At our Adoption Day today a couple inquired as to whether we had any little puppies. We had with our group at Canine Commissary cute Black Lab sisters, five-month-old Kathy and Amber, but the couple wanted much younger pups and what is so neat is that they wanted to adopt two puppies so the pups could grow up together, and they wanted happy, playful little puppies who get along well with each other. This fit the description of newest little arrivals, Maggie and Kelsey! They are adorable and are best buddies, and they play constantly and sleep curled up on each other. Shannon came this morning to take the pups on their “home visit,” and by 11:00 a.m. she had little Maggie and Kelsey in her car ready for long trip to Allen, Texas (about two hours from Straydog) to meet their new mom and dad. At 2:30 p.m. Shannon called and said “Yea! The puppies have been adopted!” The new mom and dad are a wonderful couple, and they fell instantly in love with the pups. (How could anyone not love these cuties instantly?!) Now Maggie and Kelsey have a wonderful mom and dad, a nice big house to investigate and a large, securely fenced yard to play in. Such pampered little house pets they will be, and how wonderful to have them be adopted together!"

Kind of neat to have their back story, huh? Maggie was a playful puppy... loved playing fetch and getting attention. As she got older, she loved to just lay outside and watch for someone to run or walk by. The kids weren't really upset when she died...probably because she wasn't playing as much by the time they were old enough to play with her. And she had gotten kind of growly (sp?) in the past couple years. I thought it was her getting older and less tolerant, but maybe it had to do with her sickness. We are glad you are no longer suffering, but we'll miss you, Mags.

I'm hoping to get some pictures up for all of our past events, but we shall see. Life keeps me busy around here. I'll try to stay current at least :)

Labor Day Visit

Over Labor Day weekend, we enjoyed a visit from Ben's parents. They flew down on Friday night and went back home on Monday morning. It was a nice relaxing weekend hanging out at home (and playing lots of cards, which we like!). 

Ben got a new bike. He has been wanting one for awhile and researched them well. He used it in a triathlon for the first time on Labor Day. His dad was kind enough to lend Ben his (yellow) bike for the past year. The new bike weighs a lot less than the old bike, but that old bike has held up nicely over the years!

Lila got out the dress up clothes. I couldn't help but take a picture of this ensemble...perhaps it will make another appearance at her wedding someday?? :)

Nana made Piper a bug out of the blocks.

Then I had the thought I should get out my camera (not my phone) and take a picture! For some reason, I am really good about this when I go places but not so great at remembering when company comes here. This was the last night before they left, but hey, at least I remembered!

Sometimes with kids, I will have them make faces to get their attention... scary faces, ok silly faces, ok happy faces! Doing this I sometimes get natural smiles. But there's no guarantee of course! Here I said make a silly face (and I think I puckered up too). I love Piper's ability to mimic what I do... ha ha, she wasn't the only one!

See that little pink bag Piper is holding? That was free in a Happy Meal. She LOVES to carry that around and put things in it. I find all kinds of random things in there... Wyatt's blocks, Barbie shoes, hair bows... anything that will fit. 

She is my little bag lady :)

After dinner, Nana took the kids outside. This was an act of love because it was HOT. You will notice that all of the children have red, sweaty faces. In fact, I went outside to take some pictures and I think I only lasted about five minutes. But she was out there with them for at least 20.

Piper still loves to drive her car!

Here she is showing me the car key.

Woo, that is one sweaty kiddo! 

(Notice our nice green grass? It's actually rained here enough it turned green!)

This one is always posing with a "flower" of some kind.

She decided at the beginning of the summer that she wanted to grow out her bangs. We are still in the clipping-them-back phase. I think we may be in this phase for awhile!

I have no idea why she walked right up to the camera and showed me her teeth. But when your active toddler holds still for more than 2 seconds, you take the picture! :)

She is getting so big.

She is getting so big too. 

I tried to tell her that once she turned six she couldn't grow anymore, but I don't think she believes me :)