Bluebonnets 2014

Taking spring pictures with Bluebonnets is a Texas "thing"- Kind of like photos at a pumpkin patch in the fall.  This is one TX tradition I can really embrace! 

 Finding the "best" bluebonnet patch is a big deal. People are posting their favorites all over the internet (or keeping them secret) and the "good" patches can get trampled quickly. Last year we just spotted some and pulled over by the side of the road. 

This year, I wanted to do a little better and plan cute hair and outfits so I started looking and asking around for the perfect spot.  One day, I drove down my street and turned a corner and saw that my neighbor, 3 houses down, had a beautiful, big patch of bluebonnets- right beside their garage!

It was perfect! I made some cookies and took an opportunity to meet a neighbor (they are nice- original owners of the house!). They were flattered that I admired their bluebonnets and let us come and take some pictures. I was lucky that the day was mostly overcast and the kids responded well to an ice cream bribe. 

A few weeks back, Bear had a bee land on his forehead and has been terrified of all bugs ever since. There were a lot of bees buzzing around the flowers, so that didn't help, but he did a good job and we got some good shots in spite of his worry.  The girls were so fun and got really into it.

I paid my friend Kim with freezer dinners to edit our favorites and these will be the kids pics for this year. I can't wait to see them on my wall!

January: Perot Museum of Nature and Science

The problem with slacking on updating the blog is that I forget when we did things. I think sometime in January, we took advantage of our Perot membership and went for a visit.  This is a brand-new museum that opened near downtown Dallas and it has it all- dinos, birds, sports science, everything!  The girls have been before with DMP, but this was the first visit for Eli and me.  (we also went again when Aunt Cyndi visited, but I didn't take my camera...).  Above, the girls are posing in front of cross-sections of the inside of a Giraffe.  There was an Animal inside-out special exhibit while we were there, but it cost too much for us to go :(

This guy was just a little bit excited to see the dinosaurs :)  We learned a lot about the dinosaurs and critters that are native to TX.  Very cool, since I'm really only familiar with Utah.

The museum is perfect for kids- there are tons of interactive things to do.  Eli is playing with the "bird" game. You stand in a certain spot, put your arms out like wings and you can control an eagle flying on a screen in front of you.  They also have a sports science section where you can "race" a T-Rex, Olympic athlete, or cheetah.  You stand at a start line and run against the person/animal on a screen next to you and it tells you how fast you go. Pretty fun!

This is one of the benches with a "fun" fact.  Birdy and I feel about the same about this one (the red stripe next to her has 430 tiny white bugs on it).

My favorite part was the mineral and gem hall. They had TONS of beautiful displays with rocks like the one above.  They also have a giant Geode that is as tall as me!

There is a (boring) section all about drilling for oil (big surprise in TX).  Our favorite is the interactive "ride" about fracking.  It is pretty good propaganda.  There was a lot of boring talk on the ride, but they kept making sure we understood that it is "safe and good".  It is a fun ride anyway! (BTW- I don't know enough to have opinions on Hydraulic Fracturing- other than that it is "safe and good"- I just enjoy blatant propaganda in a museum paid for by a Fracking company).

This is another really awesome interactive thing- those are wooden blocks that flip around to a darker side when you move- it makes a sort of pixelated shadow of wooden blocks that moves like you (you can see how EJ has her arm up and it is reflected in the boxes?)

One of the coolest features of this museum is their two super-tall esclators. As you can see, they are by big windows and you can see down and out over downtown Dallas. It is scary and fun all at once!

Plus the view from the top is super cool!

After we toured the museum, we went to the children's museum at the bottom floor. It is designed for little kids- EJ could only go in because she was with her siblings.  As for the picture above- it's my "crazy armadillo lady" picture. 

They have a cool water table, mini Dallas skyline to climb and slide on, and Bear's favorite- the farmer's market!  He LOVES to play shopping at home.  They have little picture lists with different veggies and quantities of each. He played there for over an hour.  He would fill his basket, take it to the Sissies who were kindly playing "Checker" and then they would dump it on the "truck" to be re-sorted into the bins.

Home Improvement is unexpectedly grody

 

As part of our home improvement projects, DMP had to remove a plug plate thingy.  This is what he found inside- a complete gecko skeleton and her (?) eggs.  This could help explain the explosion of dead geckos last summer.  Also, ew.  The skeleton came out totally intact and DMP now has it and the egg shells on the work bench in his garage.

The kids and the Elders (who came for a visit shortly after it was found) were very impressed. I'm more grossed out.

Angry Birds

Bear saw an Angry Birds game in a store forever ago.  Last week, he became obsessed with playing "Angry Birds".  I suggested that we build towers using toilet paper tubes (we always seem to have a ton waiting to be recycled).  I showed them how to stack them and he ran with the idea.  He found the "piggies" and his angry birds to throw at them. He now keeps his "Angry Bird" game in a special bag in his room.

March: A Very Birdy Birthay

It is hard to believe that my crazy-curly haired, snotty-nosed blondie is now a grown-up 7 yr old with brown hair that keeps getting darker and freckles like her big sister! She is still spirited, beautiful and a joy to have in our family. As she grows it is so exciting to see how her strong-willed personality shows itself in a girl who wants to work hard for things- like being a better sister and student. She is such a joy!

This year was a "family party" year and she got all she wanted. She really wanted a "Frozen" themed birthday, and we decorated the house in blue, white and purple streamers and a big "Frozen" poster that can be recycled into her room!  She LOVED it and was surprised to see it when she came home from school.  Daddy worked from home that day and he, Bear and I were able to meet her for lunch. This year's request: sushi!  My, she is getting grown up!  She also got to wear her special pink crown to school all day with her blue church dress and "high heel" church shoes.  She has been planning to wear that dress and shoes on her birthday for about 8 months now!  She got a special, more sparkly crown just for lunchtime.

The Barbie megablocks (lego-type) set from Grandma and Grandpa was a huge hit! She opened it right after school and Daddy helped her follow the directions to put it together.  She loves lego and putting things together and has played with it a lot since.

The Birthday Girl requested Vietnamese for her birthday dinner and she got a WHOLE bowl of Pho soup to herself (she didn't even pretend to finish it all!)  Then we came home to have our party. We played some "Frozen" party games.  First, we "built" a snowman together on a big sheet of paper. Everyone helped to make him and I think that is how he ended up kind of creepy looking :).

Then we played "pin the carrot nose on Olaf".  It was fun- the whole family played- even Mom and Dad.  Mom won. Just sayin'

Then the kids did a Frozen maze and decoded a special Frozen message. Then it was time for CAKE!

As requested, we had chocolate cake (wowie cake, of course) with vanilla frosting.  I searched stores and the internets for some little Frozen dolls to decorate the cake with, and the best I could come up with were the little cupcake rings that I was able to buy from the Target bakery (bless them).  Birdy really loves the idea of getting an additional "present" in the form of a cake topper, so Ice Skating Barbie visited Arendale and graced the top of the cake!  

The birthday girl also got to pick out her own ice cream flavor from Braums: Molten Chocolate Cake ice cream.

I hope all her birthday wishes come true! We love having her as a part of our family. Hard to believe next year she'll be 8!!!

Spring Break: I'm Crazy

Just in case you have ever doubted that I'm truly crazy, I just want you to know that this happened on spring break.  That is 3 kids (+1 white dog + 2 cats) painting Birdy's bedroom pink. Don't be fooled by the color of the wet paint. It really dried pepto-bismol pink and it is way, way awesome (if you are a 7 yr old girl, which she is). 

I'm still putting the room back together and decorating, so stay tuned for a before/after.  You know, in 6 months or so.

March: Spring Break Spa Day

Spring Break here is hard. Because of state standardized testing schedules, pretty much everyone has their break at the same time.  And if you didn't know, TX is a big state, so that means everyone floods to do all the local fun stuff, as we learned on our San Antonio trip our first Spring Break here... 

Luckily, we've learned to make our own fun. We spent many days with our friends at group play date picnics at various parks.  I also promised the girls they could invite a couple of friends each and we could have a spa party. It was so much fun for everyone!  We got some snacks (m&m's, goldfish, donut holes and water bottles) and some dollar-store supplies- bath salts for feet and hands, face masks and headbands for the girls to keep.  We also made some really easy sugar scrub for their hands and feet (plus there was leftovers to take home!). 

Bear loved the attention from the big girls, but got bored after a while. It was great having the three big girls to help the three little girls.  We soaked and scrubbed hands and feet, applied and washed off a face mask and did manicures and pedicures!

I was a little nervous about executing it by myself, and I couldn't have done it without the help of the bigger girls, but it ended up being fairly relaxing and fun!