Oh man…have we been waiting for this trip! Counting the days until we could go to Dallas! For some sunshine, friends, family, yummy food, it’s the whole sha-bang! For me, it’s a dream vacation and there’s no place I’d rather be……except for maybe a beach! Sorry guys :)
40th Wedding Anniversary
One of the main reasons we went down was to celebrate Anthony’s parents, Darrell and Trish’s 40th Wedding Anniversary! 40 years! And they make it look so so easy :)
Then…
And NOW!
And here’s the special cake Cheryl made. And yes, the cake was every bit as good as it looked :)
All because 2 people fell in love…look at their legacy!
We took family pictures at White Rock Lake. It was windy, and cold, and it’s amazing that everyone is actually looking…except for Rylee… why is it always my kids!
And my absolute favorite picture was Teagan, which captures all her spunkiness!
And as always, Miss Photogenic goes to Leah! And she always smiles this cute…one day…she’ll tell me her secrets :)
Pretty sure all these kids are more photogenic than my own…but ya know…you learn just to take what you can get :)
All the siblings put together a fun video of a favorite memory about their parents…and one day…I’ll add it here :)
We celebrated with family all weekend long! The best part, for me, was getting to see Tanner play with his cousins. Lots of girl stuff, like coloring, doll houses, dress-up, and playing house goes on.
With cousin Madison – they took playing together to a whole new level. At one point in time, they were “play-singing” to each other. Yep, it was a scene right out of a musical for sure!
And at another point, Tanner and Madison were playing house and had just gotten married. Madison was just having a baby (quite literally – see lump in her tummy) and I insisted on snapping a picture. Tanner’s response, “Oh, you’re making me fall in LOVE!”
[Can I just insert -- THIS IS WHY I LOVE FAMILY!!! We are so fortunate to have so many cousins surrounded by us. The other day, Tanner was telling me how “[Two girls in his class] are the bestest of friends. They do everything together. I think they’re COUSINS!” Yep, around here, the word COUSINS is a term of endearment, because OUR cousins are our VERY BESTEST FRIENDS!!!]
While Brooke, on the other hand, had a hard time deciding if she was going to be happy. I’m sure being wide awake in the car for most the night (yes, even at Midnight!) may have had something to do with it…
Tanner wasn’t the only one having the time.of his.life! Miss Rylee was getting all sorts of extra attention. Typically, only the kiddos can get her full out belly laughing like this. And now, Uncle Kenneth.
And here she is again getting some playtime with her cousin Liam.
Dallas Aquarium
There’s so many fun things to do in Dallas that are perfect for small children. And think one ranks high up on the list!
Grandpa and Grammy were able to join us too – doubling the fun!
Our favorite part was getting to feed the baby sting rays!
Tanner and Rylee were both a little nervous at first, so Anthony showed them how it was done. They came right up to him!
Anthony had to help “coax” Tanner at first. By the end, he was a pro! Thanks goodness for Anthony cause I’m no help when it comes to this sort of thing.
Brooke, on the other hand, didn’t waste anytime. As soon as she got that fish, she threw it right into the water! I just barely got it on picture :)
She was totally and utterly mesmerized by them.
Then there’s a huge shark tank. Where tons of fish, sharks, and more sting rays are lurking around. And this shark wanted them for lunch :)
Anthony and Tanner went into the Tornado stimulator. While they were laughing and having a good time, Brooke was panicking and screaming at the top of her lungs just watching them.
Thankfully, Brooke wasn’t scared of this fish once she realized it wasn’t real.
Brooke also loved starring at these jelly fish. These pics don’t do justice, but it’s fascinating to watch these iridescent creatures move through the water and reflecting so many colors.
Here’s her “fish” face
The “petting zoo” – They also have a fun pond the kids can reach in and touch various sea creatures, like this rock-shelled lobster (whose skin feels and looks just like a sandy rock) and lots of shy hermit crabs.
The also have a school of fish that swims with the ocean current
Tanner being swallowed up by the octopus.
And on the eerie side…
Huge fish much bigger than Brooke just giving her the stare-down
And these ginormous eels didn’t look too friendly either
And we didn’t last long in the shark room; apparently, a little too scary for them.
Ha! But this croc apparently was the scariest of all. I asked Tanner what he would do if the glass broke and it started to chase him, and he quickly responded, “I’d run fast first and if that' didn’t work, I’d wrestle him!”
Well…later that night…he kept thinking about the croc. As I was tucking him into bed, “What if the glass broke and I wasn’t fast enough…” Next time, no more questions for me!
And before and after, we played and enjoyed the beautiful spring shiny day!
Dallas Arboretum
When we lived in Dallas, we had a membership and visit here all the time! We loved there Toddler programs, complete with petting zoos, face painting, and Kindermusic, all in the beautiful Arboretum.
Just like this…except Brooke wanted nothing to do with coming close to these animals. She would have much preferred staying in the comfort of her stroller…and making all the animal sounds.
And Tanner wanted nothing to do with getting his face painted…unlike the days past where he’d make the cutest little tiger cub.
Instead, we watched cousin Cassidy transform into a Siberian tiger.
Throw back a few years…to our very own Spiderman
March is the perfect time to visit during the Dallas Blooms! Spring season as flowers and magnificent sculptures like this were everywhere.
And now, it’s even better as they just expanded a whole new Children’s Adventure Gardens. Hands down, this was one of the coolest, innovative, fun places I’ve ever been with the kids. It’s a magical outdoor play land that is super beautiful and educational.
And the landscape is so serene and beautiful as you overlook White Rock Lake and each walkway sculpted with plants and flowers, waterfalls and spillways, you almost forget your surrounded my millions of children. Almost!
One of the first stops – a huge giant tree house with only a see-through net to support you a few stories high. One of those thing you just can’t think about too much…at which Brooke could NOT do.
They had the cutest little kid playing area – and not just for little kids either :)
Then Tanner learned all about plants – studying them and checking off all their features – from one of the best teachers – Aunt Melinda.
And of course anything Tanner does, Brooke has to do too
Then the kiddos all worked together to build a ginormous flower
Then he put the pictures in the right order from seed to strawberries.
And he made his own seed to plant slow-motion animation strip by stamping the pictures in order and then viewing in the hand-spun viewer. So cool!
And then we learned all about different forms of energy in the water-works display.
Let’s go OUTSIDE and PLAY
Of all the fun things we did all week long, Tanner had only ONE request. Go play outside on a playground!!! The weather was absolutely gorgeous!
So here’s to playing on the playground!
Houston, we have a problem! But these kiddos got it covered :)
Rylee hasn’t ever experience sunshine quite like this and I have a feeling she’s going to LOVE springtime!
Friends, Playdates, and more
We filled the week full of activities and play dates, way too many to list here. Some of my friends were kind enough to capture pics for me. And since I’m usually the one taking pics, there’s not many with me in them. So I have to post them!
I met up with one of my old co-workers Talita. March is such a crazy hectic time of year for tax accountants…and while I don’t miss busy season, I definitely do miss these amazing people!
But after lunch, I’m pretty sure I convinced her to stop at her second child cause three is definitely out of control!! Thanks Talita for helping reign them in :)
I think I had the same impact on my cousin Ryan, who we met up with dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Chuy’s! After Rylee grabbing attacking my glass and spilling it everywhere, it was pure craziness. But it was so fun to catch up with him! Next time, we’ll leave the kids at home rather than dragging them to dinner after you’ve spent all day at the Aboretum, driving to Ft Worth seeing Kristie’s beautiful new home, and then back to Dallas for dinner. Whew! But still a small price to pay for great company, right!?!
Another highlight was going to church in our our old ward, it was so bittersweet! This ward was our first ward home for over 8 years, yet we were shocked how at many new people we didn’t know and how tall everyone else’s kids have gotten. Especially my old activity day girls, now just barely 13, that are towering above me…and I’m not a short person!
Girls Night! Man, oh man, they were some of my first friends in our LH ward. Anthony was their HTs and I taught Brittany in YWs, and now, years later, our kids are practically the same age, 2 kids just days apart. Brittany is all grown up and is one of the best moms I know, doing it all by herself! I was so ecstatic when I was visiting this summer and saw her at church. Just as we had moved out of the ward, she went and moved back in!! How dare she!!!
And baby Adrian is beautiful…and Brooke was loving all his sweet smiles!
This wasn’t quite like the good old days…where they’d come over, eat lots of brownies and ice cream, and just laugh. Like my stomach hurting from laughing so much. yes, these two are hilarious! but all silliness aside, they’ve taught me so much about love, faith, and always sticking together. I love them dearly!
Next time Britt—sleepover at your house, and I’m bringing brownies!!!
Homeward Bound
The drive home was epic, definitely worth of mention. Anthony had the pleasure of flying home so he could return to work, which meant I got to stay longer – but then travel all by my lonesome with 3 kids in tow all the way back to Kansas. When we dropped him off at the airport, Tanner got sad for a second, “I’m going to miss Daddy but he’ll still be with me in my heart!” [what a cutie!"]
I think everyone had lots of anxiety for me – but I think the Lord answered all the prayers on my behalf.
The first two hours, the girls slept straight. And when we stopped for lunch, we happened to find the worlds nicest McDonalds in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma. Complete with a little kids area, big kid area, iPad playing area, and lots of room to get all those wiggles out. We may have spent nearly 2 hours there…
And just as the speed happened to drop from 70 to 55, I got pulled over. In my defense, I had to pee super dee duper bad but had been holding it for over an hour cause I knew as soon as I stopped Rylee would wake up. But atlast, the cop had compassion on my when he saw our car loaded up with kiddos and we drove away without a ticket. So so lucky!!
And during one pit stop, we may have all been a little bored and stir crazy. Tanner started to sign, “What does the Fox say…” and quickly we started making up our own verses, our favorite being “What does the Brooke say…sure, sure, sure, sure, sh-sure!!!”
Tanner and Brooke were amazing, totally immersed in their world of toys, dvds, snacks, and games. Rylee took more convincing. Towards the end, we were all getting desperate, and when there were no other options for food or bathrooms, stopped at a Dollar General for one last break. All in all, much better than I anticipated!
When we pulled into the driveway, all the kids were fast asleep. While Anthony was carrying Brooke up to her bed, she woke up just enough to give him the biggest kiss ever, and then snuggled up right back to sleep. This girl…loves her Daddy!!!
Definitely worth the trip…but feels good to be back at home!
