Cavanaugh Flight Museum

The kiddos and I were invited to explore the Cavanaugh Flight Museum with Tripp and Boss.  Thomas and Tripp were pretty excited about the upcoming release of Planes: Fire and Rescue so we thought this would be a good lead in to the movie on Friday.  It was a warm morning so being able to be inside and outside was a nice break for us all.

Puzzles

Puzzles at the table buys me a few minutes of quiet while I get breakfast cooked in the morning…doesn’t hurt that it also is super beneficial for their brains

Octonauts at the Sealife Aquarium

Thomas and a few of his friends have been very into the show and playing Octonauts lately.  When the other moms and I saw that the Octonauts were going to be at the aquarium we knew that the boys (Elin too) would love it. 

So we all loaded up and headed over.  The aquarium had everything set up and little quizes as we went through and saw the different animals and fish.  Elin loved seeing all the different fish and really loved the turtles.  Thomas loved the octonaut stuff and the sharks. When it came time to meet the Octonauts: Captain Barnacles and Kwazii both Thomas and Elin needed a little of Mama’s bravery at first.  By the end of our meet and greet they were both excited and getting stickers from their assistants left and right.   Then we grabbed lunch and headed home with 2 excited and exhausted kiddos.

Stelly McAbelly is a 6 Year Old…

We celebrated Stella’s 6th birthday getting ready for our Minnesota adventure and with a few extra pets and treats for the giant one.  Stella continues to be one of the best dogs I have had the pleasure of knowing, although she does have some pain in the ass traits as well.  Most of the time she forgets that she is a dog and we often do too. 

As she has gotten older she is starting to slow down a bit more and needs far less adventure to wipe her out.  She’s happy with a walk a day and an occasional play with a friend or park adventure.  

Happy Birthday Giant One!  Hope we get to celebrate with you for many years to come! 

Sprinkler Fun

One of the pros of it being 90 degrees at 7 o’clock at night is that the kids can run in the sprinklers in the back yard without freezing.  It is also a great way to sneak in some extra water for our landscaping and lawn!  It is so much fun to watch them run around and play without a care in the world. It reminds me of when I was a kiddo so long ago. Before the sprinklers turned on the “neighbors” had to finish up their shopping trip and pick up their toys.  These neighbors are just the greatest and Mike and I have a lot of fun listening to their stories and seeing what their adventures hold for the day/week! 

Forth Worth Zoo

For awhile we have been hearing that the Fort Worth Zoo is “much better than the Dallas Zoo” so the kiddos decided to go an see for ourselves.  We got up and were out the door at 9 a.m. as we had an hour drive and knew that it was going to be in the low 90s mid day.  Once we arrived at the zoo we slathered on the sun screen, loaded up the double stroller, and headed into the zoo. We were quickly surprised by all the flamingos sitting on very tall nests with eggs under them.  You can see in the picture that the kiddos are still dressing themselves and Elin has quite the outfit on.  We then went over and saw the reptile/amphibian exhibits.  There was a huge huge huge saltwater crocodile.  He or she was 22 feet long and weighed 2 tons.  It was easy to see how these crocodiles are able to take down some of the big game in Africa.We continued on our adventure finding different animals at every turn.  For most of the day I had my phone or camera for the day away.  We got to see a lot of animals, have lunch, watch an animal encounter show and then we loaded up to head home about 1:30.  It was a great morning at the zoo and the kiddos both were asking to go back as soon as we left.  Thomas said his favorite animal was the black rhino, Elin said the Elephant and Crocodile, I will say seeing the year old baby Elephants was a highlight for me.  So after a final review I will say that I don’t think that the Fort Worth Zoo is better/worse than the Dallas Zoo.  They both have their own unique feel and different animals for everyone to see. 

The best part of making browinies…

…is enjoying the batter! 

While Elin napped Thomas helped me make brownies for Father’s Day dessert.  My camera was out and charged and I couldn’t help  but snap a few chocolaty photos. 

When Elin woke up she too got to get in the fun as we saved her a couple spoonfuls as well. 

Father’s Day Weekend

The kiddos and I spent the weekend celebrating Mike/Daddy!  It was a busy weekend getting everything done around the house while also enjoying time out and about.  We are still hoping that the baby and I will get the go ahead to travel to Minnesota on Thursday morning.  We started off the weekend with Thomas’ last baseball game of the year, he will miss 2 games while we are in MN.  T had a couple great hits and it was a fun to see how much he grew in the few short weeks since T ball started.  At the end of the game they always get treats and Thomas picked up one for his sister, so thoughtful.  We then headed to the McKinney Farmer’s Market to get some produce.  We didn’t know that it was going to be the Ice Cream Crank Off so there was a lot more “going on” than just the market.  We didn’t score as big with produce as we were hopeful for but we did get a few things, the kids got to have a few samples, and made coasters.  We then ducked into a Pub in Downtown McKinney for lunch and then picked up some steaks for dinner before we headed home.  Once home Elin went down for her nap and the boys went to run errands together.  They had to mow the lawn and then run to Home Depot, as the birds have been stealing and eating our ripe tomatoes!  When Elin woke up she and I ran to the grocery store and we all met back at home to chill and grill. 

On Sunday morning the kiddos and I got up and we let Mike sleep in.  We cut up some of the strawberries we got at the market and made waffles for breakfast.   They also made him his special Father’s Day cards.  Then it was time to start “working” around the house and getting everything in order.  That afternoon I picked our second round of basil from the garden and made Pesto (one of Mike’s favorites) for us to use for dinner.  I also decided to make homemade pasta and got cracking on that.  It ended up being a family affair and the kiddos and Mike helped crank and prepare the sheets of pasta.  Although it takes a lot more effort to make it from scratch, homemade pasta is really worth the extra effort.  Dinner was fantastic and I think Mike approved as he had 4 helpings .  We then got in more playtime and the kiddos ready for bed.  It was an early night for all of us but a wonderful weekend celebrating Mike and time together as a family. 

On Sunday, social media was going crazy with everyone posting pictures of their “favorite” dads for Father’s Day.  I have to say Mike and I are luck to have 2 fantastic Father’s as role models and also to be able to see be great Grandpa’s as well.   We are also very lucky that Mike’s Grandpa Larry is still with us and we wish him a very special Father’s Day too.  Happy Father’s Day to everyone!

Bunnies…

The baby bunnies grew up quickly and are already out of the garden box hopefully living in the neighborhood somewhere!  Over the weekend we figured that at 2 weeks old they were close to starting to move around, from all the reading I had done, and we used some spare boards we had in the garage to corral them under the corn in the garden box.  I like bunnies and all, but I still didn’t want to loose all my veggies to the little guys or girls! 

On Tuesday morning I went out to check on them, a morning occurrence for the last 2 weeks and saw they had a “bunny hole” in their nest and they were out and about.  That afternoon I noticed 1 of the bunnies was out of the box and “hiding” in the grass.  I picked it up, put it back in and thought that it was a fluke.  I was wrong, they were starting to hop out and were ready to be on their own.  Their mama was still coming back at night to feed them and check in and so there they were out of the box.   For the next few days they hung around close to the house and we saw them near our garden boxes.  By Friday we were only seeing 2 consistently and by Monday they were off and on their next adventure (we hope)!  Fun to see/watch them grow up and now wonder when we see little buns if they were “our garden babies.”

This is how they “hid” in the grass.  You had to be so careful as they didn’t move and you could almost step on them. 

Meet our “neighbors”

We have new neighbors that move in and out as they see fit.  They are a husband and wife named Thomas and Elin.  Many days Mike and I find ourselves not being called “Daddy and Mommy” but being called “neighbors.”  Thomas and Elin, the neighbors, are a husband and wife who have a baby.  Mike and I are often asked to watch this “baby” although we have never seen it.  They most afternoons and nights join us for dinner and are great “neighbors” to have around. 

Here are a few pictures of them “moving in” the other morning.