Zoo Fun

Today we were lucky enough to have Daddy home with us for the last day of Spring Break, and we decided to visit the zoo! It was a gorgeous morning, if a little chilly, and we got there bright and early.

First, we had to say hello to the penguins. We were a little disappointed not to see them swimming, but apparently their water hadn't warmed up to their liking yet. Several came over to pose right in front of us, though.


The zoo is filled with lots of rocks throughout, and the boys didn't play favorites...they climbed on every one!


This butterfly bench by the BugU exhibit is one of our favorite stops.


Next we visited the giraffes and elephants. I have told Cody that he has the memory of an elephant, so he was excited to hear me read from the sign that elephants have great memories. "I have the remember-y of an elephant!!" he was very proud to tell anyone who would listen. :)


We checked out the tigers and otters before we were done, too. (and gorillas and okapi and crocodiles and lemurs and flamingos...we saw a lot in our short visit!) Jacks put his head inside the little frame, and then of course, the younger boys had to give it a try, too.


What a great day! Thanks to Grandad for the membership...I know we'll be using it a lot this year. :)

Spring Break at the Arboretum

This morning, the boys and I met Grandad at the Arboretum for Dallas Blooms. It was an absolutely beautiful, sunny day (which meant many of my pictures were overexposed...oops) and we got there right when it opened so we had it mostly to ourselves for the first hour or so. The only other people we saw were brides having their portraits done, and Laura Bush. Wait, did I say Laura Bush? Why yes, I did. We saw her riding in a golf cart, being given a tour, while her secret service agents (hard to miss in their dark suits) were stuffed into a different cart behind her.

One of the things the boys were most excited about was the big display of playhouses. When similar structures appear at Northpark mall, they are closed up and blocked off so that the kids can't play on them. We were concerned that might be the case today, but happily, these playhouses were open and ready to be played on. Each was built to go along with a particular children's story, such as "The Owl and The Pussycat" and "Peter Pan."

Here are the boys with Dr. Seuss' "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish."

This window was part of a house whose connected story we didn't recognize (and of course, whose name I now forget), but it was fun nonetheless.


Jacks did a great job looking out for Lucas and leading him along.


Occasionally, we did actually see some flowers, too!


But, as expected, the things the boys got the biggest kick out of had little or nothing to do with the Arboretum itself. Such as the great fun they had drenching each other with this water fountain.
Grandad managed to catch me with Jackson.



The boys were big fans of anything that allowed them to climb or play with water.


It is a near impossible feat to get a good picture of a 6, 4 and 1 year-old together, and I didn't accomplish it today. But here are the outtakes...


Getting a shot of TWO of the boys at a time, instead of 3, does sometimes work, though. :)


And all of my boys, hams that they are, were willing to pose on their own quite a bit. (First 3 photos by Grandad here...he's a master of his craft!)


We had a fantastic time but before too long the crowds began flooding in and I started getting photos like this:

I call this one, "So Over It." LOL When I see faces like that, I know we're done. So we called it a day, but I'm sure we'll be going back again before too long. :)