Fun in Dallas/Ft. Worth

Last weekend we went to Dallas/Ft. Worth for a little spring break getaway. We started our trip off at the Ft. Worth Zoo. It was a tad bit expensive, but worth every penny. It was so much better than our zoo here. There was one bit of a problem. Everyone in the Ft. Worth area also thought Saturday would be a great day to go to the zoo. Well, not everyone, but at least 45,000 people. It was so crazy busy, but we still managed to have a great time. Well, until the kids got hungry. We tried to get them to eat before we went into the zoo, but of course they weren't hungry. About an hour in they were suddenly starving. Poor Nate had to wait in line at Burger King for 45 minutes as I tried to entertained the kids at a picnic table.

The Primate section was first on our list. We love the primates the best, but unfortunately it was so busy with people we didn't get to look long. We did see this guy hanging up on his fort.

This is the start of our long lunch wait. They were being silly and acting like they actually love each other. Okay, they do, but I hardly get pictures like this.

She was excited to find a penny!

Nate is in the red hat. He had already been waiting in line for about 20 minutes.

Natalie is still in a good mood!

Bryce is not so much in a good mood.

Yay, we ate lunch and got to move on.

This Rhino was super funny. He was running all over his yard and then laid down and rolled in the mud. He even scratched himself on that little tree stump that's in front of him.

These little guys are so cute.

This is what happens after a long day at the zoo.

When we left the zoo we went to my friend, Jennifer's house. She used to live here, but moved down to the Ft. Worth area almost a year ago. She invited us over for a very tasty dinner. The kids got to play with each other again and we got to visit for a while. It was nice.

But our fun little trip came to a rapid halt after we left her house. She lives about 35 minutes from where we were staying in Frisco, TX. That 35 minute trip became a 2 hour trip. Our car kept randomly dying while we were driving on the highway, at stop lights, or really wherever. I was nervous wreck and so was Nate. We missed exits because of it and got lost.

At one point we needed to take a potty break and ended up at a really cool McDonalds. It happened to be next to the Dallas Zoo so it was all decked out in wild animals. Quite appropriate since we were just at the zoo. That was a small highlight in our otherwise scary trip.

Finally we made it to Frisco and our really cool hotel. It was modeled after a New York loft. Everything was super modern inside it. Unfortunately, we were too upset about our car to really enjoy it. The kids loved this cool bench, though.

The next day we went to Ikea since it was just down the road from the hotel and the mall to shop. I love Ikea. They should really build one here. The best part is they have a childcare watch so we got a whole hour of shopping kid free!

Then we started on our scary trip home since our car was still dying. Everytime we passed a mile marker I said a silent prayer of thanks.

We took our car to the Honda dealership but they couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. But just last night Nate thinks he figured it out! He's going to buy the part right now so cross your fingers that it works.

He escaped!

Our leprechaun came last night, but he escaped with a grappling hook. He left behind some surprises!

If you look closely you can see the green string hanging from the door. He used hook and string to climb out of the trap when he fell inside.

Our leprechaun had very dirty feet. Do you see all his little black footprints?

He left shamrocks on the floor near the trap.

The leprechaun turned our couch cushions over! He's small but strong.

He tied two of our chairs together with the dog's leash and blocked the way into the kitchen.

He put a green tablecloth on our table and left green plates and green plasticware and also left more shamrocks. He even turned our chairs over and wound a green ribbon through them.

He left us a note!

Turned our milk green.

And our juice green!

He also peed into our toilet and it was green! He was a sneaky guy again this year, too. He put the Rice Crispies cereal into the Lucky Charms box and put the Lucky Charms cereal into the Rice Crispies box.

Disclaimer: Yes, my house is a bit of a mess. I was too tired last night to pick it up.

We are going to catch a leprechaun!

For the past couple of years we've had a sneaky leprechaun visit our house. He turns the chairs and sofa cushions upside down. He also turns our milk green and pees green into our toilets. So this year we've come up with a plan thanks to Family Fun Magazine. This month the magazine had several different leprechaun traps so we made one tonight. According to the magazine leprechauns have a big ego so the big leprechaun hat will get his attention. Then he'll see the sign that says Do Not Climb Ladder so of course he'll go ahead and climb the ladder since leprechauns like to break the rules. Then when he reaches the top he'll see the gold and try to get it. But if all goes liked planned the leprechaun will fall into the hat because we've cut a hole in the top of it. We'll see how it works on St. Patrick's Day.

Beauty Queen

Natalie loves make up and she loves to apply it herself. Isn't she gorgeous?

Where did the pretty weather go?

We had such a beautiful weekend and then bam today it's gone. I am tired of winter and want it to stay spring. At least we got out and played this weekend. We went to Southlakes Park and then Natalie played in the backyard. Normally, she just plays in the sand, but she had such a fun time swinging. I got all sorts of goofy pictures of her on the swing.

Cinderelly Cinderelly night and day it's Cinderelly...

Is it wrong that Natalie cleans this table every single day and loves to do it?

Disclaimer: She's only got a bottle full of water. I don't make her use real cleaner.

Yay Bryce!

I am so proud of my big guy. He's been struggling with reading, but in the past month he's blossomed. Last night he read Hi! Fly Guy and Super Fly Guy to me. He barely needed my help. This morning he reread one of the books perfectly. =)

Riddle me this..

I've been exercising consistantly for 2 months.

My scale has not dropped in the number of pounds I weigh.

My jeans will not stay up. They are loose and baggy.

My size down jeans can't be buttoned up. If I squeeze myself tight I can button them for oh 30 seconds.

What the heck am I to do?

Stretch pants?

Why are my one size super loose and yet I can't get into the smaller size? I hate jeans. I refuse to buy anymore. I have jeans in 4 different sizes, but none of them fit.

Outer Space Birthday Party!

I think our party was a success! It seemed like all the kids had a great time and even the parents that stayed were impressed by what we did. We had 13 kids total! Yikes! We started off the party by having the kids paint Moon Rocks with glow in the dark paint. Then they had to decorate their space shuttle aka two papers plates stapled together. Then we played a few games, had a snack of UFO sandwiches, ate Moon Cake and Alien Slime Cupcakes. Then we went outside to fly the space shuttles and football rockets and shoot off a rocket which was the highlight of the party.

We transformed our garage into outer space. On this wall we put glow in the dark stars and wrote out Happy Birthday Bryce with glow in the dark gel.

We strung stars and planets from the ceiling along with some Christmas lights for extra stars.



More planets and stars. And Nate was hanging Saturn's ring in the back. We flew the decorated space shuttles through the ring.

This is the Comet Toss game I made. You have to try to toss the comet onto the sun or one of the planets.

Nate made this. It's pin the eye on the alien.This is Alien Knockout. The kids really got into this game. I thought they were going to throw a bean bag through my wall!


Nate made this photo booth. I took pictures of all the kids in it. I'll print them off and give them a copy with their thank you.

Here's an alien slime cupcake.

And the moon cake.

Here's all the kids ready to launch their football rockets.

I wish I had gotten more pictures, but I just didn't have time to stop and take them. I was too busy!

Happy 7th Birthday

It's Bryce's 7th Birthday! We are having an outer space birthday party later this afternoon. The garage has been transformed into outer space with planets, stars, and black lights.

Here's Bryce the day he came home. It's not the best picture but it's all I had on my computer.

Bryce's 1st Birthday! Poor boy was so ill on his actual birthday. This was taken a few days later when he was back in the game.

I don't have any 2nd year pictures of Bryce on the computer. :(

Bryce's 3rd Birthday!

This is Bryce with Natalie right before his 4th Birthday. I don't have very many old pictures on the computer so this is what I got.

Again I am short for pictures. A while back our computer crashed so I lost many of my pictures on the computer. Thankfully, they are backed up on cd but I've only put a few back onto the computer. This is right after his 5th Birthday at the zoo.

Happy 6th Birthday!

We went to the Wichita Mountains that day. It was beautiful there.

Earlier this year at the zoo with sister Natalie.