Night at the Perot Museum

So, did you know that you can spend the night at the Perot Museum?
Well....you can!

I booked an overnight visit for Gage and Damon.
Their evening started with dinner at El Fenix.

 Then they headed over to the museum...

How fun to kind of have free-run of the place? Usually when you go to the Perot Museum it's so crowded with field trips that you don't reeeeally get to enjoy anything. Every path is blocked by 25 people. Every activity has a line. Granted, when you spend the night there---it's not just you, your kid, and dinosaur bones! There are others doing the same thing---but sharing with 100 people is a lot easier than sharing with a thousand. Just sayin'....

Zoo Trips with Friends.

Oh, how we love the Dallas Zoo!

One day while Brother was in school, Eliette and I met up with some friends at Starbucks, and followed each other to the zoo.... The zoo trip started with a carousel ride.

Shortly thereafter, Sister let me know that strollers are so.last.year, and she would only be traveling by wagon. {That meant that mommy was pushing a stroller full of bags while E rode in the wagon with S.}

Other pics from the zoo....
Here's J man in the Jeep:

 Oh, the giraffes were E's favorite!

At some point we stopped for lunch.
I think that was actually before the giraffes.... It wasn't long after that before we went to the store to get our souvenirs. E chose a lovely stuffed giraffe. J & S both got bubble guns, I believe. Then we all headed over to the kids area. Oh, the kids area!It's always a blast.

These next pics were taken by a friend, and I fear this is a preview of the teen years....

 Hahahaha....so funny. She cracks me up. But, at some point in there, Eliette cut her little foot.
:(
First Aid was just right there by the kids area, so they hooked us up with a bandaid and we were on our way. We quickly changed into dry clothes, and hit the carousel one.last.time on our way out.
:)

This girl was very.very.very tired.

She was awake for the stroller ride to the car.
She was awake as we were getting out of the zoo parking lot.
She was asleep before we entered the service road out of the zoo parking lot.
Sweet girl....

It was a GREAT day, and we can't wait to do it again!
....and she's hoping to get her own chariot wagon for her birthday.
:)

Natatorium.

More Spring Break fun?
You betcha!

Well---this is the only pic I have of our trip to the natatorium for open-swim. Was it fun? Sure. For the kids, for a while.

Maybe it's all in the timing---maybe it's just the terrible twos approaching. I don't know.... I just know that Eliette had fun for a while, and then she made a GRAND exit. It was loud, and involved a bunch of flailing. All eyes were on her for a while, and it well deserved. She was putting on QUITE a show. Best thing in the world: that handle on her life jacket.

The whole leaving situation just really casts a shadow over my memories of the whole event. Looking back---yes, it was fun for the kids for a bit, but from this mom's perspective: so not worth it in the end! I was an exhausted mess leaving there after wrestling a toddler out of her wet suit.

Will we try it again? Probably. I'm a glutton for punishment.

Party Animal...

Eliette's sweet friend M had a birthday party at our local indoor trampoline park. It was Snoopy themed, so we were able to share the dog houses we made for the party tablescapes. The Snoopy theme was so cute.

Why are all of the pics blurry? Because it's so hard to get her to stay still these days!

Eliette had a great time.
Chasing her all about is exhausting.
But---she had fun and she was certainly worn out in the end!