A Beautiful Day

It's beautiful outside today. School is out, so I had both kids all morning. We had to do our big grocery run... which I'll admit is not very appealing on a nice day... for mommies or kids. Caleb and Madeline were amazingly non-whiny at the store, so I decided they deserved a treat. We ran home, threw the frozen stuff in the freezer, and went right back outside. We grabbed some happy meals and headed to the park.

Caleb was thrilled with the happy meals. I guess he saw a commercial that showed the trick-or-treat buckets, so he's been asking for one. He must have thanked me a dozen times. Madeline started using her bucket right away to collect berries, leaves, and rocks. (I conveniently spilled them out onto the ground before we got in the car.)

After they ate, the kids both ran directly to the tall slide. Madeline climbed up like a pro with no fear or hesitation.

Caleb was willing to take pictures for once, so I took full advantage. He wanted a picture by the monkey bars, and I think it turned out to be one of my favorites.

We played on the slides, took turns on the swings, and ran in circles... for no apparent reason. (We possibly even watched a drug deal, but I'm not sure about that. It looked a bit suspicious. LOL)

The kids had a great time. Moments like these make motherhood so fun!

Have a park-tastic day!

The Nature Center

We had a play date with my MOPS ladies on Tuesday. This time we visited the Nature Center. We had originally planned to walk around the (paved) little trail outside and then have a picnic, but it was a rainy day. Luckily there was plenty to do inside. My kids were actually entertained for a full hour! Inside! Let me add another exclamation point!

They have a spot where you can fish with a pole that has a magnet on the end. You then take your catch to this station to measure and identify it. Here's Caleb looking at the display.

Madeline was a hoot. She was into everything. Caleb was interested in all of the displays, but she just wanted to visit and run around. I'm glad we went, though. It was a great way to spend a rainy morning.

Have a nature-tastic day!

Happy Birthday, Madeline!

Happy birthday to my little princess... I can't believe she's already two! Madeline is such a girlie-girl. She asked for a "pretty skirt" to wear, so of course I made her a tutu! Notice the little white boots? Her Grammie found those for her. They're house shoes, but it's hard to convince Madeline that they need to stay at home. :-)

She was so excited about the presents that she started carrying them over onto the carpet. She wanted to open them NOW!

She kept saying "wow" over and over again... it was hilarious.

Overall it was a great party. The kids had a great time. Madeline received a lot of great gifts.

I still can't believe she's already two!

Road Trip

Josh had some vacation days a while back, so we decided to go to Dallas. Here's Caleb modeling his new sunglasses.

Here's a picture from the Fort Worth Zoo. I didn't get a lot of pictures on this trip. I was too busy kid-wrangling. I wish I had done better, but oh well. The kids loved the zoo. We had a great time running around and looking at the animals (and eating Burger King in the food court). It's great that Madeline is old enough to really enjoy these things now. She loved looking at the animals as much as Caleb this time.

Madeline looks very impressed by the kangaroo.

These shots are all from the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. They have this great elevated kids walkway that has little signs with facts and lots of whisper tubes going from station to station.

It was contained enough that the kids could run ahead a bit, and since we went early in the morning we only saw a total of four other people the whole time we were there.

Here's Madeline talking to Josh on the whisper tube. It was her favorite part of the walkway.

The absolute best part about the botanical gardens? It was free!

Our last morning we grabbed Uncle Bobby and went to breakfast. No, I don't have pictures of that either... but I did snag this one photo that proves we saw him! We all went to the Bass Pro Shop for a bit, and the guys decided to show Caleb how to shoot electronic deer on a screen. Guys.

We had a great trip. It's amazing how well the kids did being in the car so much. Next time I'll do better with the pictures!

Have a trip-tastic day!