Perfect Spring Day at the Arboretum

This morning we went to the Dallas Arboretum with some friends from the MOMS Club. We are supposed to go again this week or next with some friends from Gymboree, so I bought a membership! After that I only have to go one more time and it has paid for itself! I would like to go back again in the fall, at Christmas time and next spring -- now I have zero excuses not to go!! So be prepared to see lots of pictures from the Arboretum in future blog posts! :) It is extra fun there now since through the end of the year they have 15 "Storybook Playhouses" set up throughout the Arboretum. Lily really liked going through all the houses (and we didn't even get to see them all in the 2 hours we were there!). Each one is based on a different children's book and built by local architects and sponsored by local companies. It was fun and nice for her to have something to do there besides pose in front of flowers while I desperately try to get a decent picture (didn't get any good ones today). The weather was perfect this morning and it was such a beautiful day to hang out at the Arboretum!

The "Teremok" House (apparently it is a Russian folktale - I'd never heard of it)

She wanted to push for awhile which was fine with me!

Walking with her friend Grace (who is carrying a box of bubbles).

"City Green" House

"City Green" House again.

Inside the "City Green" house -- I'm not familiar with this story either, but the houses were a big hit!

The fountains were a lot of fun! She was hesitant at first, but seemed to enjoy it, without really getting wet. I think the local splash parks will be a big hit this summer!

Trying to grab the water.

"One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" House

"Alice In Wonderland" House

She saw the ducks and had to go say hi!

With her friend Ava in the "James and the Giant Peach" House.

Grace brought bubbles for everyone!

Stopping to pet the coyote statues . . .

And ride the coyote statues!

All the kids were obsessed with trying to get the marble ball out of the lions mouth in front of the bamboo forest.

She was getting tired and refused to get out of the stroller -- but I had to get a photo of her next to the Lilies!

Such a beautiful spot for a photo with White Rock Lake in the background, but again she was pretty tired -- maybe next time we'll get a better picture!

Terrible Twos

I try to blog nearly everyday so I will never forget the little things that Lily and I do on a day to day basis. It is easy to remember to take pictures on vacations or during holiday celebrations, but I love to capture her day to day routine. Of course not everyday is playgroups, parks and fun. Too often (especially lately) we have challenging moments that I never get to document (or choose not to). But this is our reality. Lily is a stubborn little 2 year old who loves to push her boundaries. This afternoon she was playing with her play-doh at the kitchen table and I was cleaning up in the kitchen. All was going well until I noticed that she was just balling up her play-doh and throwing it on the floor. So I asked her nicely to stop and she did not. I told her if she threw one more piece on the floor, I was going to take it away from her. So what does Lily do. She balls up the tiniest little piece, holds out her hand in defiance; looks at me sideways with her eyes squinted just daring me to do something. So I tell her again, don't drop it! And just like that her little hand opens and the play-doh falls to the floor. So I immediately and calmly take her out of her booster seat and start cleaning up and putting away her play-doh and toys. This is her reaction:

Total temper tantrum!

Just laying there screaming her poor little head off. I was tempted to record it on video, but figured no one in their right mind wants to see that! :)

She was even more pissed that I was actually taking pictures of her meltdown! But someday she may appreciate it.

Finally wanting a hug from Mommy. This is how I know the tantrum is over. If I try to hug or comfort her too soon, she just gets more pissed off, but once she is open to a hug (her way of apologizing, maybe?) then we are all good again.



After, 10 minutes of hysterics and a few hugs and kisses, she was perfectly fine -- like it never happened. She didn't even ask to play with her play-doh again. She started playing with her puzzles and dolls, laughing and having fun. Just another day. . .:)

I'm A Texan Now

I finally went and got my Texas drivers license today. In my defense, I tried to go once before right after we moved here, the same day we got the Texas plates and registration for the cars, but they needed way more paperwork than I had with me at the time (birth certificate, etc). So I figured, I tried, not my fault I couldn't get it! I never wanted to go back and deal with the lines (they don't make appointments like the lovely DMV in CA does) and I just didn't want to part with my CA drivers license -- it is mandatory that they take it from you!! I hate that! I have all my licenses, student ID's, Disneyland passes, Costco Cards, etc. and I didn't want to part with my latest CA license. But I got a letter from my insurance agency requesting our Texas license numbers in order to renew our policy in June, so I figured I better just go already.

I had planned all week to go today, and when I found out that there was a thunderstorm rolling though this morning I figured that may even be better and keep some people away. In theory this was a good plan -- It was not very crowded at all; there was no line and I immediately got my number and sat down. Once you check in, you take a seat, watch the Today Show (or in my case read a book) and wait for your number to be called; then you go around the partition and they process you and take your photo. When I first got there they were at #45 and I was given #84, but they were moving right along and in about 5 minutes were already at #66. But then it suddenly came to a stand still. Nearly 45 minutes went by without a new number being called and without any explanation. Then suddenly they called #'s 66-71. Then it stopped again and a sheriff (Texas Ranger?) came out and apologized -- apparently their computer system is hooked to a satellite, so whenever a storm cloud gathers overhead, they lost their connection and all the computers would go down!! So what should have taken 30 minutes ended up taking me nearly 2 hours due to the storm!! Luckily, Lily was at home playing with Grandma so I didn't have to entertain her while I was there! So, lesson learned. Storms are good for keeping people away, but not so good for the computers.

Bye bye CA license, I am officially a Texan now.
(FYI -- I was pregnant with Lily in this photo, but didn't know it yet!)

The Rest of My Birthday

Well, apparently Lily didn't get the memo yesterday afternoon that for my birthday all I really wanted to do was chill out while she took a nice long nap. Nope, she woke up just as I finished blogging!! Barely an hour of sleep. So unlike her. So I had to entertain a somewhat still tired child for hours longer than normal. Initially she asked to sit in her booster seat to play with the plastic eggs on the table, so I said sure. The eggs are in the glass bowl that acts as my centerpiece and I didn't want her playing with that -- so I gave her some plastic bowls.

(Santa jammies and Easter Eggs, she is multi-holiday)

To my surprise she was totally content for awhile, but then she wanted me to sit with her at the table so I suggested we play on the floor since I didn't really want to sit at the table. It was there that discovered the joys of hitting the eggs with her plastic golf clubs and watching them bounce and fly across the room.

This was the greatest thing ever and I encouraged it since it made her happy and kept her busy!

Of course it was only a matter of time before even the fun the that great game wore off, so we went outside to blow bubbles and play with the new sidewalk chalk the Easter bunny gave her!

(after a quick outfit change, since it was kinda warm out)

Well, only half an outfit change, we didn't bother with the pants! :)

This was her first ever time playing with sidewalk chalk and she had a lot of fun!

When we went back inside, I was trying to get her to relax with me, but she refused and wanted to go play in the other room. I kept trying to find other things to do, so I could relax on the couch, but finally I gave in and went with her. And I am SO glad I did -- she had the accessories to her little wooden birthday cake set all laid out and said "Now it is time to sing Happy Birthday to Mommy" and put a little wooden candle on the cake and started to sing. I was SO touched! It was SO sweet! Chip came home not long after and I tried to get some of her singing on video. She was a little shy with Chip and the camera, but you get the idea:

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Then before bed, we sang again with my cupcakes from Cold Stone Creamery! It was a good birthday!

Happy Birthday to Me!

When I woke up this morning, I found these gifts waiting for me on the counter!! Chip went all out this year and got a bag that lights up: Since Lily couldn't wait another second to open "Mommy's presents", we opened them first thing!
I really didn't ask for a single thing. There is really nothing I need or even want. But I am always amazed by the great gifts Chip finds for me -- they are always perfect! First I got a frame for Lily and I to create! How cute is that? Chip thought it would be a fun project for us!

I also got some books and CD's

Thanks Chip! You are the best!

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Also, as my present, Chip took the day off work today so we could go out as a family and celebrate my birthday! Since we went to the zoo in LA, I thought it would be fun to check out the Dallas World Aquarium. I had done some research on it and it seemed super cool -- kinda a aquarium and zoo in one, which it totally was!

It is awesome there. It once was an old warehouse in downtown Dallas and they totally transformed it into a 3 story rain forest habitat! There are all kinds of different animals from all over the world -- birds, reptiles, monkeys! I even got pooped on by a bird flying overhead.

Looking at the turtles and monkeys.

The main 3 levels are open to the bottom with a waterfall that goes all the way down. There is a trail that slowly curves around and leads you down. You don't even realize that you are covering 3 floors since it is so gradual and there is stuff to see all along the way.

Look, Otters!!

Checking out a bird.

Walking through a cave in the rain forest!

The waterfall from the 2nd level

Ooh, a snake! Chip didn't stay there very long since he hates snakes!

Waterfall at the bottom.
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After the rain forest portion, you take stairs (or an elevator in our case since we had the stroller) down to the aquarium level where they had lots of tanks and displays of fish by regions (Fiji, Great Barrier Reef, etc. . .)

I love jelly fish!! Apparently, Lily thought they were pretty neat too!

Lily was getting tired the first time we went through the tunnel of fish, but after we gave her some "fish crackers" as she requested (guess all the fish made her crave her crackers) she was re-energized. When we walked back through she was all excited and screaming "there are fish in the sky!! Way up high - fish!" It was cute.

Another water tunnel -- but this one was filled with different types of sharks and sting rays (and a few scuba divers cleaning the glass). Chip and Lily are sitting in the middle on the right.

Thankfully, Lily didn't discover all the touchscreen information things until near the end! Once she did realize what they were she had to stop and play with them all. They were pretty cool and informative -- you could get a lot more information then you ever could on a plaque nearby!

Looking at Owls

A leopard!

Flamingos!

There were lots of other animals there that I didn't get photos of (or I got photos that were not worth blogging), penguins, all different types of monkeys, sloths, crocodiles, so many different types of birds and fish (obviously), otters, manatees, insects, frogs, and many more that I can't recall right now! It was a neat place, I'd like to go back again someday!

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On the way home we stopped at Chuy's for lunch! It was yummy and Mexican restaurants are usually very Lily friendly since she loves quesadillas and can snack on chips while we wait for our food!

She even got a push pop for dessert!!

She was really excited about her ice cream!

Sometimes when she is eating, she closes her eyes and makes a weird face, like she is really enjoying her food. She was doing that with the push pop!

When we got home and were getting Lily ready for her nap, the doorbell rang and I was surprised by this beautiful teacup arrangement that my Aunt Pam, Uncle Ashely and cousin Shaun sent to me!! Thanks guys -- I love it!!

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Nothing big planned for tonight -- Chip has school until 7pm. Although I did send a lot of not very subtle hints that Cold Stone Creamery now has cupcakes . . . so we'll see if he picked up on that! But it has already been a perfect day and Lily has been so sweet singing Happy Birthday to me over and over all day long! It's great!