We drove to Dallas late Friday night so we had to pack in a lot of things over the next day before heading home Sunday. Breakfast at IHOP, a trip to the Dallas Zoo, shopping at American Girl, ice skating, and swimming filled up our Saturday. We met up with some friends, the Swaseys, and spent our weekend with them and had a great time.
Joe always says, "A zoo is a zoo is a zoo" but he had fun anyway. (At this point in our lives, we do it for the kids) The kids were so excited to see all of the animals and Clark took pictures of every breathing thing in every cage.
They also had a fun "children's zoo" section where the kids could slide, climb, crawl, and splash. There was a stream that ran through the middle with big climbing rocks on both sides. All of the children took off their shoes and socks to walk and splash in it. Since I hadn't brought any changes of clothes, I gave the kids a leg boundary where they couldn't get wet. Clark and Kate did fine, for the most part. Carlee was maneuvered away from the water every time she got close but Jake was another story. Apparently he took my words to mean, "Sit down in the water and kick your legs on top so the water doesn't get too high up your leg." Needless to say he was soaked to the bone and loving every second of it. He would run up and down the stream kicking and splashing everyone. There were some parents herding their kids away from him but others just smiled. Obviously with kids and water together, nobody is safe. Jake was so wet that Joe called him over to wring out his shirt. As soon as the shirt was off, so was Jake. He ran around the whole park singing, yelling, splashing, and showing off his "muscles". When he was done, he had to have his shorts wrung out as well and then he was ready to go. We went back to change and then headed to the Galleria mall.
Katelyn got an American Girl doll for Christmas and has been obsessed ever since so when I saw that they had a store/bistro in Dallas, we decided to take her. She was so excited. Melissa took Mia and the girls loved it. They picked out a couple of outfits and Emily (Kate's doll) even got her hair done. The store was so cute and fun. They had special salon chairs for the dolls to sit in while getting their hair done and there were special booster chairs that attached to the bistro tables so they could "eat" with you. It was quite the experience.
After shopping for Emily, we took the kids ice skating at the mall's indoor rink. This was the first time for our kids and they could not wait. Carlee had fallen asleep so I stayed with her and Joe took the kids. It was so funny to watch. We explained how to ice skate but it's easier said than done, I guess. Kate and Jake spent their time "skating along the wall". If someone was in Kate's way, it cracked me up to watch her reaction as she debated whether to let go of the wall and skate around or patiently wait for them to move so she could keep hanging on. Jake let go long enough for me to take a picture of him "standing on the ice all by himself" but he hung on most of the time. He had said earlier that he didn't want to ice skate, he wanted to fall on the ice. After a couple of falls, he realized it was better to actually skate. Clark hung on for the first while but was determined to skate by himself. He would not give up and by the end was skating around with Joe and doing quite well. He was soaked and sore from so many falls but was happy that he finally got it.
When we went back to the apartment the kids wanted to go swimming in the frigid pool and then get snacks for the drive home so the dads took the older kids while Melissa and I stayed with the babies. Finally after hot baths and that long day, the kids crashed. Whew! We were all so tired but what a great day. Thanks, Swaseys, for good company and good fun! We'll have to do it again in Vegas, baby!
1 comment:
I love Clark's concentration face while ice skating. Jake's water story is hilarious. I'd be running away and protecting my kids from a crazy boy splashing in the water too! j/k
Cute pics and what a fun way to spend your 10 year anniversary!
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