Under a Shady Tree

Texas Cousins

All my kids' cousins live in different states. We have Utah cousins, California cousins, and Texas cousins. We spent out spring break with the Texas cousins. We had such a nice break. The big kids were so good with Beckett and Felix. Jen watched our kids so we could go to dinner three times and to a museum one morning! She is a rock star. It was a much needed break. And, if you are in Dallas sometime between now and June 9th, we highly recommend the Cindy Sherman Exhibition at the Dallas Art Museum. I miss the good restaurants. Jen, you should definitely try Torchy's. It's the one that I really wish I could visit again. 

Unfortunately Will isn't going to feature heavily in the pictures that follow because he was on a campout. But, Nate and Beckett did get to see Will tear it up at soccer. They also went to his classroom one morning during Felix's nap. And Will and I spent an afternoon home alone together playing with Felix (they were so cute together) and learning about dinosaurs. Every night Will (and sometimes Savannah and Lila) joined in on the bedtime train story that Nate tells Beckett. Will was so good about letting Beckett play with all the awesome toys in his room.

 

We had a really fun day at the Dallas Zoo. The kids loved feeding the giraffes. Savannah, especially, is so good with animals.

 These little gymnasts scaled the elephants with no problems.

These two were quite the pair. They loved and annoyed each other. Beckett and Lila were sitting in the back of the car and he was blowing towards her, which, of course, drove her crazy. Neither could stand to have the other touching or looking at him or her. Both wanted to be the boss. But then they would go outside and run around together, have a blast, and take turns with no drama.

 Cute Hazel. She is one month older than Felix.

 We all enjoyed the tram ride once the doors finally shut and it started moving along the track.

The Dallas Zoo has a really fun children's section. Beckett had a blast playing in this stream. He loves that kind of stuff. And we let him get soaking wet even though we weren't really prepared for it.

The stream was super fun until it ended in tears. Beckett somehow cut his toe and had to take a trip to the First Aid Room. He was so upset and kept saying, "I got a bleed."

The children's section also has a really great bird exhibit were visitors can feed the birds. This was my favorite thing about the Dallas Zoo last time we visited. (Oh my. I just looked at those pictures and it was so long ago. The kids are young. I look so young.) Savannah and I went to the bird exhibit together. I fed this beauty.

Then I taught Savannah how to get a bird to step onto your hand. (Thanks for the budgie lessons, Mom.) She is such a natural with animals. 

Felix had a couple firsts at the zoo. He rode the carousel for the first time. He liked it, even if he looks a little unsure in this picture.

Not only did Felix ride a wooden horse, but he also rode a real pony!

We had such a nice visit in Dallas. It was the perfect combination of relaxation and recreation. We kicked it at home and made leisurely breakfasts and watched Wreck It Ralph. We also got out to see the museum, the zoo, and the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science. We ended up staying an extra day because we missed our flight home, (We didn't have the best experience with the budget Spirit Airline. Checking in was a nightmare which is why we missed our flight, but the flight itself was fine.) but it still wasn't quite enough time.  

Best Library Finds (4)

Who is Driving features a bunch of different animals driving a bunch of different vehicles and going a bunch of different places. I like how all the animals are carrying keys and are dressed appropriately.

Demolition is a real winner if you have kids who love vehicles and construction. B liked this book and its companion Roadwork so much that they took several car rides. I like hearing Beckett say "DEM-O-WITION" with his hands thrown up in the air. Demolition and Roadwork are written in verse and are easy to read.

Z is For Moose was a huge hit at our house. After the first read, Beckett asked to read it again. Zebra is organizing an alphabet book. Moose is eager to be in it and gets very upset when mouse is chosen to represent M.

Going to Kansas City?

Janssen is doing a series on her blog, Everyday Reading, and she graciously allowed me to participate. Head over to read about what I'd take you to see in Kansas City if, you know, we were both visiting my former stomping grounds.

Happy Easter Day

 The kids got all dressed up for Easter. Beckett kept telling us, "Happy Easter Day!" A few times he mistakenly said, "Happy Valentine's Day" and then got really embarrassed. The boys loved the baskets and the eggs. We went to the Lamborn's for Easter dinner again. We ate all the same food and did an egg hunt with the kids. The rain forced us to have an indoor egg hunt this year, but it's becoming a little tradition.

Hello Spring

We woke up this morning to several inches of snow and Beckett yelling, "It's snowing outside! It's snowing outside!" It's now 2pm and still snowing.

Best Library Finds (3)

Emergency! is a good choice if you have a vehicle enthusiast. Lately we play a lot of "Fireman Beckett" and "Fireman Mommy" around here, so B was really pleased with this library book. It also has a breakdown train in it, so it counted as a train book when we found it at the library. (Thankfully. Sometimes it's really hard to find a train book, and we cannot leave the library with at least one or two.)

This is Not My Hat won the Caldecott this year. A little fish steals a big fish's hat. That's a mistake. A big mistake. Beckett wanted to read this again and again.

Sleep Like a Tiger won a Caldecott honor. It is a goodnight book featuring a little girl who sleeps like a bunch of different animals. The illustrations are enchanting and reminiscent of Marc Chagall and Gustav Klimt.

I Want My Hat Back is a companion to This is Not My Hat and was written first. I think I liked the story better. I enjoyed reading, "Okay. Thank you anyway." The Bear, who is looking for his hat, demanded to be read with a slightly slow, rather depressed voice (think Eeyore). Beckett really liked these hat books.

Felix is One

This guy had a birthday. He is one, and we are so happy. We celebrated by giving ourselves a pat on the back for getting him through his first year.

Things to know about Felix at one:

This kid really gets around. He took his first steps before he even turned 10 months. He perfected his walking over Christmas, so now he can really move. He is pretty fast. He can climb up and down (!) the stairs. He can climb off the couch by himself.

He loves electronics. One of the perks of walking, I guess, is that now he can walk around carrying remote control or an iPod. Sometimes its pretty hard to figure out where Felix left the remote control.

He has the most beautiful eyelashes. Seriously. He is still the cutest baby in the world.

He eats most everything, but he mostly likes meat. Give him a high chair tray full of different choices and he will always eat the meat first.  

Felix loves the hairdryer. It's so weird. I'll bring him into our room in the morning while Nate is drying his hair so that Felix can enjoy the hot air.

Felix has curly hair. I am so happy because I loved Beckett's curly hair, but now his hair is pretty straight. I think Felix's hair is even curlier than Beckett's was, so maybe we'll get to keep the curls.

Beckett is helping me write this post about Felix. I asked him what Felix does. His reply, "He not talks."And that's true. He does say "mama" and "da," but it's hard to know if he is actually referring to mom and dad. I think he actually has da down, but I'm not sure about mom. Although one day when I got him out of bed he said "mama" and clapped. It's never been repeated. Felix will respond to questions with baby talk. It's pretty cute.

Felix is into everything. My house is such a mess. Partly this is because I started teaching again and now instead of cleaning I work, but it's also because I can't clean while Felix is up. I can't do the dishes without his climbing onto the door and pulling all the dishes out of the dishwasher. Since I don't want to spend my Felix-free time cleaning, the house is a wreck.

Felix still has 8 teeth.

Felix sleeps all night! (Hooray!) From 8pm to 7am. He also takes two naps. He really is on a good schedule now. Finally.

Felix loves Beckett.

Felix is our little monkey. Nate made up a song that goes "Felix the little monkey." It was appropriate that we have monkey wrappers for his birthday cupcakes. True to form, he enjoyed his cake. (Beckett at one wouldn't touch his. Not much has changed there.)

We had a pretty quiet birthday celebration. I had to work on Felix's birthday, so the boys opened one of his presents. The next day we had cake.

Felix likes his new shoes. (Help from Beckett again.) Felix loves the outdoors.

Best Library Finds (2)

Machines Go to Work in the City is not quite as wonderful as Machines Go to Work, but it does have a lot of new machines. Garbage truck, vacuum truck, airplane, bucket truck. We saw a bunch of bucket trucks on the road the other day and Beckett knew exactly what they were.

Airport would be a good way to prepare your young child for a airplane trip. The people arrive at the airport, wait in line to check their bags, go through security, board the plane, and only on the last page take to the sky.

Creepy Carrots! is by far the best of this bunch. A clever and funny book about a rabbit who is stalked by the carrots he loves to munch, at first it seemed too scary for my 3-year-old. Pretty soon it was the most requested of the bunch. I can see why this book recently won a Caldecott sticker.

Philadelphia (Day 2 in More Detail)

One of the most glorious things about our trip to Philadelphia was this:

An enormous walk-in closet. We knew we were getting a kitchen, but the walk-in was a lovely surprise. When I opened the door to the closet and was pleasantly surprised by its enormity I said, "Felix! It's your bedroom." And he slept very well in the closet. It also contained the safe, which provided many minutes of entertainment for both boys.

On our second day in Philadelphia we wanted to go to the Barnes Foundation, but we had failed to get our tickets three weeks in advance. Albert Barnes was an early twentieth-century collector of avant-garde art. He bought post-impressionist, cubist, and fauvist art when it was brand new. I've wanted to see his collection for a long time. It used to be in his house but was recently (and controversially) moved to a new museum. I guess we'll just have to take another trip.

We saw the Rodin Museum, and Beckett and Nate sat down to think with The Thinker.

Then we went to the Please Touch Museum. This children's museum is housed in one of the buildings built for the Centennial Exhibition of 1876:

It looks like it could be another art museum, and Beckett was surprised and delighted when we walked in the door. He shouted, " There are toys in here! There are toys in here!"

The Please Touch Museum is the best children's museum I have ever been to. It's huge and spacious. They had all kinds of cool exhibits, like the Alice in Wonderland exhibit below.

This was a construction site exhibit where the kids could load up pulleys and chutes with bricks from this truck.

The water exhibit was not just one table, it was a gigantic display of rivers, waterfall, and lakes. Beckett loved it.

The transportation exhibit had a bus, a train, and several cars. Beckett pumped some gas. Felix slept through most of the museum and missed all the fun, but there were several three and under zones that he would have enjoyed.

A tired kid finished his fun on the carousel.

And with that we headed home. It's fun that Philadelphia is only two hours away.