Fun With Aunt Kelly (I hope!)

We had such a great week last week. Brittany, Tyler, and Jordan came to visit us. I met Jamie and the kids in Centerville last Sunday. It was a few minutes over two hours for each of us so we decided to meet there. I had a busy week planned for all of us. I felt badly for last summer when they came and we didn't plan anything since Sawyer was only three weeks old. I wanted to make it up to them this summer. I also still remember all the places Aunt Tisha and Uncle Larry took me in the summers while I was growing up. Now those times are only memories so I wanted Brittany, Tyler, and Jordan to make some memories of their own.

We stopped at the Russell Stover Outlet Store in Corsicana on our way home. I had been wanting to stop and check it out since we moved up here so I told the kids that they were my excuse. I gave them each $10 and they were like, well, like kids in a candy store. Each child got their own bag and had one snack per day. I sent them home with what remained.

We started out at Stonebriar Mall in Frisco on Monday. The kids went ice skating, we had lunch, and then we saw Cars. My schedule didn't quite work out as planned because I thought that the movie started at 11:00 so we got there at 10:30, but apparently I read it wrong because the first showing wasn't until 12:50. It actually worked out well, though. I just rearranged the order and they ice skated before the movie. It was Sawyer's first movie and my first in a theater since Star Wars a year ago in May. I was kind of worried about entertaining Sawyer for that long, but he actually napped on me for about forty-five minutes so that was nice. It brought back old times when he would nap on me all day. Unfortunately I had left all of his toys in the car so it was pretty challenging to entertain him with only the contents of the diaper bag, but we managed. I think that the kids enjoyed the movie so that was the main thing.

I took pictures Monday, but I was an idiot on Wednesday and accidentally formatted my memory card. Lorne had to buy a reader and was able to recover most of the pictures that I took. However, we lost the ones from Monday and most of the ones from Tuesday (including all of Tyler's). I should know better than to try and do more than take pictures with the thing!

Lorne took off Tuesday and we went to Malibu Speed Zone in Dallas. Brittany and Tyler got wristbands for unlimited video games and rides on one of the racetracks. Jordan got a $20 players card for the redemption games. She was also able to ride with Brittany and Tyler for free. She wasn't quite tall enough to drive, but she still had fun. Sawyer hung out in his stroller and he and I were inside most of the time. I remembered his toybag this time so that aspect of the day had much improved.


Jordan had fun playing skee ball.


Brittany got a taste of what driving is like.

Wednesday we went to the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Schulpture Center in downtown Dallas. The Nasher was especially neat I thought. Jordan had a great time there and I was pleasantly surprised. I think it was because parts of the pieces on the audio tour had a kid version which was much better than the dry "normal" version in my opinion. I even listened to that one when it was offered. The best part was the sculpture outside. We weren't allowed to touch, but it was still nice to be so close to the art. It reminded me of the Musee Rodin in Paris in that respect.


Brittany and Jordan really enjoyed the audio tour at the Nasher. Tyler enjoyed pushing Sawyer in his stroller; to each his own I decided.


Borofsky's Walking to the Sky was a site to behold. The sculpture reaches 100 feet into the air and is at a 75-degree angle.


Can you spot the statues? These figures are watching the others Walking to the Sky.


Tyler's sculpture was awesome...finally, something he enjoyed that day!


Jordan striking her most convincing "Vogue" pose in front of her sculpture.


Sawyer had fun playing in the room of 5,000 blocks...more like 5,000 varieties of germs!


I really should try and feed our child more often!


It may just look like the sky, but Turrell's Tending, (Blue), was a favorite among the kids. We actually went in twice!


I was pleasantly surprised to see a Rodin piece in the garden. Eve was amazing. I am always awe-struck by his work.


Maillol's Night was my favorite sculpture. She was full-figured and beautiful.


The DMA was a really neat place. We even got our own private storytime.

We went to Hawaiian Falls in Garland on Thursday. It is a waterpark with a few slides and attractions. It's much smaller than Hurricane Harbor, but I think that the kids still enjoyed it. Sawyer had his first experience in chlorinated water and he had a blast. I really took my time getting him acclamated. We started out sitting on the part of the "beach" where the water didn't even reach us. Slowly I would move deeper and deeper into the water. By just thirty minutes or so he was floating in the Lazy River with me. I wish I could have taken some pictures, but I wasn't sure how I was going to do that on my own. He looked so cute! Aunt Net, Tammy, and Tracy bought him some swim trunks for his birthday so I had him in those. I was putting 50 SPF sunscreen on him every fifteen minutes or so. He didn't burn a bit. I wish I could say the same thing about myself! The main thing is that I took care of all the kids.

It sure was a fun week, but I have taken a few days to recooperate. That's why I have been a deadbeat Blogger. I will try and post again soon!