Well, mostly here! Oct is tomorrow after all. We made an excursion to Dallas this weekend. Our goal was to hit the Arboretum, but the weather had other plans for us! As we drove in Friday night, the rain poured and we wondered what Saturday would be like. We hoped that the weather would clear so we could go to the Pumpkin Festival at the Arboretum the next morning. Our hopes were dashed as we woke up to raindrops on our windows. 
So we regrouped, thanks to Uncle Matt, and went to the Dallas Aquarium instead. What a cool place! It was kind of an aquarium and a zoo combo, with a tropical feel. We saw everything from monkeys, to birds, to turtles, to snakes, and oh yeah - fish! Aidan got to feed a baby bird, Olivia marveled at the manatees, while Rick enjoyed the snakes and I, the bats. We even got a little scare (but it was pretty awesome too!) when Aidan decided he wanted to see the cayman croc. He climbed up onto the exhibit, which was fine there was no danger that we could forsee, and no sooner had he bent down to take a look in the cayman's face - the croc whipped around and snapped at Aidan! It was so fast our brains didn't even recognize what had happened until it was OVER! It was amazing. And a little scary.
The weather cleared enough for Uncle Matt and Gramps Brier to play tag and hide & seek with the kids out in the cul de sac. Then, Gramps and I took the kids to the park. It was fun, Gramps played "Mario" (yes, the video game in live action!) with Aidan and Olivia. We headed back when we thought Abbie might be up from her nap - cause we wanted to play with HER! She is so much fun!! Then, it was off to dinner (thanks Dad!) and then home to relax.
Sunday, Arboretum day - not golf day as hoped, sorry guys! It was slightly overcast and 71 degrees. Perfect weather for walking thru the gardens. We really couldn't have asked for a better morning. As we pulled into the parking lot, we could already see the beauty that was in store for us. There were flowers in abundance, interesting plants, and lots of girls getting their pictures taken amongst it all! Brides, Senior pics, Hispanic girls celebrating their very special 15th birthdays by getting their portraits done in prom like dresses - it was fun to see all of the activity.We went into the frontier days exhibit and the kiddos loved it. Abbie and Aidan jumped right into the covered wagon. Where Aidan quickly told the other boys inside that Abbie is his little sister!! We checked out the teepee or tee tee as Aidan called it. The kids, and Dad, didn't want to come out! We moved on to a series of pools and statues - all of which we posed with and on and laughed a lot. After a quick potty stop, we finally made it to the Pumpkin Houses. There were 4 of them and they were so impressive. We were beyond excited! Okay, maybe it was just me but I thought it was really cool.
Each house had a storybook plaque outside and explained what story the house was affiliated with. Cinderella of course was the main story and the others were kind of made up or in keeping with some fairytale. Each house also had a pumpkin yard next to it. The groundskeepers had arranged the pumpkins and gourds in patterns that were really pretty. There was also a maze of hay - the kids loved jumping around in that. And, a Tom Thumb pumpkin patch. We didn't buy any pumpkins but the kids, even Abbie, loved picking them up and walking around with them. Very cute!Our mission was accomplished. We had a great day, a wonderful visit and an experience we can think of fondly.
