It began the Thursday night before our week long vacation.....
We toured the halls looking at the clay guppies, soda bottle fish and jellyfish, paper crabs made from handprints, and scuba divers with photos of the kids "surprise" faces plastered on them as if they had just come upon a shark. So many cute things! Was my kindergarten this cool?? In the classroom, we visited with Carley's precious teacher and looked at examples of Carley's writing and drawing hanging on the wall and a stack of projects displayed on the table where she sits each day. I love the enthusiasm of these early years of school. I hope and pray that Carley will always love and appreciate learning as she does now.
This was one of our favorite pictures of the night:
During the following week:
Jeremy's brother Brent got to come in on Sunday and stay a few days with us.
The boys got to have a little "guy time" here and there, which they don't get to do very often. And I know Jeremy really enjoyed having his brother around and getting to just hang out with him a while.
The girls also loved clamoring for uncle Brent's attention! Love ya Brent, so glad you came to see us!
We took a day and drove all over with the girls, eating Happy Meals at McDonalds before searching for great finds at cool thrift stores. Then we ended the day by renting movies and enjoying a night at home just relaxing.
By mid-week Aunt Jodi and Uncle Chris wanted the girls to come for a "camping themed" sleepover at their house with Katelyn and Isabel. They went all out putting up a tent in the living room, a scavenger hunt in the back yard, arts & crafts projects, a cook out with all the traditional camping food, including smores, and so much fun for these little girls! How awesome!
Sorry, I didn't take any pictures (will have to get some from Jodi) because we dropped the girls off and Jeremy and I got to have a special Date Night! Yay! Did I mention Jodi & Chris are awesome!!!
We headed out on an adventure, ready to explore new places and make special memories. We had no real plan in mind just some ideas inspired by our Date Night box of ideas and the map on our iPhones to lead the way.
We started out in a beautiful area called Highland Park in Dallas where we stopped to take a stroll through a scenic park. There was a walking path that followed the water. Directly across the water were the back yards of gorgeous mansion-like homes (reminded me of the river walk in San Angelo where Jeremy and I went on our very first date all those years ago).
After exploring the park and neighborhood we took off to find the Bishop Arts District to see the shops, galleries and restaurants that make this unique area famous.
Took a few snap shots out the window as we drove through Dallas.
Once we arrived we drove around checking out the area. Such a unique blend of old and new, upscale right next to poor and run-down, modern and eclectic and filled with people from literally all different lifestyles.
As a side note: driving through the area we checked out the neighborhood homes and saw the most unique item..... it was situated on a lovely covered wrap around porch and provided the most wonderful unconventional seating...... it was a hot air balloon basket! ....yes, on someone's front porch.... I know! .... cool, right!
The shops were delightful but it's the food I must brag about. We ate at Tillman's Smokehouse, an eating experience unlike any other, as if we had stumbled into Wonderland. The decor was like something from an episode of Design Star, and the mouth-watering delicacies had ingredients put together you would never expect, some you've never even heard of but it was oh so fantastic!
After dinner we walked to a little coffee shop were we had the most delicious White Chocolate Mocha and chocolate toffee dessert bar. Then, to be truly indulgent we went to a local chocolatier where they make all of their own dark chocolate truffles, syrups, covered fruits and nuts, homemade marshmallows and yum, they encouraged us to sample it all. Oh... my.... goodness. And we couldn't resist buying a box of dark chocolate heavenly truffles to take home (and hide from the kids).
What an incredible date night of unique experiences, grown-up conversations, beautiful memories and doing whatever we wanted!
To finish off the week we celebrated the birthday of our youngest daughter. Our little lucky charm who arrived two years ago on St. Patrick's day. We had a small party all planned at our house but before the time could arrive Zoe caught a virus, which was passed on to her cousin Katelyn and then to her big sister Carley. So, we cancelled the party (thankful she is too young to know the difference) and we took care of the girls, getting them plenty of rest and fluids. On party day we stayed in our jammies and I set out presents and decorations for the girls to enjoy after they took a long afternoon nap. You will see in these photos my attempt at making cake balls (which are a little more tricky than I thought they would be). I shaped Zoe's into a tea cup on a saucer with two candles.... even though I knew she wouldn't eat it, she would rather have the pretzels. And made a tea cup for big sister too.
So, here is a collection of photos: some from St. Patrick's Day when we dressed both girls in green just to take a quick photo and some pictures from our little family party. I made this collage with information about Zoe at age 2 like some birthday photo ideas I've seen on Pinterest.
Oh how I treasure my family and the times we have together. It was a very special Spring Break, and I'm so glad both our girls are all well now and doing great back in their regular routines of playfully running wild, melting my heart and testing my patience all from one minute to the next. xoxo
