Category Archives: Getting Out

Weekly Photo Challenge: Color

Posted on by

This week’s photo challenge theme is Color, so I thought I would share a couple of colorful images from my weekend:

pink phones

I upgraded my phone and case on Friday, which prompted my daughter to carry her own pink “mobile” phone around much of the weekend.

arctic dome

The weather was nice so we headed out to the Dallas Arboretum on Sunday, where Jason and Jenna played in the Great Explorers houses. My favorite was definitely the arctic dome.

flowers

And we caught the last weekend of Dallas Blooms, easily my favorite spring-time event in DFW.

Hope you had a happy weekend too!

Favorite Places: Dallas Arboretum

Posted on by

Jenna and I stopped by the Dallas Arboretum last weekend to see the Small Houses of Great Artists installations, but I think we ended up spending more time exploring the glass sculptures by artist Dale Chihuly – some pretty spectacular sights in an already beautiful environment. Jenna was especially fond of the “giant yellow feathers.”

The Chihuly installations are on display until November 5th, so I have a feeling we’ll be visiting again soon – hopefully when it’s a bit cooler. For anyone in the DFW area, I highly recommend a visit.

Chihuly Sculptures

Small Houses of Great Artists

Mad Hatter Tea Party: Halloween Style

Posted on by

Here’s what’s going on in my neighborhood this Halloween: an Alice in Wonderland inspired Deadmen’s Tea Party. J+J are completely fascinated by it and want to visit every night during our walk. It looks even better after dark when the lights are on, but we went a little early last night. Oh, and why is my daughter wearing a construction hat and sunglasses to the tea party? Do you even have to ask?

Getting Out: DFW in the Fall

Posted on by

The kickoff of Dallas Art in October this weekend has me thinking of all of the things I’d like to get out and do this fall, while the weather is absolutely gorgeous in Texas.

Here are a few things on my fall wish list:

1. Grand Opening of Chuy’s Montgomery Plaza location (downtown Fort Worth)

Yes, this is at the top of my list. I first discovered Chuy’s while living in San Antonio, and since moving to Fort Worth 3 years ago, I have eagerly endured the drive to McKinney Ave just to get a taste of the ‘boom boom.’ Getting to Chuy’s in half the time is a huge plus in my book, and I can’t wait for the grand opening.

2. The Pumpkin Patch at the Dallas Arboretum

Technically, we can check this off the list as of last weekend, but the kids loved it so much that we’ll definitely be visiting again soon.

3. American Modern Exhibit at the Amon Carter Museum

You may have noticed that I have a bit of a thing for photography, and this exhibit of 3 American photographers during the 1930s has definitely captured my attention.

4. Boo at the Zoo (Fort Worth Zoo)

The weather is finally cool enough to visit the zoo, and this year’s Halloween celebration will be held during the daytime hours – making it easier to take in the festivities with young ones.

5. Dallas Museum of Modern Art – oh, and Fort Worth

I’ve lived here 3 years and still haven’t made it to the Moderns – Fort Worth or Dallas. My art history degrees should probably be revoked.

That’s probably a long list for a season that also includes: my son’s 4th birthday, our 6th wedding anniversary and a trip to Chicago. But we’ll see how it goes.

Field Trip: Cupcake Shop

Posted on by

We’ve lived in our neighborhood for almost 3 years now, and we still complain about the distance to the nearest grocery store, good restaurant, and Starbucks (15 minutes, really?). But a few weeks ago I noticed a cupcake shop in the “old town” district of Keller, not far from where we live. I’ve often wanted to stop but, surprisingly, stopping for cupcakes never seems to fit into my day. It’s either too close to bedtime or I have perishables in the car or the kids are screaming and the last thing I want to do is reward them with cupcakes. Today I planned a special trip, and for afternoon snack, off we went to visit our neighborhood cupcake shop, What’s Up Cupcake?

They had many flavors – banana, red velvet, strawberry, etc., but we are a family of chocolate lovers. Jenna had the chocolate, Jason had the chocolate, and I had the chocolate mocha.

You won’t hear me complaining about our lack of a Starbucks anytime soon.

Things to Do in DFW – Jason’s List

Posted on by

Inspired by this post at Design Mom, I thought I’d write a post about things to do in the DFW area with kids this summer.

With access to Dallas, Fort Worth and many areas in between, we are definitely flush with things to do this summer. One of my favorites is the Dallas Arboretum, and I can’t wait to take the kids to the topiary houses based on Beatrix Potter stories. We also had an opportunity to picnic in the garden of the Nasher Sculpture Center while listening to the Beatles’ cover band, a Hard Night’s Day. Fun, but a little challenging given the attention span of toddlers. We also spend quite a bit of time at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and recently saw an Elmo and Big Bird astronomy show at the museum’s planetarium.

But as I started thinking about our favorite summer activities, I couldn’t help but realize that if I wrote this list based on my children’s favorites, it would probably look a lot different.

In fact, if Jason were to write his list of top ten things to do in DFW, it would probably look something like this:

1. The elevators in the parking garage at Daddy’s work.

2. The neighborhood swimming pool.

3. The neighborhood spray park.

4. The fountain in Southlake Town Square.

5. The candy shop in Southlake where the lady lets me sample the candied popcorn flavors.

6. The frozen yogurt shop near our house because I like the sprinkles and the rock wall just outside.

7. The elevators at Barnes & Noble. I also like the escalators here.

8. The Bounce House place: I’m not sure why this is reserved for parties instead of being a daily event.

9. The Market - not the food/grocery store part, but the outside playground part connected to the restaurant that serves mac and cheese.

10. Did I already mention the elevators at Daddy’s work?

What are your child’s favorite things to do in DFW?

Butterfly Garden

Posted on by

Butterfly Garden at the Texas Discovery Gardens

This weekend we went to the Texas Discovery Gardens in Dallas. What better place to spend a cold winter day than a 90 degree indoor garden filled with waterfalls, flowers and colorful butterflies. As a reminder of our weekend fun, we created butterfly collages out of the pictures we took and paper butterflies.

Jenna's Butterfly Garden Collage

My Snow Angels

Posted on by

Snow is pretty rare where we live in Texas, but this winter, we’ve already seen snow three times. I don’t think Jason and Jenna have decided whether they like the snow or not, but each time they look outside and see white, they’re anxious to go outside and check it out. Here they are, bundled up for the weather:

Snow in Texas, Winter 09-10