Noah has expressed an interest in having his training wheels taken off of his bicycle. I have no doubt that with a little bit of patience (on our part) and lots of practice, he will be riding a bike solo very soon.
I don't remember riding a bike solo at the age of 4. At what age do you remember riding a bike by yourself (minus training wheels)? Does anyone remember any tricks to learning this monumental task?
My 4 year old just ate 3 GIANT slices of pizza for dinner.
I am afraid of what's to come later on tonight! It can't be good!
The kids and I spent the morning at the Dallas Children's Museum. What fun we had. On Wednesday's during the summer they have a different theme, and todays theme was on the Medieval times. The kids had fun making a family "coat of arms" and a crown to wear on their head. Noah also enjoyed making a stained glass window out of tissue paper. They both enjoyed using glue sticks, markers and the always favorite GLITTER!!! I think we will be wearing glitter for at least the next week, it is everywhere!
They have a kids grocery store to shop in and a hospital to play in. Both boys loved driving the ambulance. We read several stories in a HUGE chair and planted herbs in their own pots to bring home and watch grow. The highlight of the morning though was watching Camden parading around in high-heeled princess shoes while wearing his crown and covered with glitter from head to toe!!! He was very proud of those shoes and threw quite a fit when he had to take them off.
After the museum we headed off for some lunch and ended with a ride on the carousel. It was very magical day!
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I just thought this conversation was cute today.
Noah to Mommy: "Daddy's not home yet."
Mommy: "No, he is at jury duty"
Noah: "Yeah, he had to go to jail today."
Mommy: (laughing) "He's not at jail today"
Noah: "Yes he is, he told me last night that he had to go have a BIG TIME OUT!"
I won't argue with that!
We've been busy enjoying the last few weeks Brian has off.
Thursday, I took the kids to the mall to play and ride the train. They also enjoyed going to the train store and playing with the train set. We also explored the Disney store, had lunch and came home.
Friday, we took the kids to Main Event to go bowling. The kids loved it! Of course, Brian scored the highest with Camden scoring 105 next. His first three frames were spares and he even had a strike. Way to go Camden!!!. Noah also did great, he tried out all the different colored balls and is really developing his swing! He also scored a strike and his final score was around 60 with the bumpers, while Sharon scored in the 50's without the bumpers!
Saturday, my parents came over and we took the kid to Planet Pizza. They loved riding the bumber cars, roller coaster, rocket ship planes and pirate ship. Sharon had the pleasure of accompaning Camden on several of the rides and quickly found out that she will not be going to Six Flags any time soon. The pirate ship ride had to be prematurely stopped to allow Sharon to get off before she got sick! I think her head may still be spinning today (Tuesday).
Monday was not a great day at our house. We found out that Whitney, our oldest dog, has tumors on her spleen that are a high probablitily of being cancerous. I knew this day would come but was not prepared for it none the less. I am confident that she will spend the rest of her life being loved and well cared for here at home.
Tuesday has just begun, I'll blog about our adventures later.
For those of you readers not from Texas, this has been the week that we Texan's dread ever summer. Monday's high was 103, Tuesday's high was 107 and Wednesday's high looks to be around 106 degrees. There is some temporary relief in sight this coming weekend.
This week started out hot outside and inside our house. Tempers have flared at our house and the only thing I can seem to pinpoint as the problem is the rising mercury. I thought Monday would never end. Noah & Camden were constantatly antagonizing each other and trying their hardest to hurt each other every time I turned my back. Noah has 2 bite marks on him and Camden has several cuts and bruises to prove their love for one another. Brian came home Monday night to find me in the living room crying and emotionally spent.
Tuesday wasn't much better. We did change things up a bit and had two different sets of friends come over and play. I thought playing with friends would keep the peace. However, lunch out proved to be a nightmare. It ended with a man in the restaurant yelling at Camden to "Shut-up the crying", not once but twice! This guy was literally on the other side of the restaurant shouting across all the patrons. He is really lucky that I have never taken karate!!!
Wednesday, just like the previous two days started off with time-outs for both kids at 6:45 a.m. I had not even made it out of bed before the fighting started. It is never good to hear a "SMACK" followed by a "Did that hurt?" and then followed by another "SMACK".
So far, it has proven to be a little better today. We ventured out with several families to see "Curious George" at the movies and then off to lunch at Chik-Fi-La with at least 50 other people. What fun!!! The boys did have a great time playing on the equipment with their friends and I am enjoying the calm (as they take naps) before the next storm.
We are in need of lots of prayer, rain and cooler temps!
A week or so ago, I blogged about the best fried chicken in Dallas. Today, I am going to tell you about the best hamburger, hands down, in Big D.
We ventured out of our comfort zone Friday night and drove down to Northwest Hwy and Abrams to the famous Keller's Drive-In.
Keller's has been around since the 1950's and is famous for beer and burgers. You flash your lights to let the carhop know you are ready to order. After ordering, you sit back and people watch.
It's a seedy little place that has you looking over your shoulder, but what you will find is usually pretty entertaining. There are always men on their motorcycles drinking a cold one. I personally enjoy watching the waitresses slide across the restaurant from all the grease on the floor. Typically, you will see 2 or 3 old classic cars as well. Brian even saw a carhop that has been working there since he was in elementary school.
The burgers are served on a bun that is loaded with poppy seeds. (Don't take a drug test after this meal). The burgers are greasy and loaded with toppings. They have the best tater-tots with cheese as well as onion rings. After eating at Keller's, you feel like you have taken a bath in grease! It's the BEST!!!
Check it out sometime, you won't be sorry.
Noah spoke these words after walking into the kitchen and finding me in a heap on the floor.
Yes... I sat in his chair, breaking it into 5 unfixable pieces.
A more subtle situation would have been nicer to tell me that I need to lose weight.
Oh well.
I have to give her credit... she knows what she likes.
She passed up the white bread, wheat bread and bananas and went straight for the white powdered sugar donut. (Which was not an easy task, she had to open a plastic container.)
I thought she was prematurely grey in her muzzle, it really was powdered sugar.
If you haven't been to Bubba's, down in Snider Plaza in University Park, you are missin out on some heavenly chicken!!!! Brian's Aunt Tish treated us to a chicken tender lunch with all the fixins today and I don't want to put anything else in my mouth for a long time. I want to savor the taste of the chicken and mashed potatoes forever. It truly is the best chicken on this planet.
The rain settled in today and I am not complaining because it is much needed. I only hope there is more to come because everything is so dry.
About 4 p.m. though, boredom set in at our house and Brian decided a boat race was in order. At first I was the pessimist and thought this "is dumb". We all put on our rain coats and headed outside to the alley with our "bottle" boats. I brought the flag and when the flag dropped the race was on. The boats floated really well down the alley. They encountered some obstacles (acorns, rocks, etc.) but the kids had fun cheering on their boat to the finish line. The big winner was Noah, followed by daddy with a close second, Mommy came in third and Camden brought up the rear. The rain tapered off and we all headed inside. I have to admit, it was a blast.
With a lull in the rain, Brian went to work on the boats to make them sleek and fast. Currently we have Noah's boat a.k.a. "The shark fin", Sharon's boat, a.k.a. "The original speed boat", Brian's boat, a.k.a. "The pickle fork" and Camden's boat, a.k.a. "The Low-Rider". We also have two "unsponsored" boats that we are currently recruiting drivers for. Brian checked the rain forcast for this evening and the next boat race has been postponed due to "no rain".
Stay tuned.
That's right folks, Sharon is doing her best to find a new sport for the X-Games. She has tried skim-boarding and now she has tried car-surfing. Luckily, no injuries were incurred while car-surfing.
It's really not as exciting as it sounds, but it was a whole lot of fun!
We spent Monday evening at my parent's house where we set up our tent down by the lake. Everyone helped "pitch" the tent and Camden did his best to put as much dirt on his body as possible. First stop, the fire pit where he fell into. (Not burning, of course)
About an hour later, the Park Ranger came by and told us we could not camp overnight on the property so we had the daunting task of moving the tent and 2-air mattresses up the hill to my parent's land with a 2 & 4 year old in tow. I might mention at this point, that the wind had picked up quite a bit!!!
We drove the Tahoe down to the site and loaded the sheets, pillows, fans, lanterns, etc. into the back of the car. Brian and I then wresteled a queen-size-double-stacked mattress onto the top of the SUV. It was tied loosely to the top of the vehicle and it was then decided that I would ride on the back of the bumper holding down the mattress.
Good news to report, the mattress did not "fly" away and nobody was injured during this "sport". It was a whole lot of fun though!
Next the four of us had to carry the 24 x 10 tent up the hill. No easy task, but it was accomplished. Noah led the way singing "what's going to work? Teamwork". Camden brought up the rear touching everything green that we told him not to touch. He also sang the "teamwork" song. More good news to report, no poisin ivy on Camden... Halleluia!
Camden then found the dirt on my parents screened porch. After pressing his face against the screen he was pretty well covered. So, off to the tub for a bath. Taking a bath in my parent's tub proved to be quite a challenge for Camden. They have a jacuzzi tub that is very deep. Camden thought that the back of the tub was a slide and kept trying to slide down the tub. Maybe we just found another new X-Games sport.
Camping was fun. We had a great breeze which made it pretty cold by 2 a.m. No animal sightings... that is always good as well.
Tuesday morning, my parents invited their neighbors over for a "get to know one another breakfast" that was a success. The food was awesome and it was great to meet each of their neighbors.
We headed home and all had a 3 hour nap. We are now ready to go watch the fireworks. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Independence Day!!!
