Spring Break - Part 2

Going to Dallas for Spring Break was such a nice get-away to check in and see the dental practice and how it was doing there, but of course, the added bonus was getting to spend time with three of our children's families.

We went to see "The Croods," which was such a cute show.

The kids, also, wanted to get their ID badge for the Monsters' University.  Here was Jaxon getting his. 

Garrett.

And Isaac. 

Mason.

And Lola.

While I was there, Amy had wanted me to add some fabric on to some drapes she had at her home in Florida, so I worked on them in the early mornings or evenings--along with Mia, the cat, at Craig and Cassie's.  No matter when I laid out the drapes to cut or pin, Mia would lay on them--and you couldn't try to remover her or she would just put her claws into the fabric.  Here (I was still in my pajamas), she jumped on to the back of my chair and scared me to death!

Kennedy with Papa and Grandma at Craig and Cassie's home.

Riley hadn't wanted to get in the picture at first, but since both Kennedy and Mia (the cat) had been in the last picture, he jumped up on Papa's lap.  I love his gator pajamas!

 We, also, got to see Jeff and Amy's new home in Dallas.  I couldn't believe how organized she was in such a short amount of time that they have been there.

 The fourth picture of Isaac is being redone; hence the blank area.

 The upstairs kids' play area.

 And Lola wanted to show me her bed.  She always leaves her "dinkies" there because that's the only place her mother allows her to have them.  

We know how much we miss Jeff and Amy and their family in Florida, but we are happy that they are settled in Dallas and doing so well there.

On Good Friday, the kids were out of school, so Amy, Anne, and I took the kids to the Dallas Aquarium.

The first attraction inside is a "touching" pond where an assistant allows the children to actually touch some of the aquatic animals.  Here she is showing and talking about the horseshoe crab.

After the assistant put him down, he took off on those little legs as fast as he could go.  He looked just like a big flat, moving rock!

Lola really loved the sea horses.

This aquarium looked like hundreds of butterflies or fall leaves--they were all so colorful.

This picture cracked me up!  Mason looks like he is wearing the fish like a hat!

The sign says that fish swim in "schools" because they are more protected from predators.  With so much movement by so many, it confuses the predators from picking out just one.  Moral to the story:  Stick with good friends!  There is safety in numbers!

This old guy looks like he's been around forever!  He was huge!

A truly albino gator--the whitest I've ever seen!

The red object is actually a fish!  Sorry, I should have written down all the names.

The kids had so much fun pretending that the octopus "got" them.

This brave sea turtle was amazing.  He was swimming around having a great time--even with only a partial arm and leg on one side.  Although there are laws protecting them, they are still hurt and trapped by man illegally.  Thank goodness he is safe, and has learned to enjoy life even with his "disability."

These eels actually enjoyed being inside these tubes and could swim in and out.  It made it much easier to see them.

So many colorful fish!

I laughed at this picture, also.  The huge fish in the back is on the wall beyond this aquarium, but it looks like he's actually inside eying all the little fish.  Hah!

Huge sharks!

Photo courtesy of Jaxon:  Beautiful jelly fish.  They make you want to listen to symphony music, don't they?

Anne told us to hurry to this viewing case where some baby turtles were actually hatching right now.  We all watched very intently.  It was so cool!  Nature at its best!

Then, she let us in on the secret--see the handle at the bottom.  One of the kids was turning it which made the little heads move up and down like they were trying to get out.  She knew about it because they had been there before.  It certainly had me fooled!

The final area:  The Stingray Bay.  See the Ferris wheel behind.  This aquarium is actually on the same grounds as many other museums and where the fair is held each year.  There was so much to do there--and so little time to do it!

The kids had to wash their hands up to their elbows, then they could actually touch the stingrays inside the pool.
 

 Anne showed them how to put their hands deeper and let their mouths nibble at your hand because their mouth is actually under their body, not at the end of their face like you would think.

Here you can see their mouth underneath.  They always look like they are smiling to me.  Too bad we weren't able to feed them because they were only fed a certain time of the day.  But they were so tame--they came right up to the kids even without them having food.

Two of them wanted their picture taken!

Another area had all kinds of shark and fish for everyone to get up close and personal.

All too soon--it was time to go.  Lola was hiding so I couldn't see her.

The sun was bright, but I was able to get the kids together for one final picture.  What a great time we had!

One final picture before we got int the car--beautiful pansies.  That is springtime for sure!

From the aquarium, we met up with Cameron and George.  Cameron drove us to the airport and we were on our way back to Florida after spending a wonderful five days in Dallas!  
Thanks so much to Amy and Jeff, Cameron and Anne, and Craig and Cassie, and to all the grand kids for all the fun times we had together!  It was truly a great "last" Spring Break for us!