Arboretum Fall 2010

I bravely agreed to join my MOPS playgroup in taking the trio to the Dallas Arboretum last week. I knew it would be a challenge, but I am really trying to step out of my comfort zone and be more brave when it comes taking the kids out by myself to places that specifically do not have a shopping cart involved.

Just about anytime we have somewhere to be in the morning, whether I have help from Craig or not, it is difficult. We don't rise super early at our house, so when we have to be somewhere by 10a.m., it always proves to be a challenge. The Arboretum is a good 50 minute drive from my house, so getting out the door that morning was hectic to say the least. But probably not quite as hectic as getting the kids and I out the door and to MDO in Allen by 9:15.

Craig laughs at me when I talk about how hard it is to get out the door this early and my response is... "I can get myself out the door this early, no problem but when you have 4 people to get fed and ready and having to stop to potty every few minutes, it creates a bit more difficulty."

After we (Craig was off work that day with appointments all day) got them ready and loaded up, I was not half way there and Whitney said she had to potty. I just ignored it because I was certain she did not need to. Then, somehow I got stuck on the 635W HOV lane so I took a slight detour before getting back on track to the Arboretum.

Once we got there, only 5 minutes late, I might add, I unloaded all the kids in a VERY busy parking lot, which had Mommy so frazzled it wasn't even funny. I got out my walking rope for all the kids to grab a loop and walk in. They all got a little twisted around the wrong way which is pretty common. Then Whitney fell and skinned up her knee pretty good. She cried as I hugged her while trying to keep the other two from getting in the street where everybody and their dog was coming in to the park.

We get to the gate, meet up with our friends go inside and take our first potty break. Fail - nobody went. I tried the public restroom and my portable potty in hopes they would feel comfortable enough to go there but no such luck.

Off we went to see the pumpkins. My crew is very shy in new places and are all slow to warm up. We had a pretty good size group with us that day so this is why I think nobody noticed when me and the trio got left behind. Meanwhile, I was dealing with one very fussy little boy. Stopped at a bench to have a little talk with him and then my friend realized I was not with them so she came back to give me a hand.... literally!

Once we get to the pumpkins, they were all still very fussy, clingy and not wanting anything to do with any kind of pumpkin, but it didn't take long before they warmed up and started having a good time. I gave them a little tiny pumpkin to hold and all the bad attitudes were gone...for two kids at least. :)

It was virtually impossible to get the three of them looking through this window at the same time.
We played on hay bales and held pumpkins while getting our pictures taken; we ran through pumpkin houses; we went through hay mazes and watched as our friends got their faces painted. Then we stopped for another potty break and a friend helped watch two kids for me while I went in with just one. No luck with any of them after trying the regular potty and the portable potty. Starting to get nervous about the pottying or lack thereof.

We then headed over to feed the fish and just as I gave my kids their bread to give to the fish, they started eating it. Turns out there were no fish at that location so we headed to another and thankfully our friends shared some bread with us to feed to the fish since we had already eaten our fish food. Ha! The kids really enjoyed throwing bread in and watching the dozens and dozens of fish swim over and eat it all up, while the moms kept a close eye on the many toddlers inching closer and closer to the edge.

After that, we stopped for a picnic lunch and boy were our kids hungry... or at least mine were. :) After a nice lunch and a short play time, we headed toward the exit but this time, I gave Tyler Mrs. Jennifer's hand. So much easier for my girls to keep up if they are holding an adult's hand. I think I spent the majority of the time walking through the park with my head turned around, while telling the kids "come on; keep up; we're getting behind" etc.
We stopping by the petting zoo just before we left. The kids got to pet the goats, sheep, rabbits, donkey and chickens. Then we were off to the car and on our merry way back to Oklahoma! We made it home with zero accidents which makes Mommy very happy! : )

I do think I have been making small strides to get my kids out more. Just taking them to the regular places I go like Target and Kroger, except now adding potty training to the mix, is a much bigger and more complicated task. So, I go from that to driving almost two hours round trip, on foot - w/o strollers and potty training??????? Made for a pretty exhausting day for me but I do think the kids enjoyed themselves and I did too for the most part.

I have another playdate at an open gym on Tuesday and I am hoping this will be much easier on Mommy. Crossing my fingers the kids won't clam up like they did at the Arboretum or have a potty accident.

Lot's of Firsts at the State Fair

We talked about possibly taking a ride up the big wheel but decided not this year.

We arrived at the fair and before we even got in the gate, I ran into some of my relatives. Then, not 30 minutes later, we saw some other people we know. Later we saw some others as well. I usually always see at least somebody I know at the fair each year but I thought it was funny to run into family before even entering inside the fair. We got there around lunch time and it was really crowded with people, the food lines were crazy long and the kids were getting hungry. After weeding through the crowds, I decided to go on a hunt for some food for my kids without having to stand in a long long line. Craig though I was never going to return.

We had the most memorable experience with making numerous stops to the potty while at the fair. We brought a portable potty chair but we also tried using the restrooms and quickly found the portable potty worked much better. We really didn't think we would find enough places that were secluded enough to allow the kids to do their business, but surprisingly we did. We just backed up to a building, dumpster or line of shrubs etc. and put the two strollers in front to block that side. It worked out really well. The kids did well keeping their pull-ups dry (I just wasn't brave enough to do regular underwear) although we did have a few minor leaks.

It definitely takes a lot longer to get through the fair with kids in tow that is for sure, but then again, what doesn't? I couldn't believe it when I looked up and we had been there 3 hours and literally all we had done was potty, eat, potty, and see one thing. The pottying novelty wore off and we were able to get through the fair with much less potty break distractions.

We stopped at the "Little Hands on the Farm" and the kids went through the entire process of farming for the first time. This was such a fun and educational experience. We started off getting an apron. Tyler was the only one that wanted to wear one. We also picked up our baskets and our corn.
We watered the trees...
we picked our fruit from the trees.


We milked a cow


We placed milk in our baskets after milking our cow.
We planted our seeds.
We watered our seeds. We also watered our seeds with milk but unfortunately I couldn't get a picture. Ha!
We picked our vegetables out of the garden.


We stopped for a picture - Tyler on the tractor.
Whitney
Hannah
We picked up their bag of grain.


We "rode" tractors... although we didn't actually ride them.
We fed the farm animals.
We made a stop by the farmer's market to sell our foods.
We went shopping in the store and picked out whatever they wanted and payed for it with their hard earned money.


Tyler giving the cashier his money for his crackers.
Hannah receiving her merchandise back after paying for it.
After we finished farming, we attempted to take a picture. You'll see in the next few pics, our failed attempt to get everybody to look through the holes at the same time but not for lack of trying.
Take two
Take three


We wandered around the car show as Craig dreamed of owning a big, monster truck. Tyler experienced his first time to sit on a monster truck tire.

The kids had their first experience with cotton candy. Of course, they all loved it but after a while, Tyler (of all people) was very concerned about his dirty, sticky hands.
Of course, Mom & Dad couldn't pass up the cotton candy either.


We watched the parade come through that evening. (I think this was their first parade???) We saw police on horseback.
We saw clowns...


We saw some motorcycle cops. This one in particular stopped and just stared at the kids and said hello.


We saw some interesting creatures on stilts.
We saw floats...
This, as always is the best part!


Of course we had to pet and feed all the farm animals.



Their first time to sit in a real tractor. On our way to the car, we decided to give the kids a "ride" on the tractors that we saw when we came in. They were really tired by this point but enjoyed sitting in the tractors anyway.



After making it to the car, pottying and getting everybody and our gear loaded up, we were headed for home and the rest is history. As soon as Tyler started to nod off, I flashed the camera again and he woke up.

We ate corny dogs, tornado taters, nachos, funnel cakes, cotton candy, fried bacon, ice cream and loved every minute of it! We saw several other of the "usuals" like the pavilions, a trip through the Midway, a passing by of Big Tex, but we missed several other "usuals" like the dog show and the street acrobats and performers. All in all, it was a great day and a very fun and memorable experience with family.

Pumpkins in February!

Way back in October, we took the kids to a pumpkin patch and they got to experience many different things including hay rides, a petting zoo and a pumpkin patch. It was a lot of fun and I would like to take them to this again this year.
Checking out the animals.

They seemed to enjoy the hay ride.

They weren't fans of the dirt in the pumpkin patch.

Having a hot dog.

Tyler saying, "It's just hay!"