Dallas Arboretum

I have been looking forward to getting to the Dallas Arboretum to check out "The Dallas Blooms" since last spring. We thought the Saturday before Easter would be a great chance to go. They had special events for the occasion, as well as it would be something special for us to do rather than being sad we were not seeing our families. (Both have requested summer visits, which we are super-excited about!)

It was an absolutely perfect gorgeous day. The only down side was that we took a risk taking the kids to the Good Friday service the night before. We knew it might give us some problems, but thought it was a good priority to try. (I was quickly reminded why we have not gone since kids...but glad we gave it a shot.) The kids were extra-prone to melt-downs and there were a few kinks on knowing the timing of the events...but we will leave it at that. :) Overall we enjoyed it and were so glad to get some extra-fun family time.


Just a few pretty spots.

Its Texas...so everywhere you go has some other version of a Texas town. They are so in love with themselves here. :) I actually loved this part. It gave us a chance to show Lorelei some history! It was such fun explaining the covered wagon and farm equipment etc. to her now that she is old enough to learn about it! :)

We enjoyed our picnic lunch as we waited for the petting zoo to start. I was laughing so hard at Makin, who saw an ant climbing the tree and immediately picked up Brad's shoe to smash it. :) I train them well!

The petting zoo. They loved it so much!!! As you can see, we were right in there with the animals. There were goats, sheep, and a horse and chicken that were in their own pen instead of roaming around with the rest of them.

Then we waited to get a picture taken with a live bunny! This was one of the things Lorelei was most looking forward to. Since it was with professional photographers, we don't have a copy of the picture yet. She loooooved getting to pet it and they were miracle workers getting Makin to stop crying, so we are excited to see the pictures when they are ready. Guess we will have to post them separately! And we were just thankful they were not as expensive as Santa pictures. :)

Brad spotted a caterpillar on the sidewalk! They were so excited to see it. After he got it on Lorelei's hand with a leaf, Makin was dying for a turn. When it was finally his turn...well you can see his reaction. :) Then they put it down in some plants so people wouldn't step on the poor guy!


And the last big event...face painting! There was a long, long line for this. But, we lucked out that it was right next to a fountain water play area! The kids were happy to splash around and play while Brad and I took turns standing in line. :) Yay! Lorelei chose a panda and Makin was not thrilled with the idea of some stranger painting his face, so he got a star on his arm. :) Lorelei was soooo proud of her panda face. :)

Then we took a walk around to check out a little more of the gardens before calling it a day around 2:40 or so. And neither child slept in the car...which means Makin had a 20 min nap on my shoulder and Lorelei had none... :)