This morning we went to story time at the Bachman Lake Library, and then felt like doing something else before going home, so we headed to Children's Medical Center, where we heard there was a big model train exhibit. We're glad we went. It was great!
What a great idea for the patients of the hospital to be able to take the elevator down from their rooms and watch the trains. We heard they decorate for Christmas, so we may come back during the holidays.
Cory found out that the movie theater near our house plays old movies for young kids during the summer for $1 per ticket. This week they are playing Rio, so we thought, let's do it! Emmy immediately started looking up showtimes.
I was curious how Emmy would do in the theater. She never really finishes movies at home, because they are too long, but we brought her a snack, and the screen is so huge we thought it would keep her entertained. We were right.
She watched the entire thing, and loved all the music. She was dancing and grooving in her seat the entire time. I wish we would have known about this sooner. It was a fun little trip out of the house.
Cory found a coupon online for free entry to the Sandy Lake Amusement Park about 10 minutes from our apartment. It was a small little park with carnival rides, mini-golf, a pool, and picnic areas. Emmy wasn't tall enough to ride any of the rides except for the carousel. She seemed to like it.
Every time we passed Cory, Emmy would smile really big, and then kind of go dead-pan again just in time to see Cory again, so the video looks like she isn't having that great of a time, but she was, believe me.
After the carousel, we tried to get Emmy to ride on the real ponies, but she started crying immediately. To calm her down we all took a relaxing ride on the train. It was a far cry from Disneyland, but for a small local park, we thought it was pretty neat!
Cory was telling me about a free outdoor play she used to go to when she lived in Austin. The Zilker Park Hillside Theater puts on a new play every summer and admission is free. As we were talking we realized nothing was stopping us from going. We could stay with Cory's family and have a fun few days in Austin. Just like that, we took a road trip. We went to see Shrek:The Musical at Zilker Park and had a pretty good time. The music was great and the performers were excellent. I couldn't believe it was free for such a high quality performance. Maybe we will go again next year. They announced that next year will be The Wizard of Oz.
Cory also took me to the Natural Bridge Caverns, since she found out a few months ago that I really like cave tours. I absolutely loved it. I like going on tours in general, so when they are in cool places, like underground, it is especially interesting to me. The are called the Natural Bridge Caverns because there is a natural rock formation that creates a bridge over the entrance to the caves. Supposedly it is the original ceiling of the cavern, before a collapse that created the sink hole entrance. Be prepared to hear more than you might want to about these majestic caves, because I was hanging on our high school tour guide's every word. How cool of a job would that be in high school?
Cory's youngest brother, Logan, came with us, too.
Early on in the tour, our guide explained about the living fern. It is the only plant in the entire cave system, and if you read the sign it explains how it only started growing after developer's installed the lights.
All of the chambers and big formations have really dramatic or epic names. This is me in the deepest part of the tour, 180 feet below ground, called Sherwood Forest. The flash focused on me so it is hard to see behind me, so I took another picture of just the formations.
We were told that the formations grow at a rate of one inch every 100 years, so a lot of time is represented in these caves. Sherwood Forest, the deepest point of the tour.
The next room was named Castle of the White Giants. The really tall column is the tallest in the cavern and called the Watchtower.
Next to the Watchtower is the King's Throne, and up in the right hand corner of the picture is the Chandelier.
We passed by Grendel's Canyon, which is the not on the tour, but is the route the original explorers had to take. Now there is a nice, man-made path. It is crazy to think about the original group of people that explored the cave with no paths or lights to illuminate the room.
The last room was the Hall of the Mountain King. We climbed all the way back up to ground level to the exit. We also saw some 5,000 year old bat guano, and their ancient roosts.
On the backside of the chamber is the Valley of the Fallen Lords. Cory and I wondered why they put a green light at the back, because we are pretty sure no one ever goes over there.
I was proud of Cory for trekking the entire tour pregnant! It was strenuous in some parts, and the temperature controlled cavern was 75 degrees and 99% humidity, so it felt like 80-85. We were thirsty afterward.
Luckily, they have water fountains at the end with pure cavern water. We passed numerous pools of water, and were told that the limestone is a natural filter, so the water was completely purified. Cory did not want to taste it, but Logan and I tried it. I thought it tasted like normal tap water.
After my deeply moving cave experience, I didn't know if the rest of the trip was going to be that fun, but it was. We took Emmy to the Shady Hollow pool and had a great time. They have a small wading pool for little children, and Emmy absolutely loved it.
She was so content that she could touch the bottom of the pool at all times.
To end the trip, Cory took me and Emmy out to the Salt Lick, a famous Texas BBQ joint she worked at the summer after she graduated from high school. Just coming from a BBQ hub in Memphis made me curious about this place. I got the beef ribs, and they were huge. The brisket was excellent, everything was delicious, but then it was taken to a new level during dessert.
Half blackberry cobbler, half peach cobbler. People, this is what dessert is supposed to be. I think I contracted diabetes after one bite.
We had an awesome time in Austin, and thanks to the Schiess Family for hosting us. Emmy learned all of their names and got pretty good at saying them on command.
I need to start a hashtag for when Cory finds fun free stuff for us to do. #SuperMom #QueenOfTheDeal
Today's adventure was the Fritz Park Petting Farm. It isn't very far from where we live, so we decided to check it out. When we pulled up, Emmy seemed excited by the front entrance.
The little farm wasn't crowded at all, so we just strolled around. They have goats, sheep, donkeys, chickens, peacocks, ducks, a turkey, a mini cow, and a mini horse. You can't pet the birds, but you can pet everything else. Emmy, however, did not want to. She was content to observe from afar.
She seemed very interested in the pony, but then anytime we approached, she leaned as far away as possible and tried crawling over Cory's shoulder.
You can go into a little area where the goats are fenced in, so Emmy got pretty close in there if we were right next to her, but she still was pretty nervous.
After the goats we headed over to the little mini cow/ox hybrid looking animal. Right when Emmy was standing right next to the fence it let out a big "Moo!" It freaked Emmy out! She immediately started running in a circle, which we have never really seen her do, and then she ran over to us. I'm glad we went, but we now are wondering why Emmy is so afraid of touching animals. Are all kids like this?
Emmy has become increasingly fascinated by whatever Cory is doing in the kitchen. She follows her around all the time asking "Hold you?" That is Emmy's way of asking to be picked up. She usually wants to see what is going on, so Cory has started to sit her on the island in our kitchen while she prepares food. Emmy has loved it. This evening we decided for our family night activity to make some cookies. Emmy was such a good helper, and Cory is such a good teacher!
Happy Independence Day, America! We thought that we would be spending it in Utah, but we were too far down the standby list to make it yesterday, so we spent our first 4th of July in Dallas! It was a bummer not to be able to see our family in Utah, but we ended up having a great day, starting with the Park Cities Parade.
In Provo, people are camping out the night before to secure their spot for the parade, and maybe it is like that for this parade, but there were bad thunder storms and pouring rain in the morning. We showed up an hour early hoping to get a spot, and we were like the only people on the street. Most people arrived five minutes before, and even at its peak, it was not very crowded. No complaints from us!
It was a great parade. Not quite as big as the Provo parade, but still WAY bigger than the little parade we would go to in Cordova. Anything would be bigger than that parade, honestly. There were lots of floats and a marching band came through. Highland Park High School had a few different floats. It seemed like each sports team had its own float.
They passed out bags for the kids to store their candy. Emmy doesn't really eat candy, but we had a bag anyway. We gathered a few pieces here and there. Cory mostly wanted the Starburst.
Emmy especially liked when there were horses.
Two American beauties!
The end of the parade had some of the big guns come through. I don't know why this civilian has this vehicle of war, but it was cool for the parade.
There was a cool plane, too, to advertise the Frontiers of Flight Museum that is only a few miles from our house.
When the parade ended, we walked to the end of the route for a festival at Goar Park. They had a lot of different tents with free food, popsicles, a watermelon eating contest, live music, and firetrucks!
Emmy and Mommy shared a popsicle.
They also went to see the horses and their riders. Emmy loved the horses, as long as she was a safe distance away. She does not like being close enough to touch.
After we got home, I headed to the airport to pick up our luggage that accidentally got sent to Utah without us. That meant we could wear what we planned on wearing! Wardrobe change! I think Emmy got even cuter! We waited until evening and headed out to a fireworks show in Irving.
It was a huge crowd of people with music and food trucks. There was also a nice man selling light up toys and glow sticks. Emmy just stared at him until he took pity on her and gave her a glow stick necklace.
It was a fun place to hang out and wait until it got dark.
Once the fireworks started, Emmy was a little apprehensive. We think she was just shocked, because she wasn't expecting them. She got really clingy, and spent the rest of the show on my lap holding tightly to my hands. The show was pretty great though, accompanied live by the Irving Symphony Orchestra. The played a bunch of patriotic music, and the Star Wars theme song, which was random, but also very American.
I think our first Independence Day in Dallas was a huge success.
