Our Race Car(l) Driver

For Christmas this past year, the boys and I gave Carl what we called the Lightening McQueen Experience.

OK, its officially called the Andretti Racing Experience, but the boys don't really know who Mario Andretti is, and they do know "Kachow."

Plus, it was fun to wrap up a little CARS toy as the "gift" since kids don't really undedrstand printed-out gift certificates.

They only do this experience at the Texas Motor Speedway every few months, since they travel around the country to different spots.

So its taken us awhile to find a weekend that worked for us.

Which is how we got to celebrate Christmas in July.

Carl had a great time.

The boys really enjoyed the whole process and cheering Daddy on.

Even if it did take WAY longer than I had anticpated.

We were there for four hours.

 From 6pm -10pm.

 We weren't sure Carl would ever get his turn.

 No, its not a problem with your screen.

The lighting really did change from daylight to dark by the time Carl's turn arrived.

I think I got some pretty decent pictures.

Especially considering its not exactly easy to photograph someone going 135 MPH.

And its hard to tell when its Carl coming around the track, versus another driver.

He was pretty thrilled with the experience when it was all over.

As were these little troopers.

They never complained, not even once. But Alex did say he didn't want the second dinner we had been planning (we'd gotten them a light dinner before going to the track, and had been planning a second one for around 8pm when I thought we would be done). They just wanted to go to sleep in the hotel.

Dallas Museum of Nature and Science

I had picked the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science as a fun place to spend our afternoon. It was (relatively) close to the Arboretum, it was indoors, and it looked like it would keep Team Danger entertained for a while.

Which it did, for Alex.

Ryan's ear had started bothering him, so while Alex and Carl explored the animals, I had him laying down on a bench to see if we could drain some water form his ear.

We had thought it was water from the fountains early on, and then changed our opinion as time went on and the pain increased, only to have our original instinct confirmed.

Anyways... Alex enjoyed all the taxidermy animals.

I tend to find these things kinda creepy, so I was relatively happy to stay with Ryan. A non-screaming Ryan would have helped.

After a while, Ryan thought he could try and see some of the museum. He perked up a bit when we went into the hands-on science section, as opposed to the nature bits.

He tried the giant bubble wand out.

Daddy then showed them how its done.

And despite his ear issues, he still was the reigning champ in the family at the balance tester.

They have a special exhibit on the Magic School Bus right now.

Ryan LOVES the Magic School Bus, so he put aside his ear problems for a bit.

We learned all about weather, thanks to the Magic School Bus.

And then we tried out the children's section of the museum.

I'm not sure how they did this, but some real creamy liquid came out of the cow.

There were a few smiles to be had.

Especially in the magic mirrors section.

But it wasn't long before the pain intensified, and actual sobbing and screaming commenced, and we hightailed it out of the museum. Ryan couldn't even make it up the stairs by himself.

They've also got a planetarium, and IMAX theater, and a big exhibit called "Shark Attack" that Alex REALLY wanted to see. If I can ever get over my mortification from the screaming and head throttling my six year old was doing, we might return here some day.

Chihuly Exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum

The Dallas Arboretum is simply stunning, and its currently made even more breathtaking with the wonderful Chihuly sculptures on display.

When I first heard about this exhibit, I knew I needed to find time to make it up to Dallas to see them.

This past weekend we had a chance to combine it with Carl's much delayed Christmas present (an 8 minute drive at the Texas Motor Speedway).

We also combined it with a visit to see my cousin Julie and Mark's newest baby, Caroline Grace. She was born in May right before we left for England, and then we hit swim team season when weekend travels are difficult.  Caroline was just a little angel! So cute, and I never even heard her cry.

Pretty impressive for a little 2.5 month old!

Ryan loves her older brother, Graham. Ryan's been calling him "Graham Cracker" ever since we spent his first Thanksgiving together, so he was thrilled to see him again.

Plus, Ryan likes smaller kids. He wants to be a big brother sooooo bad.

Here he is waiting for Graham to show up. He liked this sculpture, because it was blue and reminded him of a peacock.

This was Alex's favorite sculpture, since it was red. The boy likes his red.

There were so many wonderful sculptures, and they were placed so beautifully inside the gardens.

Team Danger wasn't quite sure what to make of the sculptures.

But they enjoyed watching this lizard enjoy the art.

And they liked when the misters came on and made fog.

I suspect this is how they water the plants while the glass sculptures are there. Not the most waterwise way to go. But it WAS cool to see. ;)

 

In typical little boy fashion, they had lots of fun just running around.

And finding ways to cool off.

First Alex dunked his head in one of the fountains, followed quickly by Ryan.

And Graham had to get into the action, too, with a little help from Daddy.

This was my favorite part of the exhibit. I just loved these boats, the glass orbs, and the way they reflect into the water.

And my boys? They hung out by this sculpture in the Woman's Garden, because, as they both joyfully told me, they liked the fact that you could see her "boobies."  I'm so proud.

It was around this point that we bailed on any more sculptures and headed for the water fountains.

We hadn't brought bathing suits, but since when does that stop my kids? I should just be happy they kept their shorts on.

They were hot, hot, hot, so I didn't complain too much when they went to town getting wet and letting the water splish and splash everywhere.

And this would be why Ryan developed an outer ear infection, aka "swimmer's ear," a short while later.

The botanical gardens also has a display featuring mini-houses and mini-gardens of famous artisits, like Picasso, O'Keefe, Van Gogh, and Monet.

Since Carl and I had just been to Monet's house in Giverny, we were intrigued to see they could get something so basic as the color of his house wrong. Its pink, with green trim.

At least the bridge looked something like it was supposed to.

And they didn't miss the lily ponds. :)

Despite the heat and despite Ryan's ear infection, we had a great time at the Arboretum. I loved seeing my family, and I loved seeing the sculptures and gardens. Its definitely worth the trip!