Tea Party and Sprinkles Galore

Finley and Grandma wanted to have a tea party. Grandma had some frozen cookies to bake, and Finley even made a menu with hot chocolate, cookies, and spaghetti. I wanted to tell her that spaghetti wasn’t traditional tea party fare, but it’s her party!

 

 

After our day at The Arboretum we went home to make cookies before our guests arrived. Gentry and Sullivanne came dressed to party in fancy dresses and hats! Their mommy and daddy joined in the fun.

We decided to use real plates, cups, tea pot, and crystal pitcher. Why not?! The kids actually wanted hot chocolate instead of tea, and who can blame them when marshmallows are involved. We had chocolate covered berries and goldfish snacks too.

 

In the meantime the kids also picked tiaras, jewels, and wings from the dress-up bins.

After the first round of yummy tea, it was time to decorate the mini cupcakes with sprinkles. Lots of sprinkles! What is it about children and sprinkles? They had a blast.

 

After the sugar rush we saw lots of running around the house and being silly with the cat. All the best tea parties must end this way. I love these kinds of days with special friends! Oh, and we did end up having spaghetti for dinner after the tea party!

A Sunny Day at the Arboretum and Rory Meyers Children’s Garden

Well, a few days ago it was sunny and warm. Yesterday we got a huge ice storm and temperatures dipped into the single digits. What a difference a few days make.

Grandma is in town, and we went to The Dallas Arboretum to see the display of Christmas angels at the DeGolyer House.

 

The display is supposed to be 500 angels, but I know there were many, many more. It was beautiful. The kids loved seeing them too and pointing out the ones they liked. We also followed the scavenger hunt page they gave us at the front door to find “angels blowing horns” in one room, an angel made from a pine cone in another, glass ones, and on and on. They especially loved the secret door in the library. I always loved that too!

 

 

Then we walked around the Arboretum where they were dismantling the pumpkin houses; all you could see were bare wire-walled houses. It was strange and fun to see it come down.

We took the big golf cart “trolley” over to the Rory Meyers Children’s Garden side.

 

There was also a lot of planting going on. We saw pansies and tulip bulbs being planted.

When we got to Rory Meyers we went straight to The Incredible Edible Garden to see the giant vegetables and interactive computers that everyone made at Mecca. First Finley and Grey had to get in the peas in a pod and slide down the celery slide, of course!

 

 

 

 

 

Then we went to one of our favorite little sections, First Adventure, to play in the sand, play with flower puzzles in big pots, ride on ladybug scooters, and play on the flower computers. We also loved seeing the mushroom-topped water spouts that Chad and Mecca worked on as a solution for the kiddos who play with them.

 

Fun, fun day in the sun with Grandma!

 

Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden and The Dallas Arboretum - Fall Adventure Day!

 

 

What a fabulous fall adventure day! We finally made it to the new Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden at the Dallas Arboretum.

We were lucky enough to go on a preview day before the initial opening, but this was our first “real” visit. And, we got to go with our best buddies too. Lots to cover since we also wanted to go see the pumpkin houses at The Arboretum. I love our motley crew.

 

We started in the First Adventure area. The kids loved this area before, especially the garden area and Turtle Creek.

 

This time we also spent a lot of time planting, but also got to explore the interactive garden games inside the colorful flowers that daddy and his team built at Mecca! So fun to see them in the place they belong and get to use them.  

 

 

 

 

It’s always hard to leave an area when you are having so much fun, but we made our way down the Texas Skywalk and went to jump in the Walk in the Clouds up in the tree.

 

We wanted to go into the Plants are Alive area, but it was closed for a class.

However, we did get to see two more pieces daddy had worked on, the windy green, Jack-in-the-Beanstalk vine covered games, the giant tree stumps, and the giant boulders covered in hieroglyphics.

Then onto the kaleidoscope – one of our favorites. The kids all got to help turn the knobs and make it go. So. Much. Fun.

 

 

 

Next was the cool number area and building with these cool green “hedge” and topiary pieces to make a garden. Or castle in our case.

 

F, “Please hand me that sphere!”

One last stop to sit on some giant mushrooms, like ya do, and we made our way to pumpkin houses at The Arboretum.

So. Many. Pumpkins. The houses amaze me every year.

The kids were so excited. They wanted to pick them up, climb on them, all the stuff you kind of cringe at sometimes, but it was fine.

They even went through the hay maze until some older kids came barreling through, running on top and straight across the maze, not a care for any toddler in the mix. Deep breathing.

 

"I'm king of the pumpkins!"

 

More pumpkin pics; everyone starts to get fussy; time to go.

What a wonderful day! Can’t wait to do it all again!

 

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