Tyler State Park

I took the day off on Thursday to take advantage of the weather and travel to Tyler State Park with the family and the Milettes. We picnicked, sailed, and hiked around the lake.

We started off eating at the beach, feeding ourselves and some ducks.

After that we took the kids out in canoes. For many of them it was their first time.

Once we were confident that we weren't going to tip those things over, I gave Gwen a big splash and started  a canoe battle :)

After the canoes we hiked around the lake; collecting, observing, and climbing over everything.

A few pictures turned out better in black and white, but it is always the colors that I remember the most after visiting the park.

Lenten Gardens

Today, the kids made Lenten Gardens in observation of Lent:






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Texas Discovery Gardens

The kids and I visited the Texas Discovery Gardens and Butterfly House at the Fair Park yesterday afternoon. Afterwards we walked around the lake and played in the lagoon.



















The kids made some butterflies out of strips of paper.


This is an Atlas moth, the largest moth in the world.








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Little Dancer

Kassidy has started taking ballet this year. 

There were no classes today because of Spring Break, but that didn't stop her from running around in her leotard.

Birthday Party(s)

Katharine and Lukas celebrated their much belated birthdays together this past Sunday at the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

I can't say if their Birthday Party package ended up being worth it (the time in the room was short, and our tour guide hostess had never worked the main floors of the museum), but it was definitely awesome walking through the museum afterwards with all of our friends.

The boys and the girls split off before the cake was served. 

You can already see 15-20 years from now; with the boys at the table holding their beers and the girls having fun at Happy Hour.

But will they all still be talking about Minecraft?

The cake was awesome.

And as reported earlier, the museum was even better.

Erik, the Big-Hearted Dad

I snapped this picture after reading the Dr. Seuss book "Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose", when I realized that our bed is not much different than Thidwick's antlers at times (with all of those uninvited guests).