Days when the kids were away

Almost accidentally, Jeff and I ended up childless for several days last week while the kids played with grandparents in the far reaches of Texas and Oklahoma. We made the most of our time and put together a brilliant staycation. On Tuesday, we headed to downtown Dallas, where we checked into the W hotel and then headed over to Happiest Hour for lunch. It was such a cool place, and we definitely want to go back sometime. From there, we braved the intense Texas heat and walked over to the Nasher Sculpture Center for some culture. After that, we went back to the hotel and spent several lazy hours lounging on the awesome pool deck, which has spectacular views of the city. Tuesday evening, we had dinner at The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, a place we have always wanted to visit. We tried the tasting menu with wine pairings. The food was wonderful, the atmosphere was elegant, and it was an overall excellent experience!

W Dallas Victory

Happiest Hour

Nasher Sculpture Center 

Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek

On Wednesday, we came back to Flower Mound in time for me to do my deliveries for Meals on Wheels. It was fun to have Jeff ride along, and I think he enjoyed getting to participate in an activity that is important to me. When the deliveries were done, we made a beeline for McKinney, where we had lunch and visited wineries and shopped around the historic square. Later, we had dinner at Sol and then visited Trader Joe's and Half-Price Books.

McKinney

On Thursday morning, we hopped up before the sun so we could meet our hot air balloon flight crew and check an item off our bucket list. Just as the sun was coming up, we became airborne and flew around for about an hour, enjoying the peace and beauty all around us. It was spectacular! And, with the whole day still before us, we then headed to Jeff's parents' house to pick up our younger boys, stopping for lunch at George's in Waco.

Hot air balloon flight

George's

We love hanging out with our kiddos, but we were definitely glad for a chance to spend some quality one-on-one time together enjoying some of the wonderful things DFW has to offer!

March

March was full and fun! Here are the highlights:

• A visit to the C.R. Smith (American Airlines) Museum

• Mom's Night Out mug exchange

• Lots of track meets with improved times almost every time

• Weston and Max started an online coding class that they really love.

• Weston attended a couple of 4H meetings to see if that is something he is interested in participating in for the coming school year. 
• We discovered Local Pint and kind of made it "our place" since it's within walking distance of our house and since it's a pretty fun place to hang out.

• We saw A Wrinkle in Time, which was pretty disappointing as a movie but still made for a fun outing.

• Paralympics

• Weston went on a Boy Scout campout. He also worked super hard on merit badges throughout the month.
• We celebrated Pi Day in a big way, with pie for every meal.

• Jeff went to yoga with me.
• I participated in the next wave of a longitudinal health study I've been a part of since I was in high school.
• We decided on the spur of the moment to take a long weekend in Sallisaw, OK for Spring Break. We had fun hanging out at our KOA, hiking through the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, and hiking at Devil's Den State Park in AK. 

• We started making our plans for the next school year.
• We finalized all our plans for our upcoming summer trip to South America.
• We spent a night in Allen, TX, where the kids were delighted to find a putting green and swimming pool at the hotel, in addition to the awesome breakfast buffet. 

• Ruth took a practice PSAT test and did very well.
• The bluebonnets started blooming!

• Weston and Clay participated in the district PSIA meet, and Weston brought home ribbons for Math (6th) and Number Sense (3rd).

• We hiked the Katy Trail, which runs for three miles through downtown Dallas but feels somewhat removed from the city. 

• We discovered Bishop Cider Co. aka Cidercade, where we had fun trying some hard ciders and playing vintage arcade games.

• We had a Wind in the Willows picnic, which we all agreed was the most epic picnic ever.

• Ruth took her first CAP orientation flight. She actually had control of the plane for about 15 minutes in the air, and she had a blast. I think she's truly hooked now!

• We finally got around to visiting the Shannon Brewing Co. in Keller, which we've been meaning to do pretty much since we moved here. The kids enjoyed the yard and table games, and Jeff and I enjoyed sitting on the patio sipping on stouts. I'm sure we'll visit again.

• Clay lost his first tooth with absolutely no fanfare. In fact, the baby tooth just sort of disappeared (seriously, we have no idea when it fell out or where it went!), and his permanent tooth is already filling up the gap. 

• Jeff and I took a cheese making class at Dallas Mozzarella Company.

La Duni and The Perot

This morning we had brunch at La Duni in Dallas. The food was wonderful, and it's always fun to try a place we've never been! After filling our tummies, we headed over to The Perot Museum, because Clay had some important business to conduct (and because we really love science museums). One of Clay's scouting requirements was to write down two questions about space to ask an expert, and then track down an expert at a museum or planetarium and ask the questions. Clay wanted to know, "Why does the moon appear smooth when you look at it, but if you go to it, it appears rough?" and "Why do the planets appear to be brighter than the stars?" He found his expert in the Expanding Universe Hall and did a great job of asking his questions and gathering the information! Once the business was taken care of, we were free to explore and enjoy the rest of the museum, and we had a great time.

La Duni Latin Cafe

Musical brothers

Fun in the Leap Frog Forest

Making silly Math jokes at the museum enterance

Asking an expert about space

T-Rex

Soaring with eagles

Learning about tornadoes

Total concentration

Revenge of the Robots

Six Flags and Oklahoma

Today was homeschool day at Six Flags, and we've had our tickets for probably more than a month and have been eagerly anticipating the day. It was great to be there on a day when it wasn't too hot and when the lines were much shorter than normal. We barely saw the three oldest kids all day, as they were off riding one thrilling ride after another. Jeff and I spent most of our time with Clay near the huge playground and the smaller rides, which he was tickled he was big enough to ride all by himself. He did manage to ride a few of the bigger rides with his siblings and us.

Three Watts in a car built for two.

Clay finally allowed me to ride one with him!

Making new friends and having a blast

Clay's first solo ride

Hands up the whole time

When the park closed, we made a run for the border, so we could have dinner and bed down for the night in OK, our first state of our multi-state summer tour.

Dinner in OK

Let's Get This Party Started

The Watts' Summer 2017 Epic Road Trip is now in progress. First stop, Arlington.

Rangers Game

Kid's Day

Every year in CC, the kids learn about the orchestra and different composers, so when one of the moms from our group planned a field trip to Kid's Day at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, we jumped at the opportunity. On Kid's Day, the orchestra performs a shortened symphony to accommodate shorter attention spans. Additionally, the performance is interactive, and the kids are invited to share how each piece makes them feel, while learning about major keys, minor keys, tempo, pitch, etc. We all thoroughly enjoyed it!

After the performance, we headed over to Klyde Warren Park for a picnic and an afternoon of basking in the gorgeous weather. It was a fantastic day and so much fun!

All spiffed up for the performance

We loved the demonstration of the huge pipe organ!

The kids said they thought we had the best seats in the house 

Fun at Klyde Warren Park

Imitating Clay

Big fun in Big D