Christmas in DFW: Ice Skating at the Galleria

We love ice skating and we've skated at the Galleria Ice Skating Center before but this was our first time to be there during the Christmas holidays. 

The Macy's Grand Tree in the middle of the rink made it all feel so magical!  It is an amazing 95 feet tall and decorated in red and gold.  It's absolutely stunning.

The ice skating rink is smaller than most rinks in our area and with the tree in the middle it is even smaller than usual but it was still loads of fun!  We haven't been skating in a while so Rachel hugged the wall and the small rink was nice because she only had to go a short trip around to make it back to the exit.  After a few trips skiddish trips around like that, she remembered how to do it and was skating around on her own.

Ice Skating at the Galleria was such a perfect way to enjoy time with friends.  We went with our friends from the Coppell Homeschool Association and had a great time.  I think it has re-sparked an interest in ice skating for both of my kids.

On Saturday, December 17th, at 6:00 pm there will be a fun performance on the rink at 6:00 pm featuring a back flipping Santa and professional ice skaters.  I'd love to see that!

Of course, once you are done ice skating, there are plenty of restaurants around the rink to enjoy lunch like Five Guys Burgers, Genghis Grill, and Luciano's Italian.  We didn't stay for lunch though because Stuart was getting off work around that time so we headed out to enjoy lunch with him.

The Galleria Ice Skating Center is located at 13350 Dallas Pkwy, Dallas, TX.  I'd recommend parking in the Red Garage at the mall. 

Admission: $11.00
Skate Rental: $3.00
Multiple session and skate rental discounts are also available - Purchase 10 public sessions for only $8.50 per session! Purchase 10 skate rentals for only $25.00. Save $5.00!

Gather up at least 10 of your friends and receive a group rate! For more information on Public Sessions at the Ice Skating Center, click HERE.  You can also visit the Galleria Ice Skate Center on Facebook.

A Flurry of Holiday Fun at the Perot Museum {+ Giveaway!}

I'm so excited that the Perot Museum of Nature and Science has generously provided me with a family four-pack of tickets to the museum to giveaway here on Savor the Days!  These tickets are good through January 8, 2016 so you can have fun with your family over the holidays.  Even if you are already a member of the Perot, consider entering to win anyway and gifting another family with the tickets.

To enter to win the four-pack of tickets, just fill out one or more of the entry options at the bottom of this post.  The winner will be chosen by random drawing on December 9, 2016 at midnight CST.  

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science hosted a fun Family Blogger event so we could help them get the word out about the the exciting new exhibits and fun holiday plans at the museum.

My kids especially enjoyed the adorable Mammoth cookies in honor of Ellie May, the nearly intact and pristine Columbian Mammoth discovered near here in Ellis County last summer and just opened on display at the museum.  I can't wait to show you the pictures!

We are amateur fossil hunters so I was pretty excited to get the opportunity to see Ellie May.  And here she is!  This Columbian Mammoth skeleton is displayed on her side in the same position in which she was discovered as she laid in the sand and gravel pit on the McEwen family property.   

There are some great video clips about her recovery on the Perot Museum website.

We got an amazing opportunity to meet and ask questions of Dr. Ron Tykoski, a paleontologists who spent countless hours working on the the excavation and recovery of this amazing specimen.

At the signage about the discovery of Ellie May, there is an interactive camera that you can control to move around and zoom in on Ellie May's bones!  What an amazing feature to have on this exhibit.  

Next we visited the special exhibit, Creatures of Light: Nature's Bioluminescence.  It is a dark exhibit that taught us all about creatures that glow.  My kids love glow sticks and any kind of toy that lights up so this was their favorite exhibit at the Perot.....of all time!

We learned about fireflies and even got to play with an interactive exhibit that showed how they use different patterns of flashing light to communicate with each other.

We learned that Bioluminescense is light generated by a living organism through a chemical reaction and got to see pictures of some amazing creatures that have this cool feature.

We learned about Glow Worms which glow a greenish-yellow and Railroad Worms which have an additional red glow on their heads.

I was excited to see the exhibit taught the kids about dinoflagellates which are bioluminescent marine plankton.  Stuart and I have seen these little "balls of fire" in person many years ago on a trip to the beach.  At night, they glow and seem to ride the waves as they crashed ashore.  It was an unforgettable sight.

Rachel spent a lot of time learning at the interactive exhibit that taught her about fluorescence on a coral reef.

In contrast to bioluminescense, fluorescence occurs when molecules become excited and glow under ultraviolet light.  There is no chemical reaction occurring to make the object glow.

Nicholas was the most engaged I have ever seen him at a museum.  He usually reads some of the informational plaques and does some of the activities then he's ready to move on.  But today he read everything he saw.  He was excited and engaged and kept asking me to come see what he had learned.  

The Ponyfish flashes to communicate with females but the source of its light is intriguing.  There is a donut-shaped structure around its neck that contains a colony of bioluminescent bacteria.  They share a symbiotic relationship which means they both benefit by working together.  

One of my kids' favorite creatures to learn about in the exhibit was the Loose Jaw fish.  He's just really creepy looking to me!  My son also liked the Vampire Squid.

We watched two 2D films while we were at the museum.  Nicholas wouldn't smile because he said that would ruin his "cool" look. (*smirk*)

Rachel chose for us to see Wonders of the Arctic 3D while Nicholas picked Walking with Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Planet 3D.  I was hoping we could also watch Jerusalem 3D but we just ran out of time.  

So much to see, so little time!

Speaking of so much to see, I can't describe all of the incredible exhibits at the Perot Museum in one post but here are some highlights of other exhibits you will find there:

• Moody Family Children's Museum
• Lamar Hunt Family Sports Hall
• Discovering Life Hall
• Texas Instruments Engineering and Innovation Hall
• The Rees-Jones Foundation Dynamic Earth Hall
• Lyda Hill Gems and Mineral Hall
• Expanding Universe Hall
• Rose Hall of Birds

The Perot Museum has done a great job of putting together a collection of Educational Resources and Scavenger Hunts for teachers and students that correspond with the exhibits you'll find at the museum. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

HOURS. General hours of operation for the Perot Museum and Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. On the first Thursday of the month, the Museum will stay open until 9 p.m. for its First Thursday Late Night public events. 

Holiday and other special hours. The Perot Museum will close Dec. 25 (Christmas). The Museum will offer extended hours until 7 p.m. Dec. 26-Jan. 2, except for Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve) when the Museum will close at 3 p.m. and Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve), when the Museum will close at 4 p.m.

Member mornings. From 8:30-10 a.m. every Saturday and 10 a.m.-noon every Sunday, members can enjoy exclusive access to the Perot Museum and Creatures of Light. Additionally, members will enjoy exclusive access from 8:30-10 a.m. Dec. 28-Jan. 1.

TICKETS. Museum general admission ticket prices are $19 for adults (18-64), $12 for youth (2-17), $13 for seniors (65+), and free for children under 2. Museum general admission is always free for members. Admission to the theater is $6 for a short film (20 minutes) and $8 for a long film (40 minutes) for adults, seniors and youth. For members, admission to the theater is $5 (short film) and $6 (long film). All children under 2 are free.

Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence requires a surcharge along with purchase of Museum general admission for non-members for a total admission cost of $26 for adults (18-64), $18 for youth (2-17), $19 for seniors (65+), and free for children under 2. Member tickets are $5 for adults (18-64) and $4 for youth (2-17) and seniors (65+).

Skip the ticket sales line! During the holiday season, visitors, including members, are strongly encouraged to purchase/reserve tickets directly from their smart phones or computers in advance.

PARKING. General parking and handicap parking is available in the main Museum parking lot, a pay-to-exit lot located under Woodall Rodgers Freeway across from the Museum. Limited additional handicap and Hybrid/electric vehicle parking is available in the Special Permit lot, located directly west of the Museum. Pricing is $8 per car. Museum members pay $3 when purchased at the Box Office inside the museum. The Perot Museum is located at 2201 N. Field Street in Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit perotmuseum.org or call 214-428-5555.

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Icemagedon Lingers On

Yes, everything is still iced over around here!  It's been like this for days now!  I had to get out to go to a doctor's appointment in Plano and it was a little scary at times, especially when the thick layer of ice on my van's roof decided to suddenly slide forward and cover my windshield while I was driving.  But the sun should be out today and by tomorrow we should stay above freezing for a while.  Yay!

While I was out and about I ventured to a grocery store.  We had stocked up well before the ice storm but we were out of milk and a few other things.  It was weird seeing the shelves so bare.  Delivery trucks had not been able to make it in to deliver food to the stores.  I gathered a few things and headed home to find this snow diva all dressed and ready to go play in the ice.

We headed to a neighborhood playground to help shake the cabin fever for a little while.  Stuart pulled off the last of the chunk of ice on the van's roof.  Look how thick it is!

Rachel's favorite thing to do at a playground is to swing.  She certainly knows how to pump her feet to make herself swing higher but she still prefers to have someone pushing her.

Even Daddy and Nicholas caught a little air time on the swings!

I was a little worried that climbing would be slippery but it really wasn't.  Most of the playground equipment was dry and easy to climb on.

....or spin on as you'll see in this video below:

When we got back home, the kids were still playing with ice.  Nicholas discovered that the big sheet of ice on top of Stuart's truck was starting to slide off the back of it.  He just had to climb up in the bed and play with that.  You've got to check out our crazy child in this video clip below:

Ice = Hot Chocolate

So what do you do when your whole town is iced in for days?  

Drink lots of hot chocolate, of course!

And you must get EVERY. LAST. DROP.

Mmmmm, chocolate!

Stay warm!

Icepocalypse 2013

We woke this morning to find that we are in the midst of the Icepocalypse of 2013!

It has been sleeting since last night.  It was weird hearing the little taps on the window all night.  We tried to tell the kids it wasn't like snow and not something to really play in.  But next thing you know, they were all geared up and ready to go!

The raingutter next to our front door has a leak in it so water dripped out of it all night making for some really cool icicles on the plant below.

Ice in the yard?  Must. Eat. It.

The bushes are all weighted down and drooping from the weight of the ice.

Everything glistens in the light.  It is magical to see!

Drips of water froze solid during the night.

Rachel found a giant icicle!

The bushes look pretty in their blanket of ice but it was weird to feel the leave crunch when we touched them.

Little icicles can be found everywhere!

Here's a video of Rachel hopping on the ice in our front yard. It was really neat because when you first step on it, it just feels hard then instead of sinking into it like you would with snow, the ice just kind of breaks and you fall through to the grass below.


They soon discovered that there was some water running along the edges of the street into the big drain.  That had to be investigated!

This ice was smooth on the top but melted and slushy underneath = wet feet and hands!

Here's a video of the two of them bouncing on the slushy ice trying to break it.

We ventured to the back yard and found a lot more icicles!

I love the beautiful fall colored leaves with the branches enveloped in ice!  So pretty!

Nicholas chipped away at a layer of ice on their sandbox. Wow that is thick!

More shimmering beauty...

Rachel and I studied some oak leaves.  They had a thin layer of ice on them.

We were able to peel away the leaf and had a perfect ice leaf complete with veins and all!

Beautiful iced Holly berries.  What a perfect contrast to the white all around.

I still can't get over how every single branch and leaf has a layer of ice on it.

It's just breathtaking!

Nicholas found the icicle of all icicles.  He of course called it his Icicle Sword.  What a boy!

It is still sleeting at times.  We've had lots of coffee and hot chocolate today.

After a brief break inside to warm up, Stuart bundled up the kids again and took them for a walk down to the playground and wooded area to check out some more wintery scenes.

What a beautiful day it has been.  The temperatures are supposed to drop into the teens tonight so this stuff isn't going anywhere anytime soon.  Stay warm and safe.