Holiday At The Arboretum

We had a wonderful day at the Dallas Arboretum! Their current event is called Holiday at the Arboretum and it's the perfect way to get in the Christmas spirit, especially if you go on the weekend because there are lots of great activities for children.

We started by visiting with Donner. Who knew he would come all the way from the North Pole to visit the Arboretum the same day that we were there!



Rachel was in her stroller when we first walked up to Donner. As soon as she saw him she started bouncing up and down in her seat and trying to figure out how to undo her seat belt! But both children thought that seeing live reindeer was a real treat.

We also saw costumed Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph walking around but Nicholas still gets nervous around costumed characters so he wouldn't go up to them. He is also quick to pass on face painting. I don't think he's ever had his face painted because he always seems afraid to get it done. But the painter at the Arboretum was just great. He talked to Nicholas about some things that he could paint and Nicholas actually felt comfortable enough to agree to do it! He's all boy so, of course, he wanted something creepy like a spider. But he did agree to let the spider wear a Christmas hat so he would at least fit in with the Christmas theme. Look how great the Christmas spider looks! Nicholas was so excited when he saw it in the mirror.



Ms. Claus has a storytime on the weekends but we didn't get a chance to see her today but we did see Santa Claus as he was posing for pictures. What a great place to get pictures with Santa (and the price is great too!).

We spent a great deal of time in the DeGolyer House where 523 nativity scenes are on display throughout the house. Can you believe it? 523 nativity scenes all in one place! It was incredible. The collection is actually a combination of two collections from George Dvorsky and Dr. and Mrs. Harrington. What a wonderful item to collect.

What was fascinating was the variety in the collection from the use of different materials and media like wood, metal, ivory, and plastic to the different sizes created from miniature to large scale as well as the origins of the nativities from around the world. I couldn't help but notice the different feelings evoked by different nativities. Some were very touching, some were awesomely beautiful, while others made me smile or even laugh.

We saw a nativity made from ebony from Tanzania...



And one made from metal car parts from Mexico...



You can't help but smile when you see the rubber ducky nativity! This was Nicholas' favorite :)



There were many that were simply elegant and beautiful...



And then there was one made in Uruguay from an old ammunition box.



And one made in Tennesse from corn husks...





We had fun exploring the Arboretum together and enjoying the Storybook Playhouses again before they disppear.



Of course, a little boy can find fun anywhere. Nicholas loved jumping in the puddles near the parking lot as we were leaving to go home.





Be sure to bring your little elves to visit Holiday at the Arboretum which runs through January 3rd.

Family Movie Night

On most Fridays, we try to have family movie night (although it's really only 3 out of 4 of our family). Once Rachel is in bed, Stuart, Nicholas, and I break out some popcorn and watch a kid-friendly movie in the living room while snuggling under blankets. Tonight we watched Wall-E. Nicholas watched the whole movie but then quickly fell asleep on the back of the couch! I snapped this picture before we tried to move him.



Once we tried to carry him upstairs he woke up. He didn't believe that he had fallen asleep so we were glad to have the picture to prove it!

Playing At The Park

We like to walk down to a little playground at the back of our neighborhood. It has a cool playground and some swings. Plus it's right next to another neighborhood playground so we can go back and forth between the two in a matter of minutes.

Nicholas still loves to climb through all of the tunnels.



He has gotten quite good at crossing the monkey bars. It's neat to watch him do it because for so many years he would just hang on the first bar because he was too afraid to move a hand to the second bar to move forward.



Rachel's favorite part are the swings and Nicholas is always happy to give her a push.





Of course, he likes to run and jump on the swings or twist himself up and let it naturally spin back to straight with him on it.



It's such a joy to be able to play with my children at the park, especially when I can watch them having so much fun playing together.

Pictures With Santa

I took Nicholas and Rachel to meet Santa and get their pictures taken today. It was fun dressing them both up in fancy clothes. They were so cute. Nicholas remembered that this was the same place that we saw Santa last year. We went to a small professional photographer's studio so we had an appointment which is great because Santa knew who we were when we walked in. Nicholas looked amazed when Santa walked up to him and said, "Nicholas! Look how much you have grown since I saw you last year!" I was holding Rachel and Santa leaned over to tell her hi but Rachel buried her head in my shoulder and started to cry! I didn't expect that at all. Nicholas and Santa spent some time talking about Nicholas' wish list and I let Rachel get used to looking at the big man in red. A little later we tried to put Rachel on Santa's knee but she wouldn't have anything to do with it. So Santa slipped away to "feed the reindeer" out back and Rachel sat down next to Nicholas in Santa's big chair. Then Santa quietly sneaked around behind the chair to pose for some pictures without Rachel knowing! So neat. I can't wait to see the proofs! The problem will be trying to decide which pictures to order. I know I'll want a copy of every picture taken but won't be able to justify the cost so I'll sadly have to torment myself and pick just a few. Decisions, decisions!

Science of Spying

We visited the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas to check out their Science of Spying exhibit. Nicholas loves playing spy games so this was a fun treat for him...but I must admit that Mommy, Daddy, and even Rachel had fun too.

A spy must be coordinated and careful. Nicholas got to test his abilities at removing a single stick of dynamite from a bundle without letting it touch the other sticks around it. If it touches the others then **BOOM!**



What creative ways can a spy learn something about another person? How about checking out their trash can for 3 weeks? Although it is a dirty project, just imagine how much you could learn about a person if you studied them like this. Fortunately, this station wasn't messy but Nicholas got to dig through Mr. Grant's trash can to determine the answers to some questions. Here he is holding a discarded parking pass to a golf country club which lists the date, time and vehicle info. Nicholas uses this to answer the question about what Mr. Grant did that day. Did he attend a golf tournament, nanotechnology conference or get Chinese takeout?



Although spies are always studying other people, they also have to be careful not to be seen themselves. This station has a video screen showing you in a crowded city block and you have to mark the possible people or cameras that could be watching you. Nicholas did well but missed a few potential danger zones.



Spies must be able to tell when people are telling them the truth and when they are lying. This station taught us a little about lie detection. We each had a screen that prompted us with what to say. Nicholas asked questions of me and then had to determine if I was telling the truth or a lie.



We saw hidden messages through special glass. Here we thought is was just a pretty picture of some red roses and green leaves but when we moved the special glass over one of the roses, we saw an outline of a pen. Cool!



Next we entered the spy technology section. There are some keys from a giant computer keyboard scattered throughout this room. Nicholas discovered that they light up when you sit on them. I was thrilled to see an N and an R right next to each other so Nicholas and Rachel could pose together for a picture!



Rachel loved sitting on the keys and listening to the sound of her feet kicking the sides. That was really the only way to make her key light up since her weight is too light to register that she was sitting on it.



At this station we had to quickly press the coordinating buttons to unlock the access port. But hurry! You don't have much time!





We got to look through peep holes and experience periscope technology in which you look through a hole in one part of the wall but you see an image that is 10 feet to the right of where you are looking.



And we used one-way mirrors to spy on Daddy. Notice that Nicholas has turned on the light to illuminate his face for Daddy to see.



This station had a tool that you run over the wire form without touching it. Mommy had trouble with it but it was nearly impossible to succeed with the little guy bumping my hand each time! Maybe he's a double agent?



In the Future Lab, we saw cool gadgets like cameras in baby doll eyes.



And a scanner that could detect the presence of a person by recognizing the outline of a body. This was lots of fun as we each tried to walk through it in funny ways to make different silhouettes of our bodies in hopes of trying to outsmart the scanner.



MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! We had fun and learned some cool things about spying with some fun interactive exhibits. We definitely recommend checking out the Science of Spying because it's only here until January 4, 2010!