Sesame Place

Isabelle slept the majority of the way to Sesame Place but kept waking up to make sure that we weren't there yet. At one point she woke up and I could see the Sesame Place water tower off of the side of the highway. When I pointed it out to her she yelled, "Daddy, just drive through those trees. Get off the road!"... LOL She has never been more excited. As we pulled into the park the gleam in her eye got a little brighter and she wanted to see and do everything. As we were walking to the gates we came upon the hand prints of the Sesame Street characters in concrete. We had Isabelle compare her hands to Elmo. While waiting in line someone actually had the nerve to complain about how hot it was, a whopping 85 degrees with no humidity. I wanted to tell that guys to get a grip and come visit Texas, but a saved my comment for myself. The weather was absolutely perfect!

The first thing we did was go jump on Ernie's bed, it was very similar to a bounce house but in the shape of a huge mattress. Following that we headed over to meet Elmo and get pictures taken with him. Isabelle refers to him as the Elmo that does not talk =) $20 later we had an official picture of Elmo and Isabelle, the park is nice enough to let you take your own pictures with the characters so you don't have to buy theirs. One of the coolest things was getting to sit in on Elmo's World! We saw Mr. Noodles, Dorothy the fish, played on Elmo's piano, took pictures with his easel, and checked out the whole set. (Not the real set, but a very good replica) Sesame Place had an awesome water park but Iz did not like it very much. She is not big into getting splashed and seems to be developing a fear of the water. We have her scheduled for swim classes when we get back and she is in for a rude awakening. She did enjoy playing at Sand Castle Park with her "friends", the girl makes friends wherever we go.

Her favorite ride of the day was the teapots, and they had a really neat cargo net maze that Dave and Iz climbed through. We were able to meet Bert, Ernie, Zoe, Abby Caddaby, and Elmo throughout the day. We went in Mr. Hoopers Emporium and bought Isabelle a Big Bird. We went pretend shopping in the Emporium on Sesame Street where Isabelle rang me up for $60,000 in fruits and vegetables?? I had to put most of it back because I didn't bring that kind of money. We saw Oscars trash can, Big Bird's mail box, and took a picture on the steps of Sesame Street.

Toward the end of the day the park does a parade with all of the characters. The clouds started to look really dark and it looked like it was going to rain. We started to get really nervous that they were going to cancel the parade, and we really wanted to see it. With the threat of the rain they started the parade right on time but hustled through in record time. Instead of the normal 20-25 minute parade they were done in 7 minutes =) As soon as it stopped raining we ran as fast as we could, and got in the car right before the skies opened up.

We had a WONDERFUL time at Sesame Place! Hopefully Isabelle will have some memories of it as she grows older.

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Our journey begins

We left for vacation Thursday evening and started the first leg of our journey. Our flight left Dallas at 9pm and arrived in Baltimore, MD at 1 am. We thought that Isabelle would sleep the entire way, we put her in her jammies and were looking forward to a peaceful flight. Little did we know that she had different plans! She did really good on the plane as usual, but slept no more than 5-10 minutes. After landing we went and got our rental car (which was a bit of a nightmare) and then headed over to our hotel. I almost forgot to mention that our rental car is a Lincoln Town Car, I think that I have just aged about 50 years! It is a very nice car but it deserves it's own zip code. Anyways, because I knew we were going to be coming in so late I got us a hotel in the airport but I have to say that it was not very nice like most Microtels. Two chubby people, a toddler, and a full size bed do not mix. Let's not forget the temperature in the room, a refreshing stuffy 85 degrees. Dave and slept the majority of the evening with no blankets. At 2:30 in the morning who cares, all we cared about was getting to sleep. We woke up the next morning and headed to Sesame Place. From the moment she woke up that was all Isabelle could talk about, what she would do first, who she would meet first, etc. We headed out of the doors of the Microtel as Isabelle said, "that was a really fun place". As you can tell she is easily amused and has low expectations, got to love it! We headed out on our 2.5 hour ride to Langhorne, PA.

The 2nd Trip to the Zoo

Grandma, my mom, came to visit last week before we left for vacation. We decided to utilize our family pass and take a trip back up to the Dallas Zoo. We had a really great time, and Isabelle was happy to share the experience with Grandma and great Aunt Kelly.



These are pictures of Isabelle and a termite mound. I had seen a show about how termites make these mounds, it is basically regurgitated food that the termites spit up to make there home. I was pretty grossed out by it all but Isabelle jumped right up there and asked me to take her pictures. Of course my mom egged the behavior on and made her hug the thing.. ewww!


The zoo was so hot that day, that once we left we headed over to Sonic for happy hour. What an experience that was! I ordered my drink and put it in the cup holder next to me. When I took it out to get a drink it started to leak all out of the bottom through a small hole. I was trying to keep the small hole covered while taking off my seat belt, and trying to push the button to get a new cup at the same time. Once the lady FINALLY brought me a new cup I cleaned myself and the truck and headed down the road. I then lifted up my cup to find the cause of the hole in the cup. It was a pin from Isabelle's home depot apron that did not have the back on it. I stuck my drink right on top of it TWICE! As I am holding the drink the lid pops off and I spill about 38 of the 44 oz. all over myself and the truck. This was not a "happy hour" kind of day.

Dallas Zoo

A few years ago Dave and I were going to take Iz to the zoo and I asked people which zoo would be better. I was told that Dallas Zoo was horrible and that Fort Worth was sooo much better. A few friends of mine and I got together to take all of the kids to the Dallas Zoo with very low expectations and were remarkably suprised. They had a kids area, a petting zoo, and even a little spring for the kids to play in. Some of the exibits the kids were able to walk right up to the animals and meet them face to face. We had such a good time that we purchased the family pack so we can go back all year long. Here are a few pictures from our zoo adventure

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Basketball

I don't know what is coming over me, but I am beginning to get more and more forgetful. I realized last week that I forgot my stepmother's birthday LAST MONTH! Then Saturday morning I almost completely forgot about Isabelle's first day of basketball. The morning started off so good, Isabelle woke up a little late, came and crawled in our bed and we all laid there watching cooking shows. We finally decided to get out of bed and get some breakfast, sat down with a bowl of cereal when it dawned on me that Isabelle had basketball at 10:15! It was currently 10:13! I had never seen my family snap into action that quick, but we got dressed and where at the YMCA within 15 minutes (that's a miracle).

When we got there I think that Isabelle was a little frazzled by the quick action and freaking out parents that she has just experienced because she did not want to participate. Dave and I finally managed to talk her into playing a little and she ended up having a great time. Huge coincidence is that Isabelle's good friend Jonah was also in her class. At the end of the class they had all of the kids get into a circle and they would practice passing the ball to one another. Jonah went to pass the ball to Isabelle and it bounced and hit her in the head. We all know what a drama queen she is so she immediately started crying and then the sweetest thing happened, Jonah cried too. What a sweet little man, he was so worried that he hurt Isabelle on accident. After many tears and pouting from both team mates they finally got back in the game and played.




After basketball we headed over to Home Depot for the kid project they have on the first Saturday of the month. The project was a tool organizer for Father's Day. Isabelle and Dave had a great time putting it together, some father daughter bonding time. They even gave Isabelle a little apron and a pin to put on the apron when she completed the project. It was really neat & might I add free!

A Moment in History

I did not think that I would be saying this for a couple more years, but Isabelle has out grown a 2T in one of her outfits. It could be a fluke, but I am going to take it as some kind of sign of weight gain. I tried on one of her bathing suits from last year that was a 2T and it was actually a little tight. I could have just cried, something being to tight on ISABELLE. WOW!

Little Gym Recital

Last Monday Isabelle had her end of the semester Little Gym Recital. The bad news is that Dave and I were having serious technical issues that day. After about 10 minutes of recording our video camera died and then half way through the recital my digital camera died. I can not imagine a bigger nightmare, both of the cameras dying and at a recital.. Urghh! Here is what I did manage to get before the camera died =(

All of the kids make a grand entrance. Once their names are called they run across the carpet and then jump on the spring board over the jump rope and land with a big Ta-Da!

When doing the balance beam they pretend they are going to become butterflies. Iz was squatting down in her cocoon after worming her way onto the beam, and when she arose she was a beautiful butterfly. (Arms in the air flying)

The Little Gym Choo Choo Train, and Mr. Forest helping Isabelle do her "Popsicle arms" on the bars.

She can hold her arms straight for a long time, then jump down, hands in the air and a loud "TA-DA"

As previously mentioned both cameras died so we were not able to get the award any pictures of the award ceremony. It was so sweet, Mrs. Kirstin got up and introduced all of the kids one by one and said something nice about them. When it was Isabelle's turn she said that Isabelle is always willing to try anything that they ask her to, and she is never shy to speak what is on her mind. Finally she does everything with a smile =) Love that girl, I added that not Mrs. Kirstin. Here is Isabelle with her new medal a few days later.

A Day at the Farm

Last year we went to my Papaw's farm for Thanksgiving and since then Isabelle has been talking about how she wants to go back. We finally made the arrangements and all headed out to Papaw's farm for an overnight adventure. Funny thing about the farm is there are no animals, it is more like a deer lease =) Never the less Isabelle still has a great time, and does not give up her endless battle to look for animals anyways.

When we got there part of the house had been overtaken by mud dobbers so we spent the first hour or so trying to kill all of the bugs. Now I remember why I don't live in the country, BUGS! I need an exterminator within a 5 mile radius of my house, I can't stand bugs. Ewww! After the massacre Daniel and Hunter took Isabelle and my newphew Conner fishing. Conner gave us this long story about how it was going to take a least an hour to catch a fish, but within 5 minutes he was at the door with his prize catch. I tried to get a picture of him with it but he was deathly terrified to stand anywhere close to it.

One of Isabelle's favorite things to do on the farm is to ride around in the mule. Dave and I took her out for a ride and she decided that we could not go back to the farm until we saw an animal. When asked what anumal she wanted to find she replied, "a kangaroo". Really, why don't we look for dolphins while we are out here to. After riding until the sun was about to go down she gave up that idea and finally let us head back to the farm.

Sunday morning when we got up Conner was asking Papaw to take him hunting. There is really nothing to hunt this time of the year, but that didn't stop Papaw. He loaded both of the kids on the mule, handed them bee bee guns and headed out to look for COW? LOL.. Conner got a kick out of it, and I assure you that no cows were hurt during this trip.


One of Isabelle's favorite things about being on the farm is that she can get dirty, and boy did she ever get dirty. She was covered from head to toe in dirt from crawling under one the picnic tables. Love that girl!

The New Park

Dave and I took Isabelle to a new park that they are building just right behind our house, she had a blast (as usual).

I love this one of Isabelle with her little nose pushed on the glass =)