The Dallas Aquarium

Okay, so it's totally worth the money and the drive. We went to the Dallas Aquarium with my mom, Amber, Dana and her kids yesterday. It's way more than fish and a must see!!! I think the kids loved it almost as much as I did...

Spring break is almost over and I'm really sad. This week made me wish I could stay home with the kids. But at least we'll have the summer... and it can't get here quick enough.

REALLY Bad Idea??

Spring Break finally arrived and I was really excited about getting out and doing some fun things as a family. Grammy and Grandpa came in town and I thought it would be fun for all of us to go to the new Children's Museum. When we pulled up on Tuesday and the line was wrapped around the building, I'm sure they were thinking, "This was a REALLY bad idea!"

If you are thinking of going to the museum, here are some tips I WISH someone would have given me:

1. Do NOT go on a rainy day... everyone else has the same idea as you.

2. Do NOT listen to your husband when he says we don't need the umbrella strollers.

3. Do NOT go in the middle of the day.

4. DO buy your tickets ahead of time so you don't have to wait in line.

5. DO take tons of hand sanitizer... I wanted to bathe my kids in it after they played in everything.
6. DO NOT GO ON SPRING BREAK IF YOU CAN HELP IT!!

Despite the crazy lines, the kids had fun and we'll definitely go back. I'll just be smarter about it next time. See... even grown ups can learn something at the Children's Museum.

Grammy and Tucker checking out the cool bubbles.

Tucker loved driving the ambulance. The poor kid standing next to him had to wait forever for a turn.

Tucker wasn't sure what to think of the giant turtle.

There were tons of things to look at. I just wondered what was going on in those little minds of theirs.

Reese was pretty amazed at all the spinning tops... "How do these things work?"

They were both little monkeys... trying to climb and balance on everything. Tucker might be a pretty good snowboarder some day.

I think I can, I think I can...

The grocery store was the cutest thing ever...

They loved pushing and filling their carts.

Daddy helped Reese check out... of course he footed the bill.

Tucker had to weigh his produce, just to make sure he wasn't spending too much.

The Dino Dig was closed, but we did get to check out a few dinosaurs...

The kids tried to piece together a dino puzzle.

And Tucker checked out a dinosaur footprint first hand.

There were several rooms and an outdoor water play area that we didn't get to. So... we'll head back this summer when its NOT SO CROWDED!

Boys and Their Toys

Last weekend we went to Houston to visit the family. Emmy (our niece) had her first birthday party so we took the opportunity for a little road trip. On Saturday morning, the girls went to Grammy's Miche bag party (where I of course spent way too much money) and the boys went to a tractor show. That's right ladies, there is such a thing. I think Tucker had fun playing with these big toys...

It's inevitable. One day Tucker will be singin' "Take ya for a ride on my big green tractor."

Sunday Afternoon Naps and Other Things I Love

I love seeing Reese play with her Daddy...


I love to watch Tucker explore and show us how confident he is...

I love how silly Reese is and the fact that she can make me laugh just minutes after making me want to scream...

I love that Peek-a-boo never gets old...


I love that little Ms. Independent wants to do everything by herself...

I love that Reese and Tucker are best buds...

I love that Chris will drop everything and come play at the park in a moment's notice...

I love that Reese is still putting up with my obnoxious bows...

I love that Tucker is happy and friendly pretty much all the time...

Isn't it amazing how much joy an afternoon at the park can bring? God is good and I am truly blessed.

Picnic by the Pond

We had a break in the sub zero degree weather and a day off from school so we packed a picnic and headed to the ranch. I think that's what we're calling it... the ranch. Farm just seems to country for me. Anyway, we decided to spend the day picnicking and playing; just enjoying the sunny day. I wasn't sure if this would be forced family fun or not, but I was willing to give it a go. Anything to get out of the house in the winter!

Here's a picture of the pond that will someday house many fish just waiting to be caught.

The kids were really great. They actually sat and ate lunch with us. The last picnic we attempted involved lots of chasing and bribing.

After lunch, we went for a walk. You don't realize how big 25 acres is until you walk around on it. We did lots of exploring... the kids just wandered around checking everything out.

Tucker picked the grass and tried to eat rocks. Surprise surprise.

It was fun to watch Chris with Tucker... I know he can't wait for us to move out there so he can teach Tucker to ride, hunt and fish.

Reese totally surprised me. I used to say she was an "inside girl" because she cried anytime we were out in the sun. That has totally changed and she absolutely loves to run and play outside now. She pretty much walked the entire 25 acres. Those little legs were working hard. She wanted to check everything out on her own and wasn't afraid to make her way through the waste high grass.

After our walk we learned how to "skip" rocks. This really consisted of Reese and Tucker throwing rocks in the water. In hind sight, I'm thinking it probably wasn't a good idea to teach them to throw rocks.

Reese has a pretty good arm though... for a girl.

Then we played a little soccer. They are pretty good actually... we might have to get them into a league next year. Did I mention how much I loathe soccer?? I would rather watch golf. Boring. I don't know if I'll be able to handle putting them in soccer. We may have to wait for t-ball or something.

Look at that form. I'm telling you... she's pretty, but she's sporty too. Watch out.

There's a big grove of oak trees at the front of the property and Reese and Tucker had a blast hiding and jumping out to scare each other.

We can't wait for them to get to play like this all the time. Playing in the backyard just isn't the same. They were so happy... and totally pooped when we got done.

We're excited about moving our family out west. Hopefully the house will sell this spring so we can get going on things. Until then, we'll enjoy spending days just playing outdoors. Here are a few more pictures of the land. Everything is pretty brown right now... but just imagine it all green.

It will be such a peaceful, beautiful place to raise our family. Exciting times are ahead for the Tims!