Sandy Beach at Little Elm

I know I don't have to give y'all my excuses for why it's been a long time since I blogged last.



I know that if you read my blog, you recognize that I have four littles... none of whom even potty completely by themselves, let alone get snacks or drinks, print coloring pages, find markers, sort fights, get into car seats, etc.

So I won't bother with excuses.  I'll just say it's nice to finally post these pictures!



We tried out the Sandy Beach at Little Elm a couple weeks ago.  My sister Heidi was here, and she helped me with the bags and bags of stuff you have to bring to the beach when your littles carry nothing and in fact need to be carried.



We had a nice time!  It was hot, of course. And the sun was intense, of course.  But overall I much preferred this experience to the actual ocean beach we visited last year.  The water was calmer, and I wasn't burdened with the constant concern about salty water burning their eyes.  The sand-in-the-eyes is a concern always.  But at least there wasn't the salt and the big waves.



One downside to the lake is that it's not clear.  When the kids go underwater, they are completely hidden.  That was unnerving.  But they didn't go underwater much, and they stayed together and relatively close to Heidi and me anyways.



Charlie really got into his own groove, crawling into the gentle waves and pausing to sit peacefully in waste-high water while he looked around.



All the kids seemed to really enjoy playing in the sand.  Building, scooping, and just feeling the grit between their fingers.



Lunch time came, and we got the kids showered off and piled into the car, thinking if we could just get them home we'd be able to actually get truly clean and dry before our next event for the day.  Unfortunately, I had no idea the funeral procession was underway for the 5 police officers killed by the sniper.  We spent a long time on the road getting home.  



There wasn't time to rest much at home before our next outing of the day.  But the kids did okay anyways.



It was really fun to be able to grant their request for a "trip to the beach" without actually driving 6 hours to the coast.  I definitely want to go to this beach again some time.  I'll just need to make sure I have a helper then, too!

Preston Trail Farms Pumpkin Patch

We tried out Preston Trail Farms this week -- a farm and pumpkin patch about an hour north of Dallas.



There is no way I would have done this outing, had it not been a meet-up for the mom-photographer group I'm a part of.  The meet-up was for 4pm, which meant we were finishing up right around rush hour, dinner time, and bed time.  Despite that, we did make the trip.  And I'm glad we did.  The car ride home was not fun, but the one there was pretty easy, and the kids had a great time.



Included in our admission price was a small cup of animal feed.  Although nobody wanted to feed the animals at first, Lucy and Elliot did quickly warm up to the idea. 

And Elliot especially seemed to enjoy feeding the goats and sheep. 



Oliver was mostly terrified of the animals. 


 It took a while for him to stop clinging to my leg and actually look the animals in their faces.



Even he eventually loosened up, though.



To say Lucy and Elliot enjoyed seeing their friend would be an under statement. 



He is, it would seem, the epitome of "cool" in the kids' eyes.  Lucy and Elliot repeated everything he said, multiple times, laughing all along. 



The hay maze was impressive.  The walls must have been close to 10 feet tall, and they were thick.  It would really have stressed me out if it had been at all crowded.  I couldn't keep all 3 kids in my sight, and I couldn't hear them through the thick walls.  But it wasn't crowded -- our friends were the only other ones there.  The kids went through the maze twice and loved it.



We were all kind of pooped and thirsty by the time we ventured over to the actual pumpkin patch.  Lucy and Elliot were delighted to see the yellow pumpkin blossoms and the green, unripe pumpkins still growing on the vine.  They each got to select a pie pumpkin to bring home -- a relief for me because they had been asking daily to buy a pumpkin.



It was 97 degrees when we were there this week, and the pumpkin patch and hay ride were in full sun.  So we were all pretty hot and tired by the end.



But I think it made for fun memories, and I loved the exposure to farm animals and an actual, real pumpkin patch with pumpkins still growing on the vine.  I wish Daniel could have been with us -- maybe next year.

The Zoo. In July.

Wowsa it's hot outside.



The kids have been asking daily to go back to the zoo since we had a few fun trips there during the spring.
 

I finally relented and planned a trip there for this morning, and one solid friend braved the heat to come with us.



Jennifer was my roommate most of the time I was at A&M and remains one of my best friends.
 

Her daughter Evie is just a couple months younger than Oliver.




We crammed a lot of fun into the two hours we were at the zoo.  We rode the kid train, saw the snakes, saw the monkeys, koalas, and kangaroos...







...fed the goats in the children's zoo (and played in the egg statues and the water nearby)...






...and finally we saw the elephants and giraffes and rode the merry-go-round.



The car was a thousand degrees when we got back to it, but the important thing is that we did get back to it.  The zoo feels like a precarious outing with three little kids, especially in the heat.



But it's fun to go with a friend.  Lucy loved holding Miss Jennifer's hand, and all my kids love Evie to pieces.



Mostly I felt relieved when we were back in the car.  I'm hoping that the kids will be satisfied with this zoo outing until it gets a little cooler in the fall. 

Christmas Eve, Eve -- at the library

I intended to post these pictures a while ago.  We took a family field trip to the library on the day before Christmas Eve. 
 

It was our first trip, all together.  Daniel is usually working when I take the kids to the library, so photographing the kids while collecting books and keeping the kids safe/happy/quiet is not an option. 



So it was nice the day we went to be able to take some pictures of the kids enjoying the toys and books. 



We love this library.  It is a favorite outing, even if it's a little stressful for me. 
 

The use of library book bins in the house has helped me keep my sanity at library time. 
 

At least most of our library books are in one place, and I've done a stellar job of keeping track of the list of books we checked out the last time.




The library is a multi-media event.


Mimi met us at the library that day for a quick gluten-free cinnamon roll snack.  It was a special, random kind of treat.







And the next day was Christmas Eve.  What a fun few days we had at Christmas time.