Galleria Tree

That is one BIG tree.

Sam and Gram and I visited the Galleria yesterday to see the tree-mendous tree and watch the ice skaters.  The tree was sooo big my camera couldn't fit it all in, so I pulled out my phone and was able to get some good shots!  The first and last pictures show

almost

the whole tree!  So much fun going to Galleria with Sam since I used to come here at Christmas when I was little, too!  Next week we're heading out to Northpark for more Christmas-y window shopping.  Let the holiday fun begin!

Dallas Children's Museum

Sam loved his first museum visit.

We visited the Dallas Children's Museum at Fair Park with our playgroup. It was a great place with different rooms set up for the kids to play in. There was a fire station, complete with a truck/slide, coats and helmets. We explored the theater with fun-house mirrors and the musical instruments station and the construction site, where we pretend-sawed some things in half. Sam's two favorite spots were the water table, where fresh, cold water trickled down from a mountain (and gave giant rubber duckies a place to float) and the farm where we played with fake veggies, collected wooden eggs from clucking chickens and milked Elsie the cow. I liked the backyard exhibit, despite the many glass cases full of creepy-crawly bugs, because the termite tunnel wore Sam out for the long ride home!

World Balloon Convention

Lines at Six Flags? Crowds at Disneyland? Bring it on.

Brian and I took Sam to the World Balloon Convention in Dallas a couple weeks ago. I think the reason they call it the World Balloon Convention is because the entire world was there. The line was unbelievable, though it moved rather quickly. Sam was a trooper, especially considering he'd had a very small nap that day. It was an interesting event. Balloon sculptures of all kinds, everywhere you looked. It was a little hard to see the sculptures, especially for someone short like me, but I think Sam still enjoyed it. At first we thought we weren't going to make it through the whole show because Sam thought he got to take the balloons. Oops! It makes sense because most of his life people have brought him balloons to keep! But this little hiccup was soon over and we were able to walk him through the convention and enjoy the amazing balloon creations!

(giving the balloon a kiss)