Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Clang, clang, clang went the Trolley!

The last week before school started, we had lunch with Daddy twice! The first time was in lieu of a train event for the "A Christmas Carol" movie gone awry. There had been no parking, and the lines looked to go on for days, so we skipped that and went to the Farmer's Market instead, and then met Todd for lunch.

However, we had already made plans to have lunch with him on Thursday, as well, and so I decided to make a day of it and check out the free trolley that operates in downtown Dallas. I had heard it was a fun thing for kids to do, so we gave it a go!

We parked at one end and rode the trolley to the other end, which let off a couple of blocks from Todd's building.



Keeley was not too thrilled with anything at first. I think she may have dozed off in the car on the way down, so she was a little sleepy and cranky.


The kids were very anxious for the trolley to arrive!




It took a little while, so we goofed off for a bit...


And waited some more...




And cranked some more...


And then found some dried leaves to torture!




And did some scowling...


And some whining to be carried, even though we weren't even walking!


And then, at last, the trolley arrived! Hurray!


It was kind of loud for Keeley, but Luken was thrilled!






Luken quickly decided he didn't want to sit with the girls.






He loved the ride!


Oh, look, we can see Daddy's building from here!


Once we got there, I tried to get a shot of the kids in front of the building, but my lens didn't go quite wide enough!


More hurrays! We spotted Daddy!












Yay, somebody to carry Keeley! (She had whined on the walk from the trolley to the building, so I'd carried her, which was not fun in 100ยบ heat, and I was drenched in sweat. Lovely.)


We walked from Daddy's building to the one across the street via some sort of elevated tunnel walkway thingie that Todd doesn't know the technical term for. There is all sorts of good stuff over there for lunch, but we had promised to get McDonalds and take it back to Todd's actual office to eat. :)




It was fun! The kids enjoyed it a lot. :)




After lunch, it was time to say 'Goodbye' to Daddy!




Keeley managed to walk on her own two feet back to the trolley stop, and we got to ride a different one back to the car!
At one stop, the driver (conductor?) said we'd be waiting a few minutes, and that the kids could come up and ring the bell, which was a little button on the floor! Joy!




Keeley did attempt it, but was up and back too fast for me to get a good photo!

We got to learn a little about the trolleys!




It was fun to look out the windows!


At the end, Keeley was tired, but still beautiful!


It was a really fun trip, and I'm glad I managed to fit that in before school started, so Luken could experience it! Hope you liked coming along for the ride! :D

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Catching up - Day at the zoo!

I'm slowly catching up on the photos I took during the week before school started, and here are the pics from our trip to the zoo!

We went with my friend Susan, and her two boys, Seth and Wyatt. Luken and Seth are best buds!! :D

Kangaroo Keeley!


They boys, caught in a web!


Luken, very absorbed in something very important Seth was saying.


Checking out cool bugs and snakes!


A scorpion under a blue light.


Peeking out in the tunnel!


Hi, Seth!!


Snakessssss....


Susan showing Wyatt some new friends.


Here, Luken was learning how far he could jump relative to other animals!


Good buddies!


Keeley wanted to be in the picture, but I'm sure you can't tell by the look on her face! :D


Sweet boys!


Whispering secrets about the monkeys, I'm sure!


Hello, Mr. Giraffe!


Spinning coins was a big draw.






Luken was VERY excited about checking out the snakes!


They had some poisonous ones.... like the King Cobra!




And the Green Mamba!




\

True love!


There were also alligators...


And this gorgeous guy! His colors and patterns were so neat!


After breaking for lunch, we saw the elephants!


Next, we went back to the Children's Zoo area and played in the stream for a while.
Here is Wyatt enjoying himself!


Some jumping boys!




Keeley delicately hopped back and forth in this spot for a while.


After we cleaned them back up and got them re-dressed, we visited some sort of lizard!


And then got to pet a rabbit friend!




And last, we spent some time around this neat fish pond, with windows all around!


It was so much fun, and we really enjoyed going there with our good friends, even though they were certain the zoo would be closed because of the heat! ;)