Day 19

Friday, June 28, 2013

Today was a very long and tiring day.  We started off earlier than normal in order to get ready for the museum and the last day of art camp.  I dropped the girls off and came back home to finish getting ready.  Melinda and I watched part of another Glee episode before heading over to moms to get ready for the museum trip.  Mom, Caleb, Melinda, and I loaded up in moms car and headed to art camp to pick up the girls.

We made a little pit stop at a local boutique called Groovy's before leaving Forney.  They have super cute clothes, shoes, jewelry, and knick-knacks.  I got a pair of Toms and Melinda found a super cute dress on the sale rack-SCORE!

Once we were done shopping, we headed into Dallas for lunch before we got to the museum.  There is a fabulous restaurant call El Fenix right across the street from the Perot museum.  I was telling Melinda that it is a family owned business that has been around the DFW area for years.  Now, they don't qualify as a 'good' Mexican restaurant in my book, but it is a decent one that we have always gotten good service at.  ('Good' in my book means that they have real, freshly hand-made tortillas, not store bought ones that I could have warmed up at my house.)  Melinda commented on how all of the wait staff and employees were asking how everything was and if our food was good and if there was anything else they could get us.  I told her that customer service is extremely important here.  It'll make or break a business.

Melinda and Ally (Tita, Caleb, and Abby in background)
in front of the El Fenix in Downtown Dallas

After lunch, we headed over the the museum.  We saw a 3-D movie called Wildest Weather in the Solar System.  Everyone was amazed by the wild weather!  Once the movie was over, we headed into the museum.  We started with the Solar System, then headed into the dinosaur area, and finally the birds.  This was all on the top floor!  Then we got to feel what it's like to be in an earthquake after Abigail participated in a mock weather report.  We moved into the area with all the pretty rocks and minerals, which is Abigail's favorite part.  There was a lady there demonstrating and talking about the different types of minerals.  After this, we moved into the living science area.  Ally and Melinda participated in a science experiment called Giant Chromosomes and Abby and Caleb participated in one called DNA extraction.  They all loved this part!  They were able to go through the experiment on their own and they learned so much.  After they were done with their experiments, we headed downstairs to the Recycle Reef.  This area is temporary exhibit dedicated to encouraging people to recycle by creating a reef entirely out of recycled paper and cardboard.  This was also a lot of fun because they were able to be creative with their designs.  Once they placed their items in the reef, we headed into the sports gallery.  In here, they tested their reaction time, saw themselves in slow motion, and raced a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  By this time, we had been at the museum for almost four hours and we hadn't even seen everything!  It is a really amazing museum and we may just have to go back again before the summer is over.

The main entrance of the Perot Museum

All ready to see the movie

Melinda and Ally working on their experiment

Hard at work!

Beautiful scientist

Abigail working on her experiment.
 

On the way home, mom needed to stop at the mall for some things.  We dropped her off and headed to  Sonic to get a drink.  The kids were all exhausted and the drinks were very helpful in holding us over until dinner.  We picked mom up and headed back to Forney.  Thankfully, I had put something into the crock pot before we left this morning, so dinner was ready when we arrived at home.

Pot Roast with vegatables

After dinner, we watched a movie that Melinda had recommended to us.  It is called Fateless.  It is a true story about a young Hungarian boy who was taken to a concentration camp in Germany.  It was similar to the Holocaust movies that I have seen before, but watching it with Melinda added a different twist. She was very moved by the movie, as were we, and I especially loved the message that he closed the with.

Now, we obviously did not have any discussion time after the movie since I am just now getting to write this blog, so now I've got to finish up Saturday.  Good night!