First two outings of Spring Break
So Spring Break was fun. We visited a quilt show, a few museums and the botanical gardens in Fort Worth. Here are the first few days, with pictures. A LOT of my pictures turned out really cruddy. I took the ones at the quilt show with my cell phone camera. It is obvious I don't have the hang of it quite yet so sorry in advance for some of these.
Saturday, March 14, we ended up finishing our grocery shopping with a trip to the Asian grocery store. That, in itself, is always a fun trip because the kids get to pick out packages of Asian ramen and udon noodles and we all get to pick out our favorite Pocky and Asian candy. We bought some great thick strawberry dessert Pocky and some very thin dark chocolate Pocky along with mango gummies and Philipino povloron. And we always have to get Jasmine tea because my daughter cannot function without it.
Sunday, March 15, was mostly my day because we got to go to the Dallas Quilt Celebration. OMG such beauty! It was actually a lot like going to the art museum in the way they were displayed. I was most impressed by all the 3D quilts! I have never seen anything like them, they were truly impressive. All the quilts were beautiful examples of color use and craftmanship. I am envious of all the serious skillz on display. We saw some of the most striking color combination. I just wish I had taken my good camera so I could share more pictures.I have some that will speak for themselves. And go Flickr some more because mine weren't the best. Of course best of all is to attend a show in your area. They are everywhere and best appreciated in person. Our favorites were the Asian themed, brightly colored and modern quilts.
Monday, March 16, we went to the Dallas Nature and Science Museum. I was so lucky to look up their website before we left because I found out they were offering a free child's admission if you brought in a new paintbrush for Habitat for Humanity. I just so happened to have one laying around so that was awesome, one free admission and they gave me 4 $4 off coupons for the summer. That was a major bargain! We went to the science museum first and did all the interactive exhibits. They had an extensive one on optical illusions and how the eyes work that was so cool but me and my daughter left it with headaches. Here's a dinosaur on exhibit in their kids digging area:
I'm always impressed by how large they were.
And here is as close as you'll get to a picture of me and my kids on this Journal:
Its shows our body temperature. We are the three on the left.
Then we headed outside for a bit of a picnic lunch. Their pond is really sweet with a large art installation that gives the impression of a dinosaur and swan paddle boats. Sorry no pics but here are some turtles who also enjoyed part of the installation:
They had tens of them in the pond and sunning themselves. It was the first nice warm day here in at least a week.
We then headed over to the Nature museum. They had lots of displays of stuffed animals and at first I was a bit dismayed but then I realized some of them were already extinct or close to it (it didn't say where or when the specimens came from) and how else are you going to get 2 feet from a grizzly bear? He was very cute too. I should have gotten pictures but I didn't except for this guy:
No flash photos allowed so they came out kind of dark. Maybe I'll be able to brighten them up later. He is this huge sea turtle fossil found in Dallas from when it used to be under water! We were amazed! We can't wait to go back this summer. The museum is starting work later this year on a new building so they will be able to host more of the larger traveling exhibits. I can't remember the name of the architect but his previous buildings were AMAZING! It will open in 2012. The current collection, however, is worth a visit and fairly affordable. At full price, without an Imax or planetarium show, it would have been $22 for one adult, one young adult and one child.
Next, riding the train for the first time and into the big city
Saturday, March 14, we ended up finishing our grocery shopping with a trip to the Asian grocery store. That, in itself, is always a fun trip because the kids get to pick out packages of Asian ramen and udon noodles and we all get to pick out our favorite Pocky and Asian candy. We bought some great thick strawberry dessert Pocky and some very thin dark chocolate Pocky along with mango gummies and Philipino povloron. And we always have to get Jasmine tea because my daughter cannot function without it.
Sunday, March 15, was mostly my day because we got to go to the Dallas Quilt Celebration. OMG such beauty! It was actually a lot like going to the art museum in the way they were displayed. I was most impressed by all the 3D quilts! I have never seen anything like them, they were truly impressive. All the quilts were beautiful examples of color use and craftmanship. I am envious of all the serious skillz on display. We saw some of the most striking color combination. I just wish I had taken my good camera so I could share more pictures.I have some that will speak for themselves. And go Flickr some more because mine weren't the best. Of course best of all is to attend a show in your area. They are everywhere and best appreciated in person. Our favorites were the Asian themed, brightly colored and modern quilts.
Monday, March 16, we went to the Dallas Nature and Science Museum. I was so lucky to look up their website before we left because I found out they were offering a free child's admission if you brought in a new paintbrush for Habitat for Humanity. I just so happened to have one laying around so that was awesome, one free admission and they gave me 4 $4 off coupons for the summer. That was a major bargain! We went to the science museum first and did all the interactive exhibits. They had an extensive one on optical illusions and how the eyes work that was so cool but me and my daughter left it with headaches. Here's a dinosaur on exhibit in their kids digging area:
I'm always impressed by how large they were.
And here is as close as you'll get to a picture of me and my kids on this Journal:
Its shows our body temperature. We are the three on the left.
Then we headed outside for a bit of a picnic lunch. Their pond is really sweet with a large art installation that gives the impression of a dinosaur and swan paddle boats. Sorry no pics but here are some turtles who also enjoyed part of the installation:
They had tens of them in the pond and sunning themselves. It was the first nice warm day here in at least a week.
We then headed over to the Nature museum. They had lots of displays of stuffed animals and at first I was a bit dismayed but then I realized some of them were already extinct or close to it (it didn't say where or when the specimens came from) and how else are you going to get 2 feet from a grizzly bear? He was very cute too. I should have gotten pictures but I didn't except for this guy:
No flash photos allowed so they came out kind of dark. Maybe I'll be able to brighten them up later. He is this huge sea turtle fossil found in Dallas from when it used to be under water! We were amazed! We can't wait to go back this summer. The museum is starting work later this year on a new building so they will be able to host more of the larger traveling exhibits. I can't remember the name of the architect but his previous buildings were AMAZING! It will open in 2012. The current collection, however, is worth a visit and fairly affordable. At full price, without an Imax or planetarium show, it would have been $22 for one adult, one young adult and one child.
Next, riding the train for the first time and into the big city