Trip to Texas

We spent a week in Texas due to a conference Adam had. Gwen and I toured around the area of Dallas and Fort Worth. We stayed with our friends Sheila and Vince Taylor on the way out. It was so nice to see them. Sheila is due November 9th with a baby girl. Sheila and I grew up together in Battle Creek and have thankfully stayed in touch.


Gwen and I visited the botanic gardens of Fort Worth on Tuesday which was Adam and my third year anniversary. The weather ranged in the mid 90's, and of course the humidity was nice and high. We sweat a lot and had red cheeks a lot too. We didn't have any pictures of that. Most of the flowers had past their peak beauty, but it was still nice to experience the grounds.

After the gardens, we picked Adam up for dinner. We went to one of our favorite restaurants P.F. Chang's. Gwen was asleep at first, so it was nice to have some time together alone. Then once Gwen woke up we ate and played with her. These are some pictures at dinner.



The next day Gwen and I visited the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. The art in the back ground is a glimpse of what we saw. It was absolutely fantastic to spend time and not be rushed with each piece of art. I would read about the art out loud to Gwen. The security guards were chatting with us. Most days the people we talked with were a highlight as well. Gwen is a magnet to chatty people who just want to talk about her. It was fun for me.

Both pictures above are from the view where we ate lunch. It was delicious. They had a cold pumpkin soup and a citrus vinegrette salad and lemonade. The sculpture is an example of just the kind of thing I loved looking at and admiring. We had a good time getting some culture in.



Then Gwen and I still had some time before Adam would be ready to be picked up for the day, so we put the blanket down outside of the museum and played with some toys, read and stretched Gwen out rather than sitting all day in the stroller or such. There was a nice water fountain in the back ground too.




Now we are to Thursday. We gals headed to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was fairly large and had a great variety of animals. I heard that one was the best in the area. Another spouse and 2.5 year old joined us, so that was fun. It's only the 2nd time I had spent time with them, but it was really nice to have the company.

These parrots were in an enclosed area where they could fly freely around you. Of course, one zoomed right by my head and made me scream. Heidi, the other spouse, thought that was funny.
































Friday, we gals ventured into new ground in Dallas this time. We visited the Dallas World Aquarium. I thought the admission was atrocious, but it was really worth it. It really meant WORLD aquarium. They had the different locations labeled and in individual areas. They had a sloth...it reminds me of "Ice Age" the movie. They had a waterfall with black necked and white bodied swans floating along, but then you could go down a level and see the creatures below the surface. There were enormous catfish, a manetae, large turtles and other large fish. Then you could view sharks in a tunnel atmosphere....where they swim all around you. Gwen didn't like that one much. They also had spiders and snakes, sea horses that were 3 months old...super cute...one of my favorites. There were so many wonderful animals that I can't begin to write about them all. It was a blast to say the least. Here are some pictures of the experience.












Spotted sting rays and turtles together.

Poison blue frogs. The glass had moisture on it, so it's hard to see them.

They even had penguins.

Oh, I could go on and on....just like when you get me talking sometimes. ha ha ha