Month: July 2019

A Week in the Life of Grandparents

Last week we had a wonderful week with two of our younger grandsons. Both of their parents work, and that particular week we decided to keep them. First of all, dealing with younger kids is exhausting but fun! Their parents dropped them off Sunday afternoon. Monday we drove to Houston to take them to the Johnson Space Center. First, we ate at a wonderful restaurant called Joe Lee’s. They have really good seafood. We got one child’s plate of popcorn shrimp. It came with two veggies. There was so much food that we fed both boys, who have healthy appetites, and had food left over. We got butterflied shrimp. It was great, and we had ample food also. Then we decided to go to the Space Center and ride one of the tram rides so that we would have more time the next day. When we arrived the power was off in the main building, but the rest of the buildings had their power. That took about an hour and a half because the boys were amazed by the Saturn V rocket. It was the hit of the trip. By the way, we could go for such a short period of time because we had a membership and didn’t have to pay for each day separately. We have twelve grandchildren and have been able to take all of them at some point during the year with the membership. After that we went back to the motel to swim.

We got up the next morning, and went back to the Space Center. By about 1:30pm. the boys had had enough and were ready to go. They are only first and third graders. We drove back home and put them to bed after supper.

Wednesday they went to “the cousins” house to play with the boys. Thursday, we took them to see other cousins. They normally don’t get to see these relatives because they live in Arkansas, and we live in Texas. Friday we visited the Dallas World Aquarium, which is actually more like an indoor zoo. Air conditioning on hot summer days in Texas is really appreciated. Saturday, we met their parents half way and dropped them off.

Then on Saturday on our way home we picked up three grandsons who spent the night and cut our grass for us. After church, their family came and picked them up and left the two older girls to spend the rest of the day with us. My daughter-in-law picked the girls up at 10pm.

As you can see, we really enjoy our grandchildren. They keep us busy, but we have a great time doing things with them.

BOTD: Monk Parakeet July 13, 2019

Monk Parakeet eating acorns in parking lot around White Rock Lake

For years there has been a colony of these birds living around the lake. I’m not sure how they got started, but they have grown in numbers since I first saw them. You can hear the entire flock long before you ever see them. There is never any doubt as to when they are in the area.

For more information on Monk Parakeets please follow this link to Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Monk_Parakeet. There is also an app for your phone called Merlin Bird ID. It is very helpful because you can take a picture of a bird and ask for an ID. It is supported by Cornell also.

The Dallas Arboretum July 12

Dallas has a world class arboretum. Visitors come from all over the world to see the lovely flowers and exhibits. We visited today to see an exhibit that is being shown there. It is by Gary Lee Price and is titled “Celebrate the Children.” In various parts of the arboretum the statues are tucked away. The first set of statues is right at the entrance of the gardens.

In the garden area where fresh fruits and vegetables are grown near the Tasteful Place building are two statues, a boy and girl holding a basket of produce. In this area, you can taste samples of food. The recipes are on the website. They also have cooking demos. Across from the building is a covered area with fans, where you can sit and cool off on hot summer days while looking out on a water fountain.

As you walk back to the main garden area, there is an area full of beds of different flowers. In this area, there is a statue of a small boy with a watering can.

Further down on the left side in front of the Degolya house are statues of children jumping on pogo sticks. The Degolya house is the house where the original owners of the property used to live. At Christmas, an exhibit of thousands of Nativity scenes or Nutcrackers is set up in the house.

Back in an open area where children can play another set of statues sits. It is of children playing ring a round the rosie. As you walk down the path across from the walkway to the frog fountains and the restaurant, another statue resides. It shows children jumping out from a globe. A little further down the path to the right is a statue of a baseball player. Then along the main walkway there is a wonderful statue of two young children carrying a basket of flowers.

There are five other sets of statues of children in the main garden. There may be others in the Children’s Garden, but we did not visit that area. My favorite two are the following.

I have many other pictures of the arboretum. They are on my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GrannyShotIt. If you would like to see them, please go to that site.

Also, if you need any other information on the Arboretum, please visit their website: https://www.dallasarboretum.org.