I had a great little trip to visit Brian and Celia in Ft. Worth Texas. I wasn't there very long, but we did some fun stuff -- things they hadn't gotten to yet, so it was new for everyone.
Maden's favorite thing to do before bed is read stories. He would sit there as long as I'd keep reading. He never got restless or bored.
Before I got there, they practiced with Maden so he would run to me and give me a hug. He wasn't so sure about the hug right away, but he did give me five and knucklebumps.
In the car at the airport. He wasn't too sure about me being in the backseat with him.
From the airport we went to get some lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Syd had sent a little present for Maden that she bought all by herself at her school's Santa workshop. I had no idea what was in it, but Maden was very excited to see the "gween swime." Green is his favorite color :)
After lunch, we went to a place in a huge mall that has tons of blow up bouncy houses inside. Maden loved climbing, sliding and playing in the bouncers. He went and went for over 2 hours and would have kept going if the adults weren't too tired from all the climbing, sliding, and playing.
This ladder was so hard for us to climb up, but he had no problems
Sliding down after the big climb. He loved it.
This isn't the best picture, but the story is too cute not to share. I climbed up after Maden and waited for him to slide down before I went. Whenever he's catching a ball he holds his hands together like this. At the bottom of the slide, he turned around, put his hands together, said "I'll catch you," and waited for me to slide down to him. He's such a sweet boy.
Taking a rest in one of the bouncers. He has the best smile.
Tackled by Mommy at the bottom of the slide
The bouncy place had a bunch of basketball hoops. I don't know who liked dunking more Maden or Brian ;)
All the bouncing wore him out. I cannot get over how huge his eyelashes are.
The next day we went to a cool place called Fossil Rim. It's a wildlife center pretty much in the middle of nowhere that is home to hundreds of different animals. We saw all types of deer, goats, zebras, giraffes, ostriches, and even cheetahs. You drive around the huge park and stop to look at and feed the animals.
They know cars mean treats. I like this one's stripey face
Big weird goats.
He was one of the biggest Red Deer we saw. He wanted the treats so much he tried to put his whole head in the car. We were more freaked out than he was -- didn't want the tip of his antler getting stuck inside and making him panic to get it out.
Maden liked seeing the deers
He tried really hard to feed them, but the window didn't go down far enough for him to reach. The best he could do was poke it out the very side.
The zebras were the best part of the whole place. They were surprisingly gentle and calm. This one wanted my sunglasses instead of the treats I think.
Celia was in the back and got this picture at the exact time Brian got the one above with my phone. Funny to have a different view for the same thing.
I really loved the zebras. They were so happy.
The next day we did two new-to-everybody things. First we went to the brand new Cowboys Stadium and did a self-guided tour. I'm not a football fan of any sort, but it was fun to see somewhere you usually only see on tv.
Your first view of the field is pretty impressive.
Posing in the end zone
Of course Brian had to see if he could touch the bottom of the upright.
Maden's legs aren't even a yard long :)
Helping Maden kick a field goal
Everybody tackled Daddy
We spent the most time out on the field. Brian loved throwing, kicking, and just running around with the football. When we were thinking about taking the tour, he thought he remembered having a football somewhere, and found it buried in the closet that night. Good thing, since it was his favorite part of the stadium.
We got to see the cheerleaders locker rooms.
In the player's locker room there was a set of pads and jersey for people to try on. Celia and I had fun being goofy for pictures.
Go long!
Too bad I can barely hold a football in one hand, let alone throw it.
Another funny story -- Brian and Celia had been trying to work on family relationships with Maden. They started at Maden and worked out, saying "Maden is Brian's child." In Maden's head that came out children, and everyone was Brian's children, no matter who they were. We'd say "Cindy is Daddy's..." and wait for him to fill in the blank. Every time he'd say children even if we said sister before he could say children.
After the stadium, it was so warm outside. We were glad we'd saved the Dallas zoo for the nicest day.
Maden and I got to see our favorite things at the zoo. I'd heard that you could feed the giraffes at this zoo, so we had to do that. And Maden looooves penguins. He has a little stuffed penguin named Keegan that goes everywhere with him. The giraffes were so friendly and happy to eat our lettuce. This little penguin kept swimming right by us and floating in the water touching the glass when we put our hands out.
Maden thinks he's so big. He knows you have to set the stroller brake with your foot.
Sitting in a little saddle in the children's part of the zoo.
This penguin really was cute. I love the look on Maden's face.
Daddy had to try out the saddle too.
The last thing we did was go get some ice cream. Brian thought he was being smart by having Celia get a cup of mint ice cream -- thinking Maden would like to dig in the "gween ice cweam" with his spoon. It didn't go exactly as he planned.....
It started out ok -- Brian held the cone and Maden licked the top of the ice cream.
Pretty soon Maden was holding the cone and Brian was licking the drips.
Finally Maden took it over completely and had a nice cold and sticky face to show for it.
I'm glad I got to go down and see them for a few days. I hadn't seen Maden since our family reunion in Island Park with he was 6 months old. I Skype with him sometimes, but it's not the same as being there to see all his different facial expressions, hear his cute little voice telling stories and asking questions, and getting to snuggle with him. Brian and Celia definitely did something right to get him as their kid :)
