Gracie: Birthday #5

My Gracie Girl. She loves water. She loves baths, and swimming pools, and lakes, and waterfalls, and showers, and...yeah.

Every time we go to the zoo, she gravitates toward the fish, so we decided to take her to the BIG aquarium in downtown Dallas for her birthday. Just Gracie, Daddy, and Mama. No siblings - just Gracie's special day. She *loved* it.

The aquarium is several stories tall. You start at the top and work your way down.

We saw otters, a sloth, monkeys, birds, turtles, sting rays...

...but the shark tunnel was everyone's favorite. It is stunning.

 

 

 

  

We topped off the day with Chickfila and cupcakes. HUMONGOUS cupcakes. Oh, and a tea party...

Baby Evlyn: 13 Months

This month, Evlyn started giving kisses to Daddy. He'll say, "kiss?", then she'll tip her chin up and sweetly kiss him right on the lips. Every once in a while, she'll give a kiss to me, but not often!

She also brings me every little thing she can find and hands it to me saying, "heeyah" (here), each time. My violin students get such a kick out of it.

She's sleeping pretty well at night, not too picky with her eating, and loves to waddle every where. Completely delightful.

Donut Date: Dallas Arboretum

 

^^^ Evlyn's first donut. It was goooooood. She even offered kisses in thanks.

Jonah's THIRD donut. (Maybe not as good.)

 

The spectacular tunnel of crepe myrtle trees...

I wasn't sure how Jonah would like the gardens. Turned out, he really enjoyed it! Being out in nature, the hidden gardens, the surprises around every corner, but especially the water falls. Can you find him in this picture?

Theses flowers will always remind me of my sweet boss at the violin shop, George. His wife, Anavern, called these Bachelor Buttons. They smell amazing...

  

The last photo I snapped before my battery died. I'm so glad I captured it. My almost five year old - achingly precious. She ran around the gardens barefoot most of the time, with her hair down, looking so much like a carefree butterfly, I had to stop and soak it all in. I love her so...