The Heard Museum

On Sunday, we met up with one of my best friends from childhood and her son to explore the Heard Science Museum.  We lucked into being there for their 45th anniversary celebration, so the boys got to meet and pet all kinds of animals and pick fossils, but the main event for them was the animatronic dinosaurs.

 

Here they are checking out an ipad app for identifying bird sounds:

 

Tell me that isn't the cutest raccoon you ever saw:

 

The dinosaur trail kicked off with a T. Rex that made the boys nervous...
 

...but the T. Rex wasn't as scary for them as this ferocious guy...
 

...because he was a spitter!  Every couple minutes, this guy would spit a stream of water that looked just like the dino with the ruffle neck in Jurassic Park (minus the ruffle).  It's one of the few times I've seen Grant be afraid of anything!
 

I helped Summer check out the 'little' dinosaurs:
 

Our Dinosaur Cowboys:
 

 

 

Glow Golf

After the aquarium and Lego Land, it was still raining outside, an Grant still had some energy, so we kept on going...

Grant was a little chilly with his shorts in the car, so he was very pleased when he figured out how to put his legs through the arm holes of his fleece jacket:
 

The (next) highlight of the afternoon was this black light glowing golf course that we stopped at with Migi inside another mall.  Grant played 27 holes and got 3 holes in one!
 

Lego Land

After the aquarium and lunch at the Rainforest Café, we headed over to another huge attraction in the mall: Lego Land. 

Steve was entertaining Summer while we waited to go in:

 

Once inside, you take a tour of how Legos are made.  Here's how they are "painted":

 

Grant's favorite part was building Lego cars to race down ramps:

 

 

This room featured miniature replicas of places around the Dallas/Fort Worth area:

 

Dallas buildings made out of Legos (including Uncle Steve's, which is the gold/yellow one 2nd from the right):

Both cousins enjoyed the Lego Princess Palace: 

 

Grant rocked out with the ABCs and "This Little Light of Mine" at Princess Palace Karaoke:
 

 The Lego people worked their magic, because after that visit, Grant is now a big time Lego fan.

 

 

Sea Life Aquarium

Our first stop was the Sea Life Aquarium at Grapevine Mills Mall.  Despite being inside a mall, this place was impressive! 
 

The aquarium was filled with these gopher holes for getting in close with the fish:

 

Grant never wants to miss out on a picture.  (Hat, as you'll see from the next few blog posts, baby Summer is a big fan of the wrap you made!!)
 

One of the big features was this 360 degree tunnel through an aquarium:
 

All of the nice, fancy pictures you see from this weekend will be from Steve's camera:
 

A room above the giant aquarium allowed you to see fish underneath you.  In this picture, Grant is learning about the blue lights above us.
 

Fortunately, this place had a play area that Grant took full advantage of to let his crazy out:
 

 

 

Summer Time!

We finally got out to Dallas to meet baby Summer!  Hayes and Kyle stayed home (since Hayes doesn't seem to love traveling).  Grant and I loved getting to spend time with the family during our weekend full of adventures...
 

John Deere Rides Again

After being out of commission for over a year, our John Deere riding mower is back in business, and Grant helped out with it's inaugural mow:
 

 

 

Grant takes a turn at the wheel:
 

Pullen Park

Our Boys' Club met up at the beautiful Pullen Park in Raleigh.
 

 

Boat Rides:
 

Train Rides:
 

 

Let's hope this is the closest we ever get to a picture of the boys in jail!
 

 

Tickets, please!
 

The fastest carousel ever:
 

Cow Hunt

The Raleigh/Durham area is having a "Cow Parade" so we met up with Sarah & Dylan to check out some cows around the American Tobacco Campus in Durham.

The bull bike rack is always a hit:
 

Grant took this one.  He and Dylan had a great time taking pictures of each other taking pictures.
 

Hayes was obsessed with watching the UPS and FedEx guys:
 

Can you spot the Duke Chapel?
 

Hanging out by the Mellow Mushroom:
 

The "Moo Devil":
 

The night on one side / day on the other cow: