A Week with Miss Elena and Miss Malea in Dallas - Days 7&8

So, flights did not work out for today and now we have to figure out what to do with our day.  Elena has decided to open a salon and Grandpa is her first customer.  I actually take a series of shots here that if you play rapidly together become a little video and it is quite funny, but not really postable here.

After some discussion, we remember that our membership to The Perot Museum has a reciprocal for the Fort Worth Museum which has a super cool children's area.  Okay, let's go.  We give Cass a call to see if she wants to join, but she has  an appointment this morning.  Oh well.

We get everyone dressed and in the car heading to Fort Worth for the day.  As we get close, Cass calls and wants to know if it is too late to pick her up.  After a quick GPS check, it is not far out of our way and a detour is made.  Yay!



There is a great little "hospital" in the Children's area and it doesn't take long for Auntie and Elena to respond to a call.  These are happy ambulance drivers, don't ya think?

While Cass and Elena play, I take a few minutes to let Malea loose and get out of the stroller.

She has fun with the toys, but is way more fascinated with what is in the different windows.  The one that she continues to climb over to has a tarantula in it and she just stares and stares at it.

Grandpa comes along and shows her that she can make the balls lift simply by placing her hand on another "hand".  How cool is that for a one year old?

After operating the "grocery store", we decide to check out some of the other rooms and find a bed of nails.  A what?  That's right, a bed of nails.  Well, I cannot resist and so lay down on the platform as the nails are raised under me until they are the only thing supporting me.  Gotta say, it felt pretty good.

The "light" room provides the entertainment for the next half hour or so.  I absolutely love the giant lite-brite and think it is a blast to play with.  Even Malea had fun with this one.

Off to the dinosaur exhibit.  Everyone needs to sit in a footprint, right?  Gives you such a perspective.  She wants a little snack and at least I can contain her here.  We stay here and play while the others go into a movie for awhile.  Soon, it is getting time to go, so a quick stop outside at the water activities and I am surprised that we all come away dry.

Grandpa has discovered another play area outside and soon Malea and Elena are busy crawling around and stacking blocks everywhere.  It has been a fun time here, but time to return Cassie and make a stop for a visit with Mister's Mom.  She wants a quick peek at the girls and we didn't really get a chance to visit at the Mother's Day luncheon the other day.

I have to laugh during the visit because Elena has a conversation with her over cats that reminds me so much of a trip Cassie took to see her Grandma and had a discussion over Lupine flowers.  I giggle several times remembering that while Elena and Grandma H are talking.

Once we get home, Grandpa has promised Elena popcorn and an episode of Strawberry Shortcake before bedtime.  She gets to  make the popcorn in the microwave and watch it as it pops.  I get to hear all about it.  Very cool.

Once we have the girls settled in, the doorbell rings and it is Jon and Louis looking for a place to stay the night as they have a flight the next day to Detroit.  They crash on the sofas, but not until after Grandpa has gotten ice cream and Fig Newtons for Jon.  I cannot believe how big this kid is getting.  Amazing.

We are flying in the morning as well so everyone heads to bed for some much needed sleep.

We opt out of the early morning flight giving us a little bit more time to get everyone packed and ready to go.  This promises to be a very long day, but we will do the best we can.  Flying stand-by with kids is scary, but Elena knows that they "might say no" to us.  She always counters it with "might say yes" though, making me smile.  Here we go.

Arriving at the airport, we check their bag and car seat.  Elena is not happy that the items are not staying with us.  We explain that they are going under the plane and she calms down somewhat until Aunt Cassie shows up and takes Malea to visit with her co-workers.  Now Elena thinks we are leaving Malea behind and it takes a few minutes before she understands that we are keeping Malea with us all the way home.  Goodness.

We get through security and wait for the first flight.  They say no.  Ugh.  Let's go find a play area.  We discover that the Dallas airport has wonderful play areas in each terminal.  Yay.  We have things to do now and the kids are perfectly content playing until the next flight.

Once again, they tell us no.  Time for the tram to another terminal and another play area.

The tram, the escalators, the moving sidewalks -- all become part of the big playground that is called an airport.  Soon, it is lunchtime and Elena wants chicken nuggets.  Sorry, Mom.  McDonald's is pretty much our only choice for those.  Malea kicks back and enjoys her french fries.  I love how she kept her foot up the whole time.

After a trip to the next gate and being told no again, we went in search of another play area.  This one had a great screen that followed each move Elena made.  Pretty cool.  We had this play area all to ourselves for a couple hours which was nice.  We colored, played, had snacks, played, napped, played, etc.  I am not sure that the girls even knew they were hanging out in an airport all day.

Finally, at around 5, we are able to get a flight and head to Denver.  Once there, we dash to the next gate and receive seats to Billings.  Yes!  Mister and Elena are treated to first class and she is pretty content once she settles in and loves seeing the lights as we leave Denver.

This has been a great week.  I cannot wait to do it again.  The girls are awesome and just a joy to be around.  Gammy needs to start saving now so that I can do it again before the summer is over -- or maybe this fall since Elena isn't officially in school yet.  Hmmn.