Swim meet Grandparents and Some Shopping

We haven't had a grandparent day in quite awhile so today we are off to The Colony to watch our grandson, Jon, at a swim meet.  Mom and Dad are unable to attend, leaving us this opportunity to cheer him on.  After a crazy attempt to get a cup of coffee (The Colony definitely has a dearth of shops) and a stop at the post office to mail a couple of packages, we arrive at the aquatic center with about 1/2 an hour before the meet starts.  It is just enough time to watch him warm up and say hello.

Pumpkins at the DMA

After a quiet day yesterday, Mister are I are up and out of the house.  We have tickets to a new exhibit at the DMA today and might as well enjoy the entire day.  After a brief discussion on where to go for coffee, we opt for breakfast too and Cafe Brazil is the winner.  We haven't been here is such a long time and since we have arrived before the church crowd, there are spots at the bar with no waiting.  Score.  I order a latte (which arrives in a mug the size of a soup bowl) and Fruit Pancrepes.  Oh, yes!  This is why I go to Cafe Brazil occasionally.  If you're gonna splurge like this, do it right.

Friday Evening Fun

Mister works from home on Fridays and it's fun to have him around the house but it also has the advantage of when he is finished with the tasks for the day, he is already home and available for activities.  Today there is one that starts at 5:00 p.m. in our neighborhood and we are lucky enough to be able to attend.  White Rock Coffee is one of our favorite hangouts (as everyone knows) and they have built a barista training center right next door to the shop.  For two hours tonight, we have the chance to see the new facility and try some fun coffees.  What a fun way to start the weekend.

Hyrum and Zyra's Emergency Request

While I was at the beach retreat last week, I received a call from my grandson, Hyrum.  He wanted to know if I could repair some toys for him and his sister, Zyra.  He starts talking about a hat and a neck and pretty soon I have to ask, "Are they stuffed toys?"  He answers in the affirmative and now I feel a bit more at ease.  What grandmother wouldn't say yes to such a sweet request?  Not this one.  I hung up and kind of put it out of my mind until today.  Mister went out to the front porch to water the plants and asked if I was expecting a box.  Then he looked at the return address and knew what it was right away.  (I had called him from the beach and told him about their request.)

He checked the clock and asked if I could have it all finished and back in the mail before the post office closed today.  That gave me two hours and it shouldn't take anywhere near that so I said yes.  While I went to find thread, he was busy setting up my work space and I returned to a hospital operating table.  Okay, I can play this game too.

DART Tripping Around the Metroplex

Since Dallas has decided to give itself a self-imposed gas crisis, my sweetie was unable to get gas on the way home Thursday.  As a result, we are spending the day exploring the metroplex via public transportation.  I love it when we do this as we never totally know where it will lead.  The only for sure part is to go say goodbye to the Australian animals at the zoo.  Otherwise, who knows?

At 6:45 a.m. we leave the house to walk the 1/2 mile down to White Rock Coffee, which also happens to be the bus stop.  The sky is crazy cool this morning.  Love it.

I realized that I have never spotlighted our favorite coffee shop.  I love this little place.  It has a great vibe (although not this early on a Saturday morning) and is very community oriented.  They roast the beans themselves and make all the sandwiches in house as well.  Each day there is a housemade pastry as well.  Oooooh, they are so yummy.

Good-bye Morning at the Zoo

We have just been informed that our Koala Walkabout area of the zoo is losing their animals due to highway construction near by.  This saddens me so very much but not like it does my sweet Mister.  He is so very, very unhappy.  The koalas, emus, wallabies, kangaroos, lorikeets and kookaburras are all bering relocated at other facilities.  The lorikeets are one of my grands absolute favorite parts of the zoo and that will be tough to explain the next time they visit.

We are traveling by DART this morning due to the self-created gas crisis in Dallas and that means we are there when the zoo opens.  Perfect.  We do stop by several exhibits on our way to the Walkabout but it is the main focus of our day and this post.

As we pass the flamingo pond, three of the four babies are spotted.  Too cute.  They have lost the initial white and are now grey.  At some point they will be pink like the adults due to their diet.

Oregon Vacation - Days 7 & 8 - Portland/Home

Dang.  This is our last day of fun as we fly home tomorrow.  As low key as we have kept this, time has still zipped by.  The one thing that ha happened, though, is that I think we both have fallen in love with this area.  We could live here and that's saying a lot because of all the places we have traveled, rarely do we have this desire.

Leaving the car behind, we are public transiting it today.  After catching a bus downtown, we make a return trip to Spella.  Yes, it is that good.  Now for a walk down the street and a quick stop at the Pioneer Mall for facility use before wandering about all day.  Yep, nature does call now and then.