Springtime in Paris

Well, it was spring break and we were in Paris, TX.  That's as close as we are getting right now ;).  It was a fun day trip with the kids to get to experience a fun town not too far away from us.  We had originally planned for Wednesday, but when Nathan took the van keys our trip got delayed to Friday.  That ended up working out really well though because the museums we visited were only opened on Friday and Saturday.  Then we were contending with rain storms.  It was crazy.  We got to see the cemetery when we first arrived, but then the rain came.  We headed over to the museums and while there it hailed.  It was a bummer to not get to spend more time outside, but overall it was a great trip!

The first museum we went to was about the history of Paris.  One of the interesting stories was about the big fire of 1916, 100 years ago!  Plus there was a lot of antique stuff that we got to see up close and personal!

Check out that piano!

 The fire of 1916.  The map shows the path of the fire over the map of the town.

 Photos of the damage

A picture that helped motivate the people after the fire.

 Tiny Alamo toy house!

 Clark demonstrating how people used to bathe. 

Sandra with an old school roller skate

The touching table!  Time to experience the past!

 Grant

The guide showing the kids the snow cone maker

 Grant demonstrating the donkey pack

Mhari in the telephone booth

 Learning about the iron lung.

The Paris, TX tower

The Paris, France Tower!

Panoramic photos of Paris ... which one is which?  These were in the restrooms!

 Entrance to the restrooms:

Much better once you open the door ;)

The mighty hail came while we were inside.  Gus took a beating!

 Decent size hail

Our second museum!  This one was across the parking lot and holds rotating exhibits.  They also had fun activities for the kids to do. 

Real motorized dinosaur head!

 Craft time

 Of course there is a cowboy hat on top! 

We made it to the Paris tower!

Fun dragon statue and the local college ;)

It was an adventure for sure!  So glad we got out and enjoyed a cute small town!

Let's Go Fly a Kite

We have decided to sell our home in Mansfield and move up into Arlington, TX.  We found a house that has great potential and put an offer in.  After negotiating we settled on a price and we had a contract!  We were shocked really.  I don't think we actually expected to really find something that would work for us!  That also meant that we needed to sell our house!  I think that is maybe even more terrifying that getting a new house.  Plus it all happened so fast!  We got the house ready for pictures and showings and before we knew it we had showings!  

This particular day we ended up with very little notice.  We did what we needed and headed out to the neighborhood park to fly kites.  The kids had a blast and it turned into a great FHE night :). 

Sandra seemed to have the magic touch and never tired of flying the kites.  She even helped her siblings get their kites up in the air.  Jeff met up with us after work and he jumped right in helping with the kites.  It was a very nice evening.  Too bad the wind didn't last just a little bit longer!

Grant 

Talmage

Me helping Mhari

Lorna loves her kite, even if she's not that good at flying it yet :)

Bigness

 Talmage trying to get his kite flying. 

Daddy helping with the tangled kite string.

Clark's kite had gotten stuck in a tree, but after a little help we got it down and fixed up!

Parading Through the Town

It's that time again for the annual Pickle Parade!  We walked the parade with our 4H group  and had a great time!  This time it was our whole family participating!  We lined up with our group and then it was time to walk.  We saw friends from church and homeschool along our path.  Nathan and Tiffany were even there to enjoy the parade! 

Here are some fun pics from the festivities!

Ready to go

 Lorna and Mhari

 Sandra

So much green!

 Walking the path

Lorna was a good little trooper.  She did get tired by the end of the route though.

After having won the volleyball championship it almost felt like a victory parade :) ... almost.

Even though Jeff was there, doesn't mean he was very festive.  I did get him to try on these glasses, for like 2 seconds. 

But he did keep the green bow on the whole time ;)

Happy St. Patty's day everyone!  We had a blast!