Father's Day 2011 (a week late...)

Since CK celebrated Father's Day with his Dad in Florida while Sian and the girls were visiting, we decided to push off our Father's Day celebration by a week. In the lead up to Sunday June 26th, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best place to take CK to celebrate since he always does such a great job of taking me to fun, delicious, interesting restaurants for Mother's Day. I considered a top rated fish house downtown, but then decided that he'd be more up for something other than fish, and going to a steak house for Sunday afternoon seemed too heavy. So, after a bit of searching I decided on The Grape Restaurant which is noted by Texas Monthly as having the very best burger! It seemed like it was a bit of a gastropub which reminded me a lot of our time in London too, so I figured we'd give it a shot.

After Meeting, we headed into Dallas and we were both very pleasantly surprised by the restaurant. It was a great atmosphere (thankfully I made reservations because they were turning people away), and we soon found that the food was fantastic. A great way to start of celebrating CK's (belated) Father's Day! After stuffing ourselves, we headed home where he and Sofia took naps and relaxed. Then, before they got into the pool for some afternoon swimming, CK opened his presents. Sofia and I framed a drawing she'd done that included a tracing of her hand holding a flower. She signed her name after I wrote "Happy Father's Day 2011. I love you, Papa!" She also got him a new tie with ducks on it that she picked out and a new cologne that we discovered the last time we were in Ft. Worth. We had a great celebration and enjoyed honoring such a great Papa!

Sofia and Papa at The Grape





Reading his homemade card from Sofia (ok, I helped a little bit...)


Happy Papa and Sofia


Opening his cologne and tie from Sofia


Opening his new art work!


I got him a smoker for the BBQ (we'll see how well it works) and a pizza peel

Auntie Shirl Visits

We picked up "Auntie Shirl" as Sofia calls her, on Friday afternoon so she could attend the baby shower. Although she was only able to stay for the weekend, it was great to have her visit and Sofia followed her absolutely everywhere! On Friday night we all swam in the pool and had a bbq chicken dinner outside, which was great other than Aunt Shirl's affinity to lure every single mosquito to her in a 100 mile radius! We finally had to go inside because she had many bite marks. It was great to have her with me at the shower and I'm glad she was able to meet my friends. After the shower, we returned to the house and just read and relaxed (CK and Sofia were at a birthday party for one of her school friends). She and I then headed to Central Market and picked up all sorts of yummy food for dinner, including a lovely piece of salmon which she grilled on our bbq. It was a delicious meal! The next morning, we had to say goodbye to Auntie Shirl, but look forward to seeing her and Uncle Steve in a week in Santa Fe!

Grilling Salmon - delicious!


Sofia and Auntie Shirl.

Baby Shower

On Saturday, June 25th, my girlfriends threw me a baby shower to welcome Baby Lee #2. It was hosted by Michelle, Katie, Carey, Thelma and Yessica. Three of those ladies have babies less than three months old, so I felt very honored that they took it upon themselves to host a shower. It was held at Brio, a great Italian restaurant in Southlake, where we had our own private room. Michelle had a few games that we did to begin the festivities (I was terrible at them all) and then we had a wonderful brunch together. Although a lot of the gals didn't really know each other before the shower, it seemed like everyone really hit it off and had a fun time together. After brunch, I opened gifts. I had registered for a few things, but honestly didn't really expect anything and only needed a handful of essentials. So, I was really surprised by all the great gifts (even those I'd registered for, since I'd forgotten about them!). It was such a fun afternoon and was so special to have all my friends together in one room. I'd love to get them all together again sometime (although no more baby showers in my future!).

A picture of the group!

Sian and Her Girls Visits

From June 15- 21st, my college buddy Sian and her two daughters, Danielle and Holland, visited us! Before they arrived I sketched out a list of things we could do or see while they were in the area and was so excited to host them. Basically from the time we picked them up at the airport until we dropped them off, Sofia was obsessed with following both girls around, but particularly Danielle, which was interesting because in past get-togethers, Sofia and Holland had always played together. Danielle is 13 and going through that stage that everything is 'boring' and she's not sure what to do with little kids (I remember feeling the same about little kids at her age). So, wherever Danielle went, Sofia was right behind! Of course, if Holland wanted to play or did something interesting, Sofia was happy to play with Holland, as well. It was such a fun visit and great to reconnect with Sian while the girls played together. I'm hoping they visit next summer too!

Watching Danielle play on her computer....the girls were upstairs a lot and I suspect this is what they were up to!


Taking a reading break together


Holland gives a piggy back ride


Holland and Sofia playing at the mall


Exploring the strange world of Aqua Sand, a gift from Sian and the girls. Sofia loved it!


Swimming with Danielle and Holland - a daily ritual


Hanging out with Sian

Rain Forest Cafe

For lunch on Monday June 20th, we decided to visit the Rain Forest Cafe. CK and I took Sofia there for lunch when she was maybe 18 months old and all the animals, especially the gorillas, really scared her. Also, we thought the food was terrible, so we'd never been back. What a difference time makes! First, Sofia LOVED it all! When the animals made noise and the lights flashed, she was completely fascinated (although still wasn't a huge fan of the gorillas and kept asking why they are so loud and make so much noise). She fell in love with the elephants and loved the whole experience, including the gift shop visit after. Also, the food was surprisingly good and the entire experience was really a lot of fun! Of course, Sofia tracked down the lady who was making balloon animals and asked for a lady bug.

After lunch, we decided to walk around the mall and visit a few of Danielle's favorite clothing stores. It was really a lot of fun, although I was a little more than shocked that the teenage store "Forever 21" has a maternity section - yikes! While Danielle and Sian shopped, Holland, Sofia and I took a train trip around the mall, which was pretty exciting (especially to Sofia). She waved to everyone when we'd choo choo past. After, we all visited the Lego Adventure Gift Shop and also visited another candy shop. It was a fun day of walking around and exploring the mall.

Sofia and one of her favorite animals at Rain Forest Cafe - the alligator


The girls and the Rain Forest Frog


Sofia and her frog sippy cup and toy


At lunch (it was very dark inside, so the photos aren't great)


THe elephants, Sofia's second favorite animal at Rain Forest Cafe


Sofia asks for a ladybug


The awesome lady bug!!


By one of the fish tanks


Inside the gift shop with Danielle and Holland


On the train, ready to go!


In the candy store


A long, full day of fun!

American Girls

Once the girls found out that Dallas has an American Girl store, we decided to make a trip to visit and have lunch at their cafe. I'd been once before when my girlfriends from DC visited, but Sofia had never visited. Sian and the girls have visited the Los Angeles store, which is apparently huge and more like a museum. It was interesting to walk around and see all the different dolls and clothes and Sian explained how some are discontinued and new dolls are unveiled. They really are beautiful (and expensive), and maybe someday Sofia will be interested. As I suspected, she was far more interested in playing with the little things like the picnic set, instead of the dolls. I think she loves all the little toys and goodies that go with dolls, but has never really taken to them for whatever reason.

At lunch, the receptionist gave us two "loaner" dolls and high chairs for our meal, and Sofia had a ball!! She played with the dolls and her turtle the entire time and enjoyed having a tea party with them while we waited for our food. The food was surprisingly good and the experience was really very fun! The cafe wasn't very full, but those who were there had their dolls and it was obviously a real treat to be there.

Unfortunately, Sofia had a touch of hand, foot and mouth from our visit to Alice, Grayden and Audrey so eating anything beyond cheese sticks was difficult for her. Otherwise, she was in a surprisingly good mood during the week she had her mouth sores. Poor girl.

Looking at the doll display, with turtle in hand


One of the doll displays


At lunch in the cafe


Playing with her dolls


Having a tea party with her doll friends and turtle - endless entertainment.


At a candy shop inside the mall, which we visited right after American Girl


Two photos from a VERY hot visit to Ft Worth! Sofia rode several of the mechanical horses - her favorite thing to do in Ft. Worth


Going through the maze.....we ended up giving up since it was unbearably hot out!

Ice Skating!!

One of the most fun days we had together was our visit to the Galleria's ice rink! Holland really wanted to ice skate and Sofia, not having any real idea of how to do it, wanted to go as well. Sian decided to go with the two girls to help Sofia, since I couldn't get on the ice with my big belly. As the girls put their skates on, Sofia was so excited and I just couldn't believe how comfortable she was in skates! Once they were on her feet, she jumped up and walked in them as if she were still in shoes. She didn't wobble or feel uncomfortable at all, and stopped holding my hand and walked to the rink all by herself. After Sian did a practice run by herself, she helped Sofia onto the ice. Sian and Sofia went around the rink with Sofia holding onto the rail with one hand and Sian's hand with the other. They were pretty slow at first, but soon were going around the rink pretty quickly with Sian saying that Sofia wanted to go faster. At times Holland would take Sofia's other hand and the three of them would skate in a row. I was surprised at how good they were and how much Sofia enjoyed it. She wouldn't give Sian a five minute break without wanting to get out on the ice again! Sofia (and I think Sian) had a ball!

Sofia with her skates


All ready to go!


Heading to the ice


Sian and Sofia starting off....


Weeeeee


Holland, Sofia and Sian


Sofia absolutely loved it!


After nearly two hours of skating!

Sandy Lake Amusement Park

On the final day of Sian and the girl's visit, we decided to visit a little amusement park in Carrollton called Sandy Lake, which I'd never been to but had heard about through my mom's group. It was decidedly low key and felt like it was built in the 1950s, but was very cute and manageable for the time we had. It was a hot and very humid day due to the strong thunderstorm we had the night before, so it was good that we only had a few hours to kill. The park had a nice train that took us around the grounds and gave a little tour of what the amusement park offered. It also had a small roller coaster and some other rides that Danielle and Holland were interested in, as well as a lot of "little kid" rides for Sofia. So, we split up at times so the girls could all ride what they wanted, but it's a small enough place that we could see each other and reconnect easily. It was a fun visit, one that I'd do again once it cools down. Before heading back to the car (and into our pool for a swim), we had snow cones that helped cool us all off.

All set for a day at Sandy Lake (with her turtle, of course)


On the Merry Go Round....


Riding the boats


On the Merry Go Round with Danielle and Holland


On the train for our tour


On the roller coaster


I can't tell if they are having fun, but they are in the second car....


Pony rides


The ONE picture of Sian and I together...taken just as we step out of the pool and get ready for the airport...