The Lee Family: The Arboretum

Today we headed into Dallas to check out the Arboretum's annual "Dallas Blooms" exhibit that includes over 1,000 tulips! It was extended this year by a few weeks due to the cold weather we've had, but nearly all of the tulips had already peaked. That said, the Arboretum was as lush and beautiful as ever. It was also very crowded due to the beautiful weather. Just after we arrived and started walking the loop, we ran across our first "princess" (a girl taking her quinceanera photos). Both girls stopped and stared at her for a full five minutes, it was so cute. We continued on and ended up at the great grassy area, where huge peacocks were made out of flowers and plants. We decided to sit in the grass while the girls ran around and played and they loved it. Of course, they created some elaborate story and had a ball running around. At one point, they grabbed their waters and sat at the far end of the grassy area from us to drink and talk together.

After our break, we continued on through the beautiful Arboretum and finally made our way to the Children's Garden, which Sofia and CK hadn't yet visited. Along the way, CK and Sofia noticed a blanket with three young ladies dressed as "fairies". They walked down to visit with the fairies and Olivia and I caught up in the stroller. The girls were all about high school age and one of the girls was very sweet and played the part perfectly. She gave both girls a little bottle of fairy dust. Sofia was a bit sceptical of the girl's wings and wondered why they were so small and how she could possibly fly (since she wasn't small). The girl was a pro and told Sofia that they worked because she believed they would. You could almost see Sofia think this over for a bit and wrestling with what she thought possible. It was very sweet of these girls to share their magic with us and other girls at the Arboretum.

We continued on and had a quick snack before heading to the play area of the Children's Garden. Both girls loved playing in the little house, sandbox, and lilly pad stream. Of course, even though Sofia has a broken collar bone, she ran and jumped and played as hard as ever. In fact, I'm convinced she plays harder now that she isn't able to do anything physical at school and must sit out both recess and P.E. Olivia is like a little duck, and follows her sister everywhere and tries to do just what she does.

From there we headed toward the maze, but just before we made it to the entrance the girls wanted to check out a little exhibit that included looking at various things under a microscope, including ladybugs. Each girl got their very own ladybug to take home and they were able to wear it as a necklace. Of course, Sofia wanted to let hers go right away, so she did and Olivia soon followed in letting hers go. Another table included games and illusions that tricked the eye/mind, which Sofia was really interested in. Just after we arrived a 9 or 10-year old girl was lost and crying for her Dad, so I took her with me to find him. We finally did reconnect with him and she was so sweet about it all. I remember that feeling of fear and dread and was glad to be able to help. Sofia spent a long time doing the mind exercises, so Olivia and I got started in the maze. CK and Sofia soon joined us and we enjoyed exploring the maze and finding the fairy garden, musical chimes and all the little details within the maze. Olivia was so tired and barely hanging together, so we headed back to the car, loaded up and both gals were asleep in no time. Such a fun day!

Olivia and Sofia watching the princess....