Dallas Children’s Aquarium

This little children’s aquarium has been at Fair Park since 1936 and had an $8 million remodel in 2010 and I had never heard of it until April of this year. At the beginning of May we had a free morning to give it a shot and so the girls and I loaded up and headed for Dallas. It’s really a great little aquarium with all kinds of interesting creatures and a lot from Texas waters. They also have a touch tank near the front that the girls really liked, but the absolute highlight for them was feeding and touching the sting rays! We must have spent over an hour just doing that and the girls would have happily stayed longer. On our way out I decided to go ahead and apply our admission to season passes because they were already asking me if we could come back soon.

No one else was there so the girls got an impromptu lesson on a sea turtle rescue.

The staff was really wonderful and kind to the girls. They gave us the number to call before coming so we could check to see how many field trips they had scheduled because they wanted to save us a trip if it was too crowded. So great!

Zoo 1.26.2015

Zoo  1.26.2015

We love having a membership to the zoo! It was a beautiful day so we headed over there. Nadia took some seashells and the research she did to make a trade at the Texas Nature Traders and then we wandered around enjoying the cool weather.
Zoo  1.26.2015

Zoo  1.26.2015

Zoo  1.26.2015

Zoo  1.26.2015

Zoo  1.26.2015

Zoo  1.26.2015

Magic School Bus – The Human Body

MSB - Human Body
Click to see on Amazon

Nadia has been wanting to learn as much as possible about biology and so we decided to do the Magic School Bus: A Journey into the Human Body science kit. The full color workbook that comes with it is filled with cool facts about the body. There is an experiment on muscles, joints, the heart, taste, and more. The kit comes with everything except basic things found in the house like a water bottle and food coloring.

MSB - Human Body
Heart muscle experiment
MSB - Human Body
Leg Muscle Experiment
MSB - Human Body
Why do we get dizzy?
MSB - Human Body
Taste bud mapping
MSB - Human Body
No peeking!
MSB - Human Body
Lung

I think the Magic School Bus experiments are fun for all kids, but especially those who already like the show. We have 10 more in our set, so I will continue to post as we complete them. {affiliate link included in this post}

Homeschool Day at the Zoo

10.2.2014
Homeschool Day at the Zoo

My friend Kathy and her daughter Rieley came to town to see friends and go to homeschool day at the zoo with us. Nadia and Rieley immediately went to holding hands and have a great time as we walked around the zoo. We had a great time as we usually do, but the only strange thing was that the zoo seemed TOTALLY empty compared to prior homeschool days. The weather forecast was calling for severe weather later in the day and we experienced a few sprinkles as we walked, but I don’t know if that had anything to do with it.

10.2.2014
The baby elephants make me happy
10.2.2014
Tough guy!

10.2.2014

10.2.2014

10.2.2014

Dani is not in this photo because shortly before this I told her I needed to change her diaper and she flipped out. She had one of her monster tantrums that lasted a good 30 minutes. At least at homeschool day at the zoo the other parents look at you with empathy instead of scorn. Kathy was impressed to see one of the tantrums in person. Once we finished up it was time to head home and put the kiddos to bed. We planned to meet up for dinner and Kathy headed back to her hotel. Then the severe weather hit with a crazy wind, hail, and sideways rain. The power went out at the hotel and our lawn furniture went flying. Then as fast as it started it was over.

We headed to meet Kathy and Rieley for dinner and they got to the restaurant first, but it was closed because the power was out. I gave her the address of another place and it look us at least 20 minutes to go about 2 miles because the street lights were out too.  We finally connected at Torchy Tacos and had a nice dinner out on the patio in the cool breeze that the storm brought to town 🙂

10.2.2014