kids

Grapevine and the Stockyards

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Debora

The kids have been wanting to see the Fort Worth Stockyards, and this week I finally got the magical combination of a Saturday off and nice, non-rainy weather. In the spirit of “little experiences tucked in wherever we can fit them,” we decided to drive to Grapevine and travel by rail to the Stockyards. Grapevine has held a special place in our hearts ever since our first December in DFW, when we were searching for local holiday cheer and found it on Grapevine’s Main Street in sparkly abundance. This is one town that loves Christmas.

So we booked tickets for the Grapevine Vintage Railroad’s round trip to the Stockyards, and got there early enough on Saturday to do a little wandering.

Grapevine has just begun to deck its halls.

We stopped at the Blacksmith Shop, and Luke had fun pumping the bellows while the smithy did his thing at the forge.

Saw this guy crafting something out behind the glassworker’s shop.

At 12:30 it was time to board the train. We pulled out of the station at 1pm, powered by a 1953 diesel locomotive named Vinny.

The cars were looking festive.

The scenery was nice, just turning to Fall. I saw a few parks and trails that I’m looking forward to exploring on foot.

We arrived at the Stockyards Station at about 2:30.

The kids wanted to try out the Cattlepen Maze, so that was our first stop.

There was more going on in the Stockyards this time than the last time I was here (on a Tuesday). More people, more carriages, more attractions and performers.

There was a mechanical bull this time, and of course the kids had to ride that.

Took a detour though Saunders Park. What a pretty little place.

We checked out the Station shops, bought some yummy fudge and explored the old livestock chutes, and then it was time for the cattle drive. Elizabeth staked out a spot up front on the curb…

…while Luke and I found a comfy perch on a wall behind the crowd.

My one complaint is that we didn’t have time to see everything at the Stockyards before the train came back and it was time to leave. An hour and a half isn’t long enough!

Goodbye, Stockyards.

It was getting dark when we pulled into Grapevine Station around 6pm.

It was a fun trip. One of these days we’ll drive out to the Stockyards and explore the whole area at our leisure. And, of course, we’ll be heading back to Grapevine at least once more this year, after all the lights are up and the Singing Christmas Tree has begun its nightly performance. They say December is the darkest and brightest month, and that’s especially true in the Christmas Capitol of Texas.

Categories: Animals, Artwork, Christmas, Family, Holidays, Horses, kids, Life, Travel | Tags: Fort Worth Stockyards, Grapevine Vintage Railroad | Leave a comment

Cake, Corn and Pumpkins

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Debora

My very favorite time of year begins with the start of fall and ends on New Year’s Day. Yesterday after I got off work, the kids and I celebrated the arrival of the Holiday season with cake and cider at Buon Giorno…

…and then headed up the road to Hall’s Pumpkin Farm.

We played in the corn maze…

…saw lots and lots of pumpkins…

…and generally had a nice time welcoming in the Season of Light.

I’m determined to find a way to enjoy the Holidays even though I’m back in retail, and I think this is the secret: little experiences tucked in wherever we can fit them, and celebrating on our own schedule rather than tying ourselves to traditional timelines. Let the magic commence!

Categories: Family, Holidays, kids, Life, Weather | Tags: Buon Giorno, Hall's Pumpkin Farm | 1 Comment

Evening Walk

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Debora

The weather is turning to fall, and the trails are beckoning.

When I was working at Cheddar’s, a coworker told me that I should check out the trails at Bob Eden Park. Thursday afternoon, the kids and I finally got a chance to do that. Turns out Bob Eden Park is just the first in a charming string of parks connected by trails that follow Little Bear Creek. We have explored bits of that creek before, but this section was new to us. Here is the part that we covered on Thursday:

The trails are sort of a continuation of the ones I wrote about in this post, in the sense that they follow the same line of power poles for a while. Really they’re more of a sequel, though, since there is no direct footpath connecting the two areas.

So, Bob Eden Park.

It has sand volleyball…

…a playground…

…and wide open spaces.

It connects to Little Bear Creek Community Park…

…which has tennis courts…

…a picnic pavilion and restroom facilities…

…and more wide open spaces.

At this point the trail forks. We chose the left fork, but we’ll probably go back and explore the right fork at some point. The trail we followed wandered along between the creek and a couple of different roads.

Eventually we came to McCormick Park.

It has a nice gazebo…

…a playground…

…and a handy directory of the trails.

Also, this snake painted on a log:

A little farther along we found another gazebo…

…another playground…

…and this sign, which was tall and hard to photograph.

It says, “The Preserve at McCormick Park,” referencing features such as a bird-watching area and a historic grove.

We continued on…

…but by the time we got to the lake the sun was setting…

…so we headed back.

This is a wonderful trail system connecting some really lovely park areas. We will definitely be back to explore the rest of it.

Categories: A Plethora of Parks, environment, Family, kids, Life, trees, Weather | Tags: Bob Eden Park, Little Bear Creek, McCormick Park | Leave a comment

Texas State Fair

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Debora

The kids and I visited the Texas State Fair back in 2007 on our road trip from California to Georgia and back, when Luke was seven and Elizabeth was nine. We went on an uncrowded Thursday afternoon, had a ton of fun and made some great memories.

Yesterday I had a rare Saturday off, so back to the Fair we went.

It was a different experience this time. It was a lot more crowded, for one thing, and Luke and Elizabeth are a lot older and more worldly now, so most of the wide-eyed wonder was gone. Also, either the Fair has gotten a lot more expensive in the past eight years or it just seemed that way on our current budget.

Still, fun was had. The view from the Biggest Ferris Wheel In The Western Hemisphere is as wonderful as ever.

Obligatory ferris wheel selfie:

We were intrigued by the white things that look like giant swans on the lake in the distance, and a gray thing in the same area that looked like an elephant, so we walked over for a closer look. The giant swans turned out to be swan-shaped paddle boats, which for some reason I didn’t get any pics of other than this one…

…and the elephant turned out to be a sculpture of a mammoth just outside of the Dallas Museum of Natural History.

A nice shot of the ferris wheel from the white bridge on the swan-boat lake:

Of course the rides were the main focus of our day.

Interestingly, Luke and I had different limits when it came to which rides were too intense. For example, Luke would not go on the Viking Boat swing…

…while I wanted nothing to do with the Starship 3000.

Nothing is too intense for Elizabeth. She was the only one of us who was brave/crazy enough to go on this monstrosity. That’s her, second from the top in this pic:

She actually waved in mid-ride when she saw the camera.

We saw some really bizarre funhouses, but one of them had a mannequin in a rabbit suit that was just straight up creepy. It was riding a unicycle and…I can’t really explain it, it just gave me the wiggins.

Shudder.

I was hoping to see some freakishly large animals, but to my disappointment I only found some adorably small ones.

I did enjoy the pumpkin carvings.

And I LOVED the miniature train setup.

The display was labeled “Grapevine” at one end and “Fort Worth” at the other, a tribute to the real-life Grapevine Vintage Railroad.

Then there was this guy:

You can’t really see his face in the pics, but he was basically a dude dressed as a tree, on stilts. Very cool.

On the way home we stopped at Cheddar’s for dinner. I know I haven’t really talked about my recent work adventures here on the blog, but Cheddar’s is where I worked for four months between working in Softlines and my current job. They have some yummy food.

When we got home, the kids showered and got all gussied up for their school dance.

I don’t know where they get their energy. Me, I barely managed to stay awake until it was time to pick them up and bring them home.

All in all, a day (and a small fortune) well spent.

Categories: Family, kids, Life, Road trip, Travel | Tags: Texas State Fair | Leave a comment

A Plethora of Parks: Summit Park and McPherson Park

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Debora

I was chatting recently with one of my SoCal friends who, like me, loves to explore new places and loves public parks. I told her that the kids and I could go to a different DFW park every week and not run out of new ones for literally years. It’s one of my favorite things about the Metroplex.

That conversation got me thinking that maybe other people would enjoy reading about the parks here and what each of them has to offer. Some of them are big, sprawling places perfect for long, scenic walks, while others are more like little picnic spots. I was inspired to start a “collection” of local parks, with pics and descriptions of each one.

We can’t actually visit a different park each week. There’s no shortage of parks, just a shortage of time. But every time we do get to a new one, I’ll add it to my collection.

So yesterday the kids and I were at the Trader Joe’s in Southlake. There are two parks within easy walking distance of the store: Summit Park and McPherson Park.

Summit Park sits on a little hill surrounded by businesses:

The area is a lot prettier in person than it looks on Google Maps. Here’s a view of the park from the top level of the parking garage behind Trader Joe’s:

And here it is as seen from Cafe Express, where the kids and I had lunch:

There’s a little gazebo near the center of the park.

I would classify Summit Park as a picnic spot, because it only takes a few minutes to walk from one end to the other, but it’s a really lovely walk.

Here is the sign, to make Summit Park an official entry in my collection:

If you’re walking from Summit Park to McPherson Park, I would recommend going by way of Southlake Town Square. There is a pretty pond and a gazebo and a fountain…

Plus this guy.

There’s a directory next to the Town Square. Use it to make sure you walk through the courtyard behind Brio Tuscan Grille on your way to McPherson Park, because that’s worth seeing too.

McPherson Park:

There’s not much to say about McPherson Park; it’s basically a pond with a trail around it. It looked so uninspiring that we didn’t even walk around the pond, we just followed the trail far enough to snap a pic of the sign to make it official…

…and then looped back into the shopping district, which is gorgeous and a nice place to spend a lot of money if that’s your thing.

To summarize, Summit Park is a lovely little picnic spot. McPherson Park is nothing special, but I’m glad we went because we saw a lot of cool stuff during the walk there and back.

Hopefully I’ll be adding new parks to my collection at least once a month. If you live in the Metroplex and you have a favorite park that you’d like to see recognized here, feel free to leave a note in the comments.

Happy trails!

Categories: A Plethora of Parks, Family, food, Friends, kids, Life, maps | Tags: McPherson Park, Southlake Town Square, Summit Park | Leave a comment