Summer Fun: Owens Spring Creek Farm

Our second summer fun outing was to Owens Spring Creek Farm in Richardson on Friday, June 11th. We took our friends the Roberts with us. First we fed the goats--Sydney was the only one of the kids brave enough to face the hungry crowd:

Emma and Emma found a pony just their size:

We found some big horses too:

Emma and Ben loved heckling the roosters for a "cockle-doodle-doo!"

We took a hayride:




Posed on some hay:

Ran through a maze:

And played around on some farm equipment:

It was a great little trip--I highly recommend it. We were done in an hour, then went to an air-conditioned lunch!

Summer Fun: Bowling

We took advantage of Kids Bowl Free the day before school got out. We had some bumpers and a ramp to help us push the ball:


Cheering for the other bowlers was as much fun as the actual bowling!

And what was Madeline doing? Eating, of course. Don't let her 17 pounds fool you!

Emma scored an 88 and had a fantastic time. Next time we're hoping to break 100!

Summer Fun List

School is out (not that that affects us), and we are looking for some summer fun. We are down to only one regularly scheduled activity a week (two if you count necessary grocery shopping) and want to take advantage of the freedom before Emma starts preschool in the fall. Plus, I wanted to make sure we got out and *did* things, rather than let time pass us by. So I came up with the summer fun list! We plan to go on one "outing" a week, with things like swimming and play days to fill in the rest of the week.

Dallas Zoo
Museum of Nature and Science
Dallas Aquarium
Age of Steam and Railroad Museum
Bounce House
Dallas Firefighters Museum
Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary
Heritage Farmstead
Old City Park
Owens Spring Creek Farm
West End Marketplace
Arboretum
Bowling through Kids Bowl Free
Wiggly Play Place

If you're local, let us know if you want to come? What are *you* going to do this summer?

From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors

I just discovered this great blog about middle grade books--it covers everything from reading lists to writing advice. And they're having a contest and giving away books! So head on over if you (or your kids) likes to read middle grade.

A Visit from Oertel!

My good friend and old college roommate Oertel came to Dallas a few weeks ago, and was kind enough to drive across the lake to see us. Though the visit was quick, we *loved* seeing her. We caught up on our lives like no time at all had passed.