Family Fun Day

Hubby works a different shift from me and that only leaves us one weekend day a week to do “family” stuff.  So I thought it was appropriate to schedule us one jammed packed heck of a family fun day.  I have been wanting to take the babies to what I’m used to calling it the “Junior Museum” I think it is called Tallahassee Museum or something now.  It’s our local attempt at a Zoo/Museum and I have always LOVED it.  I remember it being so much bigger when I was little, but it wasn’t that big going back as an adult.  I also had heard of our new snow cone joint in town and really wanted to give that a shot so the day was planned and we were up and at ‘em by 8:00.

First stop, the Dodge dealership for an oil change.  No, that is not part of the “family fun” I planned but apparently it was time to get the oil changed and hubby insisted we get it out of the way.  Getting my oil changed and pumping gas are close to my least favorite things of all times to do.  They are right there close to folding laundry, I say this as I sit beside the Dawkins version of Mount Everest of laundry on my sofa.  Erg, it just keeps staring at me…I should fold it…but I wont…blogging is much more fun!

So after we took care of that “chore” it was on to the museum.  We were warned before we even got there about the mosquitos and thankfully we were, thanks Sarah!  Hubby stopped at Wal-Mart and picked up some bug spray before we headed out, SO thankful he did.  These things were no joke, they seriously could should have had their own exhibit.  They were MASSIVE.  Hubby sprayed all of us down and we were literally dripping with bug spray. 

Note the bug spray on baby girl’s legs…hah!  Speaking of bugs: we were walking down the first trail and I felt something on my ear, a mosquito.  I slapped it, and asked hubby to take a look at my ear because it was on fire.  He DIED laughing and said it was at least twice the size of the left ear and red hot.  That daggum mosquito sucked on my ear for a while before I realized what it was and by that time it was too late and my ear swelled up worse than anything I’ve ever seen.  And it burned, for the.rest.of.the.day!

Moving on from the bugs…we didn’t let them stop us or run us off.  We Dawkins are out-doorsy people and we welcome all bugs…as long as they are not roaches or spiders!  The babies LOVED that they could run free, and we let them run until their little hearts were content!

After the babies learned they could run freely, their game was on. They enjoyed running down the little board walks and loved peeping through the fence. It was so sweet and despite how very aggravating the bugs were, did I mention there were mosquitos big enough to carry you away, the babies didn’t act like they bothered them. After a few minutes of walking and looking at the animals, baby girl was exhausted and she opted to ride in the stroller but little man hung in there and finished out the trail.

The otter has ALWAYS been my favorite of all the animals.  When I was little I wanted to stay and watch the otter while everyone else finished the trail.  I think they are so fascinating.

The panther was having a good time playing with his cucumber. It was fun to watch him roll around and chase it.

She was so tired and pretended to be bashful when other people talked to her.

Little man’s favorite animal was the “baby” bear. We tried to tell him it wasn’t a baby but he disagreed “no, baby bear”…to save fight we agreed. Although he could see through the fence, he enjoyed having daddy pick him up to look at the animals.

By the time we reached the end of the trail we all were DRENCHED with sweat and bug spray…a delightful combination. We headed to the café for lunch and cold drinks, oh and some AC!

Note to self (and anyone else planning a trip to the museum): next time BYOL (bring your own lunch). We were worried that there was a policy against bringing outside food in so we didn’t and said we would just order something there. It was bad but it was kind of pricy and after sweating and getting hot none of us really wanted anything to eat especially something greasy, would have been much better to eat a sandwich and chips. We will pack our lunch next time.

After we ate, we went to look at the farm and the old farm house.

There was a pig, little man enjoyed “oink-ing” at him.

There was a brown cow, she/he was very pretty! I loved the coloring of the cow, very pretty. We actually stood there a while because poor thing looked so lonely and we walked up to the fence he/she got excited and came over to visit, then proceeded to rub its head on daddy’s foot.

Baby girl enjoyed petting the cow but little man didn’t care to.

We continued looking at the farm animals.

The goat.

The ducks.

The sheep, which little man counted “one…two” and proceeded to tell us over and over that there were two! We hollered with excitement because we hadn’t heard him count before. Proud parent moment!

They were exhausted!

I love taking pictures of old buildings/structures.

We saved, what we thought, was the best for last. The “choo-choo”.

They both All three of them enjoyed the train. Little man talked daddy into getting up there with him and they played “choo-choo”. Baby girl enjoyed slamming the door to the refrigerator.

Last was the old plantation home. It was beautiful. I always have had a special place in my heart for old southern charm (since why hubby stole my heart) and this house definitely touched that special place for me. I wish the babies had been in a better mood so we could read a little more of the history, I don’t remember it from when I was younger. But honestly I couldn’t have asked for a better mood out of them considering they were two hours past nap time, hot, sweaty, and tired of walking.

After we left the museum, I asked the babies if they wanted a snow ball…of course the answer was “yes”. Not that they have ever had one, but they knew it was something to eat and they ALWAYS agree to food! So we headed to the Big Easy…on Monroe Street not New Orleans. Although I really want to hit up New Orleans one of these days.

Can anymore fit in here?!

I got strawberry shortcake stuffed with French vanilla ice cream, hold the strawberry, add cherry. You know I like to make things complicated. Basically that made it cherry shortcake stuffed, and boy was it peeerrrrfect! The babies got red and blue and split it. I believe their flavors were blue raspberry and strawberry. Hubby got grape, bubble gum, and I cannot remember the last one. He said it was sweet. We got the smalls and got the babies a kiddie to split. It was the perfect amount for them but next time we are going to get kiddies because the smalls were too big.

You have to try it if you haven’t, you wont regret it I promise!

After the Big Easy we took the babies homes for a quick nap while we freshened up, it was date night afterwards.

We took the babies to my MIL and we headed out. Our “out” is standard old fart. Dinner before the 6:00 “rush” and a movie as long as there is one that starts no later than 7:30 (and there wasn’t).

After dinner we ran some errands, ending up at the Target by the house. We did it big this time folks, normally we hit up Wal-mart on date night but I’m falling more out of love with Wal-mart by the trip so Target it was. I love me some Target. I promise I could go there every single day and finding some new and exciting that I didn’t see the day before. While we were at Target I got the urge for a milk shake, yes I’m a fat kid deal with it! *kidding* So we headed to steak and shake for milkshakes. About half way there we remembered there is a Baskin Robbins/Duncan Donuts by the house, so we turned around. I’m so glad we did because I not only got a milkshake but I got a chocolate donut too…told you I was a fat kid! It was amazing and a perfect way to end our date night.

I really enjoyed our family fun day and it has taken me all week to write this post because I have been enjoying my family. The babies are getting so big and I don’t want to miss a thing. Little man is turning into such a man and carrying conversations (somewhat) with us…it’s amazing how fast they grow up, so while my blog may not get updated often it’s because I’m soaking up being a momma and wife, and loving every minute of it!