Educational Places in Dallas/Forth Worth

If you live in the Dallas/Forth Worth area or you are planning a trip to the area and need some education, yet fun things to do, here is a list I have put together.

Dallas/Forth Worth:

• Klyde Warren Park- Klyde Warren Park is a 5.2 acre park located in Dallas. This park is interesting as it was built over an 8 lane highway. This park is open daily from 6a.m-11p.m. They also have a restaurant on site, as well as food trucks. You can check out the park map here. Best of all this park is free ( you just have to pay for parking in Dallas).

(Monster at Klyde Warren Park in 2014)

• Perot Museum of Nature and Science- located in Victory Park, this museum brings hands on learning to life. Ticket prices start at $17 for adults and $11 for children (2-17). There are add ons ( like the special exhibits). Parking for non-members is $8. 

• Dallas Heritage Villages- Dallas Heritage Villages land was a site for many first in Dallas. The land was the first Dallas city park in 1876. General admission is $9 for adults and $5 for children (4-12). Open Tuesday-Saturday 10a.m-4p.m and also on Sundays 12p.m-4p.m. Closed on Mondays. 

• Ripley's Believe It or Not- one of our favorite places. The only place in Grand Prairie that you can find shrunken heads, two headed animals, the Palace of Wax, Mirror Maze, interactive hands on activities and a very powerful wind vortex. Ticket prices start at $18.99 for adults and $8.99 for children. 

• Forth Worth Museum of Science and Nature- One of my favorites growing up was this place. Hosting several exhibits, the Omni theater, and the amazing Nobel Planetarium.  Right now they have several shows playing at the Omni. One even about Tornado Alley which is perfect since tornado season is coming soon! Ticket prices depend on which area you are visiting. Please check out their website for all ticket prices. 

For the next few weeks I will be posting places in the Dallas/Forth Worth area I believe is worth the trip! Please let me know if their are any specific areas you would like to see ( ex: Aquariums, Museums, Places for certain ages). This will help me in finding the best areas for your family to visit! 

3/16/15

Today I woke up early.

Well for me it was super early.

I was able to see the beautiful sunrise this morning.

Gosh, isn't it pretty. God is pretty amazing. 

After I was able to watch that beautiful sunrise, I laid back down and waiting for Monster to wake up. I told him last night if he wakes up before Mommy to go read a book. Well I guess I fell back asleep because next thing I know he is whispering in my ear... "mommy." So much for reading a book kid! 

He climbed in bed with me and fell back asleep. How fair is that? I mean I am wide awake now. 

Once he decided he was ready to wake up again we got our day started. He had breakfast and then started a new handwriting book. 

(review to come for this one)

Since tomorrow is St.Patricks Day I had him read about St. Patrick.

Then it was Math time. We are still using a new Math program (stay tuned because I will be posting my review on this this week!)

Monster loves this program.

Since today in Texas we have nice weather, and the next few days won't be, we ventured outside for a little bit. 

Monster got some new shoes. I love them on him! 

The red berries are starting to pop up outside on the trees. Spring is starting to arrive finally in Texas! Monster was saying he was hot already. It is like 72 outside. My kind of weather. The next few days is supposed to be rainy. Guess I need to be working on some indoor activities. 

Boys room (real life struggle)

When we moved into our apartment last year I really thought I would love the space. I mean we live at the mall people! We do love getting outdoors and walking around, but when we are inside, it is different.

I have a hard time decorating with my husband because we are so different ( is that a good thing or a bad thing?!). When it comes to one room of the house we agree.

Monsters room.

Monster loves superheroes. So we tried to make his room fun by using what he likes. We have two large photos in his room. One above his bed at the moment and one on the wall going into the bathroom. Other than that I am at a lost on what to do with his room. I always feel like I get these great ideas and then when it comes down to it, it does not look the way I wanted.

Boys rooms are so much harder than girls!

Here are a few pictures. I would love any ideas or help I could get.

These pictures were taken this morning so you can see how it is in real life! (Not even editing to the pictures!) 

So this is standing in the doorway looking in. 

Another view of standing in the doorway looking in. That shelf in front has most of his Art supplies, the ones that did not fit are in his closet. 

Standing in his room. That door goes to his bathroom.

Standing in the bathroom door, looking in.

Another view from the bathroom door.

His closet. I put his desk in there because it took up way too much space in his room and now is used for legos. I feel bad though since I really don't want him playing in legos in his closet. 

Another side of his closet. It is crazy large. Old Ikea shelves work as his dresser for now.

Standing in his closet looking out. The shelf there hold his computer that he only uses for his microscope. The shelf holds his Science stuff. On the one door I have posters of weather related things and cloud types. This little black table he uses in here or brings in the living room to play with. Those poor green chairs need more filling, but really I would be ok with getting rid of them. Only problem with that is when his friends come over to play video games they actually use them. 

I had so many great plans for this room when we first moved in and now I just look at it and shut the door. It really stressed me out. His books for reading are in a closet in his bathroom or on a shelf in our living room and I would love to put them all back in his room or hang a shelf in his room and rotate the books out. 

I love his full size bed because he needs room to move around ( kid tosses in his sleep!). I went cheap with the bed from Ikea and ended up with the wrong baseboards, so every few days they fall and I have push them back up. 

His bedding at the moment is black sheets and whatever blanket. My mom had made him a quilt but it has a small rip in it, so I put it up till I can take it back to her to fix. 

He also has a few superhero masks that I would love to hang on his wall somehow, but no clue where to even put them. 

And don't even get me started on the plain, boring, ugly carpet these apartments use... 

So, please share with me your tips, tricks or even photos of the hardest room there is to decorate...boys rooms.

North Texas Irish Festival

This past weekend Monster, I and Hubby went to the North Texas Irish Festival. We had never been and I was hoping for some educational moments for Monster.

We arrived and went into the first building... all dogs and products for dogs. The NTIF helps the SPCA. Dogs were allowed at the event. So we left that building and went to the next.

In this building we got to see Irish dancers. Children- adults dancing. It was fascinating to watch the children dance like that. Even Monster seemed to enjoy it.

After we watched a few we walked over to the food trucks. You had to have coupons in order to buy food. So I had to walk back to the front to get coupons. Hubby and I had a very yummy burger and Monster got a corn dog. Just like him to order that! I really wanted to try a Irish food while there. Couldn't find anything till later.

After we walked a little outside we walked inside another building that had music and vendors. Seems most of the festival was either music or vendors. They had a few in the back of one building that talked about the different clans and family names.

We ended up staying only a few hours. We don't drink and it seems that was a big thing at the Irish Festival. I was able to get my hands on a Scottish Sausage.. not that great, but at least I can say I tried it. Monster refused to even try it.

I do wish the festival had more for children, more history of the Irish and maybe some more hands on things. There was a petting zoo but you had to pay for that on top of tickets. To me that just didn't seem really right. I mean you pay for tickets, you should be able to enjoy a very small petting zoo.

It was fun to spend a few hours walking around and doing something we normally would not do. I can say we have been, but don't think we will be going back next year.

( A group from an Irish dancing school dancing) 

Egglo Eggs Review

Monster is 8 now and beginning to understand more about the meaning of Easter and why we celebrate Easter. I was looking for a way to share with him more about the meaning of Easter and still have a fun egg hunt as well.   Egglo Entertainment sent us some exciting products to review and share with you. We received the following:

•  Glow in the Dark Egglo Eggs (12 eggs for $9.99)
• The Egglo Glow in the Dark Egg Hunt Event Curriculum  ( this is a download for $9.99)
• The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure Book ( $9.99)
• Egglo Treasure Scripture Scrolls ( $4.50 for a set of 12)
• Egglo's Bible Verse Stickers ( $3.29 for 12 stickers)

When we first opened the box we first noticed The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure book. 

It has such bright colors and caught our eye first! Monster and I read this book together taking turns over a week. This book is kind of long and I suggest breaking it up instead of sitting down to read all at once. We really enjoyed this book. I love how the book takes the children on a positive adventure all while learning about the gospel of Jesus. Monster loved that each time the children found a new egg it had a new clue to the next egg plus a new bible verse. I think that is a great way to learn bible verses as well.  The Egglo Curriculum Download went so well with this book too. I love that the curriculum gave me questions to ask Monster to make sure he was really understanding the book. It also gave us great ideas for snacks and bible alive activities. We found these to be very fun to use. One of our favorites out of the curriculum was the Scripture Scramble! We had every thing we needed for it and it was great to help Monster learn other scriptures. Monster used the Egglo Bible Verse Stickers to help him learn a verse. He would place to sticker either on his hand or journal to be able to look at the verse through the day and memorize it. Playing the Scripture Scramble was a great way to show just how much he remembered from each verse.  Now for the egg hunt! Where we currently live we don't have the greatest access to outdoors. So we kept the egg hunt inside. Egglo's Glow in the Dark Easter Eggs completely live up to their name! One box contains 12 eggs of 4 different colors. Half of the eggs have crosses while the other eggs are plain. To activate the eggs I suggest sunlight over indoor light. I tried it both ways and the sunlight made the eggs brighter in the dark. You can fill the eggs with the Egglo's Treasure Scripture Scrolls and even your own clues as to where the next eggs are. Maybe even sneak in a little treat in a few of them. Monster had fun finding the eggs in the dark. We have never had a glow in the dark egg hunt before but I totally recommend one! Since Monster is now 8 he needs to be challenged more in the family egg hunts and this is a sure way of doing so! The eggs are a harder plastic too it seems rather than the store bought kind. We have played with these several times and so far no broken or cracked eggs.  This product is wonderful. I plan on sharing it with everyone. If you work in a church this product is also a great way to teach young children about Jesus and the meaning of Easter. The curriculum can be used as well in a Sunday school lesson leading up to Easter.  Right now Egglo Entertainment is having a sale on their Egglo Glow in the Dark Easter Eggs. Buy 3 boxes and get one FREE!!! Just use coupon code: BOGOEGG 
If you are needing more than 4 boxes, check out their site for more great deals on Easter Eggs. Also, be sure to check out Egglo Entertainment's Pinterest to find more ideas on how to use the eggs and other Easter ideas. 
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Dr. Seuss week

Monday started a new week along with Dr.Seuss's birthday! I know some people may think Monster might be a little older for Dr.Seuss, but I beg to differ. 

We started the week by going to our local Barnes and Noble and picking up Who was Dr.Seuss. Great book with a lot of information I was not even aware of. Monster really has enjoyed reading a few chapters each day. 

The one thing I do wish I had was a printer to create a worksheet to go with this book. 

Today's project was a in the moment decision last night. I had to run to Michaels last night to pick up glitter for another project and when I saw the sticks I knew what I had to do... 

First, Monster started off by reading The Cat in the Hat. I told him what we were making was in this book and he had to read it to figure it out. 

He did not quite get what we were making after reading the book so I told him.

Then we measured his head with the tape and cut it to the right size. I let him use all the chenille sticks on the tape. 

Once done I taped the back ends together. 

Thing 1 or 2's hair! 

Well till it took it off and it all fell apart. Got this duct tape at Michaels and it would not hold these sticks in there. Oh well, he had fun creating it and we saved the sticks for another project :) 

Our next project was a writing project. I wanted to get his mind working. So we read (this time together) Oh, the Places You'll Go. Then we cut out the hot air balloon. Monster then took a piece of paper and wrote about where he would travel if he could go anywhere. He choose New York. 

After reading his paper, I noticed a couple of mistakes. I thought about making him change them, but I also want him to learn and to grow in his writing. I want him to be able to look back and go " I went from that to this." He is taking a writing class in August at co-op. I am hoping this helps with his writing skills! 

Friday...

Snow... and I am totally over it. I want warm, sun and warm again! 

Monster loved it of course. He is so much like his Daddy.

Friday we had co-op but they ended up canceling afternoon classes so that everyone could leave to make it home safely. We picked up hubby on the way home and were all able to be home the rest of the day together. 

As much as I hate being cold, I had to get out and take some pictures because really in Texas you never know when you will see this white stuff again! I mean today is Sunday and it is all gone and just cold and rainy today. 

After he laid down here to make a snow angel he was done. He was freezing and his hands were bright red. I took him in right away. He does love the snow though. As much as I am a beach person he is a snow person. I would totally suck it up for him and take him skiing one day! I think he would love it. Plus he would get to see "real" snow and maybe even get to build a real snowman one day!