Grocery Store

I have tried to make big weekly trips to the grocery store, but it just doesn't work for our family. So, I've made it into an educational experience and we make short trips about three times a week.

It is cheaper for our family if I go to just a grocery store. If I go to a Super Wal-Mart or Target, I come back with something like a weeks supply of groceries a Joan Rivers Christmas CD, a new comforter for the blow up mattress, and a beta fighting fish that looks like it already fought, and a sense of pride at my ability to take advantage of a good sale.

Caleb, who is four, comes with me and we use the produce section for math. "Caleb if I have two apples and I get two more, how many do I have?" Sometimes if Caleb has his own little cart we will keep track of how many items he has in his cart and how many I have in mine. We will talk about how many more items he has than in his cart than I do in mine, or I'll ask questions such as, "If I take out the bananas and the apples, how many items will you have?"

I do my best to get Caleb involved in "helping" me get apples, or bananas, or the right kind of milk. The canned items are like stepping into an "I spy" book for Caleb.

Elise is just beginning to sign, so this is also a wonderful opportunity to work on those. Right now she is very proficient in the "more" sign. She wants more of everything! But there are all kinds of animal pictures at the grocery store, so we go over animal signs there.

The grocery store is also a great place to talk about nutrition, being polite, God's generosity, His blessings.

I try to go when the store is not that crowded. I usually go by myself on the weekend, just too many anxious people shopping for the week.

All of this works well because I make several small trips throughout the week. So if you are like me and can't do the calendar with a month of meals (I really envy those that can), adjust your goals and perspective. It's easier.

The Kimball

Today Caleb, Elise and I went to the Kimball. We parallel parked on the road between the Amon Carter and Kimball. You have to walk across a wide grassy area before you can enter the Kimball from this entrance. If you look at the picture, the Kimball is the building that looks like a bunch of greenhouses. Entering this way allowed Caleb and Elise to run around after being on their best behavior in the museum. Nothing is as appealing to Caleb as a clean slate of green grass. He liked being able to run around with his eyes closed without hitting anything.

There is one problem with parking on this side--no handicap ramps, so we ended up having to take Elise and her stroller up steps. Fortunately a museum man in a blue sports coat helped us up the last few steps. All of the museum people were very friendly by the way. The steps are wide and short, so it's worth it to go in on this side of the museum, especially since it is also the side with the big reflecting pool and waterfall.

Caleb kept asking if each statue was a bad guy or Goliath, except for one Asian sculpture with four hands. He said that one looked like Doc Ock. (from Spiderman).

Tips:

• Leave before they get bored. We probably only stayed 30 min. total and that included buying something at the gift shop.
• Give them a place to run and shout afterwards. In fact, have a back up plan if your kids seem tired, grumpy, or in a generally wrong frame of mind for looking at art. And, personally I intend to take full advantage of all free museums before taking my kids to ones I have to pay for.
• Caleb was good with just a few rules that we practiced ahead of time and talked about in the car: Don't touch anything. Do not stand too close to the painting. And do not point to close to the paintings. Oh, and Use your quiet voice.

Relevant Books

I went to the library and chose a couple of books on going to museums. Tonight we read You Can't Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum. It is a cute book that really has piqued Caleb's curiosity.

Reading books or watching a TV program about an upcoming event really does give Caleb a script to work from. I learned this when we went to his four year old check up. He knew we were going, and he knew he was going to get a shot. By coincidence he happened to watch an Oobi episode where Oobi goes to the doctor and gets a shot. This twenty minute program totally prepared Caleb. I recommend taping the episode so that you have it on hand whenever you make a painful doctor visit. Caleb did not cry at all and he got four shots. The next time we went in to the doctor we ended up getting flu shots. This was a suprise, one neither I nor Caleb was prepared for. It did not go well.

Playing Museum

Today Caleb and I made a museum and then "toured" it. Special emphasis was put on being quiet and staying several feet back from all of the pictures and sculptures in the museum.
Caleb is pensively regarding a recently acquired contemporary sculpture in the minimalist genre of his mother's latest work.

Museum prep

Today while eating lunch Caleb and I talked about going to an art museum. We talked about how we were supposed to stand way back from the paintings and the sculptures. We will continue to talk about museum etiquette.

We also made scuptures from tin foil. This one is entitled Exercise in tin foil and artistic futility while fending off a one year old. Not that it would have looked any better without the extra "help".










This one is entitled Tin Foil Cannonballs and Swords.









And we painted as well. This one is a picture of an Apple tree in a rainforest. I accidentally put the picture in on its side, otherwise, I'm sure you would be able to tell exactly what it is.

Museum delayed

We had to put off the museum for a week. Caleb was sick for most of the week and then I was sick for the remainder.

Cross Timbers' Adventure Land

Cross Timbers Adventure World Playground park in North Richland Hills is a nicely shaded park. The play area is pretty big, but it is built to accomodate handicapped children. (I noted a special swing, and extra wide, genltly sloping ramps. Elise was able to climb on much of the play equipment. She knows how to turn around at the tops of slides and go down backwards on her tummy. But she was having a hard time on a number of these slides because her foot kept getting caught at the top. Most of the slides at this park didn't have a good platform to turn around on. Eventually she modified her slide. She now goes down head first.

Abundance of woodchips and trees. Elise loves to eat woodchips.

The only thing I didn't like about this park is that it was pretty close to dense woods and busy highways. Especially for a big play area that was kind of spread out. There were a couple of times When Caleb was out of eye sight due to the size of the play area and being close to woods and highways made me a little nervous.

coming up--Amon Carter, Kimball

This week kids and I will be visiting the Amon Carter and Kimball Art museum. Both permanent collections are free. This would be a risky trip if I didn't employ a backup plan. Sometimes museums just don't work out. Between the two museums is a large expanse of grass, if weather permits (and we probably won't go if it doesn't) we will bring a football or frisbee, and a picnic snack.

Vista Ridge Mall

When my one year old was at the three steps and then face plant(if she was lucky and didn't hit a table corner on the way down) walking stage this was a great place to go. Its about a twenty minute drive for me, but well worth it.

Find the entrances on either side of the Foley's for the kids play area.

Every surface is rounded and soft and gently slopes. Except for colliding with the occasional errant toddler or befriending the baby with a biting fetish, your one year old can move freely and safely without hearing, "Don't climb on that!" "Well that is what happens when you attempt to dismember the cat!" "No, do not eat potting soil!" "The fireplace is not a sand box!"

There is one entrance in and out of the play area, so as you guard that you can pretty much let your child roam at will. Its like an oversized playpen.

Family bathrooms are close and user friendly.

My four year old still enjoys going, but he is more impressed with the glass elevator that is nearby.

Fort Worth Zoo and kids

We love the Fort Worth Zoo.

Hours: 10-4.
Costs: Adults (13+) 9.75; Children (3-12) 7.25; Under 2 is free; Seniors 6.25. Oh, yeah, don't forget parking is 5.00 and Wednesdays are half price.


When going to the zoo, look at a map (they have them at the ticket booth) and choose a direction. We either choose Alligators (Texas exhibit) or Tigers (Asian area and Primates) or Birds and Reptiles (this includes the Australia exhibit.) You can usually cover one of these areas in about two hours.

The Texas exhibit is far more interesting than you might imagine. We have more wildlife in Texas than raccoons, armadillos and fire ants. The Texas exhibit is also the best direction to take if you are going to eat--there is a cafeteria style eating area offering BBQ, Pizza, etc. The Texas exhibit also offers your best chance for beating the Texas heat. There is a kids play area, petting zoo, and a couple of indoor exhibits.

Insider Tips:

• You can exit Forest Park Blvd. Off of I30, take a Right on Park Place Avenue, and another right on Colonial. This seems to be a less known travel route. All of the signage points to University Drive, but University can be very congested.
• Take the zoo train. Its cheap entertainment and it takes you past the Bison and Red Wolf. Its a long walk for not much otherwise. The train is the only way to access the wolf exhibit, but , honestly, I think they are bluffing--I've yet to see the wolf.
• The quesadillas are awful.
• Do not visit the monkeys in the afternoon. They start eating their feces. I know that sounds gross, but seeing it is worse. Go in the morning when they are eating carrots--for the first time.
• Go in the Alamo looking building in the Texas exhibit. They have great air conditioning and you can sit and watch a fairly entertaining "multimedia" (I use the term loosely) presentation about Texas wildlife. My four year old likes it.
• Don't take a stroller unless you have to. Go at the pace of your child. The zoo is a great place to let your child walk, provided it isn't overwhelmingly crowded. So what if you spend 30 min. watching the flamingos or the motionless alligator and never make it to the cool animals? BTW, I've never seen the alligator move except once when it became "dislodged" and bobbed around a bit. I think it's fake, but it is my sons favorite animal.
• The animals are more active on cooler days. During the summer you mind's well visit a stuffed animal museum--at least there is air conditioning.
• Between the Ibex and Raptor Canyon is a huge bird cage (It is new and not on the map as of yet) that you can enter and for $1.00 purchase food to feed the birds. The kids love it, and it is a great place to get pictures.