Valley Forge Park aka Train Park

About once a week we drive over to check out the progress on our new house. And then we always drive around the community to find parks. We already have our favorite picked out!

Valley Forge Park in on a corner in Providence Village and it is covered with shade trees. There are some picnic tables so we need to take our lunch one day. The park is small and only has the wooden train to play on but that isn't what makes it so fun for Grace.

Grace is a nature lover and there is a lot of nature at this park. She always brings home some "squirrel food" and finds bugs and leaves.

 Here is Olivia checking out the caboose!

The yellow car is a little tunnel they can crawl through.

And even with the shade it was still HOT. 

Mount Scott

One weekend last month we took the girls to Mount Scott and then had dinner in Medicine Park. Grace had been wanting to go climb the mountain again. When we got to the top, Grace found a bunch of ladybugs! She loves to examine insects so she had fun catching lady bugs and then letting them go again.

 Then she was ready to climb like her Uncle Billy.

 Even Olivia wanted in on the fun of climbing. She did a really good job!

We had dinner at the Old Plantation restaurant and then had planned to get some ice cream at a little shop nearby but it was already closed for the night. We walked down the riverwalk a bit so the girls could explore a little more. I think they had a pretty good time!

More from the 4th of July

Before we moved we wanted to light some fireworks of our own. We knew we probably wouldn't be able to light any on the 4th since we would be living in an apartment in the city. We also thought it would help Grace be more used to fireworks and enjoy the displays on the 4th more. And it worked! We got a few pretty ones that shot into the air, a couple fountains, some sparkles, and some kiddie ones (parachute, tank, etc). 

Grace REALLY liked the parachute!

 

She was excited to light more that night. She even held a sparkler! These pictures came out really bad. I have no idea what setting my camera was on but obviously it didn't work.

And I found a few more pictures from the first parade we went to on the 4th. I had read about a "children's parade" in an article of 4th of July activities in the area. They really meant "children" because it was just a parade of kids! But they threw candy so the girls had a blast :)

 

The second parade we went to said "float parade" so I was thinking big floats. Nope! The floats were golf carts with patriotic decorations. I missed most of them because I was busy helping Grace collect all of the candy that was being thrown.

4th of July

Here are some pictures from the 4th of July. We saw 2 parades and a great firework display (with several other displays in the distance). Grace enjoyed the candy that was thrown during the parade and they both really liked the fireworks this year! 

Dallas Farmers Market

We have been trying to keep busy and find things to do in the area. I had read about the Dallas Farmers Market so we decided to make a fun outing on Saturday.  We started by visiting a park that both girls love in the neighborhood we will be living in. Then we made the drive to Dallas and stopped by Lakeshore for their weekly craft. Both of the girls made sun visors while I looked for some educational games/supplies for Grace. 

Finally, we made it to the Farmer's Market. I had read to go early for better selection or later in the day for better deals. Since we needed to make it our last stop (it is too hot to leave fruits in the car!) we went in the afternoon.

There are several different sheds and our first stop was Shed 2. There were several vendors and and a few crafters set up. 

 

Grace wanted her picture with the tomato!

  

We tried some gelato and then headed to the two sheds that sold the produce (which I don't remember the #'s now). There is also a shed where vendors sell flowers and plants and another where they sell produce in bulk. 

We ended up getting some blueberries, peaches, and a cantaloupe.  Some of the prices seemed a little cheaper than some of the grocery stores. And some vendors were selling their items for less than others. We walked around and then went back to where we found the best deals. The cantaloupe was $1 because it had to be sold that day.

Ice Cream!

Grandma got a Soft Serve Ice Cream maker for her birthday last week. She made up a batch of yummy ice cream and let us try it on Sunday. 

 Just look at Olivia and her ice cream cone. She knows just what to do with it.

The girls had already got to try it earlier this week but since we were busy with the movers we didn't. Grace was sure to let us know that she had tried it and we hadn't on the way over.

 Grace likes to add sprinkles to hers.

What a great summer treat! And with lots of toppings and cones everyone can make theirs just they way they like it.

Moving

We have been busy getting ready to move. I have missed the last two weeks of Project Life but I am hoping to get back into the swing of things soon. The last two days were spent with the packers here packing up all of our stuff. The truck won't be here until tomorrow to load everything. Then it will all head to Texas and sit in storage for about 3 months.

We went house hunting about 2 weeks ago. This is the first time we have ever looked at houses that were being occupied at the time and boy was it interesting. There was one house we barely made it in the front door before we high tailed it to the car! We found one house that we really liked but there was already an offer put in on it and there were several things that we would want fixed/changed. There was one other house and it was just ok. There were several things in that house that we would want changed as well. Then we met with the builder at the model home and found out we could build a house like the one that was our favorite!

We put in an offer and with the help of our realtor we ended up getting a lot of extras included. So the last two weeks have been full of paperwork. We also had to make a quick trip to Dallas to visit the Design Gallery and choose all of our options for the house. Then a visit to Sherwin Williams to pick up paint swatches to choose our exterior colors. 

Since the house won't be ready until the very end of August that leaves us needing a place to live for 2 months. I finally found an apartment that will give us a two month lease! And since we won't be moving from this house straight to our new house that leaves a lot of extra stuff we needed to hold out and move on our own. Plus all of the things the movers wouldn't pack... there is a lot more of that this move than all our others. The craziest thing they wouldn't pack is Kleenexes. I have no idea why either.