The Dallas World Aquarium

I lived in Texas for 23 years and I don't ever remember going to the Dallas Aquarium.  It was pretty cool.  We all had tons of fun.  We had tons of fun before even stepping foot into the aquarium.  We ran over something on the highway and got a flat.  Thankfully the aquarium parking lot is not far from the highway so we were able to make it there.  Then we had to call Progressive for assistance because Dodge makes it near impossible to get to your spare.  Seriously.  Once the tire was changed we were able to enjoy ourselves.

When you enter the aquarium you are at at the tree top level.  So you get closeup view of the animals that live in the trees.

This sloth was totally disgusting and incredibly interesting at the same time.

As you walked through the aquarium you were spiraling down so you could see animals at multiple levels.

Eventually you found yourself at the bottom of the tank.
The boys could have stood in front of this tank for hours.  

When we were at tree top level we saw this huge thing down at the bottom of the water, but we couldn't make out what it was.

This manatee was huge!  We also had a great time watching him because he loved trying to float on this log.  He took it with him all over the aquarium.

Well, he poses just as nicely as the other Fiene boys.  He fits in the family...and he is probably more active than our dog, Fritz.

Swimming Lessons

While in Texas the boys had swimming lessons with Mrs. Kirk again.  They were all very excited to swim with Mrs. Kirk again.

 Gus did very well.  He was nervous to swim without a floatie last time.  This year he took off like a pro.

 He even looks like he is having fun.  That is HUGE for this stoical kid.

 The last time we did swim lessons Gus wanted to jump off of the diving board but just couldn't bring himself to do it.  This year he asked to jump off on the first day.  You can tell he is still talking himself into it.

 But he did it.  He said it was AWESOME.

 Anders was practicing his swimming skills in Florida this summer before we went to Texas.

 He actually participated fully in his swimming lessons this year!!

Now he says he doesn't need to practice again until a couple of days before his lessons next year.  Such a punk.

 John also did very well this year.  He has come a long way and loves to be in the water so he loves to practice all of his new strokes.

 They worked on diving a bit this year.  There were lots of belly flops.

There were also lots of great dives.

I'm so glad the boys get to have lessons with Mrs. Kirk.  The boys love it and they learn a ton.

Thanks, Mrs. Kirk!

Texas Fun

After a long full week of VBS we loaded the kids in the car and headed down to Texas.  I don't enjoy the drive down to Texas, but I do LOVE going back home.  Hans and I usually have a list a mile long of places we want to go to eat.

Since we were getting a late start we decided to stop in Springfield, MO for the night.  For those of you who don't know, it is a little harder finding a hotel with a dog.  Especially a big dog.  It isn't like we can hide Fritz in a bag and carry him in.  So, we booked a hotel we thought would be okay...but we were so wrong.  They did indeed take pets, but this place was a dump.  We weren't staying there long so we were fine with the dumpiness, but we were roomed next to a drunk party girl and were up all night listening to her fight with someone on the phone.  NOT a good experience.  No more hotels for us...at least not when we have Fritz.

But, we made it to Texas and packed the week with lots of fun.

 The boys played many, many, many games of Mousetrap.  This produced lots of laughter, tears, yelling, and fighting.

 Of course the boys went to Grandma's art room to paint.  Anders always finds something fun to play with there.

 We went to a fun pool party for the 4th of July.  One of the guys was throwing kids into the pool.  So of course John wanted to get in on the action.  This guy was easily throwing kids high into the air.  You could tell he had to brace himself when he came to my rock of a kid.  He is deceptively heavy, always has been.  So, John gave him a work out and had a great time doing it.

 Gus was not going to let anyone throw him anywhere.  He was content jumping into the pool himself.

 The boys decided they wanted to pack their suits to wear for church down in Texas.  They love dressing up.

 Anders makes it very hard to get a nice picture.  He has attitude.  Can you tell?

 Well, Hans looks nice....

 The boys seemed a little more willing to be "normal" for my picture with them.

 Again, we tried to get a picture of the boys with their Grandparents.

 Again, Anders was a ham.

 At least everyone seems to be having a good time.

The boys loved hanging out with Uncle Mark too.  Never a dull moment with these guys.

While I Was in Paris

My mom introduced the boys to water beads.  The boys loved them! 

Water beads starts off as little pellets and when submerged in water they grow.  John had a good time watching them grow by making water dots on paper each hour.

Look at those eyes.

Okay, back to the beads.

The beads come in all different colors.  You can buy them at almost any craft store.  They come in the dried pellet form and in jars with them already about this size.

The cool thing is that if these beads are left out to dry they will go back to in the little tiny pellet forms.

My mom told the boys they could play with them however they wanted.  Apparently this is what Anders thinks is cool.

Gus made a camera and wanted my mom to take a picture of him taking a picture. 

My mom started a book that we still need to finish.  I thank my mother every time I pick up that darn thing.  It is an incredibly boring book.  But somehow this book managed to win a Newberry.  Gus picked this book because it is about a dog.  Go figure.  And because it is about a dog this kid needs to finish it.  I've never been so determine to teach this kid to read to himself.

The boys also enjoyed building puzzles with my dad.  This is actually 3 puzzles in 1.

Grandma lets them eat in the living room.  Grandma is so cool.

The Fiene boys couldn't be in Texas without visiting the Blaschkes. They had fun swimming.

The boys also had fun hanging out with Uncle Mark.  Gus is like Mark's mini-me so I love when they get to see each other.  Mark and Gus "get" each other.

While I Was on a Rhine River Cruise and Heading to France

The boys' clay pots were now dry and ready to paint.

John had a plan.  He was careful and deliberate.

Anders picked Super Why colors.  I bet you would have never guess that in a million years.

Gus picked Spider-Man colors.  THAT is even more surprising then Anders' color choice. 

After an afternoon of playing they went back to the park to splash and play.
These two really loved the merry-go-round.

While I was in Cologne and Aachen

..the boys had another action packed day.

My parents took the boys to the C.R. Smith Museum where they had a traveling exhibit on Lego castles.  The boys were very excited.

There were also airplane rubbings for the kids to do.

If there is an electronic game to play, John will find it.  But at least this was game that made him think. He was able to build a castle by dragging lego pieces onto graph paper.  At the end it told him how many lego pieces he would need to build his castle.

While John played the game, the two youngest to decided that electronics were not necessary.

But even electronics can't keep this kid from the lego table.

After the museum it was off to Founders' Plaza to watch airplanes take-off and land.

They had a wonderful time watching the planes.

Look at these three.  They look so cute and innocent.  

Looks can be deceiving. 

But, on this day they must have been good because Grandma and Grandpa treated them to frozen yogurt at TCBY.  The boys were very excited to take me here when I came back from my travels.  They loved the fact that you picked your own ice cream and self scooped all different kind of toppings.  Their combinations were very, um, interesting.