A Weekend in Waco.

So the title says it all. We spent the weekend in Waco. We visited my best friend from college (Jamie) and her family. I have talked about her previously on the blog. They have a 20 month old daughter named Abigail. We have been planning this trip for about 3 weeks now, and I was really looking forward to it, not only because I can see Jamie (and Angelo :-), but because we were planning on taking the girls to this museum (forgive me, for I do not know its name..) at Baylor. They have built on and added so much since I left Waco in 2004. This is just one of its new additions. Anyway....now onto more important thing...PICTURES!!! And there are lots! We all had a great time, and I know that Parker really enjoyed herself! I get so much joy out of seeing her happy and doing new and exciting things! Just seeing those little lights go off in her pretty little head...

First, let me explain that there is a more "serious" part to the museum that is "historical" about Texas. It had some really neat things in there. It's not the kid-friendly part, but you couldn't really tell by Parker's actions because she spent pretty much the whole time just walking/running around and smiling. I told Jamie..."She doens't get out much..." Then, there is this kid-friendly part, and I will just walk you through a few of the rooms that we went into. Let me just say, this is a really neat place, and I look forward to taking Parker back again because although there was a lot of stuff that she could do this time, there is stuff for all ages.

These next few pics are of the mammoth exhibit. This is supposedly an exact replica of the "Waco Mammoth Site", which is the largest known concentration of prehistoric mammoth elephants dying from the same event were found. (I'll go ahead and be real honest and say that I don't really know that much about it, but it was very interesting, and if you want to know more about the Waco Mammoth Site, you can visit here.) Anyway- this replica is covered by glass that you can walk on (it's really neat). Parker wasn't so sure about it. She needed help from Jamie to take a few steps...

And after initial inspection, Abby didn't seem to have a problem walking on the glass..

Just had to throw this one in there because she is making a silly face...

This room just had some animals in it (and I am sure that they were specific types of animals, but I am having trouble remembering the finer details)...here, they are looking at the turtles...

This room was really neat. It was a "media" room, where they had the green screen. This is Angelo and Abby....you can see them on TV....

Here...Abby noticed that her daddy was on TV....what a cutie....

This was just a tunnel that kids could walk through...Abby was a pro...Parker was a bit leery...only making it this far, and then turning around, where she proceeded to bump her head (don't worry...I don't think any damage was done...)

The next room we went into had these large vehicles. There was a sports car, and airplane, and a fire truck (to name a few)....but Parker chose the school bus.... (Hhmmmmmm....)

Then we entered the room that had all of these "Little Tikes" cars. I was looking forward to this room the most because Parker loves riding in the "Little Tikes" car at Miss Alissa's house. She rode in a few....this is the police car....

...and this is the firetruck...(I think she got a little confused...)

But by this time in the day...she (we all) were getting a little tired, and so she was starting to get frustrated when she couldn't get in easily, or when they wouldn't go the direction she wanted. She fell off of that little tricycle you can see in the background of the picture above 2 times...and not long after that...we went to another room...

This is the bubble room. Abby did such a good job standing in the bubble...

Parker watched Abby in the bubble...quite a few times...so when it was her turn I stood her on the platform...Geoff lifted up the circle...and she immediately started crying. It was a new cry that I had never heard before...it was one more of fright, or being terrified, than anything else...So we didn't get a picture of that...and we definitely didn't try it again!

Then to the music room....how neat is this???

Parker loved this. I thought she might. We let her play our piano at home sometimes. And, in general, she starts smiling and laughing a lot when she hears music...

Then she found this small room that was in the big music room. Who is that little boy you ask? I have no clue....but she didn't seem to mind...

A little later she did get the opportunity to play by herself...

And of course, it was inevitable...they were DONE!

Fast forward about 2 hours later...and it was bath time...

Then this is almost night-night time when we were sitting on the bed letting Abby watch her favorite movie, Dumbo, for just a few minutes....

.....aaaaawwwww....

Fast Forward another 14 hours and we took a few final pictures before we left....saying our goodbyes...

I know that I have posted the picture below before, but just wanted to show you again, just how much they have changed in just TEN short months!!

And then here is just a quick family shot because I am trying to get better about taking these!