Thursday, May 19, 2016

Spring Break Part III

After Dallas, we adventured to Waco, Texas. It is a college town. Known for a news-worthy event, Dr. Pepper Museum, and Baylor College. At least that is what I know. Now it is also known for the show Fixer Upper and Magnolia Market.

Since I have never been and I wanted to go see what this Magnolia Market was all about, we headed there. Even though it was out of the way.

Our first stop: The Dr. Pepper Museum

The adorable front!

A bottle cap horse

This is a recipe for blueberry muffins using Dr. Pepper

Old Soda Machines. They are so much prettier than now. 


We enjoyed the Dr. Pepper museum. It was a small place. There were some neat things to see. Like the bottling room and the well they dug I am assuming to get water to make the soda. 
I feel like I was quickly moving through the exhibits because I was excited for where we were going next!

Magnolia Market



There was no line to get into the shop, we got lucky with that. 
The inside was PACKED!
So much so that you would bump into people while you were trying to move around. 
Poor Joey needed to go outside to get some air. 
I stuck it out and got some neat things for our house. 




After the Magnolia Market, we ate lunch and headed home. 
I loved being able to go with Joey on his business trip. 
It was a great and memorable adventure. 



Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Spring Break Part II

After I visited the Dallas World Aquarium, I wanted to go check out the Dallas Arboretum. The timing of the year could not have been more perfect. I went right when all the flowers were in full bloom!

Enough typing, just look.

The cherry blossom  trees were in full bloom! 
The arboretum is home to about 140 of them. 
They are gorgeous!



Snapdragons



Tulips! Oh so many tulips in all colors! 




This is my favorite picture from the day. 


Red Japanese Maple Tree with the waterfall in the background


If you look to the right of the bush, you can see the cedar waxwings that were flying all around it to eat the berries!
I have never seen them before. I also got a motion picture of them. 
I forgot I turned the feature on and it was a pleasant surprise. 

This picture and the two pictures below are also my favorites from the day. 



It was a gray and overcast day, but it was great for pictures!



After I drove Joey to his work site one day, I decided to explore the town we were staying in, McKinney.
McKinney, Texas is north of Dallas. It has an adorable town center. 
Sadly, it was early and I did not get to visit the shops. 


This building was beautiful!

This the side of the building. Further down, past the spiral staircase(!!) was a magic shop and a book store. I'm pretty sure it was one of those awesome bookstores that has a cat. 
Galveston has one of those and I love the feel of it. 

One of the shops had this gorgeous tile work out front. 

This place looked like it was out of Stars Hallow (Gilmore Girls reference)


That concludes our time in Dallas! After we left Dallas, Joey was super awesome and fulfilled my want to visit Waco. I had never been to Waco, plus I wanted to visit Magnolia Market and the Dr. Pepper Museum. That was our next stop. 




Tuesday, May 17, 2016

My Spring Break Part 1

So back in March I was able to travel with Joey to Dallas. He had to travel due to business. I saw it as  an opportunity for an adventure! I have never been to Dallas to stop and explore. 


One of the first places I went was the Dallas World Aquarium. If you are in the area, I highly recommend it! Go early because it gets crowded!
Once you walk in, this is what you are greeted with. 
A two story waterfall that has monkeys climbing and birds flying all around it. 

A three-toed sloth! My first time I have seen a real-life sloth :)

They also had a two-toed sloth which was harder to photograph. 
She was located over a staircase. 

They have many tanks in their aquarium exhibit. I loved that it was categorized by area of the world. 
I do not remember this guy's natural area, but he sure was watching me!

I loved that you could see the underside of this sea anemone. 

The aquarium had many neat sea horses!


They even had baby sea horses! 
Look closely, they are that teenie! 

These are garden eels! 
They sway with the current and mimic grass. 
When a predator comes near, they pull themselves back into the sand. 


An Axolotl! 
I almost missed this guy! It was in a tank that followed some stairs. 
I love axolotls! 
Google it, it will make you smile!


I believe this is a spotted owl

Not a great picture, but it's an ANTEATER!

Tortoises are so neat to watch


A sea manatee! 
I waited a while on this one! 
It was in the corner eating for a while, then I decided to come back after visiting the penguins. 
Jackpot! It came out to say hello. 

This was only the beginning of one of my days in Dallas. 
After I left the Aquarium, I decided to venture to the Dallas Arboretum. 
Those pictures are in the next post. 
So many beautiful flowers!