September 2016 pt. 1

Our first month in Texas! I have a lot of pictures and I have a lot to say. I guess I will start with words.

Dallas is better than I thought would be. However, I have become more aware of the conveniences in Utah that are not to be found here. Things like free things to do, playgrounds everywhere, a million blogs informing you of family friendly activities going on, running into ward members, driveways, Sunday dinners, the grid system, and changing leaves.

I have finally found a few parks that are good for Owen and I, but I had to SEARCH. There are some good playgrounds around us, but I can't believe how hard it was to find them online or by driving.

I'm so glad my mom stayed with us for a couple weeks while we figured out where we were. If it wasn't for her in the car, my mini panic attacks of "I don't know where I am, I don't know where I'm going, I don't know what I'm doing!" would have been much worse. It has happened a few times where tears came with these words. It's frustrating. On the other hand, there is a huge sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with being able to find your way to the church, a park, Target, and back to your apartment without GPS.

Resources to find kid friendly activities here are few. You have to try really hard to seek out cool places (other than bars) around here. They are here though. I've searched hashtags and blogs and everything I can think of to find family and toddler friendly activities here and I rarely find anything. (This is why I've started using hashtags on my posts like #dallasmoms and #kidsindallas, in case someone else is looking for the same thing.) Good thing I have a passion for finding the gems and getting us there!  

Here's what we've found:

The Dallas Arboretum and White Rock Lake are both pretty well advertised, but the details of them, not so much. I was pleasantly surprised that the Arboretum had a children's area where Owen could splash and play. We ended up buying an annual pass to this place! It's very comparable to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. 
By the way the internet describes White Rock Lake, you would think it was awesome. I was expecting like a Daybreak. Honestly... It was kind of a dump.  Maybe I just had my bar set real high because of Daybreak. There were some nice tennis courts and a nice bike trail, but there wasn't really a place to sit and hang out, or a place for Owen to play... and you can't even get in the water!

This was at the Fort Worth Stockyards. The Stockyards are very touristy, but cool. There's livestock, a rodeo, Texas boutiques, and barbecue. It's not the most kid-friendly place in the book though.

We heard about this aquarium and "Toddler Tuesdays" from a friend. This isn't the main "Dallas Aqaurium," it's in a town about 30 minutes west of downtown. The aquarium is actually located in an outlet mall. This outlet mall is the weirdest mall I have ever been to. It's like someone said "let's make this the biggest, nicest, outlet mall anyone has ever been to... OK actually it's whatever." Half the mall is like name-brand outlets. There's an aquarium, Lego land, movie theater, bowling alley, Rainforest Cafe. The other half the mall is like the dollar store and dirty quarter machine rides. It's weird, but we liked it enough to go back twice. I think that's where we will do most of our shopping!

To be continued...