We spent a couple of hours one afternoon at the Dallas Arboretum. The flower beds at the arboretum are not as picturesque in the winter as they are in the fall and spring, but the grounds are still pleasant and enjoyable any time of the year. The photo below was taken looking out towards White Rock Lake.
Below is our best attempt at getting a photo of Amelia, John, and Henry together in the covered wagon. Henry thought that running up and down the length of the wagon was a bunch more fun than posing for a picture!
Henry seemed to enjoy exploring the fairy tale houses in the arboretum. This little door slot in the Rapunzel house was the perfect size for Henry. Once he figured out how to get through the space, he ran around and around this house dozens of times.
You can compare and contrast Henry's size to Amelia's after going through the same space. This photo was taken in March of 2011.
Pansies were the most abundant flower blooming in the arboretum during our visit.
We were marginally more successful in taking a photo of Amelia, John, and Henry while they were all seated in the mermaid chair.
But Henry was even happier when the photo session was over and he could jump up and down on the chair all by himself. What a happy boy!
Another day we enjoyed spending time closer to downtown. We started the morning with a ride on the McKinney Avenue trolley. The trolley line is a free service that runs from Uptown, an area just north of downtown, back to downtown in a loop that covers maybe five miles or so. The trolleys used on this line are all restored, older trolleys that have been used previously around the world. 
You can compare the photo above of John on the trolley (age 5 years 11 months) with the one taken from a ride on the trolley we took in February of 2009 (age 3 years). 
We took our first ride on the trolley shortly after we moved to Dallas when Amelia was just two, and it is still an activity we enjoy now six years later. 
The next stop after the trolley ride was a visit to the playground at the Chidren's Hospital. The Texas Scottish Rite hospital has the best playground in Dallas, and we knew for sure that Jack and Henry would enjoy exploring this place. Laura and Henry had fun on the seesaw.
And all four kids ran around the bridges, tunnels, and slides for over an hour. In fact, they were having so much fun and were scattered all over the playground that I didn't get many photos because they wouldn't stay still long enough. But one area where I could catch them was on the rocking horse. Jack loved this...
...and so did gangster John. John found these old Ray Ban sunglasses on the playground, which he added to his already stylish outfit of camoflauge athletic pants, baggy Under Armour sweatshirt, and baseball rope necklace. What a gangster look! Note that despite his protests, John was forced to leave the lacrosse shorts at home and wear pants because it was very chilly that morning. 
And last but not least, master Henry LOVED the rocking horse. This kid was giggling with each little push that grandpop gave him.
I love this smile! What a cutie!
Great job Wendy.
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