When I moved into my apartment, my 5-year-old nephew informed me that he would grace me with his presence for "one sleep," as he put it, so last night I finally had a night off for him to do just that. He had his little wheely suitcase all packed up with a couple of his favorite stuffies (Captain Cuddly the polar bear and Buckey, the tiny beaver in a red sweater), and his backpack all set for school today. I was excited to have a small house guest for the evening!
Our night's adventuring began at Klyde Warren Park because I saw online that they had a "Children's Park," but I think we went at an off time (Wednesday evening, around 6PM). I didn't see anything kid-related to really do, besides jump in some sprinklers/fountains, an activity in which we sadly could not partake because we had to go to dinner and didn't bring changes of clothes (good planning, Aunt Amy). We ended up strolling around and commenting on the lack of fun kids' activities, raced on the grass a bit, then went on our merry way to dinner. Next time I would bring a ball to kick/throw around on the grass or go when there was a scheduled activity. The park is definitely lovely and in a fantastic location, nestled between the downtown skyscrapers, but it's a little bit of a letdown for a nephew who likes to climb on things and play with toys.
I resorted to Googling a good place to take Carson to eat and stumbled upon an article from the Dallas Observer, which recommended The LOT in East Dallas as one of Nine of Dallas' Best Places to Eat With Your Kids. A bit more rundown than the pictures in the article made me think and a little lacking on the service side of things (I had to go to the hostess stand to ask for a server to come by), the sand off the patio was a nice area for Carson to play and meet other kids while we waited for our food. He loved his grilled cheese, fries, and lemonade and my chicken salad on a croissant was decent, though it could have used a bit more stuffing to even out the salad to croissant ration. I highly recommend the waffle fries! I would go back again to sample their beer selection and other food offerings, but I'd make sure to sit far away from the sandbox and crying children if I was sans-nephew.
Continuing our theme of driving all across the city in rush hour traffic, we went to Dish in Preston Hollow for a dessert of vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate chip cookies. Orange juice was also requested by Carson, which made for a slightly off-putting palate combination, if you were to take his face as an indication of the state of things. Had we been feeling entirely lazy we could have gotten delivery from the wildly delicious Tiff's Treats, which has amazing cookies and an ice cream cookie sandwiche that I would eat my weight in if given the opportunity.
Our evening ended in pj's and bed, with a few episodes of Curious George to round things out. We woke up early this morning (hearing, "Aunt Amy, where did Captain Cuddly go?" at 6:30 this morning was a cute way to start the day), got clothes on for picture day, and headed off to Denny's for breakfast.
The apartment seems overly quiet now, after spending such a great afternoon and evening with Carson. His non-stop chatter about everything we saw and his vivid imagination make me glad to be close enough to spend time with him like this. I'd consider our first "one sleep" a raving success, and to liven up the apartment, I'll now be playing our evening's theme song on a loop ("Aunt Amy, can you please turn this up??"). :)
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