LIVING...A Day in McKinney, TX.

It's been a long two weeks with the ice and snow here in the Dallas area.  Thank goodness for the super bowl, they were required to have contracted sand trucks and snow plows, just in case.  Well, we used them and we were feeling the need to escape after being encouraged to stay home while the storms passed.

Cory and I had been to McKinney before, but we wanted to take the kids with us.  The downtown area is located in an historic part of town.  I absolutely love this.  The buildings all sit in a square with a large building in the center.  The stores are all unique and have the most inviting spirit when you walk in.  I love the old wooden floors, the aged walls and how each business has tried to keep the integrity of the fixtures.

We spent about 4 hours here among lots of people trying to do the same thing...enjoy the great weather and partake of this quaint little town.  The restaurants were amazing! They also offered a magic shop, a candy store and a book store.  I liked this because they had something for everyone, this including kids.  I would say that most of the stores were centered around women's clothing and home decor.  I would say that most of them catered to a higher end clientele but it was still so much fun to window shop, if that was your desire for the day.

Several of the shops, took my breath away.  The design layout and the styles were beyond beautiful.  I enjoyed just looking and taking in all of the beauty of their displays.

This picture was taken inside an art gallery.  This woman takes wine bottle labels and then ages the  label with "wine" spots.  She got the idea from a bottle that her friend retrieved from her wine cellar.  The prints are amazing.  She does custom request too.    The artist name is: Laura Moore and she can be seen at lauramooreart.com.  I encourage you to take a look on her website.

AH, the candy store.  Mom & Pop CORN co.  They had lots of candy to choose from.  They had an assortment of the "old"candy that can only be found, it seems, at these fun candy shops. 

This chair was at our table.  We ate at this little Bistro, it was so good.

I love the tones of this picture and the detail in the chair.

This young guy did a lot with the slight of hand...the kids ate it up.

They have a magic shop!  It was so cool.  They did lots of demonstrations.  The first picture is of Cory and Drake watching and the second, shows their surprise at the "magic"...they were really great magicians.  The store was like walking back in time...

Rye participated in a magic trick.  It was awesome to watch this man work his "magic".

This was one side of the magic store..they had so much to choose from.

Isabella had eaten a package of Pop Rocks and her hands were covered with them.  Thank goodness we had bottled water.  I love the way this picture looks.  I like the urban feel to it.

I don't have many pictures of the big kids, posed  So when I saw this  garage door and the lighting, I asked him to pose.  You can tell he was not happy about it, but oh well...I pulled the trump card.."PLEASE!"....LOL

Best friends, I love this picture of Drake and Rye

Inside the coffee shop. They had the best gluten free peanut butter cookies.  This shows my family relaxing and enjoying the moment.  One of my favorites of the day.

Isabella adores her Dad...this picture is very sweet to me.

Isabella has gone from NOT wanting any pictures taken of her, to EVERY chance we get, we take pictures of her.  She is so dang cute.

I love this lighting.  This was at the coffee shop..how could you guess?..LOL  She is an artist at heart.

Very deep into her drawing.  LOVE IT.

Yep, they were bored.

We went into a shop and the ladies loved Isabella.  Isabella loved these rats and so they gave her one.  She carried it around town like this.  I had to laugh.  

I really feel a connection to anything old.  This light was beautiful in its details.

My lunch.  Every dish we ordered was served like a piece of artwork.  The food was very good!

Downtown McKinney map.

I absolutely would eat every meal outside, weather permitting.  I don't know what it is about eating outside but I love it. I can first remember this feeling from when I went to Paris...maybe that is why I enjoy it so much...good memories.

These red shoes, make lots of appearances in my photos.  They are a  part of who Isabella is.  She loves sparkles, dancing and all things whimsical.

This shop is amazing.  It looked like a simple shop from the outside and you walk in and your senses go crazy!  So many bright colors, rugs, lamps, clothes...these head dresses started at about 400.00 each and the rugs averaged $6000.00  The kids had a lot of fun in this store.

I can't wait to get these developed.  I love my girls and watching them together brings  joy to my heart.

This is a must see if you make it to this neck of the woods.  Enjoy the pictures below.  I spent the whole day capturing my family through the lens.  It was a treat for me to focus on the small details of my life.  When I returned home and went through each picture, I felt the essence of the day expressed.  My life has exploded with ideas and knowledge and my photographic skills are benefiting too, from this new sense of awareness.