ZoO TiMe

For our first official, preschool field trip, we headed to Hogle Zoo. Only three of us were able to make it, but we had a great time. A couple of hours is just the right amount of time at the zoo, if you ask me.

Ryan, Jonah & Evan on the train.

Watching the bear "chill" on the log.

Cute baby giraffe.

The carousel didn't smell bad, he was just being silly.

Baby Ryan...cutest ever! He was so happy the whole trip.

Kim, Shaylee & Ryan ready to ride.

Chris and the boys.

Me and my J-bud.

Kim, Shaylee & Ryan (love Shaylee taking a bite).

Chris & Evan at lunchtime.

J eating one of his staples.

I am pretty sure this baby elephant, Zuri, is the cutest thing I have ever seen. You should have seen her play with that red ball. Definitely the highlight for me.

We ended up staying up way too late Friday night. The next morning I had to get up and run to do some visiting teaching. Chris was at a scout camp so I just left the kids home while I went. When I came home, this note was on the door....

So cute! Zoe had made pancakes (from scratch), fed her brothers, made me a plate and already had the leftovers in the fridge. I love how responsible she is, even though she is growing up too fast.

Milestones

We've had a couple of milestones in our family this last week. First off, my little J-Bud started preschool. We are doing a little neighborhood co-op, which he thinks is great because he has all of his little friends with him.

Cool pose....
School pose...

It was actually my week. The bad part about this was even though I had my camera out, I didn't get any pictures taken because my hands were pretty busy the entire time. Oh well! We talked about the letter S and made these cute spiders after reading Ms. Spider's Tea Party, among other things.

Tonight we went to dinner with all of my family to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of my amazing Dad and his cute wife, Carma. I cannot believe it has been that long. I was only 15, but I remember it like yesterday. I remember going into the dressing room before their ceremony. Carma was sooooo nervous and her sisters were trying to calm her. I was a little worried at that point, but look at them now. We have four kids in our family and Carma brought 5 with her. I am the youngest and all of her kids were out of the house when they married. We never lived under the same roof, but our families have "blended" pretty well. We enjoy getting together and being all together.


We made a book for their anniversary. Each of us took a two page spread and put pics of our families, thoughts, etc. It turned out great...too bad I don't have any pictures of it.

Cousins chillin' after dinner: Sam, Daelee, Jonah, Cole & Noah

Denny & Sandy

The natives were getting restless, so Chris stepped in with some climbing/flips.

Little Dahri who had her own milestone this week....she is officially walking!

Jonah & Cole

Dazmn & Drien...this could be considered a milestone too since they not only let me take their picture, but actually smiled and posed!

Happy Anniversary Dad & Carma! We love you guys!

A Jedi Among Us, There Is

So...whenever we're at a red light, Jonah uses the force to turn it back to green for us. And guess what? It works every time! (Not always the first try, but eventually.)

We're Ba-ack!

School is finally here! I am so excited to get a little routine and structure to my days. We started out the summer great, but the last month as pretty much been a joke.

My kids woke up to candy posters and back-to-school clothes for their Webkinz (since they don't get any). I have to admit they were a huge hit. This is what they said:

BEAR/SWEETHEART/RUNT,
WHOOPEE it’s your first day of school! Just remember:

1- Don’t play any TWIX or SNICKER at your teacher.

2- Don’t be an AIRHEAD and SKOR well on your work.

3- Have MOUNDS of fun at REESE’S.

Remember these things and 2nd/4th/Preschool will be a SNAPS. Make it an EXTRA, EXTRA great day! You ROCK!

Always, Mom

P.S. I will miss you so much my heart may STARBURST!

After that, it was all business. Get dressed, eat breakfast and get out the door...after a couple pictures, of course.

Their school does not tell them their teachers beforehand. They actually meet all together, then are sent to their classrooms and told who their teachers are. Lucky me, I got the inside scoop and knew who they had, but I did NOT spill the beans. It makes for an exciting first day!

Zoe is in Mrs. Bull's class and Noah has Mrs. Croft, which they were both very happy about.

Noah saying "good-bye" to me and Zoe walking to her classroom in serious anticipation.

J was still asleep when we left, but was thrilled to see all his candy (big surprise!) when he woke up. By the time I got back from taking the kids to school, he and Dad had already has a few "samples". He doesn't start preschool until this week, but I didn't want to leave him hanging until then.

Here's to a great school-year!

Long Lake

With the extra time we had before going back to school, we decided to sneak in a family backpacking trip. It was FABULOUS! We went during the week, which means we had Long Lake all to ourselves with the exception of a couple day-hikers. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect.

This was the first time J actually walked himself and he did great on the 2-mile trail. Zoe and Noah were troopers and carried all of their own gear, as well as some of J's.

We found a place to set up camp at the end of the lake and were able to get everything put together and make dinner before dark. That night the almost-full moon was completely orange and amazing. I wish the pictures would have turned out...it was breathtaking.

The next two days were full of hiking, fishing and just hangin' out. We found some wild raspberries which was very cool, except for the fact that I was certain that would lure the bears over for a visit (luckily we didn't have any sightings...whew!).

Zoe loved the tree bottoms of all these huge trees that had fallen over. She had required summer reading for school that we had to catch up on, so we spent most of our time doing that. Both boys were able to catch a couple of fish, played cowboys and James Bond and jumped around on the rocks. Chris....well...let's just say he caught 40+ fish, and I caught zero. That should explain what we did. ;)

As for the funny faces.... When we are in the tent I play a funny face game with the kids. While the other kids aren't looking, I take a picture of one of them making a funny face. Then they hide their eyes and I take a picture of another, so on and so on until they've all made a face. We then look at each other's pictures on the camera and vote on which one is the funniest. This is a great time filler and good for lots of laughs.

I have not been backpacking for a couple of years and I forget how much I miss it. Although I am getting much more paranoid of wild animals in my old age, I love being out and truly enjoying nature. If that does not testify there is a God, I don't know what more could. That quiet, beautiful time with my family was perfect and the memories will last a lifetime!