Seeing the Animals at the Zoo

Now that the summer is over and school has started, it's the end of our weekly get togethers with our cousins, Aunts, and Nana. It's been sad since we've had so much fun doing so many things this summer. Lucky for us, there were a few things that we still had planned to do, but didn't get around to doing them, so we have been doing a few things on Saturdays. This last Saturday, we finally made it to the zoo. The kids have been looking forward to this all summer long and couldn't wait to go!

It was a big day for the zoo - it was the first day that they were letting people see the new baby elephant born just a month ago. We didn't know about it, but were so excited to see the little elephant. He was so cute and we spent about 15 minutes just watching him play with his mom and with a little ball they had in the pen.


Here's a picture of Zach in front of one of the other elephants - it was really bright, so that picture is pretty dark. That gray blob next to the tree behind him is the elephant.


Here's a picture of all 4 kids in front of the camels - sorry about the dark picture again. It was one of the few times we actually got all 4 kids to hold still long enough for a picture!


The monkeys were definitely a favorite - the kids loved to watch them jump, hop, and swing along the trees and branches.


Zach really loved this wall where he could measure up to a gorilla. He thought it was so funny that his arm span was so much shorter. Hailey of course had to measure herself too!


Hailey and Branson spent most of the day holding hands - those two are hilarious when they get together. Poor Branson is usually pulled along by Hailey, but he's getting wise and did his fair share of pulling Hailey around. One time there was actually a tug-o-war as they both wanted to go in different directions.


One of our favorite things to do at the zoo is see the Bird Show. They have all different types of birds that peform and fly over the heads of the audience. The kids love it and were so excited. Here they all are with Nana - waiting for the show to start.


They also had a baby giraffe out for us to see. Hailey loved all the babies and thought the baby giraffe and baby elephant were really neat.


The kids absolutely loved watching the giraffes eat. Zach, being the brave soul he is, really wanted to pet one.


Here's a picture of Hailey and Branson in front of the zebras. I tried to get a picture of Zach and Ashton, but they were too busy running from animal to animal to get a good picture - the ones I did get were all blurry. Hailey and Brans thought these zebras were really neat with all their stripes.


And lastly, a little family photo in front of the fountains.



We were definitely tired by the time we left, but boy did we have a great time!

Liberty Land

Labor Day was a really fun day for us. After a last minute cancel to got to the zoo, we brainstormed to come up with another idea of something to do that day. Jeremiah reminded me of the Liberty Land Fun Park here in Lehi and after remembering we had a coupon for a free unlimited day pass when you bought another one, we decided that's where we all wanted to go.

Liberty Land is a very small amusement type park hidden away here in Lehi. They don't have a whole ton of rides like Lagoon, but it's still fun and the best part is that the lines are nothing, so there's hardly any waiting time. The kids had a blast riding everything they possibly could.

The rode the airplanes about 5 times while we were there. Half the time there was enough room to ride in their own separate airplanes, but it was really fun to see them ride in the same plane. You could see them talking to each other and it was really fun to see them laugh and smile at each other.


They loved riding the train inside the building. The wouldn't sit anywhere but the front engine since that's where the bell was that they could ring as they were going around - and boy did they ring that thing over and over!


The Merry-go-round was a definite favorite. They loved the fact that they could choose whatever horse they wanted to ride. This was one of my favorite things to watch them do because I could see both of them with their Dad just having a fun time. During this ride they all would make a different funny face at me every time they went around - it was hilarious!


In addition to rides, the passes we bought included unlimited mini golf as well. It was pretty hot standing out in the sun, so we only did 1 round, but the kids had a blast. Zach did great with the golf club - you can tell he's been practicing out in our backyard.


Hailey on the other hand was a completely different story. First of all, she insisted on using the red putter, which was about 6 inches too long for her, but you know what it's like to change her mind after she gets set on something. Jeremiah helped her most of the time since she would either miss completely and hit the ground or actually hit it backwards (this was so funny to watch). But there were a few times where she insisted on doing it all by herself - of course we stood there for 5 minutes before she actually made contact with the ball!


Inside the building they had some blow-up slides, more rides, a rock climbing wall, and even arcade games. We couldn't help but use a few quarters to play a game or two. Hailey chose skeeball which turned into "I'll throw (not roll) it half way up the ramp" ball - it was so funny! And Zach chose a basketball game - big suprise! They both had so much fun.


But there were definitely two rides that were the most fun. The first was the go-carts. At first Zach went by himself.


And then he was gracious enough to take his sister for a ride. You'll notice that he has to slide all the way forward to even reach the pedals - it looks like the seatbelt is almost choking him. They loved every minute of the ride!



The other favorite was the water boat ride. The first time they went, we paid a bit extra so that Jeremiah could take Hailey. I couldn't stop laughing as Zach chased them around the pool trying to spray them with water.



The next time we got brave and let Zach and Hailey go together. It was funny since there was an older grandpa and his granddaughter in the group. He was such a good sport and let our kids continually spray him along with his granddaughter. Our kids laughed the whole time! I have to admit that he was quite drenched by the time the ride was over.



And if you're wondering how much fun they had, just check out these faces!




You can bet we'll be heading back to Liberty Land again really soon. We spent about 5 hours there and the kids had a wonderful time! Jeremiah and I are realizing that once you have kids, you have more fun watching them have fun than doing anything else for yourself. We definitely realized that on Monday as we had a blast just watching the kids get excited and have fun and we wouldn't rather have been any other place than there with our kids.

Where are the Kangaroos?

Well, if you were with us on Saturday, you'd realize that the kangaroos were with us! That's because we spent a few hours at the Kangaroo Zoo and the kids jumped and jumped just like kangaroos. My kids absolutely love the Kangaroo Zoo and get so excited when we tell them we're going. They have a bunch of blow up slides, jumping houses, and anything else you can imagine that's fun to jump on. Look at these faces - are they happy or what?

Hailey

Zachary


Our Cousin Branson


Our cousin Ashton



They sure had fun climbing, jumping ,and sliding for hours!





We can't wait to go back and play some more!

First Spelling Test

Ok, I'm a mom and since I'm using my blog as a family history of sorts, you'll have to pardon me if I brag just a little bit. Today Zach took his first spelling test - technically his first test ever and he did great!




That's right - that would be a 100% grade on the top of his paper! I know it sounds silly to be excited over something like a 1st grade spelling test on such easy words to the rest of us, but he's so proud and we're so proud of him. These are words he already knows how to read, but has never been tested on writing them. We worked on it all week last week and were so happy to see the effort pay off. When we picked him up, he ran to the car with a big smile on his face and couldn't wait to show us his paper. I know there will be times when he falls sort of perfect, but I'm so glad for him doing so well this first time, it's been such a confidence booster for him!

Way to go Zach - Daddy and I are so PROUD of you!

It's the Simple Things in Life ...

that are the most important.

I was reminded of this fact by my children this past week. Since school has started, I really haven't had a whole lot to blog about. Life is still settling into a routine and the unimportant things in life have been taking up more time in my life than I'd like.

Well, I thought I'd share an experience I had last week. For some reason, one day Hailey became fascinated with flip-flops. I'm not exactly sure where that came from, but for about a week she would sneak into the garage (which she's not allowed to do, by the way) and grab her dad's flip-flops to wear around the house. At first I got pretty mad at her, but after her doing it a few days in a row, it just became something I decided wasn't worth the fight. If you know our stubborn little girl, then you know it's virtually impossible to make her do anything different once she's made up her mind. Well, after a few days of tripping over very big flip flops and me worrying about it damaging her feet, I decided to just go buy her a pair of her own.

That was easier said than done since first of all, we had to track some down. Now that school has started, all of the summer clothes and shoes have been replaced by back to school items. After searching a few stores, we found a pair of little girls flip-flops at Old Navy (should have looked there first, don't know why I didn't). She of course chose herself a pair of pink ones and pair in blue for her brother - it's never a good idea to come home with something like that for one and not for the other.

Needless to say, they were both in heaven! The wore their flip-flops the rest of the day and I literally had to rip them off their feet when it was time to shower and go to bed. I figured the novelty of it would wear off after a couple of days. For Zach it did - he still likes to wear them, but isn't quite as attached to the like Hailey is. When Sunday rolled around, she was bound and determined to wear them to church. After a hour long heated battle, I had her finally convinced to wear her church shoes, but only becaue I promised she come right home and pur her flip-flops on. Even now, she still gets up in the morning, comes downstairs, and puts on her flip-flops which she wears all day long. She absolutely loves them!




I have chuckled quite a few times as I've seen both of their excitement during the past week. More than once I've marveled at how something so small and insignificant could cause such a tremendous amount of joy. Then I realized that these flip-flops are not insignificant, life is full of small things that make us smile, fill us with love, or make us feel important and it's those types of things we need to relish in. When life gets crazy and out of control, which it often does for me, I find that I'm not taking time to smell the roses or in this case enjoy the flip-flops and appreciate those little things that make life fun. Thank you to my two sweet children for reminding me to take time for the little things!

First Day of School - First Grade!

There are definitely times in your life when you realize your kids are growing up way too fast. Going back to school seems to be one of those times for me. I thought Zach was growing up way too fast when he went to preschool. Then it seemed even worse when he went to kindergarten. Well, he started first grade on Thursday and you can imagine how much it seemed he was growing up! All day at school - it can't be already! But it is and he was so excited!

Mrs. Winter is his teacher this year and after meeting her at back to school night, we were so happy with her and her classroom policies. She's very organized, ready to work, and always willing to make it fun.

Zach had trouble sleeping the night before the first day because he was just so excited. He's like me and craves a schedule and being challenged intellectually. Summer is so unscheduled and with the way work has just been so crazy and busy for me this summer, there definitely hasn't been much stimulation. So I think he was more than ready to head back to school to start learning again.

Hailey and I walked him onto the playground to make sure he knew where he was going - he easily found the line marked with his teacher's name and was so happy to be the first one in line.


After the bell rang and it was time to go in, he followed his teacher and had a smile on his face the whole way.


What a big boy!


Hailey and I followed with a few other mothers at the end of the line to make sure he made it and was settled into his classroom. He made it just fine and wasn't anxious for us to stay any longer, so we started to go. Well, needless to say, Hailey had a REALLY hard time leaving - I practically had to drag her out of the classroom. Then when I got her into the hall, she started crying - A LOT! I had to pick her up and carry her all the way to the car with her sobbing. Poor thing, she wanted to stay so badly! Notice I didn't say she wanted Zach to go home with us, she wanted to stay with Zach - I think she could have cared less where I was. I teared up just a little bit as we were walking out of the school, but having to concentrate on her kept me from thinking too much about leaving Zach there. So I guess maybe it was a good thing.

I had some shopping planned to keep both of our minds off of Zach being at school and it seemed to work. She and I had fun and by the time we got home, we were both just fine. We did have a little bit of a tantrum (Hailey, not me) in the afternoon when we didn't go and get Zach and bring him home before lunch, but I think in another week or so Hailey will be used to the time and be ok.

It's hard to think that Zach is now in school a full day instead of just half day like in kindergarten - that means he'll spend more time at school than at home and awake with me. It's so hard to let go, but he's having such a fun time and I wouldn't want him to not have all the fun he's having. His newfound joys are 3 recess times, eating lunch at school, and getting to play on the big kids playground (not the fenced in kindergarten playground). He's loved every minute of it and I love to have him come home and tell me all about his day at school.

You're getting so big Zach, Dad and I love you and are so proud of you!

Treehouse Museum

I'm a little late posting this, but our fun adventure last Wednesday was going to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. We've been here before and the kids absolutely loved it, so you can imagine how excited they were to go again.

The fire engine is one of the favorite things to see. Good thing it's at the entrance because we usually spend time on it when we first get there and then again right before we leave.


Who wouldn't be excited about dressing up in a fire fighting outfit complete with jacket and hat? Zach loved being a fire fighter!


This was one of the few pictures I got with all the kids together. This little bridge was so cute - they even had a little pond painted on the ground underneath it complete with little fish swimming in it.


I love the fun picture with the kids in this boat. The little wave is so cute. There's also a fishing net where they can pull in some fish.


The jungle area was fun with all the big stuffed animals. Zach loved the big gorilla and ...


Hailey loved the big giraffe.


One of the new areas since we had been there last was the barn/rodeo area. We spent so much time here riding the horses and bulls and dressing like cowboys and cowgirls. They had a cute rodeo background painted on the wall and it really looks realistic.


Zach was so cute dressed as a rodeo clown and when he rode the horse, he kept waving his hat in the air and yelling "YAHOO!"


Can you imagine what this country would be like if these little ones were president? The thought just makes me laugh. The oval office area of the museum was very realistic and the kids thought it was great to sit in the big chair behind the desk.


One of the funniest stories about our visit was this arch made of blocks. Kylie (bless her heart) decided to help the older boys put the arch together. Once they got it done, the two younger ones thought it would be hilarious to knock it over. And over. And over. And over. After about 5 or 6 times of this happening, the older boys got smart and corraled the younger ones so that they would leave it standing. It was quite funny to watch and poor Aunt Awa was really tired by the time she sat back down by us.


Another favorite area is the medieval section. They have clothes to dress up in and a throne area for them to pretend to be queen and king. Here's our little princess all dressed up in her princess outfit and crown. It was darling on her and she loved every second of wearing it.


They also had a little stage where the kids could "perform" in their costumes. Here's our princess surrounded by the knight and king. Aren't they cute?


Lastly was the doll house room. The boys weren't very excited about this room with a bunch of dolls and paperdolls. So while Nana and Aunt Michelle took the boys back to the fire engine, Aunt Awa stayed with Hailey to color some paperdolls to take home.



We've decided that the Treehouse Museum is definitely one of our favorite places to visit. We almost didn't make it this year and we're so glad we were able to fit it in. Thanks Nana, Aunt Awa, Aunt Shell, Ashy, and Brans for going with us - we had a blast!