Outing Week

We spent most of last week out of town for family reasons.  Before we left I'd decided that we'd see what kind of fun we could find in the area we'd be in.  So each day we spent a few hours having some local adventures.  I was really glad I'd planned some activities; my kids were obnoxious all week!  Whenever we were at their grandparents house, they were bouncing off of walls, fighting, and getting into all sorts of mischief.  We haven't had this much frustrating behavior in quite a while!  I'll just blame it on the fact that Jim wasn't with us for half of it and that all of our routines/ diet were completely different.  In addition, every time I turned around Abby had found something she shouldn't have (markers, paint, scissors, medications, etc.) and she was unloading things all over (I had no clue where most of it came from).  So these outings preserved my sanity and we had a whole lot of fun.

Day 1: Zoo
We went to their small zoo the first day we were there.  It was kind of cold out and we only had sweatshirts with us, but it was discount admission day!  Thankfully, there were enough indoor spots scattered throughout the zoo that we were able to warm up when we really needed to.

My monkeys.

The boys fed this very friendly goat.  Annie was scared to let it touch her.

Although it is a small zoo, most of their animals were the large variety, and the smaller ones were actually really neat.  The exhibits were good as well.  We were surprisingly pleased.

This is actually a black JAGUAR.  As we approached we thought it would be a panther, but it wasn't.  There was also a black leopard.  Both the jaguar and the leopard had spots if you looked carefully; we thought that was pretty neat.

The female lions were in a fairly new exhibit, but because the male was so old they kept him in the old exhibit.  They were calling to each other across the zoo the whole time we were there.  That was fun to hear.

This is the jaguar again.

Logan was a little worried to turn his back to the camel for a picture because he said, "Camels spit."  Funny guy.

We visited every bathroom in the zoo, and several multiple times.  Alex had to go every 30 minutes and the others were almost as frequent!  I finally started rationing drinks.

Because we saved on our admission, we went ahead and paid for the train ride.  It was FREEZING, but the kids absolutely loved it.  The man who drove the train said he was thrilled we came by; we were his first customers of the day (and it was nearly closing time).  He let the kids climb into his seat afterwards and blow the whistle.

Day 2: Children's Museum
Our second outing was a children's museum.  The kids had a blast.  Me, not so much.  I prefer the other children's museums we've been to.  This one had some really great things to do, BUT it was all in one big room making it impossible to keep track of everyone.  That big room also meant it was very loud; we could hardly hear each other.

Abby's favorite activity was this water table.  I think she played there three times.

Logan made a building out of some large foam Legos.

Day 3: Ice cream, errands, botanical garden, and tractor museum.
We had the BEST ice cream when we headed out on the third day.  I wish we had this place in our city!

Doesn't her face just say, "I'm cute and fun!"?

We ran some errands, and then found a botanical garden and conservatory.  It was a fantastic little find.  The conservatory was beautiful and smelled delicious.  Logan had been complaining that he didn't want to look at flowers before we went, but then he was the one who wanted to go back into the conservatory over and over.  He said it was because it smelled so good.

The botanic gardens weren't in bloom yet, but I bet they'll be beautiful as well.  We found a pond with ducks, turtles, and geese, and we also found a neat fountain at the other end of the gardens.  In addition, there was a playground, so the kids had a chance to climb around.

After that we made a quick stop at the John Deere Pavilion.  When your dad and your grandpa work for John Deere, you just have to be loyal.  :)

Alex has always been our ham, and lately he's decided that also means making silly faces whenever there is a camera nearby.

I promised him he could make a silly face if he would give me one nice smile.

Day 4: Jim, park, the circus, and an ice cream date.
In the middle of the night we woke to the dog barking and a man's voice.  Jim decided to take Friday off of work and join us for our last three days!  I was so glad he was there.  The kids were much better behaved, and everything is more fun when Daddy is around!  (Plus he helps me a LOT.)

We had tickets for the circus that evening, so we decided to find a playground for a little sunshine that afternoon.  It felt really good to go to the park as a family!

We arrived at the circus to discover that it was outdoors and we were inadequately dressed for the cold wind that was blowing.  I suppose it should have occurred to me to check that.  Every other circus I've been to was indoors, so I guess I just assumed this would be the same.  Alex forgot his sweatshirt (even though he was reminded to grab it) so he was quite cold.  Thankfully, we keep two blankets in the van, so we survived with those.  Unfortunately, Annie and Alex fought over the blankets for at least half the show, so I spent a significant portion of the time refereeing.  I was really glad Jim was there to hang onto Abby (since we were sitting in bleachers and I was worried she'd fall).  In addition, it wasn't adequately accessible for Elisa (even though I'd called ahead of time to find out if it was).  We found out from the circus people that it was inadequate for their show as well; it sounds like the person in charge of the venue didn't give accurate information.

So the venue was a disappointment and that decreased our enjoyment, but this particular circus was pretty good we thought.  It had fewer acts than the last one we'd been to (and really enjoyed), but we felt it was much more family friendly and tasteful (the music and costumes at the previous one having been inappropriate we felt).  The acrobats were excellent and very talented.  We were super impressed with their skill.

We went ahead and let the kids have an elephant ride before the show started (thanks to a generous grandma).  When it was time to get on, Annie chickened out, so her brothers went without her.  They loved it.  They are the two in front.

After she saw how slow the elephant moved, Annie decided she wanted to ride after all, but didn't want to go alone.  There was no one else in line, though.  The guys in charge offered to let me ride with her so she wouldn't be scared.  So I sat my pregnant self on that elephant and had a free ride!  I definitely wasn't planning on that experience! 

The high rope acrobats had to do their acts above the bleachers.  These girls were fun to watch.

After we had the kids in bed that night, Elisa kept an ear open for them so Jim and I could have an ice cream date.  Jim LOVES ice cream, so I just had to take him to that place we'd visited the day before.  Mmm...

Day 5: County park and pioneer village.
The next day we took a couple of hours to check out a county park.  We drove through and stopped at the pioneer village that was at the edge of it.  There were quite a few buildings, including an old church.

Silly face time...because Alex is now requiring that.  Funny kid.

Silly face while we waited during a bathroom break.

There were signs for Buffalo Bill's homestead so we went to check it out.  It turns out he only lived there for a couple of years as a baby, but it was a neat house to walk through.  The kids liked the well best.

Alex insisted we take a picture with the flagpole as well.

Day 6: Church and home.
On our last day we went to church together, said goodbye, and drove home arriving just before bedtime.  

Easter, General Conference, and the Tooth Fairy

We had an awesome Easter weekend. 

Annie showing off her new dress.  Abby had two new dresses which she has worn by now, but I failed to take a picture of either one.

General Conference fell on Easter weekend this year, so it was a double holiday for us.  As Logan always says, "General Conference is my favorite holiday!"  We always treat it like one, and we all get excited when it comes around twice a year.  We were blessed to have eight hours (ten for Jim) of conference sessions; it was a great way to focus on our Savior.  

Between sessions on Saturday, we joined some friends for an egg hunt at the park.  Later that night, Annie FINALLY lost her other top tooth.  It had been dangling for weeks and weeks, but she was too afraid to have it out.  I finally pressed the issue because it was so loose, I could tell it wouldn't be there when she woke up the next day. 

After setting out tooth money, I filled baskets and hid them.  We gave the kids kites, headlamps, and bubble bath this year.  We typically like to give them something Christ centered as well, but couldn't come up with anything this year.  Logan was an exception because he's been wanting a CTR ring (which stands for 'Choose the Right'), and he'd proven he was mature enough to take care of a real one (by constantly wearing and keeping track of a cheap one for months).  So he received his first real CTR ring; he's been wearing it constantly and has been very careful not to lose it.

The kids found their baskets Sunday morning (without help for the first time ever).  Then we enjoyed four more hours of Conference and some nice family time.

It's always kite flying weather at our house, so the kids were able to try out their kites as soon as we had time.  Abby had a mini kite that was only a few inches wide.  It was perfect for her.

 

 

The kites flew so well, that the kids ended up sitting or laying down with them.  

At one point there was a big gust of wind from the opposite direction and it was just enough to send Logan's kite over a tree.  His string caught, and we couldn't get it lose.  Since there is almost ALWAYS a strong wind at that height, waiting for the wind to die wasn't going to work, and we didn't want to let his new kite go at the height it was flying.  We ended up having a fun little adventure by catching his kite with Alex's.  It's more difficult to tangle two kites than it seems!  Much to Logan's relief, we succeeded, AND without damage.  :)

Abby's 2nd Birthday

Abby is two!  This little girl is the funniest and cutest thing ever.  We love having her around.

Logan made her this cute stool for her present.  He'd hammered it together several months previous, but had been waiting for Jim to trim the sides.  Jim finally got around to it, so Logan painted it just in time for her birthday.  I think it came out really cute!

It's Abby's favorite thing right now, too.  She hauls it around everywhere and uses it to reach things and also as a seat.

Jim's parents and his sister were able to join us for a celebration the week before her birthday.  We visited, opened presents, ate, and had an Easter egg hunt.

 
I opted for rice krispy treats (which I haven't made in YEARS) instead of cake for her party.

Annie's 7th Birthday

Annie is 7!  We love having this sweet girl in our family and enjoyed celebrating her birthday last month.

On the evening of her birthday we had some family time.  She opened her family presents.

Abby was really excited to open a present early that night and insisted on wearing it right then (her Easter dress).

We also had root beer floats.

Logan gave Annie this 'build a straw' set.  Annie had given Alex the same gift the week before, so they had fun with their straws.

The next day she had a bunch of friends over for her party.  She didn't want a cake this year; instead she opted for flaming brownies (brownie, caramel, marshmallow, fudge frosting).

She planned her whole party.  Musical chairs was first on her list.

After that we played balloon stomp.  The kids were amazingly good sports about this.  Everyone loved this game.

She'd been talking about having pizza for her party this year, so Jim went to pick it up while we played games.  The moment he returned, all of the kids swarmed him.

This is such a good group of kids.  I had a ton of fun with them that day.

Annie opened presents next.  Her friends really seem to know what she likes.

Last, we had dessert.  All of the kids promised me that they would eat at least two servings, but only a few of them managed to finish their first.  This is a RICH dessert!  It was a hit, though.

A lot of kids had been asking to play outside, so they ran wild outdoors for the last half hour.

Burning Garbage

Last spring, we discovered a mini-landfill on our property.  Somehow we hadn't noticed it when we bought our house, or else we assumed it was on the neighboring property since it was right next to our property lines.  I'm not sure how we missed it.  After contacting our neighboring farmer, we were assured that it certainly was ours.  The previous owners had filled this hole with garbage and then continued throwing garbage on a cement slab next to it.  At some point, they'd put dead fall over top of both piles.  It was a mess!

We took some pictures last summer, but were afraid to burn it because it was right next to our line of trees.

A few weeks ago, we started looking at it again and decided cleaning it up was our next project.  Here's another before shot of just the pit.

Jim decided to burn smaller isolated piles on the cement slab in order to clear enough space that we could avoid a fire hazard.  This was our last pile on the slab.

 Once the slab was sufficiently cleared and we'd moved the excess into the hole, we started burning the rest of it.

That was a HOT fire!

 Now we just need to fill in that hole!  Yay!

Kids Say

Alex, "Mom, my neck doesn't feel good; my water hole is plugged up!!"

Logan, "Mom, can you teach me how to tie my shoes again?"  You know you're a Croc loving family when your 8 year old has forgotten how to tie his shoes.  The realization becomes more pronounced when this makes you realize you also haven't taught your 7 year old yet because she hasn't needed to tie her shoes.  One of our special oddities...ha ha!

Alex, "Mom!  A bird is singing 'The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock!!"  The best part is that it really sounded like it!

Alex during General Conference, "So this IS a true movie!!"

Alex, "Mom, helping is the thing to do!!"

Logan, "It wouldn't be right if someone came driving a red tractor into Waterloo!"

Alex while feeling Jim's bicep, "This is squishier than me."

Alex had received permission to select an activity out of the school closet, but with the stipulation that it couldn't be messy, "Dad, are finger paints messy?"

Annie, "You can't taste germs!  Only maybe Jesus can!"  To which Alex responds, "Maybe Heavenly Father."

Alex, "A toilet water leaking thing will happen if I cuddle with Dad!!"

While it was quiet during church, Alex turned and patted me, "Your tummy got really BIG!  Even your chest!!"

Alex was asking if he could go with Jim on a service project, "Can I go?"  Me, "No, it's just for grown ups."  Alex, "So it's a honeymoon?"