Day 5 - The Zoo, The Rain, and The Cold

Before Spring Break even started I had asked the kiddos what was one place they would for sure like to go over Spring Break. They all said the zoo because it had been so long since they had been and Brandon and Amanda got to go and it wasn't fair. :-)

I kept putting the zoo off during the week waiting for the temps to go back up and the rain and yuck to go away . . . but it was not to be. Friday ended up being the yuckiest day all week. But I had promised the zoo, and by golly the zoo we were going to do! So we bundled up, got us some ponchos, and visited the animals that were out and about on a cold and rainy day.

Gracie 'yuved' the zebras. They were her favorite. We watched them pick on the other antelope type animal in their habitat for quite some time. This is Dawson being . . . well Dawson. He is pointing to the baby tapir.

Isn't he a cutie??? Some lady was standing there talking to him/her the whole time. Calling it by a name and baby trying to get the tapir to come to her. It was cute.

The flamigos were very chatty and active while we were there. The girls were cracking up at them. This would be where Dawson got camera happy (similar to Brandon and his elephant stalking). Dawson took picture after picture of the flamingo.

This lovely goats name is Maddie. She was a hoot. She was really attracted to Sophia's bright yellow pancho and didn't care much for Gracie. She tried to actually head butt Gracie at one point and was put in goat time out by the zoo keeper. One of the goats did take a bite right out of Sophia's pancho.

Had to ride the merry go round.

Dawson and Sophia being ??? . . . well, really . . . just themselves!

And the final photo in the Jungle Gym playground area.

We did not get to see any monkeys or giraffes . . . but we did manage to still have a good time with those animals that were just as brave and crazy as we were to be out at the zoo on a cold rainy day.

He's a Big Boy Now!

Okay so Dawson would probably kill me if he knew I was using that as a title to a blog about him . . . but oh well. Dawson recently finally got to upgrade his room from young boy to teen boy. His room was a pirate room due to his love of the Pirates of the Caribean movies. His wall had a really cool treasure map mural that one of our friends spent quite a few days working on. It was amazing. I hated to cover it up but little boys grow into big boys. Here is a picture of the mural: And here is the big boys room now . . .

On the unpictured wall is his shelves with his trophies and a poster that has a little boy picking his bootie and it says Picky Picky on it. Gracie laughs everytime she sees it.

Day 2,3,and 4 Spring Break 2011

Day 2 of Spring Break was such a treat . . . NOT! That was visit the dentist day. Sophia used to throw a huge fit whenever she had to have dental work done. It was so bad she would have to go to the pediatric dentist each time to be knocked out. On this day however, she walked in and had her filling done with no problem. Not her little sister though. Gracie has now reached the freak out age. She had a filling done about 6 months ago and did awesome. Not on this day. After 30 minutes of begging, pleading, bribing, threatening . . . she would not do it. It is a small cavity and would have only taken just a bit to fix, but we will be visiting the pediatric dentist next week for Gracie. Oh joy! So because during the fits and tantrums I pretty much took everything away from Gracie. We spent the rest of SB Day 2 at home.

Day 3 we headed out after lunch to Gnomeo and Juliet at the theater. It was a cute movie, and we all enjoyed it. Then due to the torture of the dentist on Day 2, I figured I could endure the torture of Chuck E Cheese for my kiddos on Day 3.Day 4 found us having issues with the washing machine (grrr)but Super Papa to the rescue and it was fixed. After the washing machine was on its way again, we headed to the Fun and Party Zone for some jumping fun (and time to just slap wear yourself out!).

Dawson had soccer practice that evening so the girls and I wasted some time . . . shopping. I think I might have done an oops and found someplace where my anit-shopper LOVES to shop. We stopped at Justice because they had some nice one piece suits in the window. Sophia is very very very very picky about swimwear. She likes a one piece and she likes board shorts with it. She wore her last one until the bottom literally wore out. So we had to buy her one quickly. It is a really cute two piece tankini with shorts. However, it was not a suit she liked. SOOOOO, anyway, I stopped at Justice when we saw the suits in the window. Girlfriend found her a suit and shorts . . . as well as this cute outfit, and this nice outfit, and I like this and this Mom! Really?? Now the thing is when Sophia finds clothes she likes and they are 40% off, we buy them because it doesn't happen often. However my apprentice-princess-mini-me-shopaholic was not about to leave a store with cute clothes without something of her own. The store did not have her size but diva found her a 'sundress' (long tank shirt) that fits perfectly and is 'beautiful' too. Yes, Daddy better keep him a good job to keep us girls properly clothed. Day 5 of spring break involved temps in the 40's, rain, wind . . . oh, and the zoo! That's right we rolled into the zoo in the stinkin cold rainy weather. Stay tuned tomorrow for pics of that!

Brandon Sings!

Here is a brief look at Brandon singing during our Collide Middle School service a few weeks ago. There is a lot of background noise but hopefully you can hear my amazing son!

King and Queen

On Sundays, Dawson helps out in childrens church. He mostly does the technical side of things running sound, lights, and computer stuff. Sometimes he can get recruited to be a part of the action on the stage. This last week he got to play the part of the king. Isn't he a dashing king?But alas, the good king was overthrown by the sweet queen of the castle and lost his crown.

Gracie with a Camera

This is what we get on the camera when Gracie gets a hold of it. A red camera shoot as she places her finger over the flash quite often.

Day 1 Spring Break Stay-cation

Technically day 1 of spring break was Friday. However the most excitement the kiddos got that day was walking to our neighborhood park. :-) Woohoo I am sure is what they were thinking.
Monday, official day 1 of Spring Break, was spent in the Boro with Grandpa and Grandma Stahly, Jody, and Breanna. The kids went to the childrens museum and the indoor swimming pool. They all had a blast and fell asleep in the car on the way back home.
Day 2 of spring break holds the excitement of the dentist for both girls. We might get out and do something fun tonight. The rest of the week I have the afternoons off so we will be going out for afternoon adventures. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain so that sounds like a good day for the movies.