COMO ZOO field trip

The finale to Blake's second and last year of Head Start was today -- a field trip to Como Zoo in St. Paul, Minnesota. I had only vaguely remembered there being rides there from a field trip while student teaching (I think), but there was a full-blown amusement park there ... in rides appropriate for pretty young kids. Because of Blake's size, he was able to ride on anything that didn't also require him to be of a certain age ... like the Bumper Cars which he was tall enough to ride, but couldn't drive because he isn't seven yet. He *was* able to ride the roller coaster, and afterward he wished that he hadn't ... poor kid! He admitted straight away that it was a little scary, but he was also very proud to tell people that he'd ridden on it, and all by himself at that!



Blake's FAVORITE ride by far, however, was the swings. You know what I'm talking about ... you probably loved this ride when you were a young kid, too. He must have ridden it 4-5 times! It's kind of funny to me because he initially said there was NO WAY he was going on it. I have no idea what made him change his mind.





I did convince him to go and look at the animals, but he did so grudgingly. He was quite happy to go back to the Midway when I suddenly realized we were supposed to have been at the main entrance 30 minutes earlier (the itinerary said to meet there at 11:00 ... I realized this as we were standing near the "Sparky Show" exhibit that was supposed to start at 11:30 and the crowds were massing for the show that is Tuesday-Saturday -- today being a Monday). We only made it back over to see the gorillas, completely missing the butterfly exhibit and several other things, I am sure.

Blake was terrified of the cougar exhibit. I think he was afraid they could "get him" though I explained that the netting over the top of the exhibit was there to prevent any such thing from happening. He was only willing to look at the Siberian Tiger because it was in an enclosure in which we viewed it from above. He had little interest in the giraffes though I think that was purely out of stubbornness, which he comes by completely honestly. It was the first exhibit we saw in the zoo ... after I'd basically dragged him away from the midway.



looking down from above ... good distance away ... gotta love that zoom!


by the swimming Sea Lions


one of the sea lions

I will come back and add a video or two as well! The pictures are taking a while to upload and Chase needs to get to bed.

Thanks for reading!

~Melinda

Spinnin' Around & Around

Don't watch this if watching someone else spin makes you feel ill!!!!



Sorry for the "clicks" where it pauses ... on my new camera you can take pictures while taking a video, or so I read. Well, I have learned that this is true ... but that it pauses the recording and shows the picture you took. So, there are a few of those in this video ... will be more careful in the future. :)

This is an edited clip ... I had to shorten it big time to get it to be small enough to upload here. Sorry for the abrupt start and stop!

Thanks for watching,
Melinda

Backyard fun

In the swimmin' pool...


Chase in his car ... will fix the shadows on this one later ...


Look at her go! (have to fix the color on many of these due to shadow)


Credits in my Gotta Pixel photo gallery ... see my blinkie on the right.


Big brother Blake and little brother Chase diggin' in the sand box.


Chase saying "shovel!" "shuh-boh" ... you're seeing the "boh" ;)




Look at how BIG he is getting (Blake!!)!


Chase loved this!








Credits in my Gotta Pixel photo gallery ... see my blinkie on the right.
Thanks for looking!

New layouts

Here are some of my recent creations!


Created using A Walk in the Park by Amy Sumrall Designs
Pictures are from June 10, 2008 - very recent ... the kids' first attempts at Hop Scotch, thanks to Grandma (I'd forgotten all about this game!)


using Dede Smith's Lilac Spring Add-on, background paper made by me using overlay by Brenda Miller. This is another recent set of pictures as you can see on the bear ... they were taken the day my new camera arrived in the mail!


Layout made using Spring Garden talk by Acmdesignz & template by Michelle Swadling. This layout was started exactly 2 years after the pictures were taken. I found a cute kit with bubbles in it! :)


Layout using Gotta Getaway by MandaBean and Kristin Cronin-Barrow & template by Kay Miller. Pictures are from 7/1/07 ... we haven't been to the fountain yet this summer.


Layout made using Birthday Blossoms Mini Page Kit by Sarah Meyer and Birthday Blossoms Digitals Sampler by Sarah Meyer. This picture is from August 2005. This layout was LAYOUT OF THE DAY at Digitals on June 2, 2008 ... my first ever layout of the day!!!

Outdoors at Grandma & Papa's

As always, the kids had a great time at Grandma and Papa's. Julia's biggest rush was to go inside. It wasn't until Grandma asked her that I found out why she wanted to go INSIDE so badly ... because that's where the candy jar is! LOL!!!! Before supper the kids played outside and each of the kids got a ride on the 4 wheeler. I broke out the camera to capture Chase on the 4 wheeler. I can't believe how much he loves riding that thing at THIS age!

If you would like to see any of these larger, please click on them! :)

Chase coming back from a ride on Papa's 4 wheeler:


Julia learning to play hopscotch with Grandma.


Blake taking a turn ... and Chase interrupting ...


Adding his handiwork to the hopscotch board:


After supper, and just before heading home, Papa broke out the sparklers!!!








Playing with settings on my new camera!

Playing catch up...

Today I have gone back and filled in the holes from June - December 2007. There are still many gaps, but I tried to pick highlights to share. One thing I've realized by doing this is how much my kids have changed even in just that short 6 month period. Now I am struggling to remember when we got Julia's hair cut. She looked so cute with her hair long. But, she cries every single time I brush her hair. I was actually contemplating getting her hair cut again ... into a bob if she'd sit still. But, I don't know if I can after seeing how cute her hair was long. I think it's finally getting long enough to put into a pony tail again.

I may fill in some other holes with scrapbooking pages I've made using photographs rather than showing the photographs themselves. That is how I display most of my pictures anyway.

Thanks for looking!

Melinda