Field Trip to the Zoo

Our Classical Conversations Homeschool community organized a field trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo last week. I never tire of seeing the incredible exhibits there! And my children were in awe of them too.

 Pygmy hippo!

One of the instructors, Mrs. Miller, put together a wonderful scavenger hunt that correlated with what we have been learning over this first semester. We had to search for animals from Africa, Asia and Egypt; find an invertebrate; list things that fell into one of the following kingdoms - animalia, plantae, and fungi; and wonder about how God created all these plants and animals.

The kids thought the eye of this blue fish was very funny because it looked like a human eye with the white on the outside and a blue iris and dark pupil, but he could move his eye every direction and he never blinked like we do, so he always looked very surprised!

 I love how stingrays look like they're flying. Toby just loved being this close to the animals. He would get so excited every time one swam by them.

Notice how Rocky is looking really close at his eye.

 I think the kids could have stayed here for hours. It was so soothing to watch all these creatures glide through the water and only be inches from your face. Zelie eventually asked for my phone so she could take a few pictures herself. She has quite the knack for it:

 This may be my favorite with the stingray "flying" past the big blue fish. And the shark photo-bombing in the background.

 Zelie was pretending to ride on the back of this butterfly.

 And Rocky almost looks like he could be the butterfly with those antennae coming out of his head!

 I am incredibly blessed to have my younger sister Lydia to help me out. She never seems to tire of helping with my kids and doing whatever I ask her to. She is so good with the kids that Toby immediately goes to her whenever we see her now. She is definitely his favorite after momma.

 Max cracked me up when I took this picture because he was laying on this turtle, belly down, pretending to ride it, and I asked if I could take a picture. He said yes, then stood up and tried to find just the right pose. I would say it's a winner.

 Rocky, sweet as ever!

 Eating chips! Luckily the hungry peacocks had been chased away by this point, or there's no way Toby would have a chip in his hand!

Max must get his modeling skills from Zelie. She asked if I would take this picture of her...I think the toe on the ground says it all.

 I think Max wanted to get in on the wrestling action with this momma lion and her cubs.

Baby Curls

Toby is the first of my children to get pretty much everything from me that I've been praying for. He has the reddest hair of them all, dimples, bright blue eyes, and curls. Oh how I wish Zelie had gotten these curls as a baby!

Needless to say, we had received one too many comments about "How pretty SHE is!" and we decided the curls needed to go. Toby was born with the most hair of my children and never really lost it, so he was the youngest baby to get a hair cut in our family, at the ripe ol' age of 11 months. We distracted him with Baby Einstein on our phone while I chopped away. And the end result...

I have to admit, he makes a handsome little boy.

She knows our secret!

Zelie's new hobby is making breakfast in the morning, particularly smoothies. I am not allowed to come into the kitchen while she prepares breakfast, and typically, she comes and takes my order. Today she put her smoothie in one of my wine glasses and Rocky followed suit. I heard her say to Rocky, "Let's pretend we're grown ups and our kids are in bed." How does she figure these things out? And, honestly, Jeff and I rarely do this. But, still....

The wardrobe of a toddler

I love the pure innocence of young children. They truly don't have a care in the world and never worry about what others may be thinking of them. The past 6 months, Max has decided that his style of fashion consists of sports, superheros, cowboys, and "bad guys" i.e. the dragon who came unannounced to brunch a couple days ago. I wish I had taken a video of Max trying to hold his fork with his "claws". It was too much! My mom and I were getting such a laugh out of it, that I decided the dragon must join us for brunch.

 Need I say more?

 And accessories are essential. Whether it's a batman back pack, superhero bandaids, rain boots, or a helmet, Max has mastered the art of "accessorizing".

 Mowing is a dangerous job...I guess he's learned from daddy.

 Nothing says I'm ready for summer like a swim suit and a... basketball... Easter basket?

 He also went through a phase of wearing Toby's clothes...that were ten sizes too small. We think he just wanted to show off how ripped he is.

 And one morning he came out like this...apparently he wanted to wear his summer clothes, but daddy made him put them over his pjs. Thanks Dad!

 Toby's 0-3 month swim shirt. How in the world he got this on, I will never know.

 Finally, his most current get up consisted of a little of everything. I will assume Zelie taught him a thing or two about "modeling".

I want to learn from you. The longer I'm a mother, the more and more I realize how much you teach me! Let me forget about the opinion of the world and just be happy being who God made me to be. Obviously, Max has already figured this out.