Crackers Please! ;-) 8/30/10 !!!Revised!!!

My friend, Sarah, that runs Sarah's Deals, hosted a product testing party for Webkins Jr on Monday night. The target age was girls 3-6 years old. I asked her if 2 1/2 years old would count. ;-) Well, she didn't get enough 3-6 year olds so Samantha got to go! I was so excited. While at Sarah's house for a different play date she showed me the giraffe and it was SO adorable. I asked her if Sam got invited if she could make sure Samantha got a giraffe. When we were at the zoo in Denver she LOVED feeding the giraffes the crackers and just watching them. As soon as Samantha pulled the stuffed giraffe out of the bag, the first thing she said was "giraffe, crackers". So, we named her new buddy Crackers.

Sarah provided some snacks for the kids t eat.Samantha thought the Sun Chips looked like the crackers she fed the real giraffes in Denver, so she proceeded to feed the stuffed giraffe her "cracker" chips.
Sarah and I just thought this was a cute shot of Samantha eating her chips while snuggling Crackers.
When we got home, the first thing she did when we walked in the door was say "Daddy, Crackers!" I show him. I think she was excited about her giraffe. While at Sarah's house she had a Kool-aid juice pouch with her chips. In case you have ever wondered, this is how sugar effects a toddler's body. ;-) I couldn't stop laughing while I was videoing her!

When I told Samantha that it was time to go to bed she said, "no Mommy, pay with Cackers". Well, I wouldn't let her play with Crackers, but I let her sleep with him. As always, she also had her Pooh, but Crackers was her other snuggle buddy that night. She also slept with, but not in the picture, her cow-cow-cow (just a cute, soft stuffed cow).
I went in about 15 minutes later hoping to get a picture of her sleeping while snuggling her new buddy. She wasn't snuggling it, but she sure was zonked out!
Sarah had to, as part of having the party, write a post about it on her blog. Here is a link to her blog at Sarah's Deals.

Ever since she got Crackers, I don't think she has put it down for more than about 5 minutes at a time. I think she likes her new Crackers! :-)

Unity! 8/13/10

One of the local radio stations sponsors a 3 day Christian music festival call Unity Christian Music Festival. The boys went Friday night as part of their Daddy/Son day. The artists they saw that night were Josh Wilson......and then they met him when he autographed the cd they bought....... Sidewalk Prophets, Salvador, and the finale of the night, Casting Crowns. I think the boys had fun hanging out together. :-)

Chuck E Cheese 8/22/10

As I stated in the previous "Ice Cream" post, we have been having some listening/behavioral issues with Marc. One day (after several other days of asking too), he asked when the next time was that we were going to go to Chuck E Cheese. I told him that if he could be good for a week, we would take him to Chuck E Cheese. After a couple of tries, we finally made it! He was good for a week, so after church on Sunday we headed out to Chuck E Cheese for some lunch and some play!

The first thing the kids saw was the carousel.Samantha enjoyed driving Chucke around the restaurant.
Most of the games there Samantha couldn't play, but we found this one down low at her level, so we let her play it.
She got SO excited when she saw that she won tickets just like her big brother had been doing!
We went to a different location than the one we usually go to. This one had 3 cameras that the kids could control where they were pointed. As I was walking towards them from our table, Marc was tracking me and watching me as I got closer and closer.
My Peanut has one wild arm when it comes to Skee Ball. If you are ever in the area of him playing Skee Ball....duck and cover!! ;-)
We bought a few tokens and had a coupon for some free tokens. All the kids, all 4 of us, had fun playing. The kids were able to get quite the loot that day! We had some vouchers left over from previous trips (we like to collect them and let the kids get bigger things less often rather then get little things each time that are just going to end up getting lost, broken, or thrown out.), tickets earned from tat day's trip, and there was a machine that just randomly decided to spit out 50 tickets. As I walked past one time it started doing it, so, of course, I stayed there and waited for it to finish and took the bonus 50 tickets!
It was a fun 3 hours for not a whole lot of money. It was a good way to celebrate Marc's good behavior! :-)

We Went to the Zoo! 8/17/10

While Daddy was gone this on a business trip, my Mom and I took the kids to the John Ball zoo. I have tried to make it a tradition that once a year we take a picture of the kids on the statue of John Ball.My kiddos were being very photogenic that day, so I took advantage of it and kept my camera out all morning. I got so many good pictures I had trouble choosing the 33 of them I posted on Facebook and on pictures.stoufer.com!
"cack, cack".....Samantha enjoyed talking back to the ducks.
Samantha was ready and rarin to lead us into the zoo!
When we first went into the penguin exhibit, Samantha didn't like the sound of the penguins "talking"m but then we got up close and she thought the penguins swimming around was really funny.
The kids decided to be cute while they waited for the next tidal wave to come though in the wave pool.
There was a temporary Madagascar exhibit there this summer. These little wallabys were SO cute!! Since they look so much like kangaroos, I asked what the difference was. The answer: the smaller ones are wallabys and the bigger ones are kangaroos and that kangaroos can be aggressive. That's why wallabys can be somewhat out in the open and the kangaroos have to be behind walls.
Marc, as a normal 6 year old boy, is really into jokes. He thought it what really cool when he saw this sign at the zoo. Do you know the answer?
And the answer is:
There were these cute barrel horses for the kids to play on. As soon as Samantha sat down she said "Go Sandy!" (the pony from Meijer). :-) Think she gets a Sandy ride every time we go to Meijer? ;-)
Choo, Choo! All aboard the zoo express!
As we were walking through the zoo, we came upon an m&m vending machine. As soon as Samantha saw it, she walked directly to it saying "emmys, emmys". Do yo think they got some m&m's?
Of course they did, we had Grandma with us! ;-)
If my kids and a bear got into an argument, who do you think would win? ;-)
We took some time to rest under the shady pavilion to watch the monkeys playing. There was a nice breeze coming off of monkey island that kept us cool. It was fun watching my little monkeys watching the real monkeys playing.
As we were walking around, Samantha found some pretty flowers on the side of the walkway that completely grabbed her attention.
While at the zoo we had pizza filled bread sticks and french fries for lunch and then when we left we went to Dairy Queen for some yummy ice cream. Healthy day for food, huh?! ;-)
It was a fabulous day weather wise and an even more fabulous day company wise. Thanks for going to the zoo with us Mom!

Unity! 8/14/10 !!!!EDITED!!!!! 2 new videos added

One of the local radio stations sponsors a 3 day Christian music festival call Unity Christian Music Festival. The boys went Friday night as part of their Daddy/Son day. The artists they saw that night were Josh Wilson (who they boys met when he autographed the cd they bought), Sidewalk Prophets, Salvador, and the finale of the night, Casting Crowns.

On Saturday afternoon we all went together as a family. It was hot and sticky!!! We went and did some of the activities to get out of the direct sunlight for awhile. Daddy helped Marc shoot a paint ball gun and some hanging targets. (This was the only activity that cost money, and it was only $1!)
There was a climbing wall for the kids to do.
This is our little Princess waiting for Marc to be done with the climbing wall.
There was a carnival games tent for kids 5 years old and older. There were 16 games. Each kid got a bag with 16 tickets for free. The kids had to decide what games they wanted to use their tickets on. There were prizes ranging from candy to trinkets.
There was also a 5 years and under tent with some games for the younger ones to play.
There was a table of Duplo blocks for the younger kids to build with.
The music groups we heard on Saturday were: Mike's Chair, 33 Miles (pictured below), DecembeRadio, Mandisa, Matthew West, and the finale, Jeremy Camp. My favorite was Jeremy Camp. We didn't know many of his songs until he started singing them. Our church band plays many of his songs, and I like them a lot. I foresee us buying some of his cds soon. ;-)
In addition to the free carnival games, there were free inflatables for Marc to do. This one was an obstacle course where he had to climb through and around things, up a big wall, and then.......
down a really fun slide!
My little cutie pie being sweet with her Daddy while her brother did his big boy activities.

I don't know if it is obvious in this picture or not, but Marc had a blast doing the bungy run! He had to strap on a harness that was attached to a bungy cord attached to the back of the wall. He had to run as fast and hard as he could and see how far down he made it. Being a little guy, he didn't make it very far and he fell on his toosh when it pulled him back. Very fun to watch!

Another free thing for the kids were bead necklaces. Samantha did really good in the beginning. I held the end of the string (with tape on it to make it stronger) while she put the beads onto the string. She quickly grew bored with it and started trying to string the beads while looking the opposite direction. Silly girl!
Marc took his beads and string back to our seats to make his necklace.
He chose to make his a red, white, and blue necklace.
After game and craft time, it was time to eat. The kids and I had grilled cheese sandwiches made with real butter on a George Forman grill.....best grilled cheese sandwich I have ever had! We chased our sandwiches down with an ear of corn cooked over the grill slathered with real butter and salt. Best ear of corn I have ever had!!
After we got down eating our dinner in the shade, we headed back to our seats for some music time! Samantha asked to get up on Daddy's "yap" while he was singing along to the musicians.
And the kids had lots of fun dancing around on our blanket. We spent some time relaxing in our seats, playing card games, playing "poonies", and enjoying the great music!
I have to admit, when Marc brought up the idea of going I was a little reluctant. As it turns out, we had a great time!! I will make a bet that we will go again next year!