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!

Ice Cream!! 8/11/10

We have had several "things" going on around our house the last few weeks.

The first one is with Marc. His behavior has been bad, to say the least. The was he has been acting is somewhat typical for a 6-year-old boy, but I think to the extreme. He is working towards being good for a week so he can go to Chuck E Cheese. Well, the first day he was good, we decided to reward his good behavior.

The second is with Samantha. We have been trying to make the next step in potty training. We have kinda stalled out in making progress so we took the next step and put her in underwear while we are home. I make it a point to sit her on the potty every hour or so to make sure she stays dry. The first few days she still had an accident or 2 each day. The same day Marc was good, Samantha stayed dry all day! So we decided to reward her good behavior.

So, what better way to reward both kids on a hot summer day....ice cream!! We headed to the local ice cream shop and hot dogs and french fries for dinner and ice cream for dessert. We normally don't get Samantha her own ice cream cone, but we had a coupon for a free one, so we thought, what the heck, we got her own. I told Daddy to get it in a bowl, but must be he didn't hear me and when Daddy ordered it he got it on a cone.The first few licks she took, she flinched because it was cold, She got used to it and started eating it. It was hot, so the ice cream melted quickly, so as Mommy originally said she needed, Daddy got a bowl to put it in. ;-)
I tried to get some cute pictures of Marc eating his ice cream, but he kept rolling his eyes at me every time I pointed the camera at him. Think he gets tired of always having his picture taken? ;-)
After we all got done with our ice cream we headed home and Samantha got a quick bath before bed since she was covered head to toe in melted ice cream! ;-) It was a good end to a good day!

Play-doh!! 8/11/10

The kids were getting antsy one morning so I decided to pull out the Play-doh! Samantha had never played with it before, we we had to show her what to do with it. The first thing I showed her was on to use a stamp on it, and it was Pooh Bear!Even Marc still had fun playing with Play-doh! He had fun playing with a new toy that Samantha got from our childcare provider for Christmas. The octopus had lots of different tools attached to him to use.

Samantha even had her first experience with scissors! Her hands are quite big enough to make the scissors open and close on her own, but she did great with a little help from Mommy. Now, every time she sees a pair of scissors, she wants to use them. I guess it might be time to get out our cutting box again. :-)
I think fun was had by all!
Ya gotta love Play-doh!!

Marc/Grandma Day 8/12/10

Marc has been asking when he can have a special Marc/Grandma day. Between our vacation and my Mom's work travel schedule, it has taken awhile, but we finally got a day scheduled. My Mom told Marc they could do pretty much whatever he wanted. He decided he wanted to go to the Meijer Gardens again. It was a really hot and humid day so they headed there first thing.One of the workers was nice enough to take a picture of Marc and Grandma together on their special day.
We got completely drenched playing in the water, but I bet he was keeping cool. ;-) Good thing we sent a change of clothes for him.
After the Meijer Gardens they headed to Red Robin for lunch (Yum!) Apparently Marc worked off all his energy at the Gardens and had to refuel because my Mom said he ate like he hadn't eaten in a week!
After refueling, they headed to a place called Naked Plates. It's one of those places where you paint pottery and then they fire it and turn into something for you. Marc chose to paint a plate. Then came the hard part.....choosing what to paint on it. He thought, thought, looked around, and thought some more. Finally he decided he liked the sample plate with a monster painted on it, so he decided to copy it.
I am excited to see the finished product! I am not sure who had more fun that day, Marc or Grandma. ;-)