Well the Great Sand Migration continues despite three logs backed with gravel. We might just make the "grass" into a big gravel area. Just kidding, only in AZ could we do that. For now it's a great sandbox.
I made blueberry scones the other night, trying out recipes to see if having a bunch of blueberry bushes would be worth it. The answer is unequivocally yes.
Going strong! We LOVE skyping my parents in the Philippines and hearing about their adventures and service. I feel so blessed to hear from them!
For family night we talked about how we can be "master builders" (Lego Movie theme with a twist) and build people's self esteem up instead of being wreckers. They drew pictures of themselves in a situation being a master builder and then we had chocolate-dipped strawberries for dessert. FHE is the best!
The kids found several frogs after the big rains we've been having. I told them I would take pictures of each different species and then they could let the poor things go. We've had several "croak" after being played with too much so I hope camera documentation will satisfy them!
Katy is four months old! She lights up whenever she gets to be around people, she especially adores Diana.
That can get a little tricky since Diana is still figuring out how to be gentle. I'd say she's got it 80% perfect, but it's that rogue 20% of the time that keeps me very busy.
Jim took off Thursday and after breakfast we decided on a whim to go to the zoo. We haven't been since Jake was a newborn and we went with Dad. So that's over 3 years. I guess it's because it is a little far (1hr15min) of a drive. But with older kids we realized how much they LOVE the zoo. Ostriches and giraffes right as you walk in!
There were lots of statues and rocks along the way that the kid wanted to climb and explore.
This zoo has a LOT of walking. Phx, San Diego and Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoos have nothing on this one. It's 1.4 miles from one end to the other if you don't go in all of the big loops to see the different animals- there is a North America end that they say takes 2-3 hours and an Africa end that takes 2-3 hours. We did both it was crazy. And walked the entire time. It was a great workout and we left the house at 9 and got home at 5. A full day of family fun. Sometimes when I work so hard every day to do all those little things we do, I forget how much FUN the family is. Going to the zoo was a great way to enjoy the family.
Kids pointing out the Chimpanzees. Diana was pretty amazed to see them up close. The weather was in the 70s so the animals were pretty active it was awesome!
That is a statue don't worry.
Nicole really wanted to get a flamingo feather.
Jake and the chimp. The kids would just love to have a monkey for a pet.
Yep.
The huge gorilla! There were several other gorillas with their babies. Two of the little babies were playing right in front of us and I seriously had flashbacks to just a year or two ago with Mike and Jake.
Michael was our trail guide. He held on to that map for pretty much the whole time. He was fascinated with it and even when we got home I showed him the trail we took and he loved it! I will admit that we took a wrong turn at one point, turned around and took another wrong turn and then had to go back the way we came in the very beginning realizing that we hadn't taken a wrong turn in the first place! You try not being distracted with 5 kids on the loose! :)
They have a Sonoran Desert area which is fun since it reminds us of AZ. These desert box turtles are what Jim wanted us to have in the backyard when we thought we'd be living in AZ.
Jake really wanted to show you this frog in the background that is really hard to see. This was a grizzly bear exhibit but all Jake was interested in was the frog. I like how he wore his cougar shirt to the zoo. Unfortunately the cougars were gone for a few weeks so I promised Jake we'd be back. We ended up getting a family membership since even going once is so expensive now with our big family.
Grizzly.
Diana focused on looking at animals. She is a total firecracker. She was EVERYWHERE!
The otters were seriously playful and fun and they followed Nicole as she tried taking pictures of them. They were totally showing off. It seemed unbelievable but they were loving every second of it, just swimming in a circle where the kids were and nowhere else.
Can't catch me! Notice the double bruise/healing scar. This girl is all systems GO and seems to get into plenty of scrapes. She is a tough cookie though because she doesn't want to stop playing.
Nicole made some growling and roaring sounds when we got to the black bears. This one was laying down but he got up and walked straight to Nicole, sniffing the air, and climbing up on the rock as close as he could to take a look at her. Nicole stopped making her sounds and I think was a bit nervous seeing that big bear come straight to her! Jim and I were hoping the zoo calculated how far a bear could and could not jump.
There are some awesome play places for the kids. I think we'll be going back just for the playgrounds and water areas!
This is a garden themed playground. Made me think of Bugs Life.
The boys "caught" in the spider web!
Jake attacking the praying mantis.
Everyone on the praying mantis. They love these bugs when we find them in the backyard.
Katy was an angel and was in the carseat almost the whole time. We forgot our double stroller but figured out how to use the buckles on a rental to keep her carseat sitting up so she could see what was going on. Angel baby Katy!
Another play area, the kids going up to the tree house lookout.
Alligators!
I told the kids to pose. Love their reactions.
After that long long day and all that walking uphill, downhill, switchbacks...we were all SO tired!! So we stopped on the way back at Millstone Creek Orchards for their amazing apple cider slushies. There are tire swings and just open space to relax at the orchards. We didn't pick anything just had the slushies. I look forward to going back and picking some apples or peaches. They have other berries and stuff too.
We'd only been here once before but it was just as good as I remembered and the perfect way to end the day.
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