What's Better than the Zoo?

 The last couple of days have been our weekend. With KC working retail, we usually have him a couple of days during the week, instead of the busy bike selling weekend.

So today was our big day, and what is better than the zoo to kids : )

The boys are at the perfect age for the zoo. We saw so much excitement throughout the day. Their noses as close to the glass as they could get them. I pulled them off of the fence barricades all day long. Tried to keep them from pounding on the glass and keep them quiet when signs were posted.

But with three boys, we were only successful 33.3% of the time. One of the three was constantly climbing, pounding and yelling with excitement.

Here's Emmitt caught red-headed. 

It's hard to get him to stop when he gets the reaction he was looking for.

Lots of fun found throughout the day. One of the animals were hard to miss, because they were everywhere! Peacocks, Audrey's favorite : )

They were wandering the walkways, right along with us and in with many of the other animals.

It really is a beautiful bird.

My favorite has always been the Polar Bears. It's from a childhood memory at the very same zoo, watching them swim under the water. I've always found it to be magical watching such a huge animal swimming so gracefully. I was a little bummed that they didn't feel like swimming today.

I loved watching the kids enjoy the animals all day.

 

Couple of cute things that happened throughout the day.

Castiel loved the pacing Cheetah. Back and forth the Cheetah went, and back and forth Castiel went.

The girls had a little argument over this.

Zoe thought it was black with white stripes, but Audrey thought it was white with black stripes, LOL.

They can never agree on anything. . . . . 

Cameron LOVED the Aviary House. I have to confess, I was too busy ducking to take any photographs. The girls liked to even less than I. Audrey thought a bird targeted her and swooped at her head. Cameron was so excited, he told me all day long how much he loved the birds. I think he loved it because there weren't barriers, we were part of the exhibit  : )

Emmitt had a break through.

Look at the pride on his face. The first grate that he has walked over himself. He has always walked around them in the past. He actually stopped at this one and thought about it, and then just decided he was going to do it. KC missed it. I said "Emmitt show daddy what you just did!" and he went back to walk over it again . . . he got high fives and cheers from the whole family . . . I sure anyone that may have seen us, thought we were nuts.

We didn't head to the zoo until nearly 11am, so we totally destroyed the boys nap time. They did great. Wanted to walk everywhere and didn't slow down all day.

Emmitt even wanted to push Audrey : )

We had to be careful, because we didn't buckle them. They were in and out of that stroller all day. A couple of times Emmitt saw something that he wanted to take a closer look at and he'd launch out of the moving stroller without warning. Only fell on his face once : )

And probably the coolest thing we got to see . . . . actually hear, a roaring Lion right in front of us.

He was so loud. That's something you don't see every day. Emmitt was roaring the rest of the day.

Long day. Fun day.

 Thought it was going to be an early bedtime, but they all got a second wind and made it until 8:30pm.

I love the zoo, and I love that my kids love the zoo  : )

Something a Little Different

Spring Break - DAY 3

I wish I could say that we went to New York : )

The Brookfield Zoo is always fun : )

Cameron has been wanting to "go on a bear hunt" . . . not sure this counts  : )

A stage coach ride would really make the boys happy, but no horses to pull it.

I've wanted to take another trip up to the "New Zoo" . . . I hear that I new giraffe exhibit is amazing!

I'd love to go back to Punta Cana and feed the flamingos again . . . so would the kids : )

And now that the boys have most of their farm animal sounds down, maybe it's time for a trip to a barn yard : )

Daddy is in need for a new car . . . we found a cute used one : )

Maybe a little dog shopping, but Emmitt was a little afraid of this one : )

We even thought we caught a glimpse of Grandpa : )

Afternoon at an amusement park is always fun, but expensive with 5 kids . . . they really wanted me to buy this for them, I thought about looking into it  : ) 

That morning, I told the kids that I was taking them to a junkyard for day 3 of their Spring Break. You can imagine the girls reactions, LOL.

Not really a junkyard, but it is a place things die if their are no buyers for them. If you didn't guess where are field trip was for the day. Schettl's!

I know, it's a silly place to take the kids, but I enjoy wandering around their yard of over sized items. I've been there a few times before with my father. It's where he has bought cabinets.

It's free, entertaining, and all the kids enjoyed it.

Emmitt even got to hug a monkey who was dress up like Napoleon : )  Kids don't get to do that every day!

Audrey found a treasure chest that she loved! Reminded her of "House of Anubis", her favorite tv show and she loves treasure boxes! The $500.00 price tag scared her away.

And then I snapped this shot. Maybe I shouldn't have, but I had too. I'm not sure what this conversion is all about?!? Poor Castiel looks a little worried . . . 

It was a little colder today then I thought it was going to be, so we didn't stay as long as I had planned. We were thinking of visiting both of there locations, but we'll save that for another day.

And yes, as silly as it is, the kids are excited about checking out the other one someday.

It doesn't have to be expensive to make kids happy, it doesn't have to cost a thing.

It just has to put smiles on their faces.

I saw lots of smiles today  : )

Grandma's Fine Art Show : ) She Won a Red Ribbon! Congrats Sassy Glass : )

Spring Break - DAY 2

Today we went to the Hilton Garden Inn in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the "Art in the Garden" Fine Art Show & Sale. It is put on by Altrusa International Club of Oshkosh, who contribute to many community services with both volunteer work and financial assistance.

We don't get to go to many of Grandma's shows. We stop by the occasional Farmer's Market in downtown Fond du Lac, but not as often as we would like to.

I decided to drop the boys off at KC's parents house. I thought about taking them, but wanted a nice day with just my girls. It was relaxing not to have to say "hold my hand, slow down, no running, don't touch, stay with me, walk, stand up" . . . actually, I did say "don't touch" to the girls a couple of times : )

I know the boys had more fun with Grandpa and Grandma then they would have at the Art Show.

First we checked out Grandma's table, Sassy Glass. We get to see her things all the time, but it is so nice seeing it all displayed and spread across a table. We stood there and pointed out all our new favorites.

This is a 'People's Choice' show. Everyone who walks through gets a ballot to vote. The girls love that they get to vote for their favorites, as do I. It makes the show feel interactive and not just a shopping venue, more of a gallery feel.

There is a second ballot to vote for high school students artwork. It's interesting to see what kids are creating. There were some very creative kids in the show this year.

These were Mom's three entries.

This is the one that won her the second place ribbon : ) I voted for it, as did Audrey. The necklace is beaded and crocheted wire, wire wrapped fused glass pendant. So pretty! It sold before the show was over : )

This one was Zoe's favorite. They really are so much prettier in-person, I tried to get the best photos I could.

After the job of voting was done, we checked out all the booths. I agreed to give both the girls $10.00 to spend, and they were responsible for anything over.

Zoe found a aluminum ringlet bracelet that she loved, it cost just over $23.00.

Audrey found a blue flower pin with a peacock feather that she could attach to one of her headbands for $11.50.

Price ranges, from $5.00 to $3200.00, including jewelry, pottery, paintings, hand-dyed scarves, photography, Batik prints, copper sculptures, painted glass and more.

This is just a little of my mother's set up. She's been taking classes and learning new techniques, so her pieces are always evolving. So if you haven't seen her pieces for a couple of years, she's really been growing and changing.

So happy for my mother and a great show. If you are interest in checking out her website, here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/mysassyglass

I was also very happy that my sister snapped a picture of me with my girls. It isn't often that I end up in photographs, because I'm the one always taking the picture.

A great day when my two sweethearts  <3

Now . . . . what to do tomorrow?   : )