Tyler, TX

Peter had a site visit in Tyler, TX on Monday so we decided to tag along and go to the zoo. It was quite cold but we had a good time.

Is that not one of the oddest looking birds you have ever seen.

I thought these birds were beautiful! Their color is so brilliant. (Scarlet Ibis)

The zoo had 5 rhinos and we found them all indoors. As you can tell by the boys' faces, it was really stinky but it was warm because it was indoors!

Joey seemed most excited about the giraffes. They are amazing!

There was an area called the East Africa exhibit and that is where the elephants, zebraz, ostriches, and lions could be seen. All of the animals were in the same open field like area but the lions were seperated by a large ravine. We can't have it be a completely natural habitat, that might be a bit much for the kids especially considering this is what the tables for eating overlooked. It was fun to watch the animals while we ate.

We went into this building a coupld of times, it was really warm. Arabella loved to watch the penguins. There was a really large aquarium with a ton of fish and trees with birds next to the penguins habitat. There was no glass or metal mesh so the birds were right there flying around. It was fun to watch.

Snack time: Jon is eating a "gramilla bar." That is how he says it.

Joey: spread cheese on all of the crackers and made a big sandwich with his cheese and cracker snack. Silly boy.

Arabella: Ooooo, raisins!

One of the best longhorns I have seen since living in this state of Texas.

My favorite part of hte zoo was the white tigers. There were two. One was white with black stripes and was laying on the ground the whole time. But this one was pacing around and sat staring at my kids like this for several minutes. It was all white with pale tan stripes you could barely see except on its tail.

Arabella really liked petting the tiny goats.

The kids did not seem to care that it was freezing they just wanted to play in the sand for a few minutes.

Thes were the sinks outside of the petting zoo. Pretty cool, huh?!

On the way home, we stopped at a Russell-Stover store and bought some chocolate. Arabella had a strawberry cream treat that she mushed all over her hand and then her face and hair. It was quite impressive. We also stopped at some outlets on our way home and I found some new jeans that I was in need of for a good price and I fit in a smaller size than I thought, happy day! Peter's favorite part of the trip was the BBQ that the site visit person recommended to him. It was a bit pricey but really good! Probably the best baked beans I have ever had! Thanks for letting us tag along Dad!

Getting Out

I decided to take the kids downtown to the Children's Museum today. We did not have long to stay due to work and Relief Society things but we had a good time while we were there.

Joey my little spider!

She loved to drive the truck.

Suprisingly the water only kept there interest for a few short minutes.

This was the baby (0-2years) area and Arabella was not all that impressed by it. She wanted to be where her brothers were.

It happened to be Engineers Week this week and so there were extra display tables set up with engineering related activities. Here the boys had a great time making marshmallo and toothpick structures. Joey says his was so strong because he used so many sturdy beams. Arabella was frantically signing more because she wanted the marshmallows. I gave her a few to eat!

Yes, Jon was amazed by this big dinosaur.

Let me out!

Trying to make ping pong balls fly on the jets of air.

I wish you could see the awesome colors in these rocks with the black light on but it did not work in the picture. The boys were impressed.

Joey's favorite part, I believe. It was a roller coaster with golf balls.

Roller Coaster Part 2

Ski Jump golf balls.

Wow, a mammoth skeleton.

Jon and Joey were quite amazed by this "hugemongous" (as Jon would say) shark. Really an aquatic dinosaur.

What a sculpture. Do you like the mammoth size snowball someone put there?

All in all we had a great time! I did not get lost going there or getting home and I got all of my stuff done for RS and a short nap before work. A pretty good day!

I suppose I could have done some house work but really it is overrated!

Snowstorm Pictures and a puppy!

Monday, I posted about all of the rain. Well, it was an impressive amount of rain but early Thursday morning it began to snow. And it snowed all day leaving an impressive amount of snow. School was cancelled Thursday and Friday.

Thursday morning looking out our front door after about 4 hours of snowfall.
Looking out our back door Thursday morning.

We of course had to go out and play. Arabella was more excited than I expected to get out there and see what this stuff was all about. That is until she face planted it in the snow.

Friday morning out our front door. You can not see the branch that broke on the tree on the right from the weight of the snow. Sad.

I called and told Peter he needed to come home a bit early from work so he could play with the kids in the snow. I had begun to build a snowman with them but dad helped finish it. Joey and I spent a good amount of time clearing the snow off of the trampoline. It was seriously sagging.

Isn't Jon such a cute boy?! He was most excited to help daddy.

The finished product. I let Arabella hold the carrot for awhile and she ate part of it. Silly girl.

Peter felt we needed a family pet, so here is our puppy! Isn't it amazing? He did an awesome job on all of it. The snow was great for packing and sculpting. It was really wet.

Yes, the dog's back leg is up-Peter says it is potty trained.

All in all we enjoyed the snow and the roads did not really ice over, thankfully!

Rain, Juice Boxes, and Karate

I am supposed to be cleaning or going to the store but this is what it looks like outside and so I don't really feel like going out. (I suppose I could still clean.) I have decided now is a good time to blog, right?!

View as you trun from my driveway-nice pond, eh?
Check out that mud.

Andy our backyard. It has been raining since yesterday afternoon. We also had about 3 days of rain last week so nothing has really dried out for a while. This is new for me. More rain than I have seen in the last 5 years.

Arabella has discovered the joy of juice boxes. She can wedge her fingers into the pantry door if it is just slightly open and get in. She knows where the juice boxes are so she will get one out and manage to get the straw off and open. I would not be suprised if in the next few weeks she somehow manages to get the straw into the box. As you can see by the look on her face in this picture, she thinks these are the best thing ever and is probably wondering why I did not give them to her sooner. One word: messy!

The boys were in a Karate tournament a few weeks ago. As you can see from these firs two pictrues, they were fierce, focused competitors.

Joey did awesome! His age group still gets help with their forms but he could have done it without any help.

You can not see it but this is his freestyle weapons form. He was really happy to do it!

If you can zoom in on his face in the mirror, he has a serious hiya going on.

On to Jon. This depicts Jon's attitude for most of the competition. The man standing next to him is the director of our studio and the one in Carrollton. He is a nice guy (trying to become a master in Taekwondo, he is a 5th degree black belt now) and was finally able to get Jon to do his form.

This is Jon after his weapons. He was more excited about this one.

Mr. Carranza is the man in this picture helping jon and this other boy do a sparring sequence. Mr. Carranza is our teacher and the boys do really well with him. He has three girls similar ages to our kids.

Medals! This made it all worth it. All of the kids get a medal and there are no places.

Jon was sure glad he chose to stand up and do something so he could get his medal.

Oh he is proud of himself!

Such handsome Karate Kids!

Alright, now I will go and get some things done!