A trip to the Zoo

*Warning* *This is another Picture heavy post*


One of my friends invited the girls and I to go with her and her kiddos on an outing to the Zoo. She has a pass and can get us all in. So we decided to go with her last Friday. I was a little worried about going as I have been over-booking myself a lot lately. But we decided that if we went early enough and got out at around 12:30 we could do it.

Our local Zoo has just opened a newly finished exhibit with a polar bear, black bears, river otters, bald eagles, seals, sea lions and a walrus... This exhibit is very neat. Everything is updated and much nicer for the animals.

The kids are in love with the place. And to tell you the truth so am I. I have always liked the Polar Bear as a favorite at the zoo. And now I really like the Polar Bear!

Anywho, There is a lot to get through before you see the Polar Bear. And I didn't start taking pictures really until we got to the exhibit with all the previously mentioned animals. :)

Here we are watching the Seals, Sea Lions, and the Walrus... and playing in the "Bald Eagles' Nest"

Then we saw the Polar Bear

He was so playful that I took some video too :)

Next we saw the Black Bear Exhibit... and first you couldn't see the bears but then you walk around the corner and find the Mommy Bear laying down and one of the "cubs" coming down to visit and rest with her. And I decided to take some more video.

Some Pics at the Bear Exhibit, then the kids wanted to pose on the Polar Bear Statue...

After that the Reptile and Small Animal house...

We found the "baby" Siamese Crocodile, and as I was reading the sign to the kids to tell them about this crocodile, I was informed by a Zoo Keeper that she wasn't a baby she had turned 3 about 2 weeks ago. Which would make her the exact same age as Ellie. So I had to take pictures of her with Ellie. 

Ellie is telling Audrey how old the Crocodile is. 

Taking their picture together :)

Audrey's favorite bird the Flamingo, and the only reason I came into this stinky building today. Though we were  pleasantly surprised by the other animals. 

Our Friend the Parrot.

The Parrot decided to be playful today too, he chattered at us and did some tricks for us. So I decided to take some video of him as well.

When we walked out of the building we saw this lovely bird strutting around. And the girls had to have a picture because he is the same bird as the bad guy in Kung Fu Panda 2. "Except he is white and wears a skirt. So does that make him a girl???", Audrey said to me...

Then of course we went to see the tigers and ride on the carousel.

Ellie didn't want to ride the carousel on the animals...
She did relax a little and enjoy the ride as we started going...  

Then we had to head to the Discovery land to play, but first we saw these guys.

 And Audrey was soooo excited she said, "Mommy! Are these the Nine-Banded Armadillos?!" I looked at the sign and said why yes they are honey! Thank you Diego, for teaching my child about odd creatures like this one. 

Then we played...

And yes we did actually get out of the Zoo at 12:30. We had fun and I think it was a nicely successful adventure out and about with friends! 

Glimpse

Just a quick shot at seeing what the down time in my life brings me :) Ellie and Audrey had been singing "I Like to Look for Rainbows" all morning long. And started singing it again, while sitting down for lunch... and I thought I would grab the camera and catch the impromptu duet... and this is what I caught instead.

Enjoy!

I have some amazing little girls :)

Cloud Dough

So I just barely joined Pintrest... I didn't want to because I didn't want to get sucked into another internet world where I would see lots of things and want to do them... and so on and so forth... But I am in my Relief Society Presidency. And I am in charge of the activities we do in our ward. And realized a few weeks ago that I could get some good ideas from this. And felt that I needed to join so that I could help my sisters in the ward. Anyway I joined and as I thought I found lots of cool stuff right off the bat.






I found a recipe for some stuff called Cloud Dough. Super simple. And fairly easy to clean...

My mom came over with both of my nephews this morning. And so I thought today would be the perfect day to try this out.

So I pulled it up online and showed it to her, and she agreed that we should try this out today.






I had all the ingredients already.

8 cups of Flour
1 cup of Baby Oil

and lots of things for molding dough
and trays....


I told the kids they had to clean up the rooms that they had messed up and then we would do a science experiment when they were all done.

Now, I didn't realize that this would work so well...

Once we got them started... All 4 kids were entertained and played nicely with each other for 3 hours straight... It was amazing! We felt it would be successful if they played with it for 15 mins...

Eleanor is 3 now

My little girl just turned three. On the 3rd of July... We had a lot of fun celebrating her birthday. We may have had too much fun. Anyway, some notes on my little one.

She is just as much of a handful as her big sister.

She is quite the conversationalist.

She loves animals.

Her favorite bird is the Macaw...

Favorite Movie: Rio

Favorite color: I believe it is purple right now...

She is terrified of bugs...

She likes to eat food that her sister won't eat...

She wants so badly to be a big girl but stay the baby and not have all of the rules that big girls have... I know that was a mouthful.

She loves and adores her sister. But they do tend to fight a lot. (I suppose that is normal.)

Her favorite food: Lasagna? (sometimes this changes)

Favorite Drink: Breakfast Drink- Chocolate Peanut butter Shakes or Chocolate Milk

She is still my child who likes to sleep. She still needs and will still take her naps during the day. And she tends to sleep longer when not being awoken by her sister.

She has gone to the dentist for the 1st time this past year.
She has attempted to potty train this year. As of right now we are still only kind of potty trained...

 She is my fearless child. With the exception of course of bugs.

 She loves the water. And just started swimming lessons. She now believes that she can do anything in the water... which of course is fun to watch but makes the need to watch her even more needed.

 We have taken her on her first hike. She did very well through most of it.

 She is just amazing this little tiny girl has such energy and spirit that it is a joy to watch her grow.

 And now some pictures of my sweet Eleanor Moleta

And finally I recorded a short video of Ellie after her party on her birthday.