Boo Zoo!

A couple weeks ago when the weather was mild we took the boys to "The Zoo Goes Boo" and my dad tagged along.  It was neat to see the animals in their decorated cages for this special occasion.  The kooky, not spooky, trail was a hit with the boys because as they walked along they collected treats from various tables.  As usual a favorite part of the zoo was the petting area where Joshua and Matthew could pet a cow, goats and chickens.  Joshua either didn't hear me tell him to leave his bag of treats in the stroller before we went in the petting area or he simply chose to ignore me, but either way a goat stuck his head right in Joshua's bag and snuck a treat out; the stubborn goat didn't really want to give the treat up either, the stinker!  A couple other favorite moments of our time at the zoo were watching the otter and watching the Bobcat chase a squirrel that was running along the top of it's cage. 

Looking at the Eagles with papa.

The zookeeper and his monkey sidekick!

Playing in the train.

Giving the cow some attention.

The zookeeper tames the cow.

Monkey with a goat.

Joshua was determined to pet the chicken and after a bit of chasing he actually did!

Listeing to the different owl sounds with Papa.

Joshua the zookeeper.

Petting a duck.

One of the family

Our kitten, Mocha, has adjusted well to life with our family.  She and Logan actually get along very well and she loves any and all human contact (well unless a group of children is giving her more love and attention than she can handle).  We all love having a playful kitten in the house again!  Mocha is so good natured and docile it's unbelievable, which is good for her since she has to tolerate a lot!  She really is the perfect fit for our family!

 Dressing Mocha up in Mr. Potato Head accessories!

 Sprawled out on Matthew as he watches TV.

So cute in her tutu we made her for Halloween!

Mocha and Logan doing what they do best...laying around and sleeping.

Rainbow Rice

We have a sensory bin filled with rice, plain white rice; we have had it for a few years.  This particular sensory bin doesn't see daylight a whole lot first because it is MESSY and second because I can't stand the look of the plain white, dusty rice.  Thankfully a friend of mine who is also a teacher was placing an order with a school supply company and asked me if I wanted anything; amazingly their liquid watercolor was on mega sale!  I picked out the colors I wanted and happily placed my order.  The day the watercolor came in was the day our boring rice sensory box got jazzed up!  Joshua got home from school and we began adding the different colors to the ziplocs of rice along with vinegar (to help the color take).  We let the rice dry overnight and mixed it back in our bin the next day.  Now the rainbow rice sensory bin is much more inviting to play in as it looks like very festive confetti all mixed together!

Fall Fun at the Greenhouse

One Friday in October Matthew and I made sure to get over to Koetsiers Greenhouse to take part in all the fun fall activities they have set up.  The morning we picked happened to be extremely busy!  Apparently this place has gotten a lot more popular over the years, but despite the craziness we had fun.  We met our friends (who are also neighbors) there so the kids could have a morning playing together.  The kids had a great time together playing in the corn, going through the blow-up maze, running around in the blow-up pumpkin that blows balloons everywhere, going through the not-so-spooky haunted maze, riding toy tractors and painting pumpkins.  Of course my camera battery died half way through our time there, but at least I captured a few pictures of our time there. 

Diggin' in the corn.

Matthew and Jenna, little buddies!

 Matthew, Jenna and Brooke playing together.

Running around, catching balloons and screaming with joy in the big blow-up pumpkin.

Fall Leaf Painting!

One night while Cory was cutting the grass I asked the boys if they wanted to do an art project to which they both literally shouted, "YES"!  Joshua doesn't get to do nearly the number of fun things at home any more that he used to since he is at school all the time now, so he was very excited. 

First I told them we needed to gather leaves from outside which they were happy to do. Once back inside they donned their paint shirts and began painting the backs of the leaves and then printing them on paper.  It was a great way to spend a fall evening! 

 Painting the backs of the leaves.

Matthew shows me what happens when he puts his painted leaf down on paper and then lifts it up.

Joshua making a print.

Artists at work!

A Morning Taking in the Art

With Art Prize being so close we just had to go check it out.  It was a bit difficult finding a time to go since weekdays are no longer an option since Joshua is in school everyday now and our Saturday mornings were busy with activities, one being soccer.  We managed to spend a few hours down there on a gorgeous Saturday right before Art Prize ended and boy were we glad we were able to go!  The boys (Joshua especially) enjoyed looking at all the different creations!  Below are pictures of our family favorites.  So glad our city hosts this awesome event.  What a perfect way to spend a beautiful Saturday!

A creation made out of recycled objects - the boys liked figuring out what things were made out of.

The Grizzly Bears were fun to see altogether from afar and to get up close to.

Joshua feeling one of the grizzly bears.

 A little brotherly love on an over sized chair!

Try slamming that door when your mad kid!

Another creation called "Dumpster Diving" made of recycled items that our family liked.

Another view of "Dumpster Diving"

The winner "Crucifixion", a beautiful glass mosaic.  Beautiful indeed, but not our favorite.

This was a phenomenal piece that unfortunately didn't even make it into the top 10.  The girl looked so real!

We met the artist who created this piece last year when he displayed a monk that he had made - very cool work!

The boys liked the "Praying Mantis".

Standing in a rainbow.

 Playing one of the creations!

Another of the boys favorites.

"Rusty", what probably should have been the winner; again, made of completely recycled objects!

Back to Boulder Ridge We Go

Since only Matthew and I went to Boulder Ridge before I knew our other animal-loving son would want to go to which would mean we would be heading back to the park before the weather turned colder.  On a Saturday morning in September, after Joshua's early morning soccer game, we set out to see the animals.  Both boys enjoyed it, but Joshua LOVED it as I knew he would.  You can get so much closer to the animals and the staff there is so wonderful about answering questions and interacting with the kids.  Joshua made instant friends with one of the staff members in the reptile house who shared a lot of information about the creatures there and answered Joshua's questions; he even let Joshua hold a little tortoise, pet a Bearded Dragon and touch the Water Monitor!  Joshua was in his element!  When we finally left Joshua said, "When I grow up I want to work here and teach about the animals." I have a feeling we will be frequenting Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park in the future. 

A Special Night Out!

On Labor Day my Aunt Cher mentioned that she wanted to take the boys and me to the circus!  What a kind gesture!!  As soon as Joshua caught wind of this, he was excited!  My aunt ended up getting us seats in the box of the company my uncle works for which was truly a good thing when it came to the 2 year old and his attention span.  After we had dinner downtown and got to the arena to find the box we were in that night we went down on the arena floor to take part in the circus pre-show.  The boys got tattoos, saw clowns and acrobats perform and even got to see one of the elephants up close!  Then it was back to our seats so the show could begin.  Joshua did very well, attentively watching every act and performer until about 3/4 of the way through the show when he was tired from a long week of school and just wanted the circus to be done.  Matthew did really well sitting for the first hour, but after the intermission he had ants in his pants and couldn't seem to sit in his seat for more than a couple minutes at a time so it was a wonderful that he could walk around in the box and get out a few toys to play with.  Overall we were impressed with the show, had a great time together and are very grateful to Aunt Cher for bringing us!!

 Getting temporary tattoos.

Watching the elephant during the pre-show.

 Anxious for the circus to begin!

 The tigers were cool to watch!

 This was the boys' favorite part of the circus...mini motorcycles all racing around inside this metal ball.

 If I remember correctly the final count was 7 motorcycles in there at one time...CRAZY!

Getting the wiggles out during intermission.

 The boys' other favorite performance was the elephants!

 The end of the parade!

Thank you Aunt Cher for a very special night together!