Field Trip Fun

We spent a fun afternoon tagging along with LT's 1st grade class at the zoo on Thursday. 

If you've never followed 15 1st graders around at the zoo, it is quite an experience. First, they ooze around all over the place. Mostly, they stayed together, but there was always two or three on the fringes of the group that needed to be corralled. Add to that the fact that there were about 2,000 students at the zoo that day.  It was a bit chaotic at times. 

Watching 6 & 7 year olds interact with the animals was the best part. They are really adept at mimicking the noises the animals make, and at times it seemed like the animals enjoyed watching them as much as the kids enjoyed doing the same. 

Case in point: we arrived at a monkey habitat that was full of ropes and hammocks - and monkeys. It was designed in such a way that you almost felt like you were in the habitat with the monkeys. When we walked up, the monkeys were swinging from rope to rope, just like you'd imagine Tarzan doing. The kids squealed when they saw this, which made the monkeys squeal, which made the kids squeal louder . . . You get the idea. It was a pretty funny sight, and for a moment, we all felt like we were residents at the zoo. 

They look so sweet when you can get them to all stay in one place.  (Please excuse the foggy photo - that's what I get for letting a toddler play with my phone during dinner.)

Milestone

LT lost his first tooth over the weekend. Six months ago, he would have told you he absolutely did not want to lose any teeth. Now, he thinks it's not that bad and proudly displays the gap between his lower teeth. It's been the topic of conversation for two days now, and I don't believe we'll be talking about much else in the near future. 

Last Christmas

Winter has been less wintry than expected.  Really, most of winter has felt like spring, so now seems like as good a time as any to recount our Christmas and New Year holidays. 

The holidays began with the annual Christmas party at Christus:

 

What a cute reindeer

Gabe kept pointing to Shamu & saying "Shark! Shark!"  He liked Shamu even better than he liked Santa . . .

Then, we spent time decorating the house - and the kids.

 

 

We spent Christmas itself in Corpus.

And had Christmas, Part 2, here at home ('cause Santa always delivers presents to your house, no matter where you are for Christmas).

We also did our own little fireworks show in the backyard for New Years.  It was a big hit - even for the neighbor's kids.

Then, we headed out to our old stomping grounds for work meetings.

 

No, this is not the work meeting.  This is the fun that was had in-between meetings.

 Christmas was a great time for us to get a much needed break.  And now I have just one question - is the next holiday in sight yet???

Fall Fun

This review of all the fun we had this past fall is long overdue. It was a busy time for us, including

Book character day. Say hello to mouse, and be careful if you give him a cookie. He'll need a few other things, too.  

Halloween! The Gonzalez grandparents helped us celebrate. This year, the boys all opted to be cartoon characters. 

Quiet reading was also a favorite activity, 

And so was planning the next adventure. 

LT has also developed an interest in baseball. He's been practicing his batting skills. 

Here he is running our imaginary bases. 

Holiday photos are soon to follow!