New Zoo

Now that summer has come to and end we are finding ourselves with more free weekends. So we quickly put the zoo date on the calendar so we wouldn't forget.

 

We meet up with Jeff & Lisa at their house and headed up to the New Zoo in Green Bay

 

 

 

We have never been to this zoo, but we heard great things about it from Jeff & Lisa so we were excited to check it out!

 

 

The girls were able to get up close to the giraffes and feed them leaves, the boys on the other hand refused to step close to them....mmm my boys, scared of the giraffes...

 

 

 



 I've always loved watching the polar bears at the Milwaukee zoo swimming under water, but today we got to watch the penguins zooming back and forth.



 

Take1 was Lisa trying to get a picture with the kids, however only Lainey was willing to go. Take 2 was the girls wanting to take their own picture with the gorilla.

 



 

 

There were so many animals to see and we made sure to see every last one of them.

 



 

Many of the stops we found ourselves stuck for awhile, locked into watching the animals. It was great they were so active today, and unlike the Milwaukee zoo where they are so far back, these animals were close and easy to see.

 

 

 

 

The whole gang!

 



 

And the silly otter doing tricks just for us, he kept our eyes glued on him for quite awhile.

 

 

 

What else could possibly be so interesting??

 

From both sides of the pond?

 

 

Why the frogs of course, can you find any?

While the boys stayed glued on watching the monkeys

 

 

 

 

 

 

The girls took a ride on the train!

 

 

 

After the zoo we headed back to Jeff & Lisa's for a pizza dinner and then headed back out for ice cream.

 

Because to be honest there's no better way to end the night than with an ice cream treat!

 

 

Which one do you think was the favorite amongst the kids? Of course the most colorful one right in front, the blue one, also know as The Superman!

 

 

Mackenzie's first day of School

 

The moment this girl has been waiting for has finally come! We put the boys on the bus yesterday morning and from that moment on it was nonstop, "Mom when is my bus coming?"

 

I assured her it would come but not for awhile, which still was to hard for her to understand. Then I explained that her bus would come after we eat lunch. Her response to that "mom can we eat lunch now?"

 

 

I'm so glad that she is ecstatic to go to school. It makes it a lot easier as a parent if they willing to get onto the bus, rather then making us have to force them on it crying.

 

The minute that bus rolled up she ran right on and found her seat.

 

 

 

 

And the minute she returned home, she talked nonstop about school up until bedtime!

 

 

Truly Blessed!

 

 

 



And then there's this little girl who immediately finds something to get into the minute you turn your back.

 

I guess we need to lock up the ink pads now too....

Back to School

 

It is that time of year again that some Moms love, while other Moms hate.

 

 I find myself in the middle of the two. I am often dreading back to school because I love having all my littles at home with me.

I look forward to our mini adventures with just us.

I look forward to our lazy morning with no rushing out the door.

I just plain old enjoy them.

 

And yet on the flip side, by the time summer has come to an end I can't wait for them to head back to school.

 I despise the nonstop bickering over silliness.

 

 So I apologize to you dear teachers, but now they are yours. I am looking forward to getting back into a routine and hearing about all the new things they have learned.

 

Last week we headed off to school to meet teachers and drop off the loads of supplies. This year I will have 3 in school. A 4th grader, 2nd grader and afternoon 4k.

 

 

 

I asked the boys to  pick out something nice for their first day, and this is what I got...

 

(no those are not stains on Michael's shirt, just water marks or I would have made him change)

 

 

I begged them to change so I could have a nice picture of them, and well that opened a whole new can of worms because in their eyes they are too big for pictures. Not wanting to argue and risk missing the bus, I gave up on the clothes and opted to get a picture instead. I remind them that EVERY year there will be a first day picture, so get used to it.

 

 

Can you tell which one doesn't like getting his picture taken ;)

 

 

 

Off to the bus stop we went, so the moms could mingle and await this beautiful site...the bus.

 

 

Goodbye boys! Have a great first day! I can't wait to hear all about it when you get home!

 

 

Grandpa's weekend of fun

My Dad gave me a call earlier this week asking if it was ok if he brought his BB gun to the island. Sure I said, the boys would probably love that!

So Sunday afternoon, while all the little kids were being entertained the BIG boys got to shoot at the targets with Grandpa. They first started out sitting on chairs shooting at the targets that way, and Michael later opted to shoot from the ground like a real army man.

I missed taking pictures of Landon, he did give it a try, but really was not feeling well this weekend and spent the majority of Saturday evening and Sunday napping inside :(

After dinner on Sunday night Dad pulled out his movie projector and screen and got it all set up for our campfire and a movie. We brought along the movie Epic, thinking it would keep the kids engaged since none of them had seen it before.

Treat were passed out by grandpa, just as they would be at the theater.

Lawn chairs were lined up around the fire to keep us warm, along with plenty of blankets to keep the windy chill away!

After a long busy day the kids weren't able to make it through the movie, which I think in part was because it was a harder movie to follow. So next time we'll go back to regular old classic, which always seems to keep them drawn in ;)

 Even though it was a tad on the cooler side today, the kids still found plenty to keep them busy and warm! And I was excited to see Landon was feel better and was able to join the kids today.

Mr Russel loving all the attention he was getting from the kids.

It's sad to think these summer sunsets are just about over, but it makes us look forward to seeing it after a long winter.