Zoo with Nonnie

The girls and I took Nonnie on a Tax Season Saturday zoo adventure a few weeks ago.  It had been a while since we'd been to the zoo and we needed a good excuse to renew our membership. :)  The weather people said it was going to be a nice day, cloudy in the morning and clear in the afternoon.  They lied.  Not only did the clouds not burn off, it was freezing!  One good point about it being cold, was that we pretty much had the zoo to ourselves.  Not many people at all.

For some reason I decided at the last minute to leave my big camera at home, really wishing I hadn't made that choice. 

We hoped to see our favorite swan pretending to be a flamingo but no such luck.  She/he was in for a swim.  Emmie found an egg, sat on it, stood up and proudly proclaimed " I hatched an egg".  

We had hoped to see the new lion cubs, but they are still in the "maternity den".  We were shocked to see Mama Lion and Big Daddy Lion so close to the viewing area.  We've never seen them so very close.  

I know that there is a really thick piece of glass in between us, but there is still something a little un-nerving about your babies being so close to a "wild" animal.

They are doing a bit of "remodeling" at the zoo.  Part of that included taking out a main path that leads us to our favorite Willawong bird feeding exhibit.  I made the decision to take the long way to the birds, and on the way, stop to see the bears.  Apparently that wasn't a good choice, but I really didn't want to back track…long story short, by the time we got to the bird station, it was closed.  I had two very unhappy girls with me.  So, to make them happy, we rode the carousel. 

By the end of the ride, they had forgiven me and all was well.  :)

This wolf made me laugh.  She's in the exhibit with her 3 sisters and she's just watching them…sitting so proper.  Wonder what she's thinking…  :)

It was a fun trip to the zoo and I know that it was good for mom to get out and about.  I foresee a few more Tax Season Saturday adventures with Nonnie in our future.

Open Gym

We love to go to open gym and we really love to go when we have a day off when other districts don't.  That's exactly what we did last month.  

These girls make me laugh.  They LOVE gymnastics thanks to the Olympics and McKenna (American Girl's 2012 doll of the year).  They both think they're the next big gymnast.  We shall see.  Once we're done paying for pre-k, I think we'll sign them both up.  Hannah for tumbling and Emmie for a regular gymnastics class.  I'm certain there will be many more gymnastics posts to come.

This was when we first got there.  She was so totally freaked out to be hanging upside down.  She was not very happy with me and my slow picture taking skills.  But she smiled anyway. 

And this was 5 minutes before the hour long session was over…totally not afraid.  I've always called her my little monkey and she's proving to be true.  :)

I had a great video of her showing off, but the little stinker deleted it from my phone.  Grrr…  And now, I'm having trouble uploading the little clips I do have.  I'll get it figured out one of these days.  Until then, pictures will just have to do. :)

Open Gym - January 28, 2013