Sights of winter

Although the sights of winter may be beautiful...

And the children have fun...
Whooshing down the hill in our back yard....

I am ready for spring!!!!

giraffes

I love giraffes! The zoo that we went to while we were in Arizona was wonderful, it was the second time we have been there.
I love giraffes and was just so excited the last time because it was the first time I would see them up close and even get to feed them! Unfortunately, a couple times a year they soak the grounds and the giraffes can't come out for the day because it would be too dangerous for them to walk on soaked ground. We went on that day... Oh well.
Not this time though!

Wow, what an amazing sight to see these beautiful creatures up close. To witness a baby nursing from her mom was so neat although I can't really explain why.

Watching them walk around so graceful was a sight for sure.

This zoo has a high deck set up so the visitors can feed the giraffes.

That was quite an experience. A slobbery, but great experience.

Look at her, isn't she just so beautiful?

The kids really enjoyed this experience almost as much as I did.

"Hey Connor, I think that one is looking for a little treat!"

They have the most stunning eyes, and their lashes, they could really make a woman jealous.

There is no doubt that this was my most favorite part of the zoo that day!

What a great gift....

Grandparents

When Katelyn was just a few months old my parents decided to move across the country to help with my mom's arthritis and allergy problems. For them it has proven to be a great move. My mom has improved tremendously and her quality of life is just so much better in the warmer, dry climate.
I was bummed. We were so close and still had weekly dinners, not to mention Katelyn just adored her Grammy and that baby didn't care for many people. I was trying hard not to be selfish but it was hard!
I worried that my children wouldn't have a relationship with my parents only being able to see them a few times a year. Over eight years has passed since they moved and we have added three more babies to our family and I am happy, very happy, to say that I needn't have worried.
My kids have a great relationship with my parents. They love each other to pieces. There is never shy moments between them no matter how much times has passed and no matter how little the little ones are.


Just being together is special.

And so very wonderful.

The quality of time spent together is so much better then it would be if my mom was still living here.

They have a bond that ties them.

And enjoy similar things.

Even something as silly as putting socks on his ears makes memories.

So this year we were even able to spend Grammy's birthday with her.

Grammy loves teaching them all about horses and taking good care of them.

And Grampy seems to enjoy teaching Connor to drive a tractor. ALL. BY. HIMSELF.

All my worries were unnecessary! My kids and their grandparents have a great relationship!

Sting Rays...

We went to the zoo when we were in Arizona and I took lots of pictures, shocking I know, haha.
There are so many pictures that I just can't even put them into one post so I am going to break them up into a few.
This is where we got a chance to touch and feed sting rays! It was so neat!
The kids and Grampy were so excited for the chance to get up close with these awesome sea creatures.

Katelyn was the first one to jump in, or at least put her hand in, to see what the sting rays feel like.

Connor was nervous but with encouragement and help from Grammy he braved his nervousness and touched them.

Once he did he was no longer nervous!

The kids wanted to feed them so the lady took out some shrimp and help them feed the sting rays.

I was proud of the kids! I don't think I would have been willing to have sting rays suck shrimp out of my hands. The kids thought it felt really funny.

I don't have pictures of Maggie touching them because she was so nervous. She was crying because she wanted too touch them but when I would try and help her she would cry because she didn't want to. I didn't want to force her to do it but she wouldn't leave either. I think she was just so overwhelmed with the wanting to and the fear of combined! Finally I got her to touch one and she just melted after, so funny, such a release. It's hard to explain really.

What a great experience for all of us!

I love to watch children play...

I could sit and watch my children play all day. Oh, and the sounds of chatter and laughing are music to my ears.




I love peaking in on one of them when he or she is playing all by his/herself and making up such an elaborate pretend play.

Like when I looked in at Ben recently and he was playing with his farm animals. He was making the sounds that they make and sorting them into sections based on what animal they were.

When he noticed me he showed me his cow and then went back to playing.

Until I asked him to look at me and he put the horse on his head just so I could take a picture.

I'm telling you, I could watch and listen to children playing all day long!

Cactus

You better watch your fingers...

Your toes and even your nose...


Because Arizona is just filled with prickers!

Here Connor is standing next to the "bones" of a saguaro cactus.

Here he is looking at the cactus Grammy calls the "Connor saguaro cactus" because the arm that is growing off of it first appeared when Connor was born. It is believed that an arm doesn't grow until the cactus is around 100 years old!

Grammy enjoyed showing the kids all the different kinds of cacti all around their house.

Oh no! Connor turned into a cactus!

Look at how tall this cactus is, I can't even imagine how old it is.

Arizona is great and exploring cacti is fun but make sure you have some tweezers!

Tea party

Grammy and the girls had so much fun with the last tea party they had in Arizona almost three years ago so we all decided to have another tea party when we were in Arizona this time.

This was Katelyn and Grammy the last time watching Grammy's friend playing the violin.

Here is Maggie at the last tea party. She was almost 2 1/2 and looks so little!

Here she is now getting a pretty hair piece on so she will be all ready for the tea party.

Connor helped with the preparations by using a heart cookie cutter to cut out cucumbers.

Look at these mini fancy brownies that we made! Not only were they beautiful but they are by far the BEST brownies ever! I LOVE my mom's brownies!

Time for the tea party to begin. Maggie did a great job setting the table.

Connor wanted to attend this tea party. Last time he and Grampy went fishing instead. Gotta wear a hat!

We made very special tea and added a bit of honey for extra sweetness.

So beautiful!

Ben was invited too and of course wore a cowboy hat. He was so excited to be able to use a real tea cup and did great with it!

Grammy has a special set of tea cups that came all the way from England! A good friend of hers gave her the tea cups.

In proper English style Katelyn was very careful not to hit the side of her tea cup with the spoon.

Love this cowboy!

This was a great day for afternoon tea!