We had been talking about rounding up our kids and the Stewart kids and any other interested parties for a zoo day--and Sunday was it. We decided that Saturday night--it was kinda touch and go there for awhile due to weather and stomach virus, but as it turns out the weather could not have been better and not only were we sickness free, we were also fuss and whine free. The kids had a blast and got along great and even the little kids did ok with no nap (Josie's naptime commenced 2.1 seconds after leaving the zoo parking lot). We went to the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, TX. As this was Josie's first zoo trip, naturally I commemorated the event by taking 163 pictures of the event. Thankfully, I realize that you, my avid readers, are largely uninterested in seeing pictures of random animals such as coati and bongoes. I have kept all of the pictures as people related as possible. Anyway, besides my family and the Stewarts we also went with my brother in law, his son Cole and Heather (long time friend of Robyn). Liv was really excited to have cousin Cole along for the trip and they ran way ahead of the crowd with good ol' Uncle Rick. On the rare occasion that I caught up with her, I tried to snap a picture. I did get her in one of my fave zoo areas--the Wild Bird Walkabout. I'm not sure how wild we can call parakeets, but never the less for $1/seed covered popsicle stick you too can feed wild birds. These birds are serious eaters. Liv loved it until none of the birds wanted to be pet in the face and then she was out of there. Josie was into it, with assistance. Josie did love goat petting and even shared her stick with goats without insisting she get it back. If you knew how much Josie loved sticks and how little she likes sharing (unless it's her idea, of course), you would also be overwhelmed by the cuteness of that event. Lunch was fun--the cafe is set in Africa right by the giraffes and elephants--my lunchmates, if you will. I could go on and explain what cute things Josie said as she saw each animal but I won't. This was a really great day--one truly worthy of 163 pictures!
Alright folks, it is almost 1 am and I meant to just get online for a minute to Google a quick termite question--but that was at 11:15. So, if I ramble, use run on sentences, stop being entertaining--please forgive me. It's been a little while since I've blogged, I'm gonna try to hit the high spots and not leave anything out. Since we spoke last, I became the nomad bather. Many a Shreveportian arrived home to find one of my clan in their bathtub. For 2 whole weeks we had to take baths away from home due to the Bathroom Remodel of '09. In the beginning, this job was mostly just about tiling the shower and updating the fixtures. In the end, it became a plumbing update, bathtub and sheetrock replacing, tile installing, and fixture update. We are bathing at home again and everything is great. Big high fives to everyone whose house I bathed, especially the Stewarts and Trey. High fives also to Beau (Beau is the red head exuding boyish charm sitting in the new bathtub below)and Alan who logged some serious man hours in my bathroom--thanks guys! Liv is still soccering--minus a small break to have a vacay weekend with Grandma in Dallas. They rode the train over there and then went ice skating, to the aquarium, saw an IMAX movie, took a carriage ride and ordered room service. Hard to tell who had a better time! Liv is also super busy with first grade. We had our first research paper due a couple of weeks ago, Liv's chosen topic was the Bowhead whale. Still waiting to get that grade back. In other news, Josie had first toenail polish and loved it--definitely gonna be a girly girl. We are busy planning Josie's 2nd birthday party. It'll be a garden themed party. Other than those types of decorations there won't be a lot of garden themed activities, the kids are 2 after all. I have recently become obsessed with the Twilight series of books. Like, I read all 4 books in a week and these ain't your average picture book. They all 600-750 pages. Anyway, my sweet husband (who doesn't understand the joy of reading) surprised me last weekend with a life size poster of Edward hanging in our bedroom (I was sick and that was his way to help). The DVD also came out and he got that for me while I was having a girls day in Jefferson with Dani. Love that support. Anyway, that seems like all that's been going on lately. At least everything that's coming to me now. If I've missed anything, I'm sure it will be brought to my attention soon :). Lots of random pictures from just every day stuff--Josie being a bathroom helper, Liv doing some serious soccer running, and the Denler and Stewart kids hanging (Ryleigh most literally) out. Alright, I have six hours until Momma has to clock back in and begin the school morning routine....I'm outta here!
Where to start, where to start...the fun stuff always win. Friday night was the big premier of the Jonas Brothers 3-D movie (as it turns out, it did shockingly bad and Hannah Montana kicked their 3-D hineys with her movie). Liv put on a new dress, her fave earrings (dangly ones with 5 different colored stars. She said she had to look cool in case the Jo Bros picked our theater to show up at. That never happened, but Liv was looking great nonetheless. The movie was ok, but what wasn't ok was the theater full of screeching preteen girls. Ugh. Afterwards, Liv got to pick any place she wanted to eat--Applebees it was. I love the days when I get to have just "big girl" time with her. Soccer was the next day. It was super windy and cold, that did not put a damper on Liv's confidence. On the way to the game, Liv predicted that she would score between 3 and 5 goals. Propelled to victory by the two best cheerleaders ever (Josie, who yelled "Go, Sissy" 2,000 times and Danielle who trekked out in the cold with moon boot and all) Olivia's team did win and Liv did score her first goal of the season. The not fun stuff at the Denler Estate is the state of our singular bathroom. The weekend before we are set to remodel the whole bathroom our plumbing goes to crap. The bathtub not draining started us down the path we are going down now. Tomorrow Walter the Plumber (who is great and Kevin says really knows his stuff) will be removing a portion of my house's concrete slab, a small wall, and the bathtub in order to replace the leaky plumbing. But better that this happen now than after we have remodeled everything, right? So, what this means for me is that we can't bathe at home for a week and Josie needs to not be at home while it is a construction zone. So, friends, neighbors, and parents can expect to be hosting the Denlers for meals and baths...leave the light on!
We had been talking about rounding up our kids and the Stewart kids and any other interested parties for a zoo day--and Sunday was it. We decided that Saturday night--it was kinda touch and go there for awhile due to weather and stomach virus, but as it turns out the weather could not have been better and not only were we sickness free, we were also fuss and whine free. The kids had a blast and got along great and even the little kids did ok with no nap (Josie's naptime commenced 2.1 seconds after leaving the zoo parking lot). We went to the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, TX. As this was Josie's first zoo trip, naturally I commemorated the event by taking 163 pictures of the event. Thankfully, I realize that you, my avid readers, are largely uninterested in seeing pictures of random animals such as coati and bongoes. I have kept all of the pictures as people related as possible. Anyway, besides my family and the Stewarts we also went with my brother in law, his son Cole and Heather (long time friend of Robyn). Liv was really excited to have cousin Cole along for the trip and they ran way ahead of the crowd with good ol' Uncle Rick. On the rare occasion that I caught up with her, I tried to snap a picture. I did get her in one of my fave zoo areas--the Wild Bird Walkabout. I'm not sure how wild we can call parakeets, but never the less for $1/seed covered popsicle stick you too can feed wild birds. These birds are serious eaters. Liv loved it until none of the birds wanted to be pet in the face and then she was out of there. Josie was into it, with assistance. Josie did love goat petting and even shared her stick with goats without insisting she get it back. If you knew how much Josie loved sticks and how little she likes sharing (unless it's her idea, of course), you would also be overwhelmed by the cuteness of that event. Lunch was fun--the cafe is set in Africa right by the giraffes and elephants--my lunchmates, if you will. I could go on and explain what cute things Josie said as she saw each animal but I won't. This was a really great day--one truly worthy of 163 pictures!
