Let's Go to the Zoo

Yeah for a warm sunny day so we could go visit the Niabi Zoo one more time before it closed for the season. 

This sweet little zoo has grown so much over the years since we started visiting it. This year we bought a year pass since the kids pass was the same amount as a day admission. With the train tickets and free passes for guests and using it to get in free or half off at reciprocal zoos this summer and a few visits here, these passes were so worth it.

Today the highlight was feeding the goats. Rebecca thought this was the BEST THING EVER! She had no fear of feeding them. One time she accidentally got all her fingers in a goats mouth and it bit down on them. She just looked at the goat with a "what were you thinking biting my fingers" look and went on with feeding them. We quickly ran out of food, so the kids started picking it up from under the feeding stations. They ended up picking up way more then we bought. We could have easily spent an hour feeding the goats!

We put some food on Rebecca's babies head and the goat ate it right off. Rebecca thought it was so funny and wanted more food on her babies head. This little baby got picked to come visit the zoo with us today. We can't go anywhere with a baby doll anymore.

The Hippo Statue. 

We always get a picture on this guy. Every time without fail. Simeon was at a Boy Scout camp out in Nauvoo, IL a few hours away from us, so that's why he's not in any pictures.

 The kids always look forward to taking a ride on the train, but sadly it wasn't working today because of construction, so we did the next best thing and took a ride on the Merry-Go-Round. Ammon rode the cheetah behind the gorilla Rebecca was riding, so he could chase her!

 

We also saw some animals doing some funny things today. 

This guy was sticking his head out looking for some treats.

 When we walked back past the giraffes later we saw this guy licking the pole. The kids thought it must have tasted good.

 When we went to see the Gibbons they were swinging all over the place. This darker one found a leaf out of the fence and reached out to get it. It took it on the ledge above us, then swung down with his feet right above the kids heads. He stayed there and stared at us for a few minutes.

When we got to the elephant enclosure we saw this guy reaching his trunk over the wall. It looked like he was trying to bite the wall. After a minute he came back over with a trunk full of dry pine needles from the tree right outside the enclosure.

There are alot of new projects under way here at Niabi Zoo, that will be more finished next spring when it warms up enough to go visit again. We love coming to visit this zoo. It's a pretty small one, and we can see everything in about an hour and a half, and we drive an hour each way, but it's so worth it. Today we forgot all about the reptile house, so we will for sure be going again this spring.

Halloween 2012

Tonight was the night the kids have been looking forward to all month long. 

The costumes on were on, faces were painted, and candy buckets were ready.

 

They were ready to go get treats!

Simeon 

He had his heart set on being Drizzt from books written by RA Salvatore. His white hair, black face, twin swords and black cape completed the costume. Simeon started reading these books a few months ago, and instantly became obsessed with them. Johann read these books when he was a teenager, so we already own all the books. Simeon has dove in head first into them and is loving them. He's also  gotten his friend into them too. He's been talking about his costume for a few months and was so excited when it all came together and especially when we bought him face paint.

Corrine 

She had a change of heart on her costume after I had her cowgirl vest made. Last year she was a cowgirl, and decided to just be that again. Then a few days after finishing her vest, she told me she might want to be a vampire. I wasn't sure we could make the switch so close to Halloween, but luckily for her I found a vampire cape for $2 just days ago. She liked putting fake blood on her face. A friend gave her some "vampire blood" hand sanitizer today from Bath & Body works.

Ammon 

He had 1 plan in his mind for his costume and it needed to be home made. I took him to the fabric store to pick out material for his costume. We had the store worker laughing over our conversation about what this robe should look like and what type of material it should be made out of.It was a comical interchange trying to figure it out! I tried to buy a pre-made robe, but it wasn't right, so I needed to make one. Ammon wanted silver on the shoulders and hip. We worked together to figure out how big and where to put them. When he saw the robe ready, he was SO EXCITED! It was exactly what he wanted! He had elf ears, but they wouldn't stay on to save our lives. We tried everything from duct tape, to sticky goo and ended up taping them on across with scotch tape. We tried to tape his ear pointed, but he said it really hurt, so that only lasted for a few minutes for the pictures.

Rebecca 

She was our sweet and sassy cowgirl Jessie. She got her Jessie hat at Disneyland this summer, and her Woody & Buzz boots were from last winter. I made the chaps 1st and loved how they turned out. Her chaps were out of the same material as Corrine cowgirl vest that she decided not to wear. The shirt top was a bit harder to make for some reason. Sewing the shinny red ribbon on the front made it all come together. She has been wearing this everywhere the last few days. It's gotten pretty dirty and now that Halloween is over I can finally wash it. The hat was hard to keep on, so instead you got to see her ringlet pigtails-and yes those curls are completely hers! She sweet talked her daddy into being Woody. How could he say no to her. I was suppose to be Bullseye, but got away just carrying a Bullseye toy!

Tonight was the end of an era for our family. We made a decision years ago that the kids can trick or treat while in elementary school, and after that they get to hand out candy. So this was our last time going out trick or treating as a whole family. Simeon is actually really excited to stay home and give candy out next year. We came home for a short time tonight and the kids so wanted kids to come over so they could give them candy!

After trick or treating the kids all dumped their spoils in the front room. Ammon quietly went through his stach, then told us that he took out all the he wanted and we could have the rest. He only took about 20% of his candy and it was almost all sour candy. He left all the chocolate!! Rebecca did a similar thing separating her most wanted candy from the rest. When Johann said then he'd take the rest, she got very protective and started collecting and laying on it like a mother hen. She decided that she did want it all after all! Corrine was so sweet with Rebecca trick or treating. Rebecca got tired and wanted to ride in the stroller, so Corrine collected for her. If a house said take 2 or 3, she would keep one and give the other to Corrine. Corrine is a great big sister!

The kids said their favorite house was one by Grandma and Grandpa Smiths who let them pick out a Matchbox car or a beanie baby. Rebecca carried her duck holding an Easter egg the rest of the night. She's in love with that little ducky!

We love Halloween!!

Slipping and sliding

Today we pulled out the slip and slide for the 1st time this summer. The backyard grass was really needing some watering and it was a hot sunny day, which equaled the perfect day for some water fun. Instead of using the slip-n-slide water hose, we used the rainbow arching sprinkler so it could water the grass around while they played. 

Rebecca learned real quickly that she LOVED the slip and slide, which made it hard for her to take turns. She would go down, then crawl back up it. If we could get her off at the bottom, she'd run up to the top and go down again without waiting for her turn.

I love this picture of Ammon midair of his slide! He gets going so fast!

Laughter and smiles=Fun times!

Our backyard has a great slope that helps the kids to get going faster.

We love summer, being outside and water. This slip-n-slide is going to get alot of use this summer.

Jack-O-Lanterns

Tonight was our annual carving of our Jack-o-Lanterns. Grandma & Grandpa Smith had the kids over for a sleepover a few weekends back and they took them to get their pumpkins.


Rebecca picked out what shapes she wanted for her eyes, nose and mouth. She was alright with reaching in and pulling some gunk out from her pumpkin. She was super excited to see her jack-o-lantern come to life.



Ammon had his heart set on carving a tree and grave stone with a hand and RIP written on it. We aren't that great at carving pumpkins, so we went for a tombstone with RIP and a hand on it.
Corrine wanted to also go the traditional face way like Rebecca. Dad helped her carve her pumpkin.
Simeon had an idea in his head and he started cutting before realizing that he was cutting too much out and it was going to be a big open hole in the side of his pumpkin. We had to improvise and ended up with a face which he decided to have it eat Ammon's baby bear pumpkin.
The kids were so excited and loud when we lit our jack-o-lantern outside. We love pumpkin carving time!!

Winter Quarters Temple

We've been to Omaha a few times, but have never made it up to the Temple before. We put the address into our GPS and it said it was only 2 miles from the Children's Museum. It took us to where the address said, but we were nowhere near the Temple. We knew we were on the right road, just miles away. The end of the road we were on was small, very old and ended up dead ending. We found another road going to same way and hopped on it. Again it was a small, very old road and not the best, so we found another bigger street to go on. We knew we were in the area by the house #'s so we turned up a street. We ended up going up one of the steepest streets ever. When we got to the top we turned right and within a few feet we were on a dirt road. This was NOT how we thought we'd get to the Temple. We took a left onto another dirt road hoping to get there, and within a block on this road, the Temple stood on the hill.
We went in the visitors center where a very nice sister missionary greeted us. She had a watch a 15 minute video about the pioneers, then proceeded to get the kids dressed in pioneer clothes and hats. Then she went into a 45 minute tour of the visitors center.







It was very interesting and had lots of hands on things for the kids, but Rebecca had had enough after 25 minutes, I tried to keep her occupied, but it wasn't to be, so we escaped outside for the last ten minutes.
Outside we found "Popcorn Trees". We smelt the blossoms, picked them up in our hands and blew them and sand Popcorn popping under the trees. This was more Rebecca style!



We took some quick pictures at the visitors center and Temple before heading back to the Museum (which was closed when we got there earlier.)

Grandma Riddle

The last few weeks as we knew our time with Great Grandma Riddle was drawing to a close we spent alot of time remembering all the fun times we'd spent with her.

March 1st, 2011

Johann and I had many opportunities to get to know her since we lived with her 3 different times over the years. We lived with her for 6 months when Johann came out for his internship. Then when he graduated from BYU we moved back in with her for almost a year. Simeon lived with her for the first 6 months of his life. Then when we were in between houses we moved back in with her for a few weeks.

I remember when Simeon was born, my grandma Jenson had come out and the 2 of them were so excited for Simeon to arrive. They told me how they sat in rocking chairs out front waiting, then when the waiting at home got too hard, they headed up to hospital. I remember them being outside the labor and delivery room hoping that Simeon had arrived.

When we sold our house on Western Rd and were moving into our current house we had a time frame of about 3 weeks where we were homeless. Grandma so graciously opened her house up to us. She cleaned out the 3rd bedroom so the kids could sleep in there, and her basement became our storage room. We even set up our swing set in her backyard. The kids LOVED her backyard and had such a great time exploring it. The waterfall and pond and all the animals that came by for a snack were their favorites!And looking out her back porch with binoculars at the birds was also such a highlight of grandma's house.

When Ammon was 10 months old at Easter we went to her house. She gave them these towels that were in different shapes, and when you put them into water they expanded. I remember Ammon not understand what the water was for, and crawling over to it and drinking it out of the bowl!

Just a few years ago she again helped with our kids. Corrine had a dance class at the University of Iowa. The boys were so bored at the class. Grandma offered to watch them. So once a week for a few months I'd drop Simeon (4 yrs old) and Ammon (toddler) off at Grandma's house where they'd have snacks, play with grandma and watch tv while Corrine and I went to dance class. It was a special time for the boys to spend that time with their great grandma.

And her hedgehog that made noise when you squeezed it! Oh I am thinking of so many wonderful memories of her as I write this. I hope the kids remember how special and kind she was to them. She truly loved her great grandkids and loved being with them.

The last 2 weeks we have spent some very special quiet time with her. Corrine truly touched my heart when she came to visit her the day before she passed away. Corrine, knowing that grandma couldn't respond to her, brought along a favorite book and sat and read it to grandma, and talked to her. She gave her kisses and told her she loved her. She was as sweet as could be.


Rebecca LOVED to go visit "grandma riddle". Each time we'd go to visit she'd bring something new to show her. Curious George came one day in a dress and princess crown. Rebecca loved putting the crown on grandma's head and calling her "princess grandma". She also brought lots of books that we'd read to grandma. Rebecca also loved to give grandma kisses. Even when grandma wasn't able to talk anymore, when Rebecca would give her a kiss she would pucker her lips and we'd put Rebecca's cheek down by her lips so she could give Rebecca a kiss. When grandma stopped puckering her lips to kiss Rebecca back we knew she was looking more in heaven then earth and our time with her was very short.

Each time we visited we spent some time talking with the other residents. Rebecca would show them her books or toys she had brought. She even got hugs from some of the residents. I know Rebecca really liked to go visit grandma and she knew when we were going and would get so excited. Right by the sidewalk to walk in there was area full of rocks. When we'd walk in Rebecca would always walk right past the rocks, but when we walked out we'd stop and play with the rocks for a few minutes. She was so excited to go see grandma that she didn't have time to stop and play on the way in!




One time when we were visiting the kids were taking random pictures. I'm glad they did it now because they took pictures of the things around her room that I wouldn't have taken a picture of.






I'm going to go through pictures and add some of the kids with her through the years. I'd love to get a baby picture of each of them with her and playing in her backyard. I'm grateful that we took pictures with her so often. We visited her every holiday and many times in between. We always seemed to go during lunch when we went on a Sunday!

I know her memory will live on with our kids. The kids gave her a Willowtree angel for Christmas a few years back. That angel now sits above our piano. A reminder of the sweet loving great grandma who is now watching over us.

Out with the boys

This afternoon we went to Lowe's to get a board and some screws to finish Rebecca's bed. By the time we left the store we had great dreams of a riding lawn mower, checked out some over the range microwaves (our counter one broke over a month ago), a deck covering and new chairs. The riding lawn mover won't happen because our yard is too small (much to Ammon's dismay), the microwave is coming soon and the deck covering and chairs for both locations may happen, but the board and wood were bought.

We had such great helpers with the cart. Rebecca was the motor, Simeon did the steering and Ammon (getting a free ride) led the way. Corrine was with a friend at the movie Soul Surfer, which she said was good, but not the best!



After we went to the mall for dinner. There happened to be an ice hockey game going on, so we sat over by the ice rink to watch. During the game a player made a shot on the gaol, but it missed and went through the rink side and got stuck in there.


I love outings like today (it would have been better if Corrine was with us). A simple errands turns into found memories and smiles.

Gotcha!!

I've never been much in to April Fools Day. Usually I think about it the day of and don't have time to do anything. This year was different-I planned ahead. I'd been looking at some different ideas and found what I wanted to do.

It started in the morning. The kids got up and Ammon asked for a drink. I said sure and went and got 6 six drinks from the fridge and put them on the table.


Simeon took a big stuck on his straw and said it wouldn't come out. He said "My straw must be clogged." Then Ammon did the same thing and he couldn't get anything. By then I was smiling and Simeon caught on that I had gotten them. Ammon pulled his straw out and found out the trick. I made red jello, put it in their cups with a straw. It looked just like the fruit punch crystal light we had in the pitcher!!

Then came dinner.

Spaghetti and meatballs. I first saw this idea on my sister Laurie's blog (Gallamore West) and then this year it's popping up on all sorts of blogs. The meatball is a Ferrero Rocher hazelnut ball dipped in raspberry sauce. I didn't have any white chocolate to shave for the Parmesan cheese, so I used some vanilla astronaut ice cream I had in the cupboard.




Next we had peas and carrots. The peas are runts and the carrots are orange starburst cut into 4 pieces.



Since Rebecca had a tummy ache today we also had some nice and easy to eat mashed potatoes and gravy with butter on top. The gravy is caramel sauce and the butter is a yellow starburst flattened.




When I brought the food to the table the kids just looked at it. Then after a few seconds they said "Is this really dinner?" Then they studied it some more.
Corrine was the 1st to realize that the peas and carrots were on top of cupcakes, then they all figured it out.

Simeon so sweetly said "Mom, is there any real food to eat. I'm starving, we can have these for dessert."

I guess I'm going to have to work harder to trick them next year. I've already seen some good ideas I just may have to use!!

I saw an idea for popcorn cupcakes but didn't have time to get to those. I'll save those for Simeon's movie party.