The rest of May

In no particular order, for May...

We saw baby swans.  Squeeee, so cute!

Celebrated mother's day.

Went to Legoland with my parents.  Sam loved this ride.

She rode the roller coaster but was not a big fan.

She loved this horse ride.

The safari ride was fun...

for all ages.

The girls had swim lessons (I will add that post next), and I tried to do something fun after every day.  One day we went to visit kittens at the SPCA.

 We went to a jeans fundraiser for a kid with cancer.  I bought some jeans and we got the girls passes to jump.  Unfortunately, this was a couple days after Zoey's first time throwing up and the heat, jumping, sugar and everything was too much.  Poor kid threw up right there behind me on some jeans.  What a mess!

We went to an indoor play place called family fun center with friends.  Poor Zoey got jumped on and fell off a bench.

 We went to the mall and rode the carousel.

And we went horseback riding.  Well the girls rode and we walked.  It was a 20 minute pony ride with someone leading it.  

All ready.

Sam was into it, but not as much as I used to be.

Zoey was unsure some of it, but in the end did not want to get off her pony.

Science Sundays (although sometimes Mondays)!

We continue to do science time.  We did take a week off because of illness.

Recently were...

Pressure, which involved a balloon that zoomed through the sky.

 Buoyancy, which involved the dancing raisin experiment.  I* did learn it works better if they are cut into pieces.

And insulation, which involved sticking her hand in ice water without

and with insulation (see the crisco on her gloved hand?) to see how a polar bear can stand such cold water.

Photo fundraiser

Wow, it is almost the end of May and I have been horrible about updates.  We stay busy, so I will do my best to catch up on our lives.

We participated in a photo shoot fundraiser, we paid a small fee and got 5 edited images from the same photographer who normally does the girls birthday sessions.

I love these.  

Bears, Oh My!

I have a few photos I had not uploaded from my phone and then some more recent stuff.

After our busy Zoo trip, Sam fell asleep in the car.  I am amazed by her ability to doze so easily, even with Zoey screaming/singing/talking/etc.  

A few from our Phoenix trip.  Grammy's car had a sunroof and the girls really wanted to stick their heads out.  My car has one too, but they never beg for it at home.

 Zoey loves ring around the rosies.

These signs were in a courtyard right near our hotel.  I thought they were cool.

Sam's school has had a few events recently.

First was the bear hunt.  They read the book and got ready.  They made back packs, maps, packed a "lunch" and went off.  Through water, mud, pretend snow and found their bear, then ran back through all of it and had a picnic.  So cute.

And then they had field day.  It was short, so a few games and a snack.

Sam got to ride.

And then push.

Running in the relay.

We also had a spring neighborhood picnic.  Music was blaring and the girls had a great time dancing.  Not sure where Zoey gets her moves, but it is cute.

A picture in front of my parents Lantana.

Zoey and I went blueberry picking twice in the last few weeks.  Zoey loves the berries and ate more than she put in the bucket.

The next time we went Zoey was fussy and even berries could not keep her happy until a friend came and she fed him berries.  He went to eat one and she said, "No, I get you one."

Zoey was doing great potty training and I tried to stretch the ratio, so we got a few bad days.  This morning started better, so we got donuts for breakfast (plus my coupons for this month are almost expired).  Zoey pretty much dove into hers.

Today was my moms club spring picnic.  Someone else asked about grandparents, so I invited my parents.  Zoey was supposed to eat her fruit and veggies but Papa had chips.

Both girls love sliding.

And bouncing.

And this was a lot of fun today.

April showers!

We have stayed busy.  There has been some sickness, some friends visiting, lots of fun, and lots of work.

I actually missed posting a zoo trip we took with the moms club in late March.

There was a baby elephant born in November.  So cute!

The girls liked the petting zoo.

And posed at the komodo dragon.

The highlight of the trip was the string rays, but I had to help Zoey so no pictures or video, but she was adorable.  Loved them.  Here is Zoey trying to keep her sunglasses on her head like me.  You might notice that is not our stroller or my legs. We went with 2 other moms and kids, 1 left and the other mom, her two kids, and the girls and I stayed a while.  I was pushing Sam and my friends kids in our double and Zoey was enjoying a solo ride.

She loved the train.

After our trip, good friends from Atlanta stayed with us two nights.  We had a great time catching up and letting the kids play.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  We all went back to the zoo.  Nick took Zoey to the carousel while the rest of us toured the dino exhibit.

I did not take many other pictures, but I got this one.  In case you cannot tell, there are 2 sister bears in a tree.  They started fighting and one fell, caught the branch, and dropped to the ground.  We all discussed how they were sisters and fight like Sam and Zoey sometimes do.  Zoey got this stuck in her head and has been talking for weeks how the Samantha bear fell out of the tree.

 A group picture, serious...

And silly.

And although Sam is an amazing reader, she is not as in love with math and science.  With 2 math/science loving parents, we are trying to do something about this fact.  The math she has to do on the computer for school is annoying, it is so fast that she cannot do the calculation and find the number on the keyboard before they flash the answer.  She does great at flash cards.  Nick also decided we should make science a weekly event, so we now have Science Sundays!  Our first was on matter and Nick did the diet coke and mentos experiment.

Here he is explaining solid, liquid, and gas.

A quick video.  The girls were impressed.  Sam has asked when Sunday is about 6 times already this week.  

Monday night while Nick was teaching, the girls and I joined some friends for an Earth Day picnic and hike.  It was such fun.

Zoey the climber.