Life can be a real zoo.....

You know all those cheesy looking figurines you can buy at the gift shop or wedding store....the ones where the two swans are entertwined at the neck in a symbol of love????  Well, I thought it was just a cute, cheesy but cute, way to sell "love".  Turns out, that's really what swans sit around and do all day.....if only I could have been as quick as they were.....I never could get a good shot to show you, but I promise they were making perfect hearts together, repeatedly.

Apparently the lions had been in a bit of a spat before our arrival to the zoo....no heart shaped body parts to be found.  Or maybe, she's like many other women I know, she just needed a good afternoon nap.

I can tell you for certain what this guy needs.....a case of Jergens.  With extra cocoa butter.  Dude, that's some rough looking skin.

Another soul just longing for a quick little nap....a twist of the neck and ahhhh, a nice fluffy spot to lay my head.

I have to include these guys because they look so marvelous in person.....I adore giraffes.....they look so cool.  And I was so amazed by the variance of the coloring in their coats.  One looked like coffee and the other like caramel....so neat.

While snapping this photo last week at the zoo, I had a few names pop up in my head who remind me of this atrocious, ugly, vile, stinky animal....the warthog.  I'll keep that short list to myself. 

These are my favorite animals of all time.....especially that cute thing in the flowery LL Bean rain boots.  Who loves to wear them every day, even with no chance of puddle to splash in!!!

Baby Girl's field trip to the Govenor's Mansion

It was fun and sad all at the same time.  My last field trip to commemorate a year with Alabama History on the curriculum. Just another reminder my babies are growing up. But it was fun, of course I consider any day spent with my kiddos fun....even when it involves a charter bus full of easily excitable, very loud 9 year olds and a cold lunchroom hotdog on a wheat bun. 

I thought this was so neat and had to include it in the post.  The items framed are from the early 1900's, belonging to a General who first owned the home, and were found in 2004.  What I find so funny about it is the list in the upper left hand corner.....

                                      


A list written over a hundred years ago, on a ripped piece of brown paper.....that could be timeless.  It's the same list that you and I make all the time.

"goods for Emilys dresses, get check cashed, pay bill, glasses for table, stockings for Emily...."

I guess women have been making lists since the beginning of time.




Of course we learned a lot of history about various pieces in the home of our state's govenor, little insider facts, items sent from different countries with stories to tell......but what impressed a bunch of 4th graders the most???? 

The pool out back that was shaped like the state of Alabama. 

The Climb.

It really isn't about how fast you get there.  Nor is it always about what's waiting on the other side. 

Life is all about the climb. 

Especially for Middle Boy.

He's not the dare devil of our bunch to begin with, but when you also factor in the broken femur that resulted from a random accident on the last day of school in 4th grade....he may be a little more cautious than most.

Hey, if you fell down and broke your femur on the playground you might be a little more careful in life, too.

He's still my hero. Frog legs and all.

Krispy Kreme....where field trip dreams really do come true!! :)

I took the bait and went on the sabotaged field trip, cleverly designed by two of my favorite teachers ever, and ladies I like to call friends....or at least I thought that's what I called them, until they put me in a small room where thousands of fresh donuts were being made and it was like they stood behind the glass mocking my love affair with all things yeast risen and glaze laden.

I thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Krispy Kreme!!  And my life will never be the same after having a donut right off the assembly line.....it couldn't have been a second fresher than it was....and it completely MELTED in my mouth----who cares if you experience 3rd degree burns in your mouth.....a small price to pay for a little piece of heaven if you ask me. 

 A few days before our trip, a friend had texted me to say she was headed on a field trip with her daughter to KK....and was thinking of me.  I texted her back to say that she was skinny enough not just to think of me, but go ahead and eat a donut for me while she was there!  I further texted to say that I would be on that field trip soon and planned on eating my donut without guilt, but rather with pride as sharing a bonding moment with my Baby Girl!!

I did savor every stinking bite of my HOT!NOW! fresher than fresh donut.  And I also savored every Japanese culturally inspired bite of all the food they served me at Tokyo.  And then I called it quits.  Someone had to put an end to my misery and the only way I could do it was to skip out on the afternoon movie....complete with coke and buttered popcorn.  Well, that was the only way other than cutting off my arms to keep from forcing any more food into my mouth!!  The field trip was fun....and the food was great. But it was such a neat time to sit back and watch those litte children enjoy these moments socializing with each other. 

Basically that's all the pics I have for this field trip.  Why?  Because I was too busy EATING to break out the camera, that's WHY!!! 

Furthermore, all these pics do for me is make me even hungrier for a HOT!NOW! right now.....in fact, I may or may not have just licked my computer monitor trying to get that last little bit of warm glaze off Baby Girls' lips.

A love/hate relationship with educators....

So, I'm off to a field trip with Baby Girl this morning.  And I'm trying to decide whether or not Baby Girl's teachers love me or hate me.

You see, we're heading to Krispy Kreme for a mid morning doughnut tour....

Followed shortly thereafter with our lunchtime at Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse....

And summed up with an early afternoon snack of coke and popcorn......as in movie theater buttered popcorn (and of course you know that is divine when coupled with a box of milkduds).

So, either they love me and have planned the entire field trip around my absolute favorite food groups......

Or they hate me and are sabotaging my dieting efforts.

Because, clearly, they will twist my arm to eat it all. Clearly.

Field Trip with The Middle Child = Road Trip Fun

The Middle Child and I ventured out bright and early one morning last week to catch a ride on the charter bus for his field trip to Chattanooga, TN.  Making stops at Ruby Falls, touring the caverns, watching an imax movie and finishing the day at the Chattanooga Aquarium.  Always a favorite.  Every time I go, I'm amazed at the creatures swimming in the waters made by the hands of our God. 

Some favorites from the trip:

• the cool air inside the cave
•  the fun names they give the stalagtite and stalagmite creations....you'll see a "chandelier" in the pics
•  the sound of the falls, named Ruby for the explorer's wife, water splashing down is just a unique sound
• my group of boys during the trip...they were so energetic!
• the miniature seahorses that were hanging onto a blade of grass....a blade of grass, folks, now that's small
• sea nettles...beautiful, but hope I never encounter one while swimming in the sea!
• touching the stingrays and sharks--cool
• big huge sea turtles and spiky tortoises
• hearing the children giggle when they caught a butterfly on their finger
• watching the butterflies have a snack
• leopard print and polka dot sting rays.....NEVER seen these  before....SO COOL....especially as I have such a love affair with all things polka dotted!!  If you've never seen them before, you'll be amazed too.  God makes some real beauties....they are extremely poisonous, much more so than the regular looking stingrays, but their pattern is gorgeous!!

Enjoy the few pics from our road trip fun:

I told you.....they are truly unique looking, huh? 

Riding in cars with boys......to space camp.

No, it's not a new Drew Barrymore movie.  It's what I've been doing this weekend, except I wasn't riding in the car, I was driving a carload of boys to Huntsville, Alabama to spend a weekend here:

Doing lots of things like this:

Almost losing my lunch on this:

So that one day Middle Boy may grow up to be this:

And fly in one of these:

Or maybe someone from the thumbs up group will design the next one of these:

Clearly, they are on their way in techno rocket design.....as witnessed by the rocket building class we had one evening.

Yes, they were paper rockets, but hey, even Wernher Von Braun had to start somewhere....and just maybe he started out with paper rockets as well.  Regardless, this was a highlight of the trip....not only were they fun to make, colorful to admire, but functional as well....when you add a little countdown and air pressure, we were able to launch our rockets. 

And not just any old launching....no, this was a NIGHT LAUNCH, on the campus of NASA, with real deal ROCKETS in the background!!

Of course it wasn't all fun and games.....we had to get back to more training again, in the event they do need us in space one day, it would be necessary to learn what it feels like to lift off....and go from 0-200 mph in less than a second.....so we did several rounds of this:

Look closely, yes, that would be my child hanging his head over the edge to make certain I could see how much he was enjoying his Astronaut Training Session:

See.  He's totally ready for a trip to space.

For three days we breathed, ate and trained at the Space and Rocket Center....right there on campus, with this sign posted outside our Habitat door for inspiration:

While on campus, we lived in mock Space Colonies (which may or may not be code word for teeny tiny cramped living quarters where you bunk with 7 other trainees)

Seriously, it wasn't bad at all, and the building was TOTALLY cool looking, inside and out.

And in case you are wondering, or if you ever get a chance to go to space, and you need to use the bathroom, here's what you need to look for:

And I'd do it all again for Middle Boy....he's my astronaut in training hero....it ain't easy making a white marshmallow suit look as good as he does!

There you have it, a weekend at Space Camp.  Sure, I'd love to go into more detail and give you the ins and outs of what NASA is up to, the missions being planned and prepped for, the high tech rocket science stuff that we were briefed on in our top secret meetings.....but alas, the space industry frowns on leaking their secrets, so you'll just have to be satisfied with this silly post which includes this last shot, taken when Middle Boy heard the news about Buzz Aldrin, one of his fellow NASA space buddies.....

one small step for man, one giant  fox trot for Dancing with the Stars.

The future of the Space Program is in good hands, trust me.