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The days are just flying by! It’s been a fun and busy week. Those are my favorite kind.
Monday was Labor Day and we went to a church picnic in the morning down at Highlander park.
McKay was so tired after we left the park. I knew he’d fall right to sleep so I grabbed my camera to document it. Usually I only get to see short glances of the process in my rearview mirror. This time Ben was driving so I could watch him slowly drift off. Sleeping babies are the best!
On Tuesday Sadie had preschool and then we went to the Aquarium in the afternoon after naps.
Sadie was most fascinated by the otters on this trip.
I don’t know what was wrong with the string rays in this tank but they were going nuts. Their fins were getting up over the glass. I think they were hungry and it was almost feeding time. Anyways, the kids were struck dumb by their behavior and even a little frightened. I was actually a little worried myself. One of the really feisty guys was getting so far above the water I was worried he was going to propel himself out of the tank. That didn’t happen, thankfully.
McKay and Sadie shocked by a very wild sting ray.
Looks of amazement
They also enjoyed the outdoor activity area. I brought their swimsuits so they could play in the splash area but the only thing they wanted to do was make sand castles. Fine by me! After a half hour in the sandbox the Aquarium employees came along and kicked us out – closing time.
We met Ben at Westshore Mall for dinner after we left the Aquarium. The kids had a ball playing in the kiddie area. I forgot to take pictures of that. McKay was in heaven though. He’s a real climber and loved all their play apparatuses
Wednesday was a busy day because I took dinner to a family with a newborn baby. I can’t believe how that can consume a day. Between cooking, delivering it, and clean-up the afternoon was gone. Thankfully Ben took the two older kids with him to church so that I could just have McKay and get the house put back together and do a few loads of laundry in the evening.
My mom picked Sadie up from preschool on Thursday and brought her up here. She also brought us Shadow. That dog is starting to grow on me again. It’s kindof nice to have him back. After we ate lunch we went to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. For the month of September we can get into Lowry Park Zoo and MOSI for free with our Aquarium annual pass. They call it Swaptember.
The weather was a little stormy so we debated whether to go or not. I’m so happy we went! We had such a fun time!!! It did start to rain at the very end but we didn’t get very wet.
The Tiger put on a pretty good show for us. He looked like he was about to jump in the water but then he turned around, lifted his tail, and did a giant….you know what. The kids were very curious and asked lots of questions about his big….you know what. People were close by and listening in. Awkward!
Do you see the Tiger on the left?
See this bird sitting on my head in the picture below? Well he left me a little present on my shoulder and all down my back. Yup! Another…..you know what. Just my luck 🙂
Perhaps the highlight of the Zoo trip was feeding the giraffes. For $3 you can feed them lettuce leaves. They have 18 inch black, rough tongues that they used to take it out of our hands. Sadie wouldn’t try (shocking) but Jax and McKay did. They were pretty stunned.
Close-up….see that tongue. Eww!
We went on the Safari ride next. It’s a 20 minute train ride through the Africa exhibits. We all loved the elephants the most. They’re such incredible creatures. The rhinos were another favorite of the kids.
See the elephant saying hello being us?
Lastly we went by the petting zoo area. However, it started sprinkling so we only stayed two minutes.
Hopefully we’ll get to go another time or two this month. We only got to see about half the park. Good times.
On Friday afternoon the Cricchios came over. I didn’t take pictures but I’ll share the ones I took from our playdate with them from last week. This week’s was pretty much identical…trampoline, car, popsicles, toys, and happy kids.
Friday night Sadie and I went out on a date together. We’re trying to give each child more one-on-one attention. We went out to TCBY and shopping for a new backpack (no success). It was so great to be able to focus on Sadie. I so enjoy spending time with her!
Ben took the boys to play baseball while we were away. You can imagine how they loved that!
Here are a few random snapshots from life around here lately:
Christy - Okay lets see here:
1. Are we twins? When I first glanced at the zoo pictures I thought you were me.
2. I’m glad Sadie is still wearing her yellow outfit from my wedding last year. 🙂
3. I love the picture of the birds with Mom; she looks like she had a great time at the zoo with you all!
4. Sadie looks so grown up in the trampoline picture–I love how her hair is floating in the air mid-jump.
5. GREAT pictures. As usual. 🙂
6. The “vote against obama” ad on the computer screen behind McKay is pretty funny.
That’s all. Love you!