Global Wildlife Center = a Good Time

This week was the kids' spring break.  As you know, we spent the first 2 days in Florida, and that should have been enough.  However, I did not want to have to come up with creative things to do at home to keep them from complaining they were bored.  Also, I have come to the conclusion that I never do fun things for 3 reasons.  

1.  They cost money. 

2. They require driving longer distances than I want to drive with children to get somewhere fun (anything over 20 minutes!).  

3. Its out of my comfort zone.  This means that when we live somewhere, I am perfectly happy saying no, I don't need to go there.  Once we move away, I then wish I had put forth the effort to do it.  

I have decided this year I am going to suck it up and do the fun stuff.  I'm not going to let cost and distance (reasonable distance!) get in the way.  Thus, today was the day we tackled the Global Wildlife Center!!  It was an absolutely crazy day.  The driving part stunk, but the kids LOVED the place.  I will not post all 76 pictures, but will merely give you a sampling of our day. 

We got to drive across Lake Pontchartrain!! Yep, the 25 mile bridge across it.  It was not very exciting, by the way.  The drive out was an hour an a half, and was made longer by disgraceful google maps MISdirections. But we made it there in plenty of time for the 1:15 tour. 

The kids had a blast teasing the gigantic carp in the pond while we waited.  The cost was pretty steep for me.  I normally would never pay so much to do this, but as I said, Carpe Diem!  It was $11 per kid and $17 for me.  Plus $30 for a giant bucket of food.  (The giant bucket of food was totally worth it, too!)

Here is that the safari tour looks like.  You get in this wagon (is it a wagon?!) and slowly drive through the 900 acre place.  The animals flock to you and you get to feed them!  How fun is that?!  Look at all the animals!!  They have 5 different varieties of deer there, plus other herbivores.  No carnivores, to Marian's mild disappointment.

We had the big bucket of food, and a bunch of cups to parcel it out in.  There were several ways to feed the animals. You could hold your cup and let the animals stuff their faces in them.  Or you could dump the food on the ground for them. 

 You could use the food to lure the larger deer in closer.  But you had to be careful!  The deer are expert ant grabbing your cups and running off with them!  We had the big bucket to refill our cups and had about 8 cups, so we were good. And we only lost one cup to a wily deer.

They had a camel.  Actually 2 camels.  So cute and interesting looking.  Quite placid as well.   Check out the deer to the right of the camel.  He's stolen a cup of food! He'll snack on it and drop the cup when there's no more food in it.  (The park workers will go out later to clean them up.)

I love Zebra!  The zebras were pushy and so cute.  But they bite, so we were told to be extra careful to to dump their food, not to hand feed at all. 

Did I mention how cute they are?! 

The kids had so much fun feeding all the animals. The animals were plentiful and there were always lots of them crowding around.  The safari wagon would stop here and there so you could check out some specific animals for a bit, like when the zebras showed up, and when we drove by the giraffe and camel.  The rest of the time it drove very slowly and you could feed the animals lingering and following.

They had a couple bison, Watusi and cow animals, but this "beefalo" was the only one who had enough energy to leave the shade and seek a snack. 

Me and Delaney.  She decided she was hungry here and refused to have any more fun.  

Oh, there were llamas too.  They were fun to feed, especially since they would eat out of your hand!

Have I mentioned how much the kids loved that they could feed the animals?!  They thought the safari tour was worth every penny.  It lasted just about 2 hours and there were animals the entire way around.  We ran out of food (that giant bucket of food that was touted to equal 20 of the 32 oz cups) well before the end, and the girls were scrounging food off the floor to feed the animals.

My thoughts were that it was fun.  It was fun for the kids and it was definitely fun to see the animals that close and to feed them.  However, I was also kind of sad to not get to see them act like the animals they are.  Perhaps it is a little bit travel-snobby but I recall in Africa, seeing the Topi standing on their little hills and the males keeping watch.  And it was so neat then to see them at attention and all that. It was awesome to see the animals running or grazing and being animals.  I shouldn't compare this trip to the real thing at all.  I should not have thought of this as anything like a real safari, because for what it was, it WAS great.

So if you ask the children, they will tell you that YES! it was a success and they are so glad we went.  I am happy they enjoyed it but I doubt we'll go back.  Drive time and money wise it was a lot.  But hey, the fun didn't end there!  On the way home (when the stupid GPS gave me rotten directions and drove us 20 miles out of the way around Lake Pontchartrain) we came to a standstill in traffic.  Why did we stop?  Well, there were still more animals to be seen!

Yep, we had to stop for a while for this guy right here!  Don't know where he came from or how he got there, but he was quite elusive!

Glamour Shots

Fine, there is no Glamour in these shots.  They are merely here to appease my father.  So, I give you.... pictures!

 This was Joshua's Science Fair Project. He came home with the assignment, researched and chose the project and then executed it all on his own.  He walked to the commissary himself to purchase the fruit, sliced it and studied it, took daily photos at 4:30 every day and wrote up his poster board.  All without any parental help.  (Unless you count the purchase of the pictures and poster board, which I do not!)  This kid ROCKS!

Marian was helping me make cookies.  While she waited for a batch to come out of the oven, she made this cookie-man.  She was so pleased with herself!

Dad complained that I didn't show any pictures with Nathan in them.  This is a shot of our Sabbath day stroll on the boardwalk.  3 of my girls and all 6 of Kera's children. Oh, and Delaney's giraffe.

 A group shot of most of Kera's brood, on the balcony of their room.  Yep, an ocean view!  Awesome!  Even more awesome is when we saw 3 dolphins swim by... from this very balcony.

A very cute Charlotte. 

 A very busy Matthew.

My 2 lovely oldest daughters. We did go to the beach for 15 minutes of pictures on Sunday.  Aren't they adorable?! 

So there you have it.  Some pictures for the grandparents.  Yes, we are back home.  And I we do have an exciting excursion planned for tomorrow.  So cross your fingers that it pans out and I will have some  great  things to post soon.  I hope!

Where in the World....

Blogger has updated it's format and now is making me a bit cross.  Still, I know my folks will enjoy some pictures, so I will see what I can do.....

So, guess where we are?  I know, I just came back from a trip and now I am on another one.  It just worked out that way and it is fine.  But look!

Yep, we made a weekend trip to Florida just for funsies.  And it is even better since some of the cousins came out to hang with us! 

The weather was not too bad this morning, and we hit the beach early. 

The kids were SO excited to go to the beach. I am incredibly grateful for the wonderful doctors who gave Delaney a cast she could get wet.  Because she got it quite wet!

 

The sand was really the main attraction, I have to admit.  Much fun was had playing in it and digging in it, and tossing it.

I was surprised how many of the kids got in to swim.  It was 8:30 am and a bit chilly and overcast. It made for a fantastically private beach, which was awesome!

The swimming was short lived though and the kids wrapped in towels and moved on to more sand playing.  Refer back to the first picture to see what they enjoyed the most!

And then, to warm up, we went to the hot tub at the hotel.  Well, we swam in the pools and then hopped into the hot tub!    By 10am we'd played on the beach and played in the pool and were ready for lunch and naps!  What a fun morning!

Seasons of Life

Today I have been busy. I have gotten 3 children off to school, then stuffed 2 into the stroller and gone for a run (3.3 miles, yeah!). I hauled 2 poorly behaved girls to go grocery shopping and made 2 freezer meals. I drove 5 children to the chiropractor and made waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for dinner. Then decided I needed to make cookies as well. I also have run too many loads of laundry to count, although I have not folded it yet. I did pack 2 suitcases in preparation for our weekend trip.

As I was driving today I realized how different my life is from what it was. And I like it. I mean, there were parts of life I liked 8 years ago, but taken as a whole, I like it better now.

This is my joy and my work. I love these kids. I love interacting with them and seeing their little minds work. I love the stuff they come up with and I love watching them grow. It is wonderful!

This was life 9 years ago. I know, I pork out nicely when I have a bun in the oven. I think the first child is the toughest. As you have more, it gets a lot easier in a lot of ways. Yes, harder in other ways, but with the first, you don't have a clue what you are doing!

When I visited Miranda, I was surprised at how long it took to do everything. I mean, I remember it, but I had forgotten it too. It takes so long to get the baby ready. It takes so long to coordinate it with the toddler. It takes forever to coerce/bribe/drag the toddler anywhere, and it tends to be a lot of work when you get there. It seems like there are really only 2 hours you can work with each day. If you coordinate just right, you might get a little time in the morning, between feedings, before lunch and nap time. After that, its naps, dinner and bed. No free time for mommy. No time alone. No time, but still there are endless hours.

On the other hand, I had forgotten how nice the slower pace is. No frantic racing around. No places you really have to be. Just lots of time to hang around the house on your own schedule. It was actually relaxing to not have to be places and to not have to get up to an alarm. I do kind of miss that. I miss having our own rhythm to do what worked for us, and to do things when we got to them.

I loved visiting my sister. I loved being the aunt and I loved holding my little nephew. I also loved knowing that I was done with that phase of my life. I have never really cared to hold other people's children, because I always had my own and they ALWAYS wanted to be held. But now.... bring them on! I loved holding a baby that was not mine! I liked knowing that I was not the one who had to nurse him or get up in the middle of the night with him. Yes, I am glad that season of life is over for me. It was rough and exhausting. I saw my sister so tired and knew how it felt, but there wasn't a whole lot I can do there. I know she'll spend the next 6 months in a daze of sleep deprivation, wondering where her mind went. I never found my mind, but I did finally get to sleep again. I think the Lord must bless new moms to help us survive that perpetual state of exhaustion. I know He blessed me!

Now, my children are older. They are growing up. They are interactive and I get to enjoy their marvelous creative minds working through things. Yes, it brings on new challenges. It also brings new and wonderful experiences and I can't wait to see what comes next!

Hanging Out

We have been hanging out at Auntie Miranda's house. I have been diligently trying to find ways to be useful, but it seems to be a wash. I can do dishes and make dinner, but when Rylee is teasing Camden and making him scream, and causing tantrums, it seems that the help may not really be worth it! Delaney and Rylee really are having a good time, but I am not entirely sure Camden is happy to have is cousins visiting. I don't know if he will miss us when we are gone.

Ethan is the cutest doggone little thing ever. His little beetle brows are awesome, and his teeny-tiny Gumby baby body is so adorable.

Here is the super-cute bundle of sweetness. I get to hold him and burp him, yes I do! And I like it!

We have been getting out and about during the mornings. We have visited 2 different parks, much to the delight of my girls. Camden was also thrilled to get out, and it was marvelous to go somewhere that incited less quarreling and swappy hands.

Yes, it was cute to see these two sharing.

I love this picture. Camden is scrambling up the wall here and Delaney is valiantly trying to do it one-armed. She made it, but with some assistance.

Camden showed his mad climbing skilz on this item and impressed his cousins.

Rylee had to try it as well, but did not make it as high.

And to keep a timeline, I should mention we did this park Monday morning. Monday afternoon, Delaney got to go and get a real cast. She was so happy they were able to give her a RED cast! I was really happy that it is a short cast.

She's showing me her awesome cast here.

And I have no idea why blogger put the following pictures the way it did. Rather than go back and reload them, I'm just going to deal with it. The girls love their little cousin Ethan. They love to hold him and to be helpers. Aren't they cute?!



































Oh, I like to hold the cutie-pie as well!