Bayou Widlife Park

On Wednesday, Addy went to the Bayou Wildlife Park in Alvin on a field trip. This was her first field trip ever! The kids had to ride the bus to & from the wildlife park & parents could not, so I met her there. I was a little worried because not only was this Addy's first field trip, but it was also her first time to ride a bus. Mrs. Cochran said she did great though!

I arrived at the park a few minutes before the buses got there so I was able to meet Addy as she got off the bus.

Addy's Kindergarten class

After taking a class picture, Addy & I headed into the petting zoo. Here she is looking at pigs.

And petting a goat.

Then we walked around & looked at some of the animals in the park.

Some were in fences (like the alligators)

and some were free to roam around (like the deer.)

One of the moms from Addy's class gave Addy part of her apple to feed to a deer. The deer ate the apple right out of Addy's hand! She thought that was pretty cool!

Then we made our way to the pony ride. Addy was very excited to ride the horse! She listened & did just what the lady told her to.

Look at that grin!

riding the horse

having a great time

Of course she wanted to ride again, but there were a lot of other children waiting for their turn :( So instead, we walked around & looked at a few more animals.

 Is this a zebra??? (I think it is. But it's the whitest zebra that I've ever seen!)

looking at the animals

Then we ate a quick lunch before getting on the tram ride.

The tram took us around the rest of the wildlife park & we got to see lots of animals roaming around.

We saw a couple ostriches

and even some ostrich eggs!

And this baby antelope that was born earlier that morning. He was so cute!

Lots of the animals would walk right up to the tram & let you feed them from a bowl of food.

One animal even stole a bowl of food & fed himself, lol!

We saw camels

and zebras

and kangaroos too!

The tram ride lasted about 45 minutes & towards the end of it, Addy was getting restless. It was long & confined & she wanted to go home.

So when the tram ride was over, Addy pet a few more animals

And then we spent the rest of the time like this!

Then I had to give Addy back to her teacher & she had to ride the bus back to school.

Overall, Addy had a good time. She loved looking at & petting all the animals. But the field trip was just a little too long. We had done & seen everything in the wildlife park & there was still an hour left. (She wasn't the only kid that was done though. I saw a couple other kids & parents sitting in their cars too! And a few even sat on the bus.)

I'm pretty sure that was Addy's first & only field trip for the year so I'm glad she enjoyed it. And I'm already looking forward to going on another one with her around this same time next year!

Hippity Hoppity Easter's on it's way...

Thanks to Pinterest, I have all new Easter decorations this year!

A new wreath on my front door

I made this plastic Easter egg wreath the other day. I'm sure you've seen several versions of it all over Pinterest. You can find directions here or here or here. It's super easy & cheap to make.

(Just make sure that your hot glue gun is turned to HOT! A certain little boy under the age of 4 turned mine to low without me realizing it & my eggs kept falling off, even after the glue was dried.)

Easter egg garland

I made these by stringing plastic Easter eggs on fishing line. Just make sure you buy the eggs that already have a small hole in the top & bottom.

An Easter picture

This is on the entry table in my front hallway.

 I just wrapped a small frame in scrapbook paper & hotglued a wooden chick to it.

Another wreath that I saw on Pinterest.

Click here to see the directions on how to make it.

The mantel in my living room. (I bought the pink candlesticks at Hobby Lobby. They are the only new Easter decoration that I bought this year.)

The bunny is another painted canvas project of mine.

Bunny Tail Garland

Click here to see my inspiration. It's sold for $25 on Etsy, but I made mine for $2.33. I found a picture of a bunny on Google & printed it out. Then I traced it on posterboard several times & cut them all out. I traced around the outline with a sharpie & hotglued a big colored pompom for the tail. I holepunched each ear & strung it on fishing line.

And here is another Pinterest find that I still want to make but just haven't gotten a chance to yet..

but I may use bunny peeps instead of the chicks.

And these are just the crafts that I have made.Pretty soon I'll be helping the kids make their Easter crafts. Paper plate & cotton ball bunnies, handprint art, bunny ears, dyed eggs & so much more!

Spring has Sprung...

Spring is officially here & boy am I excited! The weather outside is BEAUTIFUL, the grass is green & my flowers are blooming! It's my favorite time of the year!

 

Don't you just love beautiful days like this!

Look at my green grass & all my plants. I COMPLETELY made over this flower bed last year. I planted ever single plant you see in this picture except the trees.

one of my knock out roses

I bought a small purple flower at HEB last year and boy did it spread!

my rock rose - this is my favorite plant

Since my flower beds were all redone last year, this year I've been planting flowers in pots.

And this is my strawberry plant from last year. I can't believe it survived the winter!

And since it is officially spring, I took down our Winter Wish List & put up our Spring Fun To Do List. We finished all but about 10 things on our winter list. (Most of the things we didn't get to do were snow related.)

And here's our Spring list...

Go to the playground

Take a walk

Go to the zoo

Paint

Play with sidewalk chalk

Go on a nature walk

Color

Play in the sprinkler

Go to the Children's Museum

Have an Easter egg hunt

Go to a bounce place

Go to Chuck E Cheese

Play with Clay (as much as possible before he moves)

Play with cousins

Ride bikes

Look for lizards

Play soccer

Fly a kite

Make rice krispie treats

Visit CiCi & PopPop

Visit MawMaw & Granddaddy

Have a picnic

Feed the ducks

Plant flowers

Dye Easter eggs

Make a bird feeder

Eat popscicles

Make a toad house

Plant a garden

Wash the car

Play putt putt

Have a playdate Easter party

Make cupcakes

Go on Addy's field trip

Play frisbee

Play in the rain

Play in the dirt

Eat ice cream cones

Blow bubbles

Pick flowers

Swing

Jump in muddy puddles

If the kids & I can complete everything on our Spring Fun To Do List, we'll have an awesome spring this year!

Spring Break

Well, Spring Break has come & gone. 

We started Spring Break off with Alex's birthday party in Lumberton on Saturday. On Sunday, we headed back home. We made it home just as a giant rain storm blew in. It basically rained straight for the next day or 2 which meant we didn't leave the house for a couple of days. But once the rain finally stopped, the kids and I took a daily walk to the school playground. Nick even came with us a time or two.

On the last day of Spring Break, Nick & I brought the kids to the zoo.

looking at the elephants

Alex is pretending that his arm is an elephant's trunk.

Growling like a cougar

Addy loves to ride the carousel. But she only likes to sit on the bench, because it doesn't go up & down. Alex doesn't like to ride it though, he just likes to watch!

Alex petting a baby alligator.

Nick had to "help" Addy pet the baby alligator. And by help, I mean keep her from taking the alligator from the zookeeper.

Petting some kind of giant lizard

We're groundhogs!

looking at the zebras

After the zoo, the kids & I washed the cars.

I find it funny that to me (and probably most adults) washing the car is a chore, but to the kids it's a ton of fun!

And that was it for Spring Break. Even though Addy was the one out of school, I think it was harder for me to get back in the school routine on Monday than it was for her :(

Luckily, there's just 9 more weeks til summer!