Post #2 for the day. Smarty Pants.

We have a little ABC toy that the kids love to play with. It is Care Bears and has 3 different games. The hardest of the 3 options is the one that Paden always goes to. The toy asks for an item and you push the letter the item belongs to. The first time I watched Paden play this he just kept getting them all wrong. The last time I watched however, was quite the opposite. I couldn't believe how well he was doing. I had to get the camera. Keep in mind the only thing the toy shows is the ABC's.

The Zoo!

The family and I went to the zoo a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun and we were even successful in convincing the kids that the elephant they saw was the baby elephant. That prevented us from having to stand in a freakishly long line to cram into a teeny little stinky room. It was awesome! We had a ton of fun and were able to see lots of animals. The sea lions are still their favorites. I think that is mostly because they come right up to the window. The kids love that. Anyway, here are some pictures and a couple of videos to hopefully make you feel as though you were there too! Enjoy!

Here we are in front of the Sea Lions. The kids favorite place. It's a nice action picture for me Notice my hair whipping around.

After that we went to see the otters. They were going crazy. It was really fun!

We went to see the orangutans and couldn't find them at first. All we had to do was look straight down. One was sitting right at our feet against the glass. The other one was in the corner with a box over his head. It was too dark to take a picture of him. It was pretty funny though.

Here are the kids telling us where we are going next on the map.

Here they are walking through the little tunnel. They kept going through over and over again. They loved it!

We finished the day off with ice cream cones. It was a grand old time!!

Boys don't bother reading this!!

So Ellie has had this obsession with breasts for the longest time. (Remember the coconut bra?) Last night I was blow drying her hair and felt her little hands on my chest. I quickly got her hands off and explained that she can't do that because it is mommy's chest and not hers. It's one of mommy's private areas. She (once again) asked what they were. I told her they were breasts. She promptly pulled up her shirt and pointed to her own. "I only have little breasts mommy. When do I get big ones?" WHAT IS THE FRICKIN' OBSESSION? Is this something she is going to outgrow? Is this normal or is she more interested than most little kids? Does anyone have any suggestions on how to end the wondering? I don't know what to do. Is this all because I am busty?

Super Strong!!

So lately my scrawny little children have been walking around showing us their "big" muscles. I think it's really cute and had to get a video of it. So here they are showing us their muscles.

Mr. Potato Head

Paden absolutely adores Mr. Potato Head. When we go to Grandma's house that is the first thing he runs to. We had our Conklin family combined birthday party for July and August and what did Paden get? Mr. Potato Head. He has been in heaven. He carries it around with him everywhere and is constantly taking it apart and putting it all back together. This afternoon I went to check on him during his nap and this is what I found!!

Where does she get this stuff?

Sorry the picture is sideways, Remember, I'm new at this.

So Ellie is hilarious!! She is always saying the funniest things. Is "funniest" a word? Well it is now. Anyway, Yesterday I sat the kids down for lunch and made them some PB and J sandwiches. I had made up some strawberry freezer jam earlier this summer and that is what I used for their sandwiches. After her first bite she asked what was on the sandwich. I told her that I had made some strawberry jelly for them. She turned to look at me and said, "You did a wonderful job, Mommy. It's delicious". I just told her thank you and tried not to laugh. A few months ago we were visiting my sister. When it was time to go we were just getting into the car when my brother-in-law got home. Brandon talked with Ellie a little while I buckled in Paden. When I was ready to buckle Ellie, Brandon said bye and went into the house. As I started to buckle Ellie she said, "He sure is a handsome guy. And Aunt Cheryn is a lovely girl". Where did that come from?? I immediately had to close the door and call my sister to tell her. I was laughing so hard. She cracks me up!! She doesn't only say stuff, she does stuff too. Ellie has a hulu girl outfit complete with coconut bra. One day she came out wearing the coconut bra under her shirt. She went about her business as though nothing was out of the ordinary. I asked what she was doing and she said that she was shopping for groceries for her and Ethan. (Small note: Ellie is convinced that she is going to marry Ethan Mueller. He is Sandy and Sylvia's grandson. Ellie and Paden used to go to daycare with him.) I asked what was in her shirt and she looked at me, grabbed her coconut bra and said," I got these after I married Ethan". I honestly have NO clue as to where she got that from. Anyway, that is just a small sampling of her hilariousness. I will add some more stories later.

Everyday Life

I guess it's time to join the world of Bloggers. I know that Kirk will laugh at me when he finds out about this but really, Who cares!! Our little family has been having a great Oregon summer. Even though we have a large in-ground pool in our backyard we have opted to not fill it and get a kiddie pool for the little ones instead. We've spent many days splashing around in the pool and swinging on the swing set.

We live right by an elementary school and have frequented that playground as well. We took our kids for their first trip to the zoo. We were very lucky on our trip and the majority of the animals were out and moving around. Paden and I got a very up close look at the sea lion. He swam right past the window as Paden and I were standing there. Paden's eyes were big as saucers as he watched th sea lion staring at us. Both kids had a blast and we look forward to going again. We had a little trip to California to visit my Aunt , Uncle, cousins and my Grandma. We had a ton of fun there. We went to Fairy Tale Town. It is pretty much a really big playground. Lots of slides and things to climb on.

We had a blast. I am new to this whole blog thing so I will get better. I promise!!