Grandma came

In April Grandma Johnson came to visit.

We went to the Olympic Training Center. It is actually a very inspiring place. We were able to watch some of the athletes work out.

 ...I think they need a little more training...

There was the USA bobsled from the Salt Lake Games that was on display for us to see, and for the boys to get in.

We went to a dinosaur museum… Benji was in heaven. There was a little tour going on that we joined in and Benji pretty much took over and was telling everyone about each of the dinosaurs.

And then we went to the zoo. We love going to the zoo. And I think we only lost Benji once. He climbed into the elevator, to go up to another section of the park , before anyone else could get in and by the time we were able to get up there he was gone. We found him looking at the bears. The zoo is always one of our favorite places to go.

 they do love each other...

This is Colorado Springs. 

We love to have people come and visit us! And we love that Gandma Johnson is up for anything... Even a mile and a half walk that is mostly up hill.... I've never been to a zoo on a hill... I guess I can cross that one off my list.

We like the Zoo.

We are a Zoo loving family. We try to hit the zoo where ever we happen to be. My favorite by far is the Tucson Zoo it's big enough to have all the good animal, but small enough to do in a couple hours. {it's also cheap} But that is not what this is about.

We went to the Brevard Zoo out here in Florida. I thought we would have gotten in free because we had a membership to another zoo... unfortunately I was wrong {that doesn't happen much} but we did get in for half price. So we entered in and were on our way.

Don't you love it when you take kids some place and they are entertained by the simplest thing. Here are the boys feeding little pink birds. Wild birds.... really, we come to the zoo to feed tha animals that jut hang out here.

Tim was enthralled by this brass little squirrel. As we walked by he begged to get a picture of it.

Of course Benjamin was happy for the moment sucking on his hand {he has got some beautiful eyes... don't you think??}. I took this picture of Benji while the boys were playing with the monkeys. The other boys were running back and forth in front of the cage and the monkey would do the same. Or is it the other way around??? was the monkey playing with them???

James learned the hard way why we do not stand under birds... especially vultures!

We got to watch the zoo keepers feed the alligators and then we got to touch a 5 year old alligator. James was so excited and sat there so long asking question. He would have been there still if the people behind him weren't getting impatient.

Tommy wanted to see inside the gators mouth. He was bummed that it was taped shut.

Tim was fascinated with this little guy and wanted to keep petting it. Alligators are actually very interesting, and each little bump or plate on their back is actually bone.

I even got a picture with Benji next to the alligator. I think it would have been cool to get a picture of him sitting on the alligator, but... I didn't think about that until now. And wouldn't you know... I'm sitting down there with the gator and I forgot to touch the guy!

This is one of the big gators! This is Henry and he is 8 and a half feet long!!! Can you imagine walking in the swamp or down by the river and step on this guy??!! That's why I don't walk in the swamp.

Oh... and this.... this is a Snipe... you know from Up. Ok -  not really but it reminds me of one.

It's fun taking the boys to the zoo. They are still young enough to really enjoy it, and they are still excited enough to want to walk and see everything. I love watching the their faces as they see the animals, especially  when the animals are active. Here's to a great day!

Splashin' Away on a HOT day!

It was a hot day in June when we decided to go to the zoo. Holy Moley it was HOT!! After we saw the animals that were on the must see list we went to the little splash area that they had.

There area TON of pictures and lucky for you... I figured out how to make them BIG. So enjoy our splash time.

Here is Tommy showing off his talent. The husband, myself and James can all curl our tongues and Tommy wanted to do it too. He practiced and practiced and finally can do it. {he is very proud}

Another cute picture of Tommy, if you can't tell he is quite photogenic, and L.O.V.E.S. the camera!

A great picture of James. It's pictures like this that I catch a glimps of the young man he will become. This isn't a picture of a little boy, but of a young man that is growing into himself.

Tommy and Tim.

One of these things is not like the other.... poor loan white boy.

I never know with this one... after this picture was taken he was off sticking his face in the spaying water and then wondering why he had water in his nose.

I'll leave you with this picture of Tommy... doesn't this just make you want to smile and wink back at him?!!

Cousins!!

The boys were looking forward to playing with all the cousins. On one day Grandma suggested taking all the boys to the zoo.

The weather was great, and the boys were excited. Could there be a set-up?

James and the giant elephant.

Here are all the boy cousins {minus Boone who lied to far away} All the boys were so funny and it was a lot of fun to watch them all play together.

James and Dad, they really are two of a kind. And I find them like this all the time and I love these pictures.

Tommy was so confused about his arms being really short, compared to the orangutan. It was funny watching him try to reach both ends at the same time.

Grandma took all the boys on a train ride. What is better than boys and trains?? Not a whole lot. And this was icing on the cake for the boys.

Thank you Grandma for the great day at the Zoo.

Here is a picture of two little Super Heroes. Spider man and Batman. What cuties!!!

Zoo days

Today was a beautiful day for the Zoo!! it was 70 degrees and no humidity. It was truly wonderful. The husband has been studying so hard for mid-terms, so it was nice to get out and spend some time with him.

Dad lifting Tim up to see the crocodile. The crocodile was sleeping peacefully until the husband made the comment about him being stinky... at that point the crocodile opened his eyes and looked right at the husband.... it was kinda freaky...

The boys looking at the map, trying to figure out where we were.

Looking at the porcupine, they were up and walking around and the boys were wondering what they would have to do to see the porcupines shoot their quills.

It was a good day and so much fun. I love days like this. I love spending time with my family. Even if it does come with questions like "Dad, how can you tell it's a boy???" "Do you think the kangaroo will let me get in the pouch??" "Would the alligator eat me if i threw something at it??"

A week with Steve

Well this past week Steve came home to be with us before he ships out. We didn't really do anything spectacular. We really like to just hang out as a family. But here are some pictures of our time as a family.

Here is Steve in the duffel bag that he bought. He was able to get in it, do you think it's big enough?









It's even big enough to pack up a couple boys... I'll keep that in mind.
James was asking for a fish tank, and Steve has been looking for a reason to get one (He just gets joy out of seeing it all together) So we have 6 new pets. This is what the boys named our fish. 'Stinky feet', 'Bala Shark' (that's the name of the one that is NOT the Bala Shark) 'George', 'Susan', 'Up', & 'Down'. I think this is why we don't let 3 and 4 year olds pick names!
Here is one that I got of James and Steve. Steve is showing where Afghanistan is on the map that James is holding.
Here is James at swim lessons. He did really well! He is fearless in the water, so it was time. I know the old fashion way is to just throw the kid in and hope they figure it out.... we'll I'M not that brave, and I've already seen James do that, and he just sinks. Isn't this a great picture?! The swim teacher took it for us.















While I was taking pictures of James swimming Tommy wanted me to take pictures of him so here are some of the pictures of Tommy.

He kept wanting me to take pictures of him laying down. So this one is for Tommy. I have to tell you that Tommy has turned into my hero! There was a fly in my hair and it wasn't flying. Tommy brushed it out of my hair while I screamed, and then got a tissue and picked it up and threw it away while I was still being grossed out that there was a non-flying fly in my hair! He has since picked up and gotten rid of the few random bugs around the house, and enjoys it! (yeah for boys!)

This is my favorite picture of my boys. The little boys wanted dad to come down and watch cartoons with them. It was really cute, and the boys couldn't get enough of him. Isn't this just priceless?

We went to the Zoo, and this time it was really good (not like the Kansas Zoo) and here is James showing Tommy the bird map to find the birds in the aviary area. This was a cute moment between the two of them.

Here is Tim while the other boys are making smooshed pennies. Which, by the way is the BEST souvenir, and you can't beat 51 cents!!! So we have been getting these where ever we go that have them.

Here is one last picture that we got at the Zoo. We were all tired (you can see it on the boys) but it was a good day!!

Here was the quote of the week....Steve and I went to get a new bed. We went after we took James to school so we had Tommy and Tim with us. Steve told Tommy that we were going to get a new bed...

Tommy: Are you going to get a bunk bed?

Steve: No, bunk beds are for kids.

Tommy: Oh, you're too big for the top bunk -huh?

It was really fun to have Steve home. It's just weird to think that I'm not going to see him again for 6 months (and then another 6 months after that)!! What comes after that? My best friend is going half way around the world and here I am... again. I guess we'll start counting down and waiting for that 2 weeks R&R time.