Wednesday, December 26, 2012

hangin' at the ZOO

The day after Christmas I decided to take Morgan, Colton, and Kyle to the Phoenix Zoo.  We had bought a Pogo Pass this year that gave us two trips to the zoo.  Because I didn't have to pay anything at the gate, I decided that this time, we would do all the things we never usually do in the park because we usually have to pay such a steep price just to get in.

We started with petting the stingrays...


As I was doing some video of the kids, Morgan and Colton totally got splashed by a stingray that used its fin to totally SOAK them.  They were great sports about it.  I passed my camera to Morgan so she could take some video of me...at which time I completely got soaked by a different stingray!

Next we went to feed the giraffes.  This was SO fun...




Look at the tongue on that thing!




Next they rode the camels.  Morgan opted out of that one....


We had SO MUCH FUN!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas Day FUN

CHRISTMAS MORNING!  This has to be one of my favorite days of the year.  We started out with a present for Bryan.  He didn't have a clue what this was about.  Mark gave him a broken arrow inserted in an apple.  Nothing more.  We just kept going with other gifts (there was more to that apple than met the eye).

Kyle's gift from Santa...

Colton's gift from Santa (an airsoft rifle)...

Morgan's gift from Santa (a longboard)...


Then Bryan opened his gift from Santa...a silly homemade bow and arrow from Mark (but again there was more to it than met the eye at first glance)...


Wait...there's a slit in the side of the bamboo.  Is there something in there?  Grandpa always has a pocket knife.  He pulled it out...handed it to Bryan...

There was the other half of the arrow from the apple Bryan first got.  On it was written a clue, directing Bryan to go to the office...

This is what he saw when he walked in...

He was SO excited!  He had been eyeing a compound bow (along with Mark) for many months.  Mark got a matching one.  What was funny was watching Bryan try to pull back on the bow.  He really had to work at it!  Don't worry Bryan.  It will get easier!



Then Kyle tried to do it - LOVE that face!

We took a break for breakfast...the kids had several breakfast goodies in their stockings with all their other treasures, so they started with that.

I had made a yummy raspberry, yogurt, and granola parfait.  SO GOOD!

And of course I made our traditional Cinnabon cinnamon rolls!











These rubberband machine guns were a hoot!  They could load 10 rubberbands on at once, and then continuously shoot them with each pull of the trigger.



Mark had made a shooting gallery for Colton and Kyle to use with the airsoft rifle and the rubberband guns.  It was SO COOL!

Unfortunately, Colton loaded one of the rubberbands wrong and it came back and hit him in the eye.  In the rest of the pictures of him that day, he had a red eye.  Poor guy!




Kyle and Morgan gave me a cookbook I had been wanting.  I LOVE fun cookbooks!!



Kyle had spent his own money at a school store (unbeknownst to me) on presents for grandma and grandpa.  So sweet!  A mug for grandpa, and bracelets for grandma!

These next pictures are of the gifts each of the kids gave each other.  They saved up for a couple months to have the funds to pick out just the right things!




Bryan and Colton gave me a wall map I had been wanting.  I can't wait to frame that thing and stick it on our dining room wall to document all the places we visit over the years!











Morgan asked for the musical "Wicked" piano solo book.  She started playing "Popular" right away.  She is quite the sight-reader!


Mark gave me some new Oakley's.  My old pair was badly in need of being replaced!


My sister, Jamie, had my name this year.  She gave me some beautiful perfume!






My mom gave us this beautiful chalkboard frame on a pedestal!


Kyle had limited funds, so what he did I thought was SO adorable.  When my mom and I opened the bracelets he gave us, he told us that they used to be a set, but he gave two to me, and two to my mom!  He is so sweet!




My parents put quite a bit of time into this gift.  They made us a ladder golf game!  There are two of the stands pictured below.  It is SO FUN!



After presents were over, Mark and Bryan didn't waste any time getting to the Archery Range.


Bryan's first shot when off into the rocks and broke his arrow.  Those things are not cheap (like $13 each).  Luckily he got the hang of it pretty quick.



A problem arose the first time Mark and Bryan went to get their arrows out of the targets...they couldn't pull them free!  It took about 5 minutes of putting one foot on the target and wiggling and wiggling to get those things out.  It was REALLY funny to watch.  I even got a video.


When we got home we found these three in the garage using the range...

What an incredibly fun day!!