Food, Friends, Fun and Sun!

Before I add more pictures to my overwhelmed hard drive, I'm sorting through some that I never actually got to during 2011! The girls are none too thrilled that I forgot to share their Homeschool Summer Picnic at Oaks Park! We had such a fun day...picnics, 3 legged races, freeze tag, potato races, a watermelon eating contest (go, Elora!) and more all with friends old and new. Seleia's BF's Mikaela and Danie and Elora's BF, the lovely Rose, were there to share in the fun. And then, of course, there were the rides! WE can't wait to organize the 2nd annual summer picnic!

Wintler Park

Yesterday afternoon we met some friends for a very fun, though very cold, afternoon at the beach. (Translation: parents froze our hineys off while the kids had the "Best.  Play date. EVER!") The girls made sand villages, buried each other, and started a tunnel to China. Elora fed some bread from our picnic to the ducks, who seemed ever so grateful.  Amarra was the sand castle queen, and had fun flying the micro kite she got from Auntie Stacey. Dashiell crawled at high speed through the sand, making manly sounds as he went, and laughed and laughed with total delight. (He also thought the sand was quite tasty.) A few times he,quite proud of himself, walked a few steps in the sand before plopping back down to do some more digging. Seleia and the gang ran the beach from end to end, climbing on everything they possibly could and loving every minute of it.  Then a storm rolled in, so we rolled out! But I have a feeling we'll be back soon!

Rainy Day at the Zoo

Friday afternoon we headed out for a rainy day picnic at the zoo. It was Dashiell's first time in the stroller (you can tell he wasn't sure what to think of it at first, but then he seemed to like it as long as it kept moving at all times), so everyone wanted a turn pushing it. We headed to all of the warmer exhibits (African Rainforest, African Savannah, etc.) for little warm breaks from the rain and had a picnic under cover in the middle of the African exhibits. It was so fun to have about 10 people in the zoo and get it basically to ourselves! When we were heading out of the zoo we got to the sea lions just as the trainers were calling them out of the water, and we got the watch  sea lions perform (we were watching the lion named Gus) and do tricks as the trainers gave them a physical exam. Every good behavior got rewarded with a fishy treat. It was a lot of fun to watch!