A day at the Zoo

My family and Shy's family took a trip to the Hogle Zoo recently. I had never been, but I had heard some nice things about it. So off we trotted up to SLC with the kids vibrating in their seats in anticipation of they knew not what.

The exhibits were relatively small for the most part, which was nice for taking pictures. I'm not sure how the animals felt about it, but I'm not one to superimpose my human perspective upon those minding their own business. The pictures were fun to take, though.

This one rather reminds me of my father... or my husband... can you guess why?

Doesn't this guy just need a cozy pillow?

This one seems to be plotting a Great Escape of some sort.

This was one of the zoo's most recent additions. I don't know what her name was, but she was adorable!

We also went by the penguin enclosure. The penguins were nesting and therefore rather dull, themselves. While we were staring at them, though, a seagull decided to land in their little swimming pool and paddled around to the delight of everyone watching. I'm still somewhat surprised every time I see a seagull in Utah. I hope I never get blase about it.

The primates were certainly stand-outs in my mind. Their soulful eyes and faces full of character were fun to photograph.

Some pictures I just wasn't able to get a really good shot in. The gibbon holding a gibbon stuffed animal was super cute, but the fencing just kept getting in the way.

This little primate was fun to photograph too! 

A new breed of primate was spotted at the Hogle Zoo: Primus Mountainus Goatus! They also seemed to be docile enough to be allowed to free-range through the zoo like the Peacocks.

One of the male parents of the Primus Mountainus Goatus, indentifiable by it's distinctive facial ruff.

Grammy said I could probably enter this one into a contest of some sort... what do you think?

The Impassable Stairway.

The unique viewing area for the giraffes was exciting. Audrey got to go up to the second level and see a giraffe eye to eye. By the time I made it up, the giraffe got camera shy and wandered off. I'm just glad Audrey got to experience something so fun!

I was whispering into Henry's ear the same phrase over and over again. For some reason, he thought it was absolutely hilarious! He had a great day at the zoo and everyone else did too!

Brought to you by, Another Audrey Moment

Audrey: I want Tinkerbell, a fruit snack and water.

Dad: That's quite a list of demands.

Audrey: I want Eveyfing.

Re-purposing a Tea Set

Audrey got a cute little tea set for her birthday this year. She has been using it on a regular basis and has offered us many cups of tea, soup, chocolate milk and even Audrey's Secret Recipe Chocolate Soup. The recipe is so secret, she doesn't even know what's in it. When asked, she claims it doesn't have Chocolate OR Soup in it.

Audrey has also caught the re-purposing bug. She must be spending too much time around her mother and Aunt. :)

A few days ago, she came to me while I was innocently working on my computer and said:

"Look at my BOOBIES, Mom!"

Yeah.

I really don't think I can add anything to that. She pretty much said it all.

Nun's Puffs and Chocolate Cocktails

Who ever heard of a relaxing Mother's Day. Not me, apparently. Instead of lounging in my bed, receiving breakfast in my repose, I was up early frantically stirring a hot pot of sticky dough. Shortly after I realized that it wasn't going to behave EXACTLY like the recipe said it would, I took it off the stove, separated it into muffin cups and popped it in the oven.
The result were a dozen light, crispy and hollow puff balls.

I had made these once before a little over two years ago. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to sprinkle sugar on the dough before putting the pan in the oven, and all I had to serve them with was honey. Not too bad, but not very exciting either. So, this time, I was prepared.

Strawberries and Cool Whip! They were excellent! As light and airy as they were, I walked away from the table feeling over-stuffed. It was probably all the strawberries.

Mr. H isn't a fan of strawberries, so he enjoyed a banana.

After Sacrament Meeting, the ward handed out a nice little poem and chocolate for the ladies. I can always get behind a little chocolate.

We had a veritable herd of family come over for dinner. Barbeque Time! Hamburgers and Hot Dogs were on the menu. (I made a variation on Ric's Fresh Relish for the hot dogs. Cucumber, Yellow Bell Pepper and Purple Onion finely chopped! Yum!)

I put together a little gift for the visiting Mom's.

                                        

Chocolate Cocktails!

After setting them up on the table, I very carefully explained to the nieces and nephews that the tempting little treats on the table were for their Mom's and if they considered having an inclination toward even thinking about touching them, I would visit them in fiery vengeance and destroy them.

After the hustle and bustle made their way back to their homes, we rounded out the evening with a rousing game of Phase 10 in the dining room.

Like I said; not remotely relaxing. It did have it's enjoyable moments and I STILL have leftover chocolate. You almost can't get better than that.

Happy Birthday, Hank!

Happy 1st Birthday to Hank!!

It's rather amazing to realize that I've managed (with a lot of help) to get this little guy through his first year. He's cautious, sensitive and loves cuddling with Mom. He hasn't had much to say so far: "Dada", "Aah-Dee", a rather pitiful attempt at "Mama", though he has developed a rather loud tongue pop, which everyone finds greatly amusing and makes Dad proud.

Papa entertains Henry's foot while he waits for the, thus far unknown, joy of CAKE!

He was a little unsure at first when we gave him the cupcake. He seemed to be trying to glean from our expressions whether we were having him on! (Take note of his left hand through all the cake-eating.)

Hmm...

Not too bad...

OH YEAH!!

It was all about the frosting, which some would argue is the best part. :-)

Just look at that tongue!

This just about says it all!

Henry needed a lot of encouragement with the gift opening part of his birthday. He really didn't get why I stuck a blue box in front of him with an expectant look on my face.

It didn't take him long, however, to get really excited when he saw a TOY inside.

It was all about the hammer. A man and his first tool. Such joy!

(The one sad note is that Audrey was not in attendance at her brother's birthday. She, unfortunately, had a major meltdown at dinner and went to bed early.)

The Big 3!

My little girl is 3!! I'm blown away by how short a time it's been and, at the same time, how 2 minutes feels like an eternity while sitting by her when she's on the potty.

We got together to wish her happy birthday. She'd been talking about her birthday for WEEKS before, so she was good and ready for the cake, candles, song, gifts and family.

She had a little difficulty with the candles. It took several tries to get them all blown out and, in the end, she needed a little help. There's always next year, right?

Audrey asked for a pink cake with pink frosting. I wish I could report that she loved it immensely. I wish. There's always next year, right?

As a side note, here is a glimpse at what my new haircut looks like. :)

Audrey was the consumate gracious gift-recipeant. She ooh'd and aah'd and squealed in all the appropriate places. She hasn't been very good at the sharing aspect, however.... There's always next year, right?

We were glad when it was all over. It's exhausting to have a birthday party. Thank heaven we didn't do a proper kid party with invited friends. There's always next ye-... er.... century, right?

So easy, even I could do it...

Shy and I have decided to have a craft night; monthly, bi-monthly... we haven't quite figured it out yet. We had our first one last Saturday. We excitedly ran off to the craft store with one idea in mind. When we got there, they didn't quite have the materials that we were wanting to use. So, we ran off to a different section to get materials for another craft. Hmm... they didn't have that stuff either. We wandered for a bit (see: nearly an hour!) trying to come up with something that we could take home and work on. Shy finally mentioned the headband idea that I'd been looking at doing but dreading at the same time. (I'm not terribly confident with a sewing machine yet.) So, we sat on the floor and looked through remnant fabrics. Half an hour later, we ran around the store looking for elastic. We eventually asked an employee who looked at us blankly and pointed at the rubber band balls. Uhh... yeah. One super-speed trip to Walmart later and we were on our way home with our goodies.

I've been hunting for cute crafty ideas for quite some time now. I found this fun headband idea here.

The boys left for 4th Meal and we started cutting up our fabric. When it finally came down to braiding, Shy couldn't find her safety pins, so we used push pins on the wall (not the best technique). I managed to get one headband sewn together before Ben came over and announced that he was ready to go home.

"I'm almost done with this one," I said as I pushed the fabric gently through the sewing machine and promptly got it stuck in a huge, tangled thread mess. Shy patiently picked apart the mess while my Post-Surgery Honey-Bunny gave me a too-tired-to-give-you-an-irritated-look-but-I'm-going-to-try-anyway stare. I smiled apologetically and got back to sewing my rescued mess together.

A couple of days later, I finished off the lot and I now have six cute headbands to wear. (And I have been nearly every day.) Dad wandered into the kitchen while I was sewing the batch up and asked if I was going into business with Shy.

"What?"

 

"Are you going to make some big bucks selling those?"

I informed him that the possibility was rather unlikely at which he turned back to his spring rolls with a grunt.

Anyway. I think they're adorable! Don't you?

I'm wearing this one today:

I have enough fabric left over to make about 50 more... I still need to make smaller versions for little Aud. Still... Christmas Gifts anyone?? :)