Kaity-Girl and I re-visit the zoo ...

A few weeks ago Kaity and I returned to the zoo on a Monday afternoon. We rode the Funicular from the bottom of the zoo to the tippy-top. I had never ridden this before (since it is $3 per person and I usually have THREE children with me). Since it was just Kaity and I today, I thought it would be a fun treat for her.

Katy enjoyed herself immensely! And so did baby Harper and baby Baby (her two loved dolls).

The Funicular is not a very long-lasting ride, nor is it fast or exciting ... but it is nice to ascend through the trees and go higher and higher ...

When we got to the top of the zoo, we were practically right at the TIGER place, so we visited them for a little while.

Such a beautiful creature! Only one of the tigers was up and about. The other one was sleeping a very lazy sleep quite a distance from us.

Kaity is a runner. When she is finished with an exhibit, she is FINISHED and OFF she goes!

We RAN all the way down, down, down to see the grizzly bears.

Thankfully, Mrs. Grizzly was very accommodating and came to say HI to us ...

"Go in there, Grandma?" asked Kaity. I think she very badly wanted to give this giant animal a bear hug!

Our next place to visit was the stingrays, but Kaity was in and out of there so quick I didn't even have the chance to get my camera out of its case! We then walked over to see the budgie birds, one of my favorite places ...

However, since the zoo was rather sparse on people visitors, the budgies were friendlier than ever. As soon as we walked inside the enclosure, we were swamped by birds flying all over us! Kaity was a tiny bit dismayed. 

At one time, there were birds on my back, my head, my shoulders, my stomach ... they were crazy!

Above is a very rare occasion when Kaity is NOT in motion ... she is contemplating the pelicans on our way out of the zoo.

"BIG ducks, grandma!" exclaimed Kaity. Yes, they are BIG, Kaity, but they are GEESE.

Pictured below is Emma's painting of a musical piano. Her mama bought her a set of acrylics, and everything else she needed to create ... paintings! Yes!

Good job, Ems!

The super blood moon of September 27, 2015

Narration to follow ...

The agony of defeat ...

Christopher's 6th grade rocket football team had their first home game of the season. I cannot for the life of me remember WHO they were playing against!

Christopher is number 21 (below picture). He is a receiver and a running back offensively.

It was a rather cold morning, but at least it was not raining. Kaity was enjoying hanging around on the sidelines ...

Kaity even met and made fast friends with a little boy. He had a neat truck she was interested in ...

... and Kaity had her baby Harper doll that this little boy was interested in ...

So as they walked and talked, I think he was negotiating a switcheroo ...

Having made the deal, each of them went up the hill with their "new" toy ...

Notice how Kaity now has the truck and her friend is holding Harper ... except the friend was very intent on NOT returning Harper to her rightful owner, so ... grandma had to intercede and exchange toys.

Comstock rather miserably lost the game. I cannot recall the score. Christopher played a good game, but it was a hard loss.

We do not get much conversation from Christopher after a loss.  :(

More fun at the Children's Museum, Sept. 25, 2015

Per a special request (his), Brendan and I returned to the Children's Museum for a little bit of fun after I got out of work. He really badly wanted to do the giant bubble machine again. SO that is what we did.

Brendan is extremely mechanical, plus he is VERY patient. He has one of the longest attention spans of any 3.5 year old that I have ever encountered. He is not easily discouraged or put off and has quite a bit of determination in his little self! All of this combines together to give him a LOT of success in his playtime activities. Look at his sweet little face!

Brendan got into the coal factory with all of his heart and soul ...

He worked and worked and worked ...

And then we went over to the snazzy kitchen area to do some cooking.

We got out lots of pots and pans, but Brendan was a little annoyed there were no bowls. "I need a BOWL, grandma!"

He rode the horse while we waiting for our special meal to cook ...

And then we sat down to our fish and sausage dinner!

We found out, though, that our store stock was LOW on everything. We had to get our orders in!

So Brendan got on the phone and had the most detailed conversation ...

... I love these pictures of this darling boy ...

He is completely and totally serious about this ...

And there is absolutely no one on the line.

I do admit to egging him on a bit with making odd voices and seeing what his response would be. He never disappoints, though, because his imagination is a beautiful one!