A Big Day Out!

Spring is really in the air here at our house.
It's been hard to stick to our routine and work schedules. We managed to get a night out to dinner - of course to our favorite steak place. Who takes their own pictures at a restaurant? You would think we never ate out!

Then on Saturday, mommy and me and Sam decided to have a big day out. Daddy decided to stay home and get some yard work done so the three of us headed out on a beautiful spring day. We started out at the Children's Discovery Garden at Thanksgiving Point. Hardly anyone was there - and it was the first day they were open this spring. We had a great time. They have this great Ark sculpture at the entrance. We're sitting under a rhino. On the side we found these monkeys . . . are we helping them escape . . . or are they trying to get us on board? We'll never tell!Then we explored the bear caves. We know there were some bears in there we couldn't see - we could hear them!Just hanging out!Here we are playing in the tunnel - Sam went through this tunnel without even thinking twice. He wouldn't have anything to do with the tunnel in the bear cave though.Here we are making music! As if every sound that comes out of our mouths isn't music?And here we are doing some art. Really - no one was here except a few boy scouts. It was fabulous!
On our way back to the entrance we stopped at the ark again. Sam found a turtle and really wanted to take it home with us . . . mommy said no.And we couldn't resist one more picture with the elephants.They had a whole flower bed full of purple pansies - we can't wait to go back in a few weeks for the tulip festival!We weren't ready to go home yet, so we decided to head over to the Farm. There were definitely a few more people over there but the day was too nice to waste. We did our favorite things . . . feeding the goats. I know I say this all the time, but really - Sam isn't afraid of anything. He walked right up to the goats and put his hand out for them to eat from.
Of course I'm not saying that I'm afraid of things, but I can be a little more hesitant from time to time. Once I remembered how to do this, I stopped throwing the corn over the fence to the goats and let them eat out of my fingers.Then we went over to see the other animals including the horses. And our visit with the horses led, of course, to our pony rides. I know Sam looks worried in this picture, but really he wasn't. He rode all by himself and had so much fun!And here I am on our second ride - I'm an old pro at riding by myself. No problems!After a stop at Aunt Cathie's house to drop off a present, we headed for home. It turns out daddy really did do a whole bunch of yard work. He started working on our big sandbox area to get ready for the renovations he has planned for this summer. We'll see what it ends up like. We still couldn't bring ourselves to be indoors, so we got out the T-ball and Basketball and played and played and played.Sam knows what to do - he just needs to be a little taller!Look at that form - look at that shot - - - yes, I scored!
Sam Alert: Hey everyone - Sam here. If you think Mason loves to be outside, then you really don't know me. I absolutely LOVE to be outside. Give me a shovel and a bucket and some sand . . . . I'm good to go!
But as much I love being outside, I also love being in the kitchen. I walk around most of every day saying "Stir, Stir". Mommy hands me a bowl and a whisk and I'm a happy boy. It's even better when there's actually something in the bowl to stir. After mom took this picture, she actually put eggs in the bowl for me and we made breakfast! Yum! Here's to a great week.