Lions and Tigers and Bears

Speaking of wild places . . . Mommy had to make a quick trip to San Francisco this past week and while she was there, she wandered upon this street sign. Pretty cool huh!And more wild things . . . . I started "planting" dinosaur gnomes in our flower garden. Our real gnomes didn't much like them, so I keep them apart and put the dinos away when I'm done playing. On Friday, after mommy got back in town, we took the day off and went to the zoo with our friends Jeanette, Emmalyn, and Brooklyn. Aren't they cute! They are 13 months old now and super hard to tell apart.

We always start every trip to the zoo with a stop at the "Lion's mouth". Sam wasn't so sure about sticking his head in with all those sharp teeth staring at him. We got to see lots of fun animals, including the crocodiles in the bottom right picture. We thought that the one sunning himself out on the side of the pond was a statue . . . he never, ever moved.One of the highlights of this visit to the zoo was the baby elephant. Oh my, is she adorable or what!As long as this elephant stays quiet, we like him. When he makes noises (out of nowhere) we don't like him very much!Another favorite animal was the giraffes. This one was sure hungry . . . and tall too! And then there are the animal statues that we love to take our pictures with every year so that we can look back and see how much we grow each year. Here we are with the tigers.

And of course, the gorilla.
Can you believe that Sam is almost as big as a juvenile gorilla?More pictures of the elephants, and a leopard that was looking at us intently.

The play area at the zoo is excellent. Here is Sam "talking to an alligator about . . . " something or other.
And the tortoises were one of my favorites. Do you think I'd make a good tortoise?And you'd better believe that if there's a train within a 3 mile radius of any place we are, we have to ride it. We also rode the carousel - for some reason we don't want to ride the animals though. Maybe next time.And this weekend, we got haircuts. Even Sam wanted his spiky for church today. Sam Alert: Howdy everyone - do you know what the best part of summer is? Corn-on-the-cob! I can eat it with no hands - face first! The second best part of summer is spending some quality time outdoors. Can it be summer all year long? I sure hope so! Sam out.

You Should See the Other Guy!

A "monster" was chasing us at our babysitter's the other morning and I somehow got in between the monster and a shoe that one of my good friends sent flying through the air at it. A shoe to the eye . . . my very first "shiner"! My poor friend felt so bad - at least it's a great looking black eye that I've been getting lots of sympathy for!

Crazy sleeping . . . .And more crazy sleeping!

Doing a little art project - have we mentioned how much we love doing arts and crafts? Mommy has rubbed off on us just a little bit.

We take our arts projects very seriously!You should see the person on the other end of this camera . . . who doesn't realize they're about to get jumped on! Squish!

Sam Alert: Howdy y'all. It was a pretty quiet week here. Just a few cute pictures from this week for you - first up: me on my indoor "bike". This thing can really move with my strong leg power. And a little lunch - cup 'o noodles. What great inventor thought up this yummy delicacy? Mom and dad say this is one of the staples that got them through the college years!

Now That's How You Spend a Week!

Ah - now this was a much better week than last week. Even with a full week of work and school, we were able to squeeze in some great times and fun activities.

First up - - just a little preview . . . I'm going to be playing on a local soccer team this fall. I'm WAY excited! I've got my shin guards and the socks, shorts, and team jersey are ordered. Now all I need are my cleats and I'll be ready to go. I've always loved soccer - this should be super fun!

Sam had his last of the big medical tests this week - an endoscopy. He did fabulous. And all the results came back negative - - so we finally know there is nothing structurally wrong and that there are no big, bad, scary diseases keeping him from gaining weight. All of the doctors and nurses called him a
"Superstar Patient". He doesn't cry or flinch or even whimper with all the poking and prodding they've done. He's a stud! Now if he would just eat and gain weight!

Wednesday night was our local bike parade with the kids from our church. The fire truck and paramedic truck from the fire station near our house led the parade from church to the park. Here I am riding my bike. I was a little nervous so daddy stayed right by my side. And then . . . . I had a tire blow-out! (OK - one of my training wheels fell off.) So I ended up walking the last of the way while daddy carried my bike. But it sure was fun!
Here's me and Sam in front of the fire engine. Sam was most excited about being so close to a firetruck!
We had a great dinner at the park and then got to play on the playground.
Then on Friday night the boys went up to the cabin. We got to have a sleepover at the cabin while mommy and our friend Alyson had a girl's night out. Here is the mommy moose with her baby moose having a drink at the moose water trough. They were so much fun to watch.

Mommy came up to the cabin Saturday morning after breakfast. We played games and just had a nice, relaxing day. We also had our regular pancake throwing contest. Daddy had the great idea to let the leftover breakfast pancakes dry out and harden up a little. They flew like frisbees! Both Sam and I won a prize - I got "farthest" and Sam got "shortest". Moose . . . deer . . . elk? You guess!Sam Alert: Howdy y'all. Sam here. Everything is going well with us. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment this week.

Here I am hatching a little basketball. I crack me up!

Here I am at bedtime. Why wouldn't my parents let me go to bed this way?And as always . . . I end the post with yet another incredibly cute picture of me! Have a great week everybody!

Pretty Pathetic!

It's pretty pathetic when your week was as boring as ours was!

Here are the "highlights" . . . .

Playing with bubbles in the backyard.

Playing ball in the backyard.

And the really big event for the week . . . . playing on the super cool pirate ship at the place daddy and mommy take their cars for service.
The crows nestAnd playing around the house - See, I told you . . . we didn't have a very exciting week. Sam Alert: Howdy everyone! Like Mason said, not too much going on around our house this week. Here is a picture of me playing on the pirate ship. We've been bugging daddy to build one of these at our house. He says this is one of a kind. And here I am snuggling with dad. He's a good snuggler! Have a great week y'all!

Bowling, Biking, Discovering, and Enjoying

Why is it that summer is flying by so fast? There is so much to do and so little time. We had a fun-filled week again. It started with a great Monday night activity - Bowling. It has been a few months since we bowled but it didn't take long for us to get right back in the "strike" of things. Here are the boys getting their strikes on.

The scores speak for themselves = I bowled a 172, daddy scored 158, and Sam got a 117. Fun, fun, fun!

Our tradition is that the winner buys ice cream for the family - well my piggy bank isn't full enough to buy ice cream so mommy and daddy spotted me some change and we stopped for yummy chocolate dipped cones.

I hope Sam knows when he bites napkin.I've been working really hard on getting strong enough to ride my bike all by myself this summer. I am proud to announce that I am officially an INDEPENDENT BIKE RIDER! Yes, I still have training wheels on, but I can go and go and go! Then we had another excellent all-day adventure . . . it started with a ride on the Trax train. This is our city's version of a light rail train. It was sooooo much fun.
Then when our stop finally came along, we hopped off the train and went in to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum. We played with balls (for a really long time!)And we played in the water table.
We met up with some chickens on the "farm" and gathered up their eggs.
We played in the "market" - loved the cash register!Made good use of the "Filling Station" - Sam filled up the car with gas.
And I pumped some air into the tires.
Then we found the super cool helicopter out on the balcony. I was in heaven! The parents could barely get me out of here. Only the promise of an incredibly yummy lunch at ZTejas did the trick. We had a really fun day.Just a couple of fun pictures of Sam and me shaving with dad. It's been so great having him home with us this summer!Our home pre-schooling has been going really well. Sam and I love learning new things. I'm starting to spell and even read a few words. Sam's vocabulary is really picking up - even if we're the only ones who can understand him. Here we are doing ice treasures one afternoon this week. Mommy hid some new fun animals in the ice for us this time.
We caught up on a little "boring housework" and some yard work too this week. You have to get up early to help daddy with the yard work. He says if we wait too long it will be too hot to do it. Here we are working in our jammies.
Sam Alert: Howdy y'all - Sam here.

I've been enjoying some time biking too. Fortunately for me, my legs aren't long enough to reach the pedals yet so I get a little help getting around from mom and dad. But I love it!People always ask if Mason and I get along well. The answer is . . . sometimes yes and sometimes no. It's not easy being the little brother! But sometimes he really steps up and helps a little guy out. Here he is helping me put my shoes on - mommy didn't even have to ask him to do it. Have a great week everyone!