Out of Africa Wildlife Park

Since Gary is spending the week salmon fishing in Alaska with some clients, Gary's parents thought we should take a little trip of our own. Yesterday, the 5 of us went to the Out of Africa Wildlife Park, which is about 90 minutes north of Phoenix. It was a fun day. The best part was the safari bus ride.
Come on in zebra, we saved you a seat

That is my hand feeding the giraffe as I sat on the bus

The giraffe knows who has the good treats

The oryx also knows where the good treats are

Joshua was scared to feed the giraffe, but wasn't scared to pet the boa constrictor

I didn't realize that tigers like to swim

Water Slide

For the regular readers of my blog, you might remember that Joshua went down the water slide at our community pool for the first time this summer. I kept forgetting my camera to get his picture. Since the water slides are closing next weekend, I thought I'd better get my act together and get some pictures. My camera has a terrible delay, so I was only able to get one picture of him coming down.

It must be the shoes

Nathan is loving his new big boy bed. He only gets out of bed a few times and it's usually right after we put him down. When we checked on him after he was asleep, this is what we found. I didn't even know he could get his shoes on by himself.

Joshua's first day of school

Today was Joshua's first day of preschool. This is his second year of preschool. He goes to school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 2 and a half hours.



Nathan wanted to get in the picture, to show off his cool sunglasses

Joshua and his teacher, Mrs. Leistikow

A Little Surprise

Our MOMS Club went to a new play place called A Little Surprise on Tuesday. There was something to do for both boys, which is always nice. Here are a few pictures.

Fireman Joshua is on his way...

Look out for Nathan

Joshua taught Nathan that it's more fun to slide on your belly.

Children's Museum of Phoenix

My neighborhood MOMS Club went to the Children's Museum of Phoenix today. It has only been open a few months, so this was our first visit. The kids loved it, as it was designed just for them. Here are a few pictures.

Where has my baby gone?

I no longer have a baby that sleeps in a crib. I now have a 2 year old that sleeps in a big-boy bed. We just got it today. Nathan has been wanting a big boy bed for while, as when it's bed time, he prefers Joshua's bed to his crib. I wanted to keep him in the crib for a while longer, but Gary thought it was time. So down went the crib and up went the bed.

Joshua had to try out Nathan's bed to make sure it was OK

If only bed time was this easy

He's finally asleep

My sweet Nathan and his constant companion "Polar Bear" which he calls "Bo Bo"

Joshua helping to feed the hungry

Our church organized a summer missions project for the children's ministry this year. They partnered with Feed My Starving Children to help raise money for meals to send to 3rd world countries. The kids collected quarters all summer to help raise money. They also offered an opportunity to actually assemble and pack these meals. Joshua said in the car one day after church that he wanted to help pack meals for the hungry kids, so I signed him up (and myself) to help. We went on Monday for a 2 hour shift and it was awesome. We worked in one of several small assembly lines and worked non-stop for the 2 hours. I wish I would have taken my camera to take a picture of him weighing the meals and packing them. We even had to wear hair-nets, which Joshua was not too fond of. It was a good experience for him. When he got too tired of packing, I sent him to the coloring station, where he could color pictures on the outside of the cardboard boxes that were being sent over. Joshua was so tired that he fell asleep in the car on the home.

Last Wednesday

It's been a little while since my last post, so I'll try to catch up. Last Wednesday, we went to lunch with my BFF Melinda and her son Simon. It was our last play day before school starts back up. We went to Chuck E Cheese. The kids had a blast.

Nathan on the race car

Joshua and Simon on the monster truck

Joshua and Simon