Aquarium...Revisted

Thanks to some dear friends, the kids wish for a family pass to the aquarium came true. They were all too excited to use their Easter present. We went on a Friday morning and were almost the only folks there. Actually, we only stayed for about 30 minutes because we were running errands but it was an action packed, fun filled adventure.

First, those errands were for my nurse practitioner application process (documenting as this is my scrap book at the moment - feel free to skip to photos and videos):

- State police station for finger printing - this will be my fourth criminal background check in three years - talk about a vigorous process. So far, I've always checked out clean and I anticipate the same this time. However, the kids were SO well behaved - cute, actually. They knew a police officer were literally just around the corner in case of any misbehavior.

- Allergy office for my monthly shot

- Aquarium as a reward for being so well-behaved, calm and quiet during the early part of the morning

- Library - pick up reserved books

- Postal annex for 2X2 photo for the application, notarized three documents for the application, copied everything, and dropped in the mail

- Grocery store for some supplies

I was actually impressed by how good they were through this entire process. We were gone for over 4 hours running errands and I did not hear a peep, complaint, or a hint of bickering/fighting. They really did earn that trip to the aquarium. So without further ado, here are some photos, a bit of commentary, and a couple of fun videos. 

Some disclaimers about the videos - I was a cheerleader for many years so I have a tendency to urge and coach a lot so feel free to mute the videos if you like (although, Lil Sister's sweet voice is worth listening for). Lastly, I am helping the kids and also petting the rays so the camera is not the steadiest but you'll get the idea of what's going on.

Oh, Lil Sister insisted on wearing her cat ears to match her cat dress (which she also insisted on wearing)

Feeding the tropical fish - this was a ton of fun. They LOVE seaweed.

Next the shark/ray tank. The rays are absolutely amazing. They were not the least bit interested in the food we were trying to offer. They were more interested in being petted. I know that sounds odd but they really liked the attention and the biggest ray would actually come up, blow bubbles, and wait for pets. The kids, of course, think it's awesome but it made for a huge highlight to our aquarium visit and a major high point of all our toddler/preschooler play experiences thus far.

 

Lastly, the octopus - a personal favorite of T Rex.

The kids are very excited that sea turtles will be coming soon. Oh, and the aquarium does have hand dryers in the bathroom which we learned can dry water soaked dresses and shirts pretty quickly. And yes, Lil Sis did try to eat the feeder fish (I told you she liked sushi, but don't worry, she only tasted it).


Thank you, Shelley and Rich, for this spectacular gift. We're looking forward to a time when you can join us at the ray tank. 

By the way, in the time it took me to post this, the kids made another trip to the aquarium with their dad (I was home studying). I sense a future birthday party there, too.

Easter Weekend - Part Four - Egg Hunts...

The kids were fortunate to enjoy a couple of egg hunts this year. After a fun Saturday birthday party, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's place for dinner. When we arrived the kids were surprised to find Grandpa had hidden 2 dozen toy-stuffed eggs in the back yard. They were so excited and with the help of Auntie P, they went seeking. Later, a quick stroll along the golf coarse searching for some flags.

The next morning the kids woke to find more eggs hidden throughout the living room along with some Easter baskets - some from the Big Bunny and some from their Mom and Dad. The eggs were filled with more smaller toys - no candy this year.

I made the kids bunnies this year. It was actually coincidental that it fell during Easter. Both have favorite bunnies from bedtime stories. T Rex loves reading about Baby Bear and wanted a bunny like Baby Bear's. Initially he said no polka dot PJs but since receiving Blue Bunny he has requested jammies. These will have to wait about 21 more days. Lil Sister wanted a "Carrots Rabbit" like that of Kim's in the Kim and Carrots series in her Baby Bug books.

Lastly, the traditional Easter photo in our back yard. Neither of the kids were all that into it but I still wanted at least one. Lil Sister is wearing her new dress I made for her and she LOVED it.

That completes our Easter Weekend Series. Thanks for sharing our adventures with us.

Easter Weekend - Part Three - Toddler Birthday Party...

As if the excitement of T Rex's first soccer experience was not enough, the next part of our Saturday was filled with a toddler birthday party. It was actually a pretty fun party held at Little Gym. We've never been to our local Little Gym but it was wonderful. It was a small intimate party filled with non-stop activities and play fun. Of course, our son shunned the cake but our daughter was more than happy to eat her slice.

Here is the gift I made for the birthday girl which was received quite graciously and happily.

After the party, we departed for a short drive to Grandma and Grandpa's place...

Easter Weekend - Part Two - Egg Dying

Second Up - Easter Egg Dying - Friday night

My sister gets down right giddy when it's time for egg dying and I think that has rubbed off on my nephew. At nearly 14 years old he still enjoys it. He sang a funny song about narwhals which made the kids laugh as they dipped their 2 dozen eggs into dye. How kind of my sister to offer to prepare a meatless dish, provide the eggs and dying equipment, and allow the kids to make a mess of things.

 

 

 

We stayed out a little too late and this little bean fell asleep en route to bed. 

 

More to come. Stay tuned for Saturday's events including T Rex's first soccer team play.

Easter Weekend Part One - Library Time

As it turns out, the weekend was full. Too full. However, with so many wonderful events lined up we could refuse none of them. Therefore, I'm breaking them down into smaller postings. 

The first Friday of every month there is a puppet show at the library. Some friends who often frequent the library at similar times as us also attended making for a fun time at the library. The show was "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and Miss Spider was a favorite of the kids. After the show the librarians doing the program will allow the kids to meet the puppets. T Rex was so excited to meet Miss Spider. 

After the show the kids enjoyed some "play time" at the library doing puzzles, playing dinosaurs (yes, those can be checked out), and we brought home more books than we've ever checked out from the library. T Rex was using a T Rex to have a conversation with the tiger. As Missus Wookie (long time follower from UK) pointed out to me, it was "act like a T Rex day" so he was doing just that.

 

 

Then our friends took us to lunch - their treat (Thank you Miss Suzanne!). It really was a treat and made more special because we enjoyed it with such wonderful company.

Impromptu Zoo Outing...

This past Monday, which is usually library day, we opted to take the right hand into the zoo instead of the left turn into the library. It was just such a beautiful day, still a bit chilly, but the sky was an incredible shade of blue making it so I could not help but want to wander the zoo. 


The kids were not disappointed. They do enjoy story time but a trip to the zoo? I've told you how they always ask to go. Generally, though, they know days in advance and anticipate the fun. It was fun to just pull up there and see the excitement in their eyes. I might just have to surprise them like this more often.

There was hardly anyone there. Ironically, we did run into some very dear friends who found themselves there also because of the glorious day. The kids very much enjoyed the company and socialization. We also deviated from our normal walk through the zoo. Usually we start with the giraffes but that day we went the complete opposite direction. 

The penguins were not so active as they are laying eggs and nesting. Hopefully, we'll have some baby penguins soon. T Rex asked the zoo keeper if they ever "hooted". He's really into a library book called Penguin and Little Blue right now. When his dad reads it he does a great "hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot" when Penguin calls to his friends. The keepers said that "yes, indeed, they hoot". T Rex just beamed.
 

We already have a tiny baby wallaby. I don't think it even has fur yet - it looks like a hairless rat peaking out of its mama's pouch but it is still SO cute.

 

The snow leopard also put on quite a show for the kids - back flips, tale chasing, leaping. They just watched in awe.

I suppose shaking things up once in a while does a person, particularly a young one, good. Do you like to be surprised? Do your kids enjoy surprise outings?

Boxes...

On a recent outing to Costco I found myself with some extra boxes. Since the giant fort-sized boxes our Good Neighbors gave us had to be recycled after over a year of service, I found myself allowing the kids to play with the Costco left overs. It was really sad, actually. They were trying to make forts out of them but there just was not much to them. By the way, they are both wearing their new Costco PJs - each of them were allowed to choose a new set since both out grew 4-5 pairs this past week. 

Then on a quick trip to the drug store I found this incredible cardboard playhouse. It looked so fun and just the perfect idea. For $20 I splurged and purchased it as a "great job for surviving Mom's urgent care clinical rotation" reward. Plus, it was a lot less expensive than purchasing a refrigerator or something else large enough that would merit gaining a giant fort-sized box.

It has had high use and is holding up pretty good. We opted not to color it - yet. I don't want random scribblings, especially since it does consume a large piece of real estate in our living room area. One of the best parts of it are the mail box slots. The kids have been putting their felt letters into the slots. They've even been stocking up with pretend groceries and carrying them to their house/fort.

It was certainly well earned. They and T Rex Dad have put up with a lot but we are SO happy the urgent care clinical rotation is done. I did start my allergy and asthma rotation this past week. It's great. I LOVE the hours and the patient population is also perfect - I get to see about half adults and half kids (better than some family practices, actually, who have predominant adult populations) and do a little family practice, too. If the patients are having issues related to their allergies such as allergy induced migraines or anxiety, I get to treat those conditions as well as the allergies and/or asthma. I like being able to keep up on those sets of skills. Sad that my suturing and women's health skills will be underutilized but I can do some weekend work in those fields should I choose to keep up on those skill areas.


The learning curve is quite steep - so much to learn in such a little amount of time. Add to that I'm also studying for my national certification exam. I've had nightmares nearly every night about not knowing what diagnosis to give a patient. However, those are interspersed with alien invasions so I guess it's just normal stress for me and I am getting more than 4-5 hours of sleep a night, which that is heavenly.


35 days until graduation...