Fort Worth Zoo

For Tony's birthday he wanted to go to the zoo.  So away we went on 4th of July.  When we showed up this is what we saw, a giant lizard on the top of a building wearing a festive hat and sporting red eyes that the kids weren't fond of.  They looked evil.

Looking looking Rhino really close to us.

Look at how cute this baby chimpanzee is.

Greeting the monkey.

Giraffe's are what Tony was looking so forward to.

We just entered the petting zoo.

Brushing a goat. 

 Funny thing, it was the only thing that the kids could touch.

Hanging out together in the blistering heat.

We walked into the Play Barn and Aliana instantly starting milking a cow.

We took the train back to the beginning of the zoo.  We were ready to call it quites and have lunch at Panera Bread.

I love how she's looking up at her daddy with a smile.  It was a candid shot.

4th of July Craft

I got this cute idea from www.Frugalgirls.com.

The kids made the petals & put together the flowers.  It came out so cute.

After the zoo and nap time, we did a little craft that I came up with. 

Popsicle flag with a question at the bottom of the page, hehe.

Preparing the playground

We are excited to start the ground breaking work on the playground for the kids.

Getting a shippment of stone for the boarder.

The kids really enjoyed watching this HUGE forklift go back and forth.

Log Cabin Village Day

Watch out, there are A LOT of pictures!

Alex spent the morning at Log Cabin Village involved in their camp.  Because he was registered, Tony, Aliana and I got free admission....I was so excited!

The kids were receiving the instructions for the camp.

We had to run out to the car and when we came back saw checkers. 

The kids loved this game and caught on so fast.

We didn't stick with Alex, wanting him to do something by himself, but I did get some sneaky pictures ;-)

He was learning how to thread a loom.

One of the cabins from the 1800's.

On our way to learn about corn.

When we entered this log cabin, this man started started right up on his corn lecture.  I was so impressed with how Tony gave him his undivided attention, excellent eye contact, asked and answered questions & took turns when speaking with him.  We walked out with 2 packs of 4 different kinds of corn and a big pack of wheat to plant next March.

My big boy....I was so proud how you conducted yourself.

These 2 pictures were 1 big room for the blacksmith to work in.

Because they didn't have thermometers back then, they could tell how hot something was by the color of the fire.

Taking a walk through the village to get to another cabin and activites.

Smoke House

Wood Carver

School House

Hearing a story

Grinding corn and wheat.

Pumping water for use in the house and to wash clothes.

Gathering eggs from the hen house.

Planting potatoes, onions, carrots and parsnips.

Alex is in the back pumping water for washing the clothes in the bottom picture.

It was Alex's turn to learn about the wood carving and to it on the Carving Horse.

"You Lead"

Adult Retreat was updated with many more new songs. 
We enjoy them emensely each morning!

Jamie Grace "You Lead"

Nature Day

We went to the park early in the morning before the temperature reached 109' and were surprised to see a nature trail.  So of course, we went on it and took the dogs with us.

There were so many nice little education boards along the way.   The first one was about the different birds that we might see.

Alex was teaching Aliana something ;-)

Enjoying our walk.

ON the way home, we came across this metal recycling yard. 

 It was SO COOL!

Look at how big the arm is.  We watched it toss a car to the top of the big pile of scrap metal.

Later we finished a project that we've been wanting to complete.

Each child was given a different pack of seeds from Boystown National Hospital in Omaha from Noni and Papa. 

We want to plant them when they are big enough out by their playground in the backyard, which we are working on. 

Alex planted Forget Me Nots

Tony planted Shasta Daisies

Aliana planted Wildflower Mixture.