Our little Weekend Adventure

 A couple weeks ago we came down to the Valley and met up with my step-mom, I was also planning on meeting for the first time my half-brother, but he wasn't able to make it (he is in the army and couldn't get the time off and is stationed in Texas... I think... I probably got all that wrong) anyways I got to meet his Fiance Tyler, and his sweet little girl. I will hopefully post some pics of that soon once I get them from Teresa! Anyways while we were down there Aaron decided to send our rings off to get fixed and cleaned and get new er odium plating (sp?) So two weeks later we were able to come down to pick those up, and boy was that worth the wait... they are brand new and sparkling! People were actually noticing our rings again.

Aaron's little brother asked Aaron if he got a new ring! Yes I know hooray for the rings, but we did go down and have some fun at the zoo too! Oh but also when we were at the mall they hand a kid zumba thing that kids could go on stage and dance, Brookie got up and started doing zumba... pretty cute to watch, but didn't think to bring my camera in the mall!

So the zoo was great, but it was super, super hot, which is probably why their was hardly anyone there!! We did go in the afternoon so you can only expect it to be burning up in the hot desert of Arizona! So we were lucky the zoo had some splash pads to cool us off!

But before we could go play Ryan saw some trash. This is his new thing. If he sees a piece of trash, doesn't matter what it is (and yes I realize that is somewhat gross, in his right hand he picked up a napkin, who knows whats on that thing!) he has to pick it up and throw it away. He is our little environmentalist, and I think it is pretty cute!

Ryan wasn't to sure about running in at first, but once he saw Brookie laughing and having fun he jumped right in. Jocee decided to laugh on the sidelines. I think water is a little frightening to her since Ryan turned on the hose while she was standing by and totally soaked her just a few days before.... She was not pleased, but it was pretty funny.

Aaron had done a tour a week before with his students and so he took us on a little tour. This is a iguana, I can't remember the exact name. Aaron took us around to see animals we never looked at, usually we just come and see the well-known animals, and since the phoenix zoo is so extremely large we only do those things then the kids are done.

This was in the rain forest part. There were big catfish's and stingrays, and some big black fish related to the Parana. And then above you can see a scarlet mckaw (sp?), which I couldn't remember but Brookie just told me. I swear she can remember every animal name and where it lives, but when it comes to memorizing letters and the sounds they make, its no bueno! I guess I can tell what she likes and doesn't like!

I think this was Brookie's favorite part... she was clapping in this picture. Yes it is the boa. I stayed clear and took pictures of how happy my crazy kids and husband are for loving snakes so much....

I had to put this on here, Jocee smiles like this in just about every picture now!

As we were walking away from the rain forest part we heard a mom tell her kids that the zoo didn't have any bears, I told Aaron it was to bad she didn't have a tour guide like we did, because I actually thought the same thing until he showed us this bear. I think its called an Andi bear... it looks like a black bear right here, but it actually looks funny looking up close. He is closely related to the panda bear. Anyways here is proof that there is a bear at the Phoenix Zoo!

This is us trying to wake it up... poor bear!

Of course we saw the Rhino, the Elephants, Lions, Tigers, Giraffes and

The Monkeys... They have to see the big Baboon, from Lion King!

My Kids LOVE going to the zoo, they have to each hold a map and figure out where we are and where we are going. The learn about new animals. They always have to push the buttons in front of the exhibit so they can hear what sound the animal makes, and by the time we are leaving they are fast asleep.... Just a few reasons why I love going to the Zoo.

The kids were all dry by the time we were done and Brookie said she was sweating so we let them run through again. I thought they could just get a little wet, but Aaron told them they could get soaked... well when we went out to eat afterwards Brookie was freezing, and her lips were all blue... so for the future we will be sure to bring either their swimming suits, or a change of clothes!

I love having fun times with the family, especially at the zoo!