Back to the Beach

I have covered this before, but I. LOVE. THE. BEACH.  I could just sit on the beach all day watching the waves roll in and the kids dig in the sand.  As a matter of fact, that is pretty much what I did today.

Rachel sat and chatted with me most of the day.

 



And we took selfies!!

 



 

Aaron and Hannah making a sandcastle

 



The kids were in the water and my toes were in the sand by 11:03 and we stayed until 5:00.  PK had duty, but he was able to join us around 2:30. 

Except for stopping for a lunch and snack break that were each about five minutes each,



Aaron and Hannah were either digging in the sand, boogie boarding or body surfing.  They played so hard, they were still tired the next day.

 

Aaron and Hannah

 

 

Rachel and PK

 



 

I managed to capture a rare PK smile in this picture.

This plane flew over advertising open job positions in the area.  I took a picture hoping it would help me find a job right on the beach.  Ha!!

It was a little crowded, but overall it was a perfect beach day.  I am on a mission to go to the beach as many days as possible before we have to move.

The kids may have come home with their first sunburns.  Oops!!  The next time we will make sure they use sunscreen. 

Mother's Day

I started to get out of bed when PK came into the room and told me they were setting up a surprise so I needed to pretend to be asleep until they were ready.  We started early morning celebrations when PK started working at the prison.  It seemed that many holidays or birthdays fell on days that he would be working late, so we celebrated before he left for work or the kids left for school.  Now that he is on a more traditional schedule, morning celebrations are just tradition.

 

I don't want expensive gifts, but a little forethought goes a long way.  Aaron was camping with the Scouts, but the girls and PK had the morning planned.  They bought some of my favorite treats, Swiss cake rolls and cream horns.  The roses were straight from our yard.  Love.

The girls made me cards.  Each of the ponies on Hannah's card represented a family member.  She even included Holly.

 

PK planned a menu for a brunch later in the day after Aaron had returned.  He researched recipes and made gravy!  I learned by watching my grandma make it, but I guess those Indian grandmas don't make too much white skillet gravy.  Ha!  There was also a planned dinner menu of pizzas, but we were all still too stuffed from breakfast and brunch. 

 

Aaron surprised me with a book about moms that he had purchased at the school book fair a few weeks before.  More forethought. 

 

It was a fabulous Mother's Day!



Zoo Snooze

Hannah's Girl Scout troop has been planning an overnight at the zoo since late last year.  When I was helping with their Christmas party, the troop leader asked if I would like to accompany the troop on the trip.  A chance to spend the night at the zoo?  Yes, please!

I love going to the zoo.  If we have ever lived or traveled near a zoo, we have most likely visited it.  When PK and I went to Wyoming shortly after we were married he willingly (maybe not joyfully) let me drag him to the zoo in Colorado.  We have been to the zoos in Evansville and St. Louis many times.  We have also been to the San Diego Zoo, the Lincoln Park Zoo and Brookfield Zoo which are both in Chicago, Zoo Atlanta and many wildlife parks, aquariums and small farms.

The Zoo Snooze was at the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk.  It is a small zoo, but it has great exhibits.  I like that it is flat and can be covered in a couple hours. 

We were greeted by a Zoo Educator, Mr. Jeff.  He spent the entire time as our guide.  His focus was the rainforest and he did a great job sharing information with the girls.  He brought

an emperor scorpion,

a ball python, a tenrec

 

and porcupine to show our group.  None of us had ever seen a tenrec before. 

Once it was dark, Mr. Jeff took our group on a night tour of the zoo.  It was fun to have the entire zoo to ourselves.

After the tour the girls were given a zoo pillowcase to decorate. 

Then they were ready for bed.

Hannah snoozing

The next morning we packed up and then headed for breakfast.  We stopped by the gibbons habitat on our way. They are very vocal in the morning and we enjoyed watching them play.

After breakfast we walked around to a few exhibits

Hannah is the second from the right

and then had a behind the scenes viewing of the red river hogs. 

Hannah is at the very end in the light purple shorts

Their zookeeper shared with the girls how part of her job is to provide enrichment activities for her animals to keep them busy and stimulate them.  The simple activity she was doing with the red river hogs was to give them a paper lunch sack with some Italian seasoning inside.  The hogs didn't seem to be too interested in the Italian seasoning.  She said they seem to like sweet or fruity scents more.

The girls were tired and ready to go home after our morning adventures, but I could have stayed another night.  It was such an awesome experience!!