Meredith Walks on Eggs

In Meredith's Science Class today, we did 4 experiments with eggs.  During one of the experiments the kids got to walk on eggs.  Here is Meredith walking on raw eggs.

Meredith's 6 Year Interview

Meredith is Almost Done with Kindergarten

Meredith will be done with Kindergarten in 6 days.  Last week, all the kindergarten classes had an end of the year program for parents. Her class had their own song, which you see above.  Meredith also had a line, "We learned of Martin Luther King and had a Read A Thon."  Check her out!

Meredith's Gymnastic Meet

Meredith had her first Gymnastic meet this weekend.  It was so super cute.  They had all of the kids who signed up for the meet separated by coach.  Each coach then took an event and when all of the kids had finished each event they switched.  Here is Meredith on the bars - which was her favorite event.

Wyatt at School with Ms. Margaret

Meredith's New News

Meredith had a big change happen this past Spring Break.  Due to some comments she made about problems reading at school we took her in for an eye exam.  Turns out Miss Meredith is near sighted with a slight astigmatism, so she bought her first pair of glasses - which she is thinking of as her new cool accessory.  She looks beautiful with them and she is very happy about them.

Meredith, Wyatt and M's Friend Kara get caught at the zoo.

Meredith and Wyatt watching Scooby Doo!

Aren't they sweet.

Introducing Our 2013 Easter Egg Collection

For our eggs this year we tried both regular dye and Kool Aid.  Our collection was inspired by a variety of sources.

First, take a look at our modern art inspired eggs.

We also had a variety of Spring Inspired eggs.

Some of our collection was inspired by Butterflies.

We also had a variety of eggs that were our own individual Masterpieces.

Ryan's masterpiece was inspired by butterflies and Spring.

Kio's Masterpiece was inspired by the book Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

Meredith's Masterpiece was a tribute to high fashion.

Wyatt's Masterpiece was an ode to Spiderman.

Now, there has been some question about whether or not we made our own Easter Eggs - please see the proof below.

25 Days 'Til Christmas (continued)

What else did we do in our countdown to Christmas?

#6.  We wrote letters to Santa.  We had to write to Santa of course.  The kids had fun with stickers and different color markers.

#7.  Decorate the tree.  I think every ornament that the tree could hold is on our tree.  It looks beautiful!!!

#8.  Buy a new decoration for the tree.  Every year since the kids were born we go to some store and pick out an ornament that they like and somehow relates to that year. 

Wyatt chose Darth Vader.  He discovered Star Wars this year with a LEGO Star Wars book he found in the library.  Vader seems to be his favorite.

Meredith discovered Scooby-Doo this year.  And it reminds her of her friend Ryland from Jacksonville.

#9.  Get a Christmas Card Picture - This year I thought about lots of different themes, but finally chose the GATOR CHRISTMAS theme.  After all this is our first year as a family in Gaineville.

#10.  Make shaving cream snowmen.  This is our second year with this activity.  This year Meredith was able to handle her own jar.  Wyatt still needs help, but we had some much fun with it - he did not seem to notice. 

#11.  Go see Santa.  This year we went to a local festival where we got a chance to see Santa arrive in a helicopter.  It was quite the cool spectacle.  Santa on a helicopter.  Wyatt wanted to know why he did not arrive in a sleigh, but that was easy, the reindeer would get tired so close to Christmas.

#12.  Buy new Christmas PJs.

#13.  Make a Gingerbread House.  This year we got a kit for a Christmas Cottage.  It looked quite the same as the Gingerbread House kit as last year. 

#14.  Make gifts for neighbors.  The kids and I made caramel popcorn.  It is one of those recipes that we love, but takes hours to finish, so we only make it once or twice a year.  And I make caramel popcorn MUCH better than cookies.  Than we took it to our neighbors (the ones we know).  After four houses - which is everyone we know so far in the neighborhood - Wyatt did not want to go back home he wanted to go to more houses, much like trick or treating in reverse.  It took me a while to convince him that we did not have enough popcorn for everyone.  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/caramel-popcorn/

#15.  Check out SEA WORLD Christmas.  Really impressive - shows and decorations. 

25 Days 'til Christmas!

I cannot believe that it is December and Christmas again.  This year has absolutely, totally, positively flown by.  My wings are tired.  Which is the reason why we are starting out 25 Days 'Til Christmas Activities a week late :).  But we really got into it this Christmas... and did a marathon of activities this weekend to get us in the mood for the holidays.  We started with out Countdown to Christmas Calendar - this year we made our own and I think it looks pretty great.

Activity Number 1:  Make out own countdown calendar.

All of those Christmas trees were decorated by us and the star on the top has the number that counts down to Christmas Day.  25 trees - it was a big project but worked out really well.  Underneath each tree is a piece of paper that reveals the Christmas activity for that day. 

For our next activity we went to a Gainesville Christmas Festival.  Our local hospital, North Florida Regional, has a pond that they decorate with a gazillion Christmas lights every year and they make an event of turning on the lights for the first time.  They have live music, dancing, free food and picture ops.  The kids really enjoyed it.  We got to see Rudolph, Frosty and Santa (from afar). 

Activity Number 2:  Visit a Holiday Festival.  This one has lots of lights to see and take pictures with.  Here the kids joined lighted carolers for a fun picture.

For the next two countdown activities we made snowman pizzas (#3) and watched the movie Polar Express (#4).  For the Snowman pizzas we all squish our own dough and add own toppings. And The Polar Express only surfaces at our house once a year and it really is exciting for all of us.  I always cry at the end :).

Activity #3:  Snowman Pizzas-  Do they always look like snowmen?  No, but they are really fun to make. 

Picking out the Christmas Tree has become a part of our yearly activities (#5).  Up until last year we always put up a fake tree thinking that it was better for the environment and us.  But I recently read that plastic trees can be bad for people with allergies if they get too old because of the chemicals used to preserve them (we had out plastic tree for 8 years).  So, this year was our second year going out to find a real tree to bring home.  Picking the tree is part of the adventure then getting the tree in out mini-minivan is where it really gets interesting, but we did again.  And we sure got a cute tree. 

Brrrr... these trees make me cold.

Is this our tree??

Stay Tuned for the next 20 activities until Christmas....

Halloween in Gainesville!

Our first Halloween in Gainesville has come and gone.  We have been living here for 6 months now and much has happened.  Halloween, was a big deal because it was the second opportunity we have had to do something we did in Jacksonville with the kids - To do something normal.  We went to the pumpkin patch, we decorated, we got costumes, we went trick or treating and we are eating lots of candy.  Lots of normal.  This year for trick or treating we had a visit from Rapunzel and Superman.   

Getting Ready for Gainesville

  
  As you can imagine the beginning of the year was a tad busy in our household.  The last 2 weeks of April were verging on insane.  We had more than one meal at McDonald's.  We closed on the 27th of April and went on our way.  Our old house is was rented 4 days after we closed.  When I drove by the following week everything looked the same except for the statue of the Virgin Mary statue standing by the front door.  I felt a little misty.  It was our first house.  We lived there for 8 years and had two kids there.   

  Now we are in Gainesville and are looking for a house.  Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

A Wild Weekend in Jacksonville!

Meredith feeding Baby George his formula.

This weekend we had the most amazing opportunity.  My sister, Yari, has been doing her internship at White Oak Conservation Center, Inc. - it is an amazing place.  This weekend we had an opportunity to visit the Conservation Center - not having an inkling of an idea what to expect.  The place is huge.  Thousands of acres in a very inconspicuous location.

  Our tour started with a visit to a huge herd of white rhinos (there were 9).  Our first task was to feed George a one year old, 1000 pound baby whose Mommy has never been able to feed him.  Because he has no Mommy or Mommy substitute, the staff at White Oak feeds him 4 times per day.  This sweet, humongous baby drinks 4 huge baby bottles with a mix of Fat Free and 1% milk.  He is very sweet and just like a human baby - completely focused on his meal.  The nipples on the bottles are just like the nipples on a baby bottle - just huge.  This kicked off an experience that was really once in a lifetime.  

Wyatt feeding George his baby bottle.

  Our next stop was to visit with 3 Indian Rhinos.  They are not as pretty as the white rhinos and a little more intimidating.  When we first got to the their habitat we saw the Mommy and baby, PJ, standing toward the back of the enclosure and  a huge male named Patrick, standing sentry at the front of the fence, it was obvious that the Mom and PJ would not come to the fence with Patrick standing in the way.  So, Ryan started walking around the enclosure - our hero.  And wouldn't you know it - Patrick followed him all around the enclosure marking his territory the whole way.  As soon as he was far enough The Mommy and PJ came up to us, they ate some leaves and we got to pet the baby.  Again a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

After we visited the Indian Rhino we went to visit the Black Rhinos.  The Black Rhinos are smaller than the white and Indian Rhinos, but we were not allowed to touch them or get to close to them.  They are beautiful, but I am thinking not as sweet-natured as the White Rhinos.  One of the most amazing things about them was that they can eat a whole pine cone for a snack without batting an eye, just like we might eat a peanut.  And of course I was so focused on not letting Meredith get to close to feed those giants a pine cone (which she was dying to do) I forgot to take a picture, so you are going to have to Google them!

Meredith, Wyatt and Cian watching the Indian Rhinos getting ready to pet PJ.

 Another one of our stops was the Giraffe enclosure.  They are just like the giraffes at the zoo except we were right there next to them and they were looking right at us.  The most outgoing giraffe was Lucky.  He came right up to us when we got out of the van and started eating right away.  And once he started eating he did not stop until we just ran out of food.  They are amazingly strong and can yank those things right out of your hand. 

Meredith laughing up at Lucky the Giraffe when he pulled the branch of Bay Leaves out of her hand to eat, eat, eat!

Wyatt and Ryan feeding Lucky (who is a pig by the way) and pointing at one of the other Giraffes who came near us to eat.

Meredith standing close to an Okapi.

 One of our new family favorite animals is the OKAPI.  It is just a super interesting animal.  It looks like a rag-doll version of an animal.  It has a giraffe snout and a lama neck and a horse body and zebra legs and the more you look at him the more similarities to other animals you can find.  They are supposed to be super shy and they look very gentle.     

Ryan the Okapi Whisperer.  They are supposed to be super shy of humans, but here they are standing right next to Ryan.

 All around the Conservation Center there are Cheetah enclosures.  And they were very active and very curious, esp. about the kids.  I swear a few of them saw the kids in the van and really thought about hunting.   They would follow us as far as they could and try to get to us.

 I don't remember the name of this very curious looking animal.  They are so cute.  They have super skinny legs and they look almost unreal.
 

This bird is the Kasawari.  Yari took us through to see many animals and she kept telling us that she would show us the most dangerous animal at the White Oak later.  And she finally takes us to see this monster of a bird that is the most dangerous animal at White Oak.  Apparently, the staff at White Oak is allowed to to enter the homes of the the Rhinos, the Cheetahs, the Giraffes, the Zebras, the Wolves, and any other animals that I am forgetting, but hey are NOT allowed to enter the enclosure of the Kasawari.  If you can see their feet - they have huge claws and beaks and they are not afraid to use them. (The whole time Yari was talking about this bird I kept thinking about Jurassic Park and the Raptors - creepy right?).

This was a wonderful experience and the kind of day that we will remember forever,  Thank you Yari!

Meredith & Wyatt getting ready for trick or treating!

Can you guess who they are?