Zoooooooo (Luke edition)

A couple years ago Aron and I chaperoned a trip to the zoo with Ella's first grade class.  Click here to walk back memory lane with me.  This time I was smarter and didn't ride the bus. 

The selfie: mandatory for this family

Luke plus a bunch of his classmates and teacher

Luke sitting like a goof with his back to a giant gorilla (There was glass there if you can't tell)

They walked around like this for a long time.  Too cute.

Grrrr...

Luke's in the center of the giant flower...

I was looking thru some old pictures and found this old picture circa 2008 or 2009 of Luke in the same flower.  Jeanne, do you remember this little pair of little boys? 

 

Dance Recital 2013

Ella participated in her 7th (7th!!) dance recital recently.  She was super cute as evidenced below.  I'm a big meanie and only let her take one class a year.  She decided to switch things up a bit by doing tumbling this year (think handstands, cartwheels, and back walkovers set to music) instead of ballet.  She says she's not sure what class she'll do next year.

 

See?  Total cuteness.

 

Full length cuteness.

 

Go away, Poppy.

 

Did he go away yet?

Yeah, this is the lady I wanted to sit by (not Poppy)

Loves me some Gram.

Mud Run

Ella and Luke have started going to my friend's house on Wednesdays after school.  One recent Wednesday, I walked in her back yard to find this:

 

Check out the two pairs of legs sticking out from his back.

Can you figure out why they love going to her house?

Taking One For the Team

The time finally came for the event Luke has been waiting for...

 

BOY SCOUT CAMPING TRIP!

 

Aron took Luke camping with his Boy Scout troop group tribe friends last weekend.  He had a blast!  (And by "he" I mean Luke!).  There were s'mores, campfires, tents, sleeping bags, hot dogs, fishing, Star Wars flashlight wars, and all kinds of other little boy excitement.  Apparently, it is a tradition for the entire troop group tribe bunch of scouts to camp together at the local state park. They swarm into the park en masse at 5:30 and have a "leave no trace" policy when you're done.  You know, it was like Burning Man but with scouts instead of hippies.

 

Aron and Luke's humble home for the night.

Luke with the clump of camping tents in the background.



I have taught Luke well.  He is master of the selfie just
like his mom.

Yup, still doing the selfie.

Not sure why he took this pic but that's
his grubby little hand by the water thingy.

Not sure why he took this one either.  That's his finger, though.

It's always exciting when you get your own clip.

He apparently really enjoyed this water thingy.

Luke's in the middle getting hands on instrux.

They practiced how to fish for 2 hours.  Seriously.  2 HOURS they practiced yet
the kids never got bored.  Luke is in the foreground with the blue sunglasses and brown
 t-shirt on.  He stayed with the group in the beginning but was then placed into remedial
casting with special one-on-one attention.  Only the "special scouts" got
this extra help.  "Special"

After the 2 hours were up, the boys were allowed
to fish.

Ella got in on it a little but I can't say she loved it.

Check out his tongue (click to enlarge if needed)

I wish I was a little bit taller............I wish I was a baller..............

This guy was born a rocknrolla.  We were in the car the other night waiting for Ella to finish up with her softball practice and he asked to turn on the radio.  He hopped up into the front seat with me and started dancing around.  This guy certainly knows how to entertain his mom.

 

"This is my rock and roll pose,
Mom"

"This is me playing my guitar, Mom"

"Hey, get a picture of my butt
while you're at it."

Hazel update

Readers may recall that on Valentine's Day 2013 we had a new family member arrive in our home.  I'm glad to say that Hazel has been fitting in well with us.  Her limp from the injured leg does not slow her down at all.  She can usually be found snuggling on a lap or right beside you while you're on a couch.

 

Her only drawback is that she likes to root around in the trash like you would expect from a dog.  She always has food available in our house so I would guess that her previous owners either didn't care if she found her dinner in the trash or that scraps were her dinner.  Poor Hazel.

 

She was also recently spayed by our vet.  Hazel and Ella were both displeased about her lack of uterus/ovaries and reduction in baby kitten making capability.

 

Seriously cute.

Yup still cute as a button.

Kitties love clean laundry.

Cute-tastic.

Remember the sewing class Ella took?

Wel, I forgot to post about the second session.  For the second session, Ella made a pillow case.

Here's Ella sewing her pillow case.

 

Here's her buddy, Kaylene, along with her Mom, Kortney.

The finished products (Kaylene on left, Ella on right)

Kaylene and her mom!

I can guarantee you this pillow case
will go with her to college that's
how much she loves it.