A Sunny Warm Day!!!!

We were excited to have a sunny warm day last Saturday. We actually were wearing short sleeves and no jackets. Hurray!!!!!!! Break out the sunscreen!
We started out the day watching a soccer game of Leilani's. Hailey came with us so Kim could get some stuff done around the house.

Leilani played a good soccer game.

The other kids decided that they were going to play too


Then the kids got sidetracked at the playground on the way back to the car.
They had a good time on the swings...
and of course the slides.
And then they wanted to swing again.

And then back to the slides.

Nobody wanted to leave.
The kids thought it was cool when they saw a rabbit under the play structure.
It turned out to be a pet rabbit that was out for some exercise with its owner.

It was a really fun way to start the day. We even got some yard work done later in the afternoon. It was sunny and warm all day long. Too bad it didn't last.

We Like Mike!

Okay, we really like both Mike and Alicia, but the title didn't sound as good if I added "and Alicia" to it. I know she will forgive me.


We had a lot of fun with Mike and Alicia while they were here. Besides taking two of my kids to Wildlife Safari, Mike joined the family together to play Nintendo. He even had Mom playing Mario Party with the rest of the gang - and my mom doesn't do Nintendo! (He and Mom in fact beat the rest of us) My girls live for Mike to come so they can play Super Smash Brothers with him, and Benjamin enjoyed playing Harry Potter with Mike. I think it all boils down to the fact that they love attention, and Mike and Alicia give them attention.

They were able to find time to visit Todd's family in Monmouth and to go shooting with Chris and Kelly too. Not a very relaxing vacation, I guess, but we all enjoyed seeing them.

A Surprise Trip To Wildlife Safari

Mike and Alicia came to visit this past week. They decided to go to Wildlife Safari on Tuesday (apparently Tuesday is Bi-mart two for one day at Wildlife Safari) and invited Elisabeth to go with them. I normally do not let my siblings take my children places without me (probably comes from being the oldest and still seeing them as little kids?), but for some reason I decided to let her go. I even surprised my mom on that one, she was sure I wouldn't let them go (based on past experience, I'm sure!) Since it was two for one day, someone got really brave and suggested I let Emilyanne go too. I knew she would love it, so I called school and told them her dad was coming to pick her up. She was very surprised and VERY excited to go.
Having threatened Mike and Alicia sufficiently about any harm happening to my precious children, I let them leave for their little adventure. (Mind you, I wouldn't even let Mike take them to the movies last time he was here...so this was all new) They had a lot of fun and saw tons of animals.
Turkeys...
Zebras...

Elk, Buffalo (Bison) and Yaks...
I haven't been to Wildlife Safari since Leilani was about two, so some of these animals are new to me. I can't believe that it is an hour and 1/2 away and we never take our kids there.
Emily was very excited to see this porcipine. She didn't know they were that big or that they could climb trees.
Mike the little sheep.
Alicia (giraffe), Elisabeth and Emily in the jungle.
They let you drive through twice. So they saw rhinos...
more Elk....
They went through the petting zoo, animal cages, museum and gift shop. Generous Uncle Mike and Aunt Alicia bought a necklace for each of the girls and brought one home for Leilani too!

They saw Bears...
a Mountain Goat and many other animals.

It was a fun day. The girls couldn't stop talking about it for the next few days, and they loved being with Mike and Alicia all by themselves.

Soccer Season Begins

As gymnastic season ends, spring soccer begins.
Leilani is not a soccer star, but she has her moments and she LOVES the sport.

Her father and grandparents would like her to be a little more aggressive in her play.

She reminds me a lot of my soccer days, except I'm sure she must be better than I was. I would never have had the courage to play goalie.
I would have been too worried about my face. :)
Actually, I worry about her face too. Getting a soccer ball to the face hurts! So far it hasn't left any marks, though.

It was soooooo cold at Leilani's first soccer game on Saturday.

The kids found an extra soccer ball to kick around (Benjamin is actually pretty good at dribbling), so they stayed warm by running around and then wrapping up in a blanket.

The rest of us were just cold. I'm kind of glad that Emily decided not to play this season. One less game to freeze through. It sure would be nice if spring would come before summer hits.
I took some video clips with my mom's camera. They aren't great, but they aren't long either.

The poor child has so many people yelling at her. Great expectations I guess.