Zoo Fun in January

In the middle of January, the kids and I went on a field trip to the zoo.  It is great to be able to pick out a nice, warm day in winter to go to the zoo for some learning, exercise, and fun!

One of the orangutans and Catherine checked each other out.

Sometimes when you go through the Australia section, the cute little wallabies are everywhere!

Wallaroo close-up.

 A stop to check our wing spans.

We got to the Giant Anteater exhibit in time to see a new anteater being introduced to the the resident anteater.  The male kept trying to get the female's attention and she was having none of it.  At times, it looked like they were fighting!

Giant Anteaters are curious creatures.

Kids lined up to look at the rhinoceros.

Rhino close-up.

The Caracal, an African wildcat that can jump quite high.

Anthony loves this little lion.

Everyone is looking at the camera!

The Red Pandas, animals we rarely see when we are at the zoo.

The tiger found water to drink.

It was fun to watch the tiger walking on the ice.  I thought for sure he would break through!

Amur Leopard.

Lots of birds!

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam...

...where the deer and the antelope play!

Frozen river.

Can you say snuggling tortoises?

January Snow With A New Kind of Fun

After it snowed in the beginning of January, the kids got this idea for a new kind of sledding.  New, at least, for them.  Our hill is not huge, so high speeds were not reached with this activity.  Thus, I was able to watch, taking pictures and videos without freaking out!  :)

There goes Anthony, standing on the sled.

Dominic looked like a surfer, or at least, a snowboarder.

And a crash!

Joseph's turn.

What is this little face saying?

Anne posed while, behind her, Catherine went for it.

Anne was ready to try.

I think Catherine was having a good time.

Ooh, now for the duo challenge.

In this first short video, Anthony needed a little assist:

Joseph's turn:

Not all trips ended standing:

Backwards somersault, anyone?

Three kids down for the count:

At last, success!

The Last Days of 2014

Anthony and Dominic show off the puzzle the kids and I finished on the day after Christmas.

"Oh, my goodness, this puzzle was full of crazy pieces!"

A great puzzle for Christmas.

That afternoon it was time to try out the new croquet set, given to the kids by Dan's mom.

Dominic was ready to whack that ball.

Anne lined up her shot.

Two days later, Dan's brother and his family came over for Christmas fun.

Fun with cousins.

The girls have so much fun together.

Our little goddaughter.

Kids opened their new Foosball table from their aunt and uncle.

Boys all got lumps of coal (really chocolate, but it was funny).

The next day, Daddy put the Foosball table together.

Learning how to play.

The kids have gotten really good at it (way better than me!).

The next day, Anne went shopping with Daddy, and they stopped at a coffeehouse for a treat.

Miscellaneous

One Sunday in January, Dan's nieces came for a babysitting sleepover.

Evelyn and Anthony, aka Robin and Batman.

Isabella and Olivia found out it is a bit hard to catch chickens.

The hair-do chain.

The girls learned to make cookies by themselves:

Anthony was waiting for his chance to swipe some cookie dough!

One afternoon the boys got into a cutting paper frenzy:

At least they only cut up what I told them they could!

One day in February, the kids went out to play in the snow and decided to bury Anthony.

Mount Anthony!

He couldn't move.

They had a hard time digging him out.