Lions and Tigers and Giraffes

Oh My!

Last week ended up being a fairly busy week.  On Wednesday we went to the zoo.  September-October is, in my opinion, the best time to visit zoos- no field trips, kids are in school, it's not blazing hot so you are comfortable and the animals are comfortable.  We even lucked out and got an overcast day in the 70's.  woot woot. In general, I'm not much of an animal lover and Glen Oak zoo is plenty big for me, especially with small children in tow, but it was a lot of fun.

 We met Mom and Donna there for Lunch.  Checking out the tigers.

 Inside the Budgie cage... so cool.

Just a little bit smaller than a rhino.

 The new baby giraffe was hanging out outside.  So little, and yet, still so big!

 The lions weren't out yet for the day and Cecily really, really wanted to see them so we spent a little time waiting and playing on the playground.  We got home and Emmy was sad she didn't get to finish her kitchen.  Haha. 

We found the lions!  

 Cadence pretty much dozed on and off the whole afternoon.  Somehow the girls came home with more stuffed animals... even though I declared a moratorium on stuffed things a while ago.  Emmy though Cadence needed to have her giraffe.

 Cecily was begging for a pet... Bob heard about these butterflies from a coworker, so these were her "pets" for a week or so.  They came as caterpillars and we got to watch them form chrysalises and then they emerged!  We ended up with four painted lady butterflies from the original 5 caterpillars.  They have since been released, they could only come up with two names- 'Timothy' and 'Emmy'.

I took the girls to lapsit at the library... they've been singing, 'head, shoulders, knees and toes' ever since.
 We hadn't made homemade ice cream this year... and I hadn't made skillet cookies since college... and they both sounded really good... soooo....

They turned out really well.  Sort of spur of the moment/ last minute, I texted some people who I never see because I'm in the baby room all day on Sundays... so Marci, Jason & Anita, and Michael & Holly came over and helped us eat all the unhealthy deliciousness.  Our girls were wild and obnoxious.  *sigh*  Why is it that they always say/do the most awkward/disobedient things when you aren't close enough to stop them/put your hand over their mouths?  Our guests were probably more than ready to get back to their nice quiet houses... 
Harvest started and Dad texted me a picture of a tractor, stuck in the mud...  Emmy asked to see it constantly so I printed it for her.  "Jakey's tractor stuck in mud!  It dirty! Grandpa will help him get it out!" 

After school on Friday, we were ready for a quiet weekend.  I have a feeling that getting Christmas card pictures is going to be ... interesting... again this year.

This week has been pretty quiet.  Other than our normal grocery trip (plus a Big R stop for Copper Sulfate for lab- it's sold out everywhere else because it's a seasonal product, who knew?) we didn't do much until Thursday.  We headed to the farm for the afternoon because Shelly wanted me to help her with a baby quilt.  The girls swam and played with Gus.

While we slaved away in the sewing dining room.  We copied a quilt from Land of Nod that isn't available anymore... but simplified it into half square triangles.  Shells wasn't sure if she trusted me... hehe.

Cadence slept all afternoon, which was great. 

We ended up eating supper with Mom and Shelly and Jake... and the girls got to take Grandpa supper in the field.  And Shelly and I caught a frog and then we almost let it loose in the house.  Ha.  There was much shrieking. 

We got the top pieced... and then I took my tired girls home to bed.  

We managed to get out the door on time for school- minor miracle.  And we did our first lab!  So scary.  They used their alcohol burners to heat up and then recrystallize copper sulfate from solution. Open flames, church kitchen, teenagers doing their first chem lab... it's a wonder I slept that night.  At least the fire extinguisher is readily available.  It went well.  They all got it to work, which makes lab so much more fun.  And there were no unintentional fires.  Plus, I got to wear my lab coat, green safety glasses, and nitrile gloves which always makes for a happy day.  

I sort of kind of enjoy the safety lecture... talking about Willy the Chemist... Willy is no more, what Willy thought was H2O was H2SO4... and poor Carol... Carol didn't wear her safety glasses, now she doesn't need them.  And if you are on fire, stop drop and roll!  We don't have an eyewash station, but.... if you get something in your eyes find a sink and I WILL hold your eyelids open under the water for 15 minutes while we wait for paramedics.  Haha.  Most of it is overkill for this class, but it keeps them on their toes and it's good practice for any future lab classes.  
Blessings.