Thursday, June 30, 2011

St Louis Zoo

With Jason's busy schedule we've been trying to make the best of the days off that he has and we recently decided that it was about time our boys get to visit the "big" zoo. We made the trip to St. Louis (roughly 2 hours) and it was well worth it.

Here Kyle is having quite the conversation with a large fish.
Oh, that large grayish lump behind the glass is NOT a rock.... it's a hippo! Just lounging there.
MOM! Look at the fish! (No, he didn't really say that. It was more like, "Eh! Ooooo! Ah!)
Kyle was pretty stylish "wearing" his sunglasses. As Zach would say, "My sunglasses tect (protect) my Eyes from the sun"
Kyle thought these Stalactites were pretty hysterical.
We rode the train.... several times.
Yup, there we are again. Riding the train.
Oh ya, Kyle and I were there to.
Zach was a bit apprehensive about riding the Merry-go-round.
"Ummmm..... what's gonna happen?"
He warmed up to it pretty quick once it got going.
(Sorry, had to show off my man a bit. Good lookin' guy, right?)
I know this one's dark. Haven't got my photoshop up and running again yet. If you can't see him, Zach is thoroughly enjoying himself.
I wish I could see inside Kyle's head to know what he's thinking. I love his expression here. Very matter-of-fact. "See dad, this is a bear. It's a bit larger than the one I snuggle with at home. But it still has plenty of soft fur. And he appears to enjoy swimming......"
We also got to enjoy the Seal show.
Riveting. (Actually, I don't think it had started yet. Kyle was just chowing a fruit leather and Jason was trying not to get slimed)
I have about 30 pictures of Kyle that are very similar to this. It seemed like he was always directing traffic or pointing out some very important object/creature.
This is Zach doing a surprisingly accurate rendition of my little brother Creed. (Currently serving a mission. But this is still how I remember him. Luv You Creed!)
There's Kyle showing his leadership skills again. "This, family, is a super tall, long necked who-see-ma-what's-it. Oh.... a giraffe then.
Funny Story:
As we were looking at the giraffes, a family came up next to us and the mom was pointing out the giraffes to her kids. She made the mistake of calling them zebras. I didn't really notice, but Zach sure did!
He leaped into action. Immediately correcting the woman for her mistake and then getting right in her little boy's face to make sure he understood. "That is NOT a zebra! That is a giraffe!" The woman apologized profusely while choking down giggles at Zach's reaction to her "terrible" mistake. Even as we walked away he was still muttering under his breath, "that lady said it was a zebra but it's NOT, it's a giraffe!"

Smart Kid
Oh, and we just HAD to ride the train one more time while Kyle was sleeping. And visit the penguins. (so that he could make one more attempt at convincing me we needed to buy the school bus we saw in the gift shop next door)
Long Day, Fun Day,

loved.every.minute.


(for the most part)

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Brothers having fun

I love that even at such a young age, my boys are best buddies.

They sit and watch movies together,
We bought the second identical rocking chair from a friend at her garage sale because the boys were always wrestling over who got to sit in the one.

Zach masterminds all kinds of adventures,
Like building "Damns" out of couch cushions while wearing only diapers,
Kyle routinely puts himself in timeout. Non of us really know what he thinks he's done wrong.
And they are always happy to smile for dad (only dad) when he brings out the camera after making a yummy french toast breakfast.

(He's doing his best impression of a "perfect angel" We all know better!)

New hiding spot

Kyle has recently discovered a new hiding spot. Well, he seems to think he's hiding anyway. He climbs under Zach's high chair and then peeks out from between the legs as though they were bars to a cage. I love how this picture caught him with his tongue sticking out, as it tends to do when he's concentrating really hard.

On Demand

Jason requested that I get some pictures on the blog so that he could have something to show people at work so here goes nothin'

For father's day the boys and I made Jason some special portraits. They haven't found the perfect hanging spot as of yet but I still think they turned out really cute. Zach picked out the colors and each boy did his own painting. (Well, Kyle had a little bit of help) All the while that Zach was painting he kept saying "Dad is gonna LOVE this" under his breath. It was pretty cute.
In order to get the silhouettes I tried to hunt down pictures of the boys that would work. I found one of Kyle but I had to request Zach to model for me. I did get some decent profile shots but I couldn't help but love the ones that turned out a bit more like this...
Gotta love that kid.