Hogle Zoo Here We Come........

Yep! It's time for another Birthday Celebration Date! It seems like we finish up with one of our grandkids, just in time for another one. We really look forward to this special time spent with our little ones. It is Brayden's TURN!!!

We went to pick him up at his home and he was ready to go. Gloves, boots, coat and all. We were heading for the Hogle Zoo. The weather has been really crazy lately. We never know what to expect. So he was prepared for anything!

One of the things the grandkids look forward to, and it has now become a tradition, is to watch Papa Howie's DVD player on the way to where ever we are traveling to. Once we came to pick up him in MY car and he was soooo bummed out. NO MOVIE!!!

As we were driving he started saying " I really, really, really LOVE this Robinson Movie! I really do!" He was being so dang cute so I decided to video tape him. I love his response when I ask him what his favorite part of the movie is. :) This kid loves his picture taken and is constantly asking for me to take one of him. He is a cutie!

Cheeezin' it at the Hogle Zoo!

We're here....YEAH!

Bet ya can't guess what we did first!

We took a train ride! For all of you that don't know this, "Jack-Jack" loves trains. I was a little concerned when I told him earlier that there was a train at the zoo- because he instantly thought it was Thomas the Train. Our last outing with the kids to the circus was really hard at first because Jack had it in his mind that he was going to see Thomas there! I was really afraid that it trip to the zoo was going to be a REPEAT! Lots of disappointment and tears.

NOPE! He was great! He really enjoyed himself and he was all smiles until the conductor of the train asked him if he would like to sit on the front of the train and get a picture. He was like... "NO WAY! Get me away from this stranger!"

At least the conductor had a nice smile on his face.

Playground Fun....

Be careful Jack....HE LOOKS HUNGRY!

Howie is a DARE DEVIL! Don't try this one at home!!!

The slide looked like fun to Brayden.....

Weeeeeeeeee!

Grandma "T" is coming out of her shell!

Peek a Boo!

YIKES! A giant spider is after me!

I think that Howie should look into becoming a dentist. He always seems to be sticking his head into some animal's mouth. First the crocodile- Now this lion!

Brayden was actually too afraid to do it. He wouldn't even come close. That was pretty funny because I think he thought that Howie would get hurt or something. Not sure.

Time to See the Animals.....

Papa Howie and Jack-Jack used there muscles to do this puzzle.

He's such a stud! Look how strong he is!

He enjoyed these displays and wanted to play with them a ton-but I was anxious to get inside some of the exhibits to get out of the rain and see the animals.

This monkey had a "If looks could kill - You'd be dead" expression on his face. I wonder what goes through these animals minds as they see all of the people pass by and stare. Like..."What are you starin' at? Get a life and LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Brayden loved the monkeys......

I really like this picture. This monkey would just watch Brayden and move along the window to follow wherever he went. He seemed almost hypnotised by Jack.

It was funny when we entered this area and Jack saw this monkey he said, "EEWWWW is that his BUTT? " When I told him YES he said, "That's why it is so stinky in here!" "Let's get out of here fast!"

It was a huge disappointment in regards to the animals outside. They were all either asleep or no where to be seen. Papa Howie lifted Brayden up to get a closer look at the SLEEEEEPING BEAR! I guess it is still too cold for him and he is still in hibernation! :(

The penguins were out and about.

I think they love this cold wet weather.

Just checkin' things out down there.....

WHOA! DO I see what I think I see? Jack must be pretty thirsty to even come close to this lion. We couldn't bribe him enough to get this close earlier. Too bad the water was turned off. URRRG!

Hey Jack if you just open your mouth really wide and look up to the sky you can get a drink from the stupid (Ooooops-Naughty word if you ask the kids) RAIN! It won't stop. Lots of the irritating drizzle rain! Not enough to get drenched- just enough to bug me! Washington rain here in Utah. YUCK!!!

Time to head to the giraffes.... Lift me up Papa so I can be as tall as them.

Lunch time.....

We watched him eat with his long purple tongue!

That Giraffe has NOTHIN' on me!

My tongue is much longer than his! SEEE!

Rain Rain GO AWAY....We are here and we want to PLAY!

Look how tall I am Grandma T.......

Back inside to see the reptiles. He especially loved the snakes.

Most of the other animals like the elephants, tigers, gorillas, zebras were not out today. But we had a fun time with the animals that we DID see. Brayden ran from one display to the next. For several hours he did not slow down. We had a hard time keeping up with him. Tons of energy!

Carousel Animals......

We got several tickets for the carousel ride along with our admittance tickets. This gave him a chance to see different animals which we missed seeing outside. He wanted to go on the zebra first. It was fun to stand beside him and see the excitement in his face as the animals moved up and down and we went round and round. He absolutely loved it.

He got to go on the carousel three different times. I enjoyed watching him ride around with Howie. Steve always makes him laugh. Jack-Jack couldn't decide which animal to ride so basically he would switch seats during the ride so he could try them all!

LET'S GO AGAIN!

As we were going to see the elephant display Howie decided to put him up on top of this Rhino. It doesn't move up and down like the animals on the Carousel :(

I have a picture of Jack on this same Rhino when he was just a little baby and we came with April. Who gave this kid permission to grow up anyway! He is growing up WAY TOO FAST!

It was time to go.... It was finally pouring down rain pretty bad. Notice no one else is anywhere around. We are the only people checking out the animals in this storm. This elephant makes noise when you pass by or touch it. Brayden would go up to it and give it a swift KICK! Then it would either sneeze or make that big elephant roaring sound. Brayden loved it. He didn't want to leave. As for me, I was heading for cover. Actually I was heading for the gift shop before it closed to get a souvenier for Jack. Poor Howie got soaked as he tried to talk Brayden into leaving the zoo.

Notice the parking lot. I think the only other car there besides ours was the zoo keeper. He had to wait for us to leave before he could lock up! We had a good WET time!

What was I thinking when I bought this gift for him?

It was a roaring tiger filled with candy. The candy part was okay but we had to listen to this tiger roar for hours that night. NONE STOP! There was NOT a turn off button and Brayden loved the sound of it. The mouth would open and close as it roared so he would stick his tongue in it so the lion would BITE IT! He thought he was pretty funny!

"Ouch! He just bit my tongue!"

Heading home to dry out and eat.

I love the way he gets so absorbed into the movie. I don't think he blinked the entire way home. That DVD is a great babysitter. Just kidding. When we are with the kids- we are WITH the kids. We take advantage of every moment we have with them. We don't need a movie to babysit him.

Home at Last....

Hey, where is Jack????

We had Zoo plates to eat our dinner on. Brayden chose to be the alligator. He also chose to eat PIZZA! Does that surprise anyone! Not me. This boy loves it.

He also chose to eat on a blanket in the middle of my kitchen floor. For some reason the grandkids think that is a special treat or something. Like maybe we are having a picnic or something.

A HUGE piece of pizza for our growing boy!

We also had strawberries.

He kept saying "I love 'em, I really, really love 'em!"

Building Time.....

When we got home he noticed a big green box on my table. I had bought this gift a while ago for a possible Christmas gift. I had it out and forgot to return it back up to the attic before we left for the day. He was NOT suppose to see it because we had decided on a different gift to give him for his B-Day.

But as soon as his eyes made contact with it he was determined to talk us into opening it up so he could play with it. I have a really hard time saying no to my grandkids especially when they say, "Guess what Grandma T....I LOVE YOU" and then a second later he is staring me down with his baby blue eyes and his cute smile saying...."Please Grandma T can I play with this. I really, really want to play with it! PLEEEAAAASE!"

Oh well, I gave in and I am so glad I did.

Brayden loved it and worked on his creations for almost two hours!

We had fun playing together and I was really impressed how he would construct these characters just from the pictures on the board. I had to make my own and he wanted to create his ALL BY HIMSELF!

This was his robot and he needed everything to be "Just Right"

As he would construct these he would compare it to the picture and then make the necessary adjustment to make it matchup perfectly.

It was very interesting to watch this little 4 year old brain in action. He is a really bright little guy. He is always making some new invention when he comes to my home so this toy (which is staying at our home to add to our toy collection) will entertain him for many years to come. Now we just have to explain to him how he needs to share with 3 other kids! That will be a tough one!

It was kind of nice that this new toy goes along with the activity we did with Jack today. They have zoo animals and a train track that you can play on. It all fold up nicely into a box to store it. Here he is making a giraffe.

This kid is in HEAVEN!

TaDaaaaaa!

Painting Time......

I got this painting easel several years ago and I just don't pull it out enough. Jack has never had the chance to paint with it yet so I thought this would be a perfect time. I love the fact that everytime he is concentrating on something, his little mouth is either opened up wide or his tongue is hanging out. Very cute!

His first masterpiece!

Wow! What a perfect number "2". Notice the mouth :)

Of course his picture needs a big bright yellow sun!

Here he is showing off his work of art!

Papa Howie decided to paint a picture of what happened today at Hogle Zoo. Hey I like the rainstorm you painted. Just glad I am home now, all warm and DRY!

Nice tiger Papa Howie!

Brayden showing off his new little friend AGAIN!

Crazy Papa Howie....

About two years ago we were painting with the girls and Howie came downstairs and suggested that they paint on HIM! Karah had a BALL as she used his face as a canvas. She was all giggles. Well Howie decided to see how Brayden would react to the idea of painting on his face. At first he was not sure at all! I think he thought we wanted him to paint on his own face cuz he said "My mom will be mad!" "She won't let me do that"

Once he realized that it was Papa's face that he would be painting on he was more open to the idea. He was still a little apprehensive at first. Look at his face of concern. Like, "Am I going to be in trouble for this?"

Before too long he was really getting into it. Look at the excitement on his face. He was really having a great time!

Hey Jack, you missed a spot!

Blue and yellow make green. A GREEEEN mustache! YIKES!

He is really concentrating to make sure he covers Steve's ENTIRE face. Ears and all!

I love these videos below.... cute kid!

I love listening to his squeals of laughter. I think it is so funny how he reacts when he thinks Howie is going to kiss him. He quickly puts down the paintbrush and "high tails it outa there"

Jack is captured by the MONSTER and is sooooo afraid he is going to get KISSED! Notice the sheer look of terror on his face. Heck if Brayden doesn't want a kiss.....I DO! I will distract Papa while you make your escape, Jack-Jack!

Hey! How did I get all of this paint on my face????

This colorful monster is a GRRRREAT kisser :)

I am so lucky to have such a fun lovin' man in my life.....

He can smear paint on my face any ole day!

As soon as Brayden escaped from the arms of this monster he promptly ran upstairs to get his "ROARING" Tiger. Hey I thought I hid that thing :)

He said , "Now I am protected from this scary monster."

"Look out! My Lion will get you!"

RRRROOOOAAARRRR!

Time for Bed......

Winding down with Papa Howie....

It is impossible to go to bed without a bedtime story.....

Time to just snuggle, settle down, an get ready for the end of an enjoyable day. We keep these kids up WAAAAY too long but I just can't get enough of them. We start playing and the time goes by way too fast. Before you know it our time together has come to an end. SAD :(

Poor guy is just exhausted.....

After prayers he had to make sure his new little robot was snuggled in right beside him. He had to have the blankets on the robot "just right" so that he will be able to sleep okay.

NO KIDDING..... not even 3 seconds and he was OUT!!!!

He closed his eyes and did NOT MOVE!

Good night my little buddy. We had fun with you today!

Gooood Morning......

Brayden was up bright and early Sunday morning. We generally play and have a great time before church but this was Easter and I had a house full of people coming later that day so I was busy cooking and preparing for my company. I think he got jipped out of some time with us. I will never plan a family party the same weekend that we have the grandkids over because I like to give them my UNDIVIDED attention the entire time they are visiting. I want it to be Special for just them. So sorry Jack. We will make it up to you.

He had fun playing with the balloon rocket and his new robot toy

He is a very patient kid. He worked for quite some time to get this balloon attached to the pump. It is hard even for me but he wanted to do it all by himself.

"See Grandma T I told you I could do it!"

After he was all ready for church I decided to get some pictures of him with the Easter Bunny Pinata we got from Rosarito. I love that smile on his face. What a CUTE kid! I love his little personality.

As I was explaining what you do with a pinata and how it is filled with candy he had a look of concern on his face. He kept just stroking it's face and the ruffles on the skirt.

Then he picked up the bat and said, "Grandma "T" I can't hit this bunny. " I asked him why and his response was "Because it is a girl and we don't hit girls! " I thought that was so cute that he was so concerned for this little "girl" bunny. He needs to teach that concept to all men out there. Never hit girls!!!

I will be posting videos and pictures from our Easter Party next and I thought it was absolutely HILARIOUS how he attacks the poor bunny. I think once he started hitting the bunny with the bat he forgot all about what "sex" that bunny was. He about ripped it to pieces. What a SWING!

We went to church and then came home for our Easter party.

Next time Buddy, you will have us all to yourself.

We had sooo much fun with you.

Lots of great memories which we will always cherish!

We love you Jack-Jack!

Happy 4th B-Day!