San Antonio Zoo Field Trip

I had the distinct pleasure of accompanying the Regents first grade classes to the Zoo in San Antonio. And by distinct - I mean I was part of an elite group of 6 parents for our collective 12 children for our class. Plus their wonderful teacher Mrs. Boyd. ;) (I'm not complaining - that ratio is awesome but also comical - two kiddos were out and we had two "extra" parents come that weren't official chaperones). 

The fieldtrip(s?) I participated in last year were all parent-driven...I'm not sure what the cut-off is for when they do a bus - or when its a sweet chartered one - but that's what we got! The kids thought the potty in the back was (of course) awesome. 

Here we are ready to go!

 They were all encouraged to bring something to keep themselves occupied on the bus (no electronics) and they were so impressive! We had kids reading, playing uno, doing word searches.

 Some silliness

 Arrival, quick snack + potty break, then off to see the animals. And of course what they stop to really look at first is a bunch of fish and maybe a turtle in a sort of drainage area.

 Can you remember going to a zoo or some place like it and being this amazed? I mean look at this precious thing!!!

 What's behind Owen that he's so excited about???

 His animal - the porcupine!!!

 Checking out some monkeys just monkeying around.

 We really had great weather - slightly overcast and later the sun broke through. It was warm but not hot. Still, all the little indoor places (aquarium, bird place, reptile house, etc.) were welcome breaks from the sun.

 I really do have a thing for elephants.

 But a real one. And by myself.

 We have been so blessed by Owen's teacher this year - she really has been the perfect match for him. We love you Mrs. Boyd! (FYI: maps are sometimes more fun than animals that don't want to make an appearance!)

 LUNCHTIME!

 Back at it.

 And then there was this guy. Usually they're all holed up in their shell in their tiny little pond and don't give you the time of day - no, no, not this one. He gave us quite a show - moving around and then stretching out his crazy long neck with crazy long tongue and going after some food!

 We're getting weary...

 Perfect time for a photo-op!

 In the reptile house - Owen made sure we went to see the anaconda.

 Our class split up at the end to catch a few things specific kids wanted to see - so not everyone made it in time for the pic on the entrance statue while we waited on the bus.

 One of my man and I.

 We had a great day - I love being a chaperone! (And thanks to Bee for coming over at 6:30 in the morning to be w/ the girls since we had to get there so early, and for Nana for hanging out with the girls the rest of the afternoon!)

Oh - I forgot to mention that one of my favorite parts of these trips is the chance to get to talk with other moms that I haven't gotten to know very well. Its especially fun to talk to the ones who have older kids - they get to tell us all about some of the trips the other grades do. Washington-on-the-Brazos, a plantation and Civil War cite in LA, NASA...Europe. Sign me up!!! :)

Half of April

I must admit I'm quite proud of myself for breaking my once-a-month-blog history and posting some things mid-month! Just some random ditties...

Owen and Nathan - buds for life

 Moooooooo!

 Some rodeo/cowboy stuff from school they insisted on taking some pictures in at pick-up one day.

 Kyle filled his smoker up with the most meat he's ever done - we were planning a big BBQ/potluck kick-off to the spring/summer First Friday Happy Hours in our 'hood just like last year. But the weather forecasters had a different idea for us...

Kyle got about 7 hours sleep over 2 nights because of a night on call plus all this meet. And then the day of the BBQ we had to make a final hour call to cancel because the weather forecast had super high chances of thunderstorms (some even said hail) from 5-7 - exactly the time we were supposed to be outside. We were so bummed, BUT we ended up having a few neighbor families over (inside) anyways - we had a great time and enjoyed the perfect weather, of course!

 Fun visit from my Booker gal Amanda - she just stopped by one evening around bedtime - even read to the girls!

 My green thumb is the palest of pale, but I have a couple of little patches I put either pansies or impatiens in. It was fun to get the kids' help this year!

 Mom even came by to help me brainstorm some potted plants I might not kill for the front porch, and most importantly, to tend to my sickly knock-out roses.

 Random floor snuggles/wrestling

 Maggie and I were out running errands one morning and the place we needed wasn't open so we stopped by Dahdo's house...knowing he might still be in bed. He was, but he let us in anyways. :)

Magie snuggling w/ Hatteras.

 Taking an important call.

 Later that day...eating ice cream for lunch.

Much later that day...asleep on the bathroom floor (at least it was bedtime)!

 Happy Half of April to You!

He is Risen!

First things first - 1 Cor 15:1-4, 19-20a

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, ² and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures...¹⁹ If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. ²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead...

He is risen, He is risen indeed!

I could preach here...but Matt does a much better job than I would. So I'll skip to the festivities. 

It's fun to have little traditions - the kids are definitely at ages where I can't get by with just doing whatever I feel like for a given holiday - because they remember last year and probably further back then that! So we started our 4-day Easter weekend with a little egg-dying at Nana's.

 The next morning we had our neighborhood's Second Annual Easter Egg Hunt at the elementary school - great turnout just like last year!  Phil giving the welcome and some instructions...

Trying to keep the kids away from the egg areas until the official start time!

The donuts were a help in that department. Rebecca was two-fisting two donuts - when she was caught she had to give one to her brother.

 Owen strategizing w/ some friends...

 The big kids were all about the hunt.

 Maggie just played on the playscape and then asked Owen to share his egg, which of course he did. Smart gal.

 Maggie was reunited w/ her friend M who has the exact same birthday - they are officially hysterical together!

 And then it was all about the loot.

 The Other Mezgers were with Mel's family this year and instead of doing the Austin rounds to see everyone we just had both sides of the family over for lunch after church. After food and Easter basket goodies we found Maggie asleep at the kitchen counter - looks like she polished off some peeps and fell asleep reading Daniel Tiger's Potty book. Sweet dreams for sure.

 This was the cleanest part of my floor.

One more time: He is risen, He is risen indeed!