Ft. Worth Zoo Trip

On our most recent trip to Ft. Worth, we took
Connor to the zoo. We wanted to take Kayleigh also,
but I was under no allusions we could corral
three kids! I am glad she is too young to
feel left out, because I sure felt like a heel!

The kids were first greeted by the gorillas.
They were especially sassy that day, and very
active (the gorillas, not the kids!)

He kept turning around and giving us the back,
then he'd turn back around!

It took a few minutes to determine if the
rhino was real or not.
He finally moved & rearranged himself.
He was definitely enjoying the cool water!

This tiger was slapping the tree.

Billy goats Gruff!!

The birds were very exciting to the kids,
especially since they could feed them. I had
never seen a pink parakeet!

I picked Connor up and put him on the rock
wall and several birds enjoyed a
hand fed snack.

Royanne's jumped on the stick as she was moving it and
the bird didn't seem the least bit apprehensive.
Annie was shrieking with joy, of course!

I think that bird wanted to go home with us.

Guess who wants a bird now?

They were kissing.

Golden Kangaroo

Such a boy!

Royanne enjoyed riding the train Bruce
made Connor while we were there.

*

Cowgirl On A Truck

Kiddie Acres

Royanne wasn't able to go to Tanner's birthday
party at Kiddie Acres because we were at the
family reunion in Rockport, so we were
inspired to go when we got back.
We made a pit stop at Mickey D's because
we were an hour early for the park.

The girls patiently waiting for their snack.

Liam assured me his name was Arnold, NOT
Ronald.

Royanne has really started to use a fake
smile lately!

Kids' version of a Ferris Wheel.

Merry go round with Mimi.

"Driving" an airplane! ......

Liam, too.

Take off!

The boats went in a little tight circle.
Was it too babyish for Abby? She's not
very happy at the moment!

Bruce had to be at work, and he was sure sorry
to miss Royanne's first time on a horse.
She was a bit apprehensive in the beginning.

Here she is a bit more relaxed.

Loving it!

Liam was an old pro.

Abby found this to her liking.
Royanne had been so excited while she
waited in line, Abby and Liam had let her go first.

Liam inherited his big brother's love of Army
soldiers and toys and insisted on having the
"Army jeep".

Waiting for the train ride.

"All aboard!"

The Things She Says!

"You do that; I don't want to do that,
I tir-red. I don't want to do that either."


"I take shirt off. I don't want to get
blueberries on it!"
(Have I already made her paranoid about my
strong displeasure with stains?)


She was eating a homemade blueberry muffin and I
gave her some milk and then 3 weenies. She said,
"Weenies! that's nice!"


Me: "Before your next dance class we have to
practice the spider walk, the mouse
dance and 'I'm a Little Teapot'."
Annie: "Sounds great!"


When we were at Denny's eating, Bruce was
looking for the assistant manager, and he
came back and said, "I saw him, but I lost him."
Royanne said, "Oh no! What happened?"


I was singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'
to her and she said me,
"What twinkle mean, momma?"
and I told her. Then later, in the song,
"What's diamond mean, momma?"


We were watching her new favorite movie,
The Wizard of Oz, and she asked me
"What rust mean, momma?"
(the tin man)

"What sissy mean, momma?"
(the lion)

"Those are poppies. Now they will
go to sleep."

"Glenda is my favorite."

Right before they discovered the wizard was a man
behind the curtain, there was green smoke and flashes
of fire, and she said,
"How'd they do that?"

She noticed when the horse changed colors!




One of those silly kids' CDs was playing,
and there was a song about fish and mussels.
She said, "What mussels mean, momma?"
I told her both definitions (mussels and muscles)
and I think she understood!


After church she was walking down the
sidewalk singing, "God bless me!"
over and over.

*

Rockport 2009

Well, we didn't take pictures this year at Rockport.
That would be because I broke the prongs on the camera
where it accepts the card. I only took a few with my
phone and these were the best two. I was really
disappointed, because we were going to make
sure to always take a picture of her every
year on the bay in the
same spot, with the same tree. Then we could see
her grow, you know. Oh well,....

The first 3 feet or so of the bay was full of long grass
and she disliked it and it also had squishy mud.
She refused to walk along the water. Later on, when
she had on her swimsuit, I convinced her to
wade out past the grass. I guess it was in this
condition because of all of the rain. I know it
was a terrible week for mosquitoes!
The kids were screaming every time we went
outside. Only the wind would keep them away. Two
big stores ran out of bug spray,
and we found there were only 6
cans left at the drugstore. We bought 2 of them.

Liam, Abby and Royanne had fun later
on playing in the sand. You just had to
catch it when the wind was blowing.
Royanne has over 20 bites. I carried her wrapped in
a beach towel a few times to keep them off of her.
I thought I had about 35 bites, but ended up
with over 50!

Home Hair Cut

Crooked bangs!

Heart Doctor

Remember when Royanne was in the hospital
back in February due to a very high & unexplained
fever and they found out she had a kidney
infection? She developed a heart murmur because
of the high fever and we had to go back for a
follow up to rule out that there was
any permanent damage. We were assured that
the murmur was brought on by the fever - which
is common, I learned - and that she is perfectly
healthy.

She absolutely loved this wall, so while we waited
for the EKG, I took her picture.

Here she is being so brave. Her eyes were wide,
but she never cried or flinched or refused to
cooperate. I guess that is uncommon. She got
a lot of praise for it!

Rainy Day

September 13 it was rainy off and on and
Annie wanted to go outside. It was warm,
so we did. The wagon was full of
rain water, so she had a big time.

She began by splashing in the
rain water.

She tried to use the hose nozzle but
gave up and threw it on the ground.

Shortly, her knit pants were wet almost
all the way to her hips.

An offering of potting spoil, soon to be mud!

I never saw her sit, but her tush is wet.

Scoping out the wall - I had no idea
what she was about to be up to.

She's building a house, like the three pigs.

Now the entire bottom of the wagon has
dirt in it.

Wash up!