Durham Life and Science Museum

It's spring break we need stuff to do this week. So we went to the Life and Science museum with a couple of Ava friends from preschool. The place is super fun and we didn't even see it all this time. We spent the whole time outside because it was such a gorgeous day outside!

The noisiest part of the trip was this. The give the kids wood sticks and let them bang on stuff that makes lots of noise. Wind chimes, fire extinguishers,

and dust pans.
I think Brie was taking out her aggression on this particular wind chime.
Amanda was channeling her inner Jamaican beating this drum. She kind of looks Jamaican to me, only white.
Next was the butterfly house. There were these beautiful spring flowers in front of it and I thought it would make a cute family photo. After about 3 different tries with just the girls (the sun was in Ava's eyes, Amanda REALLY didn't want her picture taken AT ALL, and Brie was distracted by Amanda), I decided to get in the picture and mark this glorious family moment. It brings a tear to your eye doesn't it?
As soon as I freed them of the picture torture they were all smiles. Figures. And into the butterfly house we went. Brie LOVED it. She kept squealing with delight every time she saw a butterfly.
"Shh, the butterfly is sleeping."
Amanda really enjoyed the bugs. She got a real close look at them :)
After a little lunch we moved on to the dinosaurs. That's Ava's friend Cohen sitting on top of that guy. Ava's was taking pictures at this point.
Amanda getting a feel of the dinosaurs. All the way home Ava was asking if we could go see some dinosaurs. She didn't quite understand that there are no real ones left. I told her they were all extinct and dead. Still she persisted. You know, come to think of it I wonder if she was just asking to see more dinosaurs meaning statues...hmmmm....
We finally made it to my favorite part, the animals. First up were the bears. Check out this dude hanging out in the tree. I want to hang out in a tree and nap in the sun.
The bears were fairly active this time which was really cool.
Oh look!!! It's Jacob Black!!!!!! (wolves/twilight, that joke will NEVER get old.)
On our way back to the main entrance we spotted this guy. He wasn't an exhibit, he was a real live wild hedgehog. Totally adorable. There was a crowd of about 20 people watching him and he was just hanging out, eating. Must be used to people I guess.
Maybe I want a hedgehog instead of a baby goat. ARGH, it's too hard to decide!!!

NC Farm Day

Last week, we took a trip to the farm! We went a couple years ago as well but now the kids are even older so it was even more fun. Here we are at the bunnies. There was a 13 lb bunny there. Biggest one I have ever seen. It was the size of a dog really!

Brie thought the bunnies were pretty cute.
Amanda wanted to pet them. They all wanted to pet the bunnies. Who can blame them, they are totally soft.
Right as you walk in there is a big cage with a couple turkeys in there. Brie thought they were really funny.
This was probably the favorite part, holding baby chicks. It was really tough to pry Ava away. She held each and every one of them about 5 times each.
This was the only time Amanda touched the chicks. She got weirded out by something and wouldn't go near them again.
Brie couldn't get enough of the chicks either. She kept wanting to pick them up and squeeze them. I would pick one up and let her pet it though. That was fine with her.
HUGE cow! I am pretty sure this guy weighs more than my first car. Seriously.


The "Chickfila" cow.
And the best part? Ice cream. NC State has it's own dairy ad they make their own ice cream which they gave away for free. ALL the kids enjoy it. And if you'll notice the quality of the pictures get much better. It's because I did not take these next set of pictures.




After ice cream came the tractors. We waited in line for about 20 minutes to sit on this one. Totally not worth it in my opinion but whatever, I'm not 5.

Oh and I really want one of these. I can't handle how cute this little guy is.

Ava's Easter Show

Last week Ava had her preschool show. It was pretty cute. It was a little different this time because they now have a new teacher, whom I am not very fond of. Ava was very cute and did a very good job!

Tulips

My mom called the other day after she read the blog post about me planting flowers. She told me that the tulips I bought her in Amsterdam were still blooming.

So what, who cares?

You see the thing is that Justin and I were in Amsterdam about 7 years ago! 7!

Apparently they know tulips in Holland. I, of course, had to see pictures and this is what she sent. These picture were taken after they had all opened up but still pretty.

And hardy! These things survived my parents house being completely remodeled.
And they survived me and my notoriously black thumb.
They are still just so pretty. The gift that keeps on giving without having to work too hard. The perfect gift if you ask me :)

A Poem

There is only one poem I ever wrote that I actually remember. It is very deep, meaningful and especially insightful. I know, I am not really any of those things. I know you are all now on pins and needles wondering what kind of a poem I could ever write, so brace yourselves, you'll be a changed person after this.

Fowls (pretty snappy title, right?)

Fowls fowls chicken fowls

They smell like doodies

hey give you cooties

Fowls fowls chicken fowls

Pink green blue cooties

Brown sticky yucky doodies

Fowls fowls chicken fowls.

You're welcome.

I wish I was a photographer

My friend Vikki just sent me these pictures she took of Brie. They are gorgeous and I can't decide which I like best. I wish I could get pictures like this everyday. I mean just look at these pictures, they look great, they tell a story they are perfect. I thought you might like to see.

Maybe one day I'll be this good.

Soccer!!

Finally after two weeks of getting rain out, Amanda started soccer! Her team is the Sharks (very appropriate seeing as how I am a San Jose girl). All the team members got a grey shirt.

And Amanda got to pick her number, 6.
All the team is in a big circle getting ready to warm up.
RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think this was her favorite part.
"Hi, mommy!"
Lining up.
Kicking the ball with your partner. Amanda's partner didn't quite get the idea. Amanda would kick the ball to her then her teammate would pick up the ball and throw it back. It's only day one.
Kick!
Getting ready to play a game. A game consists of two teams running around kicking a ball and getting it into the goal and if the stars are aligned just right, it will be the right goal.
Amanda wasn't digging on the game part. She pretty much just stood there and watched with her hand in her mouth.
So she was sidelined to give someone else a chance. She was actually quite happy hanging out on the side lines. Maybe one day she'll actually get out and play.
Like I said earlier, it is only day one.