A Zoo Experience.

Yesterday we went to the zoo.  For six hours.  It was hell (for Ry & I at least).  Let me tell you all about it.
We got up super early b/c we had planned to get there before 9 a.m. in order to get into the sting ray exhibit free.  We pulled into our parking spot at 8:45 and then Rory blew chunks ALL OVER (she randomly gets car sick).  We had vomit all over her and her car seat.  I didn't think to pack her extra clothes (bad foresight on my part) not to mention an extra car seat.  After cleaning her up and putting her in one of Ryan's t-shirts we finally made it into the zoo entrance at 9:15...  Missing our "free entry" to the sting rays. Half way through our time spent with the amazing sting rays (they were SO cool and definitely the highlight of our day) Lucy decided she no longer wanted to be happy and started crying.  She continued to cry for half of the day.  She wouldn't nap ANYWHERE, wouldn't eat, and was just plain 'ole crabby. (As soon as we got home later she acted perfectly normal, go figure).  Then Ryan got sick and was just tired and miserable the rest of the day...  He was such a trooper to not pack everyone up and leave.  He just stuck it out for the kiddos, he is such a great dad!  THEN the pooping started...  Lucy must have pooped in her diapers at least 5 times (to the point that we ended up running out of wet wipes and had to improvise), and then Rory had to make a few trips to the bathrooms for the same.  Nothing like wiping butts ALL day at the zoo after spending your morning cleaning up vomit.  Jude fell and busted his knee and skinned his hands.  Joel whined a lot b/c his feet hurt (but he can spend an entire day outside in flip flops and he's just fine when we're at home.  Go figure).  There were no pumas, no snow leopards, no alligators or crocodiles, no polar bears. 

But you know what?...  We saw a baby elephant with it's mommy.  We got to pet sting rays with our bare hands.  We learned about the differences between male and female ostriches.  We saw wild asses (hee-hee).  The kids got to run around in water fountains till Rory's pull up almost fell off from being so heavy with the water.  We got to pet guinea pigs and bunnies.  The kids chased a chicken around and fed birds.  We rode the carousel and ate dip 'n dots ice cream.  We watched a black tree monitor do a funny little dance in it's habitat.  We didn't have to pay a dime to get into the children's zoo b/c a friend blessed us with the tickets.  We got to spend the whole day as a family, enjoying the wonders of God's fabulous creation...  And no matter how bad the "bad parts" of the day were...  I think all in all it probably was an O.K. day. :)

Me & Lucy, Jude, Joel, and Rory hiding behind me, petting the sting rays

They were so beautiful and fun to watch.

Ryan, Rory, Jude, and Joel getting ready to enter the penguin exhibit.  Joel was our navigator :).

Jude on the carousel.

Jude and Rory watching the giraffes and ostriches.

Joel found out how huge an ostrich egg is.

Rory playing in the fountains :)

Jude and Joel checking out the meerkats.

And Thanks Be To God...

This morning I woke up (for the first time in almost a week) feeling ALIVE!!!  I felt happy and peaceful instead of feverish and just overall crappy.  God is sooo good.  There is nothing like a little bout of sickness to remind us of how truly blessed we are...  I am so thankful to God for an immune system that fights off junky antibodies and for a husband who mans up and carries the load of the family while I have to stay in bed.  I am so thankful for a washer and dryer to make catching up on laundry that much quicker.  I am so thankful for a stove top to cook yummy breakfasts on.  I am so thankful for the four little people that run around the house making it hard not to smile, even when I'm sick.  Life is so good.  :)

Bugged Out

Everyone here has been sick lately...  Boo.  In between all of the fevers, coughs, snot, and strepp throat we have managed some pretty fun stuff though!  Stuff like going to the City Museum, swimming with friends, skateboard parks....  All of which we forgot to take our camera to :(.  However, the other day we woke up and ventured out onto our front porch first thing (which is our daily ritual) and found some pretty cool stuff!  There was by far the biggest praying mantis perched on our pillar I have ever seen!  This dude was at least 4 inches long and super handsome.  Later that morning Ryan found a huge hornet dead in our yard so he brought inside and it is still sitting in a jar on my kitchen window sill.  The kids were stoked to have such fun encounters with these beasts of bugs, and I must say that I was totally enthralled by the praying mantis... So, for your viewing pleasure I bring you...  BUGS!!!

More to come when everyone is well again.

Original Artwork

Someday we hope to actually get to really paint our house (the inside) but until that day comes we are stuck with fabulously white walls in most places.  Having four kids, the white walls tend to get pretty gross.  Ryan and decided to come up with a solution to that that would be fun for everyone....  We gave the kids crayons and said "go draw on the walls".
And they did.

What I've learned about gangsters (By Ryan)

After working for the past three years with gangsters from the fine inner city of St. Louis, I'm pretty sure that I am like an honorary gangster or something.  (I'm also pursuing a side career as a professional rapper now.  I'm pretty freakin awesome.  Like Eminem from the Bible belt.)  Not only does being an honorary gangster give you street credibility, but it is also a great addition to any resume. 

So there are things that I've learned about gangsters, and being a gangster that I never knew before.  I would  like to share them with you so that you too may get an idea of what it is like being GANGSTA.  Keep in mind that this understanding of gangster has been gleaned from within the walls of an institutional setting so they may not necessarily reflect the true nature of a gangster who is free and on the street. 

Here are the top ten things I've learned about gangsters.  In no particular order:

1.  Gangsters really like you if you bring them food.  They are like dogs in this way.  Many of them call each other "dog" so this makes sense. 

2. Gangsters will get into fights with each other, literally punching, biting, etc..., over conversations that start about who has the longest hair.  (Very shocking.  And yes, if they don't have a gun they will bite.)

3.  Gangsters don't really think it's funny if you ask them, "If your Dad is a Blood and your Mom is a Crip does that make you a Crud or a Blip?"

4.  Gangsters will threaten to kill you if they are having a bad day because you casually mention their mother or their hood.  Mention, like, "How is your mother doing?"  and a gangster may reply (while grabbing the neck of your shirt), "What did you say about my mom you bleepity bleeping bleeper?!  I'll bleepity kill you bleeper!".  If this happens to you just keep smiling and mention that you have a good lawyer.  This usually works.

5.  Gangsters love to have pictures taken of themselves posing in all sorts of interesting ways.  Squatting.  Squatting with hand on mouth.  Squatting with hand on crotch.  Squatting while throwing up gang signs and pumping their fists. 

6.  Gangsters love gangster rap.  You know that what you are listening to is gangster rap if every song contains the "F-word" more times than all of the other words put together. 

7.  Some Gangsters still believe in Jesus.  They just believe that He is ok with them wanting to kill other people who disrespect them or pose a threat to their family or friends.  They may even pray and read the Bible everyday.  The gangsters who still believe in Jesus are all nicer than the ones who don't.  The ones who don't seem to want to just kill everybody. 

8.  Gangsters like to "jone" on each other...  Which means make fun of each other.  This usually leads to fights when one gangster takes his "joning" too far.  It's usually pretty hilarious before the fighting begins.  Most gangsters are very quick witted and great at impersonating the idiosyncrasies of others. 

9.  Gangsters really like money, sex, and violence.  These are their three favorite things.  This probably isn't new information to any one.  The gangster rap gives this secret away. 

10.  Gangsters seem to respect and respond to two things:  Integrity and insanity.  If you have to be around gangsters try to be a combination of these.  If they think that you are crazy but that you still love them they probably won't hurt you...  Probably...  So don't let your guard down too much.

That's my list of 10 things I learned about gangsters.  Feel free to forward it to Letterman.  Hope you learned something.  In summary:  Gangsters can be really nice people.  They are usually smart and funny.  You just don't want to be around when the "GANGSTA" in them comes out. 

Peace!

Slumber Party!!!

Ryan's sister, Brooke, is in town so we were lucky enough to have our nephews come stay the night with us a couple of nights ago!  Our kids had a blast entertaining our little guests, and we're pretty sure JJ and Sammy loved their first experience with staying the night away from mom.

(From left to right) Rory, Jude, Sammy, JJ, and Joel.  JJ and Joel were super tired and a little frustrated b/c the smaller people wouldn't let them go to sleep yet :).

They finally zonked...  After we took Rory back to her own bed.  We loved how Sam was sleeping like a frog.

JJ wanted to help feed his mini-cousin, Lucy.  He did such a good job!