We bought a Safari Park... well.. Park pass that is!!

We had watched "We Bought a Zoo", the night before so the kids were pretty excited to go to the Wilderness Safari.  None of us had been there before so we were not really sure what to expect.  You start out driving getting to look at different herds of elk.  There is a lot of open land, it is neat to see them all in their natural element and be able to drive through it.  The speed limit is less that 7 mph and given that the animals were on either side of the road I did allow them to take their seat belts off but stay seated as much as possible...


Kylee brought her camera to take pictures too!

Cooper believed this was the king elk!

Here are a few of females in one of the herds.

Just thought this was a neat pic...

Next we were onto the deer.  I love deer, so I was too busy watching them to take any other pictures!

These are pelicans.  There were a lot to look at and they were MUCH bigger than I expected them to be...

Pretty bird not, 100% sure what it is.  We also saw lots of turtles and bull frogs in the marsh area along with a bald eagle but I did not get any pic's of those.

Next we for to hike on a trail.  It lead us to lots of nature, a brown bear, wolves, and lots of birds.  Kids took a quick break to give me a few cute smiles!

My three favorite people! <3

Kylee showing momma she can go down the steps all by herself... I wanted to hold her hand!

Got to the bottom, now just wanted to show her prize stick off a bit!

Coop and Kylee stick fighting.  This lasted long enough for 2 pic's and then mommy called TIME!

 

We also got to stop and feed goats and baby chicks and roosters along the path too!  What a neat place!

Next we finished off by getting back into the car and driving through different bird species.  This is a crain, but there we also swans, geese, and ducks!

This Wildlife Safari is really neat and we highly recommend checking it out.  We have a family membership, that I added on with our zoo membership so we don't pay anything when we visit.  I think the cost is $6, which to me seems way worth it for all that can be seen, done, and learned here.  You could easily spend an entire day here if you packed snacks or a lunch, which we plan to do next time.  They do a great job of keep the animals in their natural environments.

Hope you enjoyed our tour!!

Celebrating Aunt Katie and Grandma Sally's Birthdays

We headed over to Mahoney to celebrate Grandma Sally's birthday and Aunt Katie's birthday.  We planned to let the kids run around and play and then grill food.  Katie and I planned a surprise water fight.  Started with attacking Jason, but then quickly turned into a kids against adults water fight!  We all had a bunch of FUN!  Kids came out on top I would say, because the adults ended up having to hide the guns....


Grandma was the official water gun filler!

Leland checking out the gun trying to figure out how it works.

Kylee drinking water from the water gun!

Jason shooting back at bean and Coop...

Uncle Josh beating up on Coop, trying to steal his gun away!

Kylee doubling up on aunt Katie!

Leland just chillin!

Leland trying to get the ball from Cooper!

Grandma and Kylee getting ready to cut the cake...

The dorito bandit!!

Best family pic out of about 20 tries!!

Funniest family pic out of 20 tries!!

Coop being silly with his cake and fork!

Two blondies munchin' on cake.

The mighty digger!

Momma and Leland testing out the twisty slide.

Daddy and Leland chillin' at the top on the jungle gym.

Coop making his silly faces!

Kylee and Grandma getting in some snuggle time...

Josh, Katie and Leland for a quick family pose!

Coop's Last Day of Pre-K

Cooper had his last day of school yesterday, May 24th at Faith Lutheran.  They got to have a cowboy party on the last day.  They also got to grill hot dogs, then each classmate brought a different part of the meal.  Coop got to bring fruit snacks, which fits him perfect.  They got to dress up as real cowboys too.

For craft time they each got to make their own horses.  He did a great job painting the horse and gluing on the string.  He named his horse blacky! 

 

 

This is the wanted poster that was posted up at school!!  It makes me laugh because even though Coop and Kylee are in separate classes, the school STILL knows he likes to tackle his sister... Thought it was cute!

So we can officially call Coop, a Kindergartner...!  It's crazy to think how fast the last 6 years have gone.  For those of you that don't know he will be attending school in Waverly at Hamlow Elementary.  Kylee will continue daycare at Faith Lutheran.  When his registration letter came in the mail, the first sentence read, "Congratulations to your Kindergartner, class of 2025".  It seems so far away, but based on the last 6 years... I know in no time at all it will be here!  As I tell Cooper, "That makes mommy a little bit sad, and a lot a bit happy"!!

Mother's Day - 2012

I had a great Mother's Day!  It started out with the kid's and Jason taking me out for breakfast at Greenfield's.  The kids had silly face pancakes.  That was one meal that I didn't have to "remind" them to eat! Coop ate his and then some of mine! Then we headed back home where Coop learned to ride his bike without training wheels (see earlier blog for details).  What a great moment that was.  Not sure who was more excited him, or me!!!  We rode over to one of the parks in Waverly, that's where the picture of the kids and I was taken.


After the park, we headed into Lincoln and met Jason's parents and extended family at another park.  They had a park BBQ going on.  We were still stuffed with food from breakfast but Coop managed to eat a hot dog and Kylee strawberries before we left! Next we headed to Omaha to spend some time with mom or Grandma Sally as the kids know her, Katie, Josh and "Baby Wewand" as Kylee would say!

The kids were pretty excited to play in Grandma's pond.  Cooper and Kylee practically went swimming in it!

All of Sohpie's toys went swimming in the water!

 

 

 

 

At this point they were wet enough, that the shirts had to come off.

 

Kylee showing off her belly button....

Ice cream...

More ice cream!

The kids art work!  This is Coop's, he also made me a recipe book with all kinds of yummy recipes!

These next two are Kylee's!

 

This was the note attached to the recipe book.

Jason also surprised me with a gift certificate to get a pedicure this coming Tuesday after work with 3 of my bestest of friends!  He also got us a Subway gift certificate to grab sandwiches afterward.  All 4 of us girls have an obsession with the place.  It will be a really nice relaxing, girl bonding night!

It was a wonderful day with lot's of love, fun, family, and surprises.  Blessed to have such wonderful, loving people in my life.  Certainly a day that I will never forget.