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Monday, May 11, 2009

Happy Birthday Matthew!




This year for our birthdays, instead of doing a party with friends, the children get to pick a family adventure to do. I plan on alternating every other year with a party or family outing. This year Matthew chose to go to the zoo in San Antonio. We bought a family pass as part of his gifts. The zoo was SO huge!

We picked up Nathan from work early and drove down together. We had dinner along the way...we LOVE Taco Cabana! It's the ultimate fast food. It costs the same as McDonalds would be, but the food is so much tastier and we don't feel gross afterwards like we feel after eating hamburgers and fries. The kids love the food and can't get enough of the beans and tortillas. Sarah exclaimed, "I could eat this for the rest of my life and be happy!" When we have visited McD's, the children never finish their hamburgers because it makes their tummies hurt, so I love the fact that they enjoy healthier Mexican food!

The zoo had several areas where the animals weren't restrained by any sort of fence or barrier. The zoo created the ideal habitats for these animals, so they just stayed. My favorite was the lake full of cranes, herons, swans, geese, and ducks. They would fly right over our heads as they searched for nesting material, then they'd always come back to the lake. It was incredible!

Matthew was given a pair of goggles for his birthday and he wore them most of the day! He loved those goggles so much! He was so cute with them on! He'd tell Daniel, "If you're lucky, I'll let you wear my goggles for a few minutes!" He did a great job of sharing them with his little brother, and it was funny to see what a privilege it was for Daniel!



There was a tree-top lookout point where you could hike through the trees to a tall tower and look out over the zoo. It was pretty fun.


We all enjoyed searching out the squashed penny machines. We started collecting them as a family after Lisa introduced them to us. It's such a fun souvenir that doesn't cost much, and it's so fun to watch them be pressed in the machines. The children were so excited each time we found a new machine! They'd all pick a design to imprint on their penny and we kept all the pennies in our little collection book.


After 4 hours of exploring, we were all exhausted and we had only seen half of the zoo! We decided to go home and come another day to explore the other half. We were particularly grateful that we had purchased an annual pass.


After the zoo we visited some dear friends that had moved to San Antonio near the temple. we used to home school together and we'd meet every week to do activities. They let us raise 25 chicks on their farm before the big move. It was wonderful to share dinner together and celebrate Matt's birthday with them. They were so kind and offered to babysit so Nathan and I could go throught the temple session that evening. It was so wonderful! It was the perfect cap to a wonderful day.

2 comments:

Janelle said...

That sounds like so much fun we always get a zoo pass but our zoo is really tiny but the kids love it and it gives us a disount to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake! You're children are so big it is crazy!

Brian said...

Wow!! Renae, you're family is growing SO FAST!! It's makes me sad when I think of how little we get to see each other's families. I sure love you guys-Happy Birthday to little Matthew!! We're excited to see you this summer!!