Do I really have a 1st grader?

Brenna started first grade last week =)  She was so excited to go back to school.  I wish that enthusiasm would last the rest of school.  I think she's going to have a great teacher this year.  Brenna got sick last Thursday and couldn't go to school and her teacher called to check on her, not the school, her actual teacher. That shows a lot of caring.  She is going to learn a lot this year and she's excited to have 2 of her friends from church in her class, plus the girl that was the first person to be friends with her when we moved here last year, and one of the boys that was on her soccer team.  It's bittersweet her going back.  I loved having her home with me in the summer, at least most the time.  Ian is going to be lost without his "best friend" around to play with so I'm going to have to do some playdates with other kids.  

Here's to another great school year =)

Living Planet Aquarium

Since both Jason and Brenna were going to be heading back to school, we wanted to do one last family thing.  I had originally planned on going swimming but we changed our minds.  I had been wanting to go the aquarium for awhile, but didn't really want to drive clear to Sandy for it, but since I wasn't driving, it worked out =)

This was a little pond with a few little fish and some bull frogs.  The frogs were hiding and it was tricky finding them, but Ian loved it!

They had a stingray and shark petting tank.  Since Ian had already petted(is that a word?) the stingrays at the fair, he was an old pro at this.  Brenna, of course, wouldn't get near them.  I even got to pet a shark =)

They had some starfish, horseshoe crabs, and a couple other things that you could pet.  Ian went through the line twice and touched every one.  Brenna wouldn't come near it.

But Brenna did love seeing all the fish and was plastered to the glass.  She loved seeing the giant octopus.  My pictures of it didn't turn out but she thought it was pretty cool.

Since it was so dark inside there, and I was just using my phone, the pictures aren't that great.  This was Brenna at one of her favorites, the seahorses.  They had a bunch of different kinds.

I had to snap a pic with my favorite girl =)  love her to death!!

Sorry for the lack of pictures, for some reason a bunch of them didn't get copied over and they're not on my memory card anymore.  Not that they were that great of pictures to begin with, but there were some of the penguins, octopus, electric eel, caiman, and piranhas   

With the electric eel, they had something hooked up to the tank that would show you how much a charge it would emit.  At first, it felt more like a vibrations, but the more noise you made near the eel, the more agitated it became and the more electricity it gave off and then you got a pretty good zap.

We got to watch them feed the octopus, which was neat.  the octopus would wrap it's tentacle around the hand of the person and play for a bit then it would go after the fish.  I think it would be pretty neat to play with an octopus =)  Then we got to watch them feed the penguins.  They were swimming and diving everywhere.  The kids liked watching them swim really fast.  

They has all sorts of exhibits.  Jason really wanted to watch them feed the piranhas....but i don't think they would do that in front of people, but I have to admit, it would be cool to watch.  Ian liked seeing the caiman, which is kind of like a mini crocodile.  For some reason he has become fascinated with alligators and crocodiles lately.

I was disappointed in the sharks.  I thought they would have more but all they had were a few reef sharks,  think a leopard shark and a hammerhead.

I liked the scorpions that were black, and then you switched on the black light and they were purple.  Jason had told me that scorpions did that, but I had never seen it before.  It was also neat to see the giant anaconda snake.

It was pretty fun to go spend some time together as a family.  The kids were literally running from tank to tank.  They were so excited to see everything.  I think I would take the kids again, but only if i could find some discount coupons or something because $8 per person is a little steep for me.  Remember, I'm a cheapskate =)

Stirrup some fun at the fair =)

It's the end of summer so we all know what that means.  Fair time!!!  I took my kids to the Morgan Fair and then to the Weber County Fair.  They loved it!  I really think these kids should have grown up on a farm =)

While at the Morgan Fair, they had Scales and tales there.  Boy oh boy was Ian excited!  You should have seen his eyes when they brought this big lizard out.  He thought it was the cooles thing ever....until they brought the alligator.  He got so excited, reached out his hands and yelled "Mommy, I want to hold it!" and then tried to get on the stage.

He was excited to see the giant tortoise too.  He tried to climb on the stage to get that one as well.

Then, at the end of the show they had the huge albino python.  Ian almost made it on stage with it =)  They they annouced that the kids could pet the animals after the show.  As soon as they brought them out, Ian was shoving his way through everyone so he could pet a snake and a lizard.  Brenna liked watching it and even got brave enough to pet one, but there were tons of kids in teh way so I couldn't get a good picture of her.

But the cool thing that she got to do was get some feathers in her hair.  She keeps seeing all these people with it and she wanted it.  She won't let me take them out, and for the first few days I had to fight with her ot brush her hair because she thought I would brush them out.  And yes, they are still in her hair 2 weeks later. =)

After the Morgan fair, the next week we visited the Weber Fair.  Of course their favorite things were the animals.  They even had sting rays there to pet.  Ian was all excited about petting a "fish."  He had to tell everyone later all about it....and I heard all about it the whole time we were there.  Brenna wouldn't get near them.  Can you tell who my dare devil child is yet?

While walking aroud, they were getting ready for teh miniature horse show so we saw a few out and about.  The little girl in red was nice enough to let the kids come and pet her horse.  The kids loved seeing one that was their size. 

"A pig goes *oink* *oink*"  This is what Ian was doing while we were looking at the pigs.  He even said he wanted to crawl in the cage with them and take a nap with them.  He serioulsy needs to be on a farm so he can raise his own pig.

Or maybe he should raise a sheep since he was giving them all hugs.  Such a lovey boy!

Not to be out done, Brenna of course was willing to give the fuzzy sheep a hug...but heaven forbid she touch a slimy "fish."

They both got to pet a cow too.

This is them petting a pygmy goat.  These two are all about the farm animals.

Most of the horses were gone, I think ti was when they were doing a horse show in the arena, so we didn't get much with them.  But there was one horse that let out a loud whinny right as we walked by.  It scared Brenna and Ian thought it was cool and kept telling me "that's a loud horse, mommy!"

My kids had lots of fun just looking at the animals and petting them.  I don't even think they asked if we could ride the rides or play on the bouncy toys.  I'm so glad they can find pleasure in the simple things in life.  I defintely think this will be a great tradition, to go see the animals at the fair.