MN Zoo...

The forecast was fabulous for today, so off we went to the zoo...it was Day 1 of Llama Trek, where you walk among the llamas (the last two years the area was filled with kangaroos and other animals of Australia)...

We went to the farm, because we didn't the last time we went and Lex reminded us we didn't...Lukie wanted this picture taken, because this calf was born 3 days before Kieran's birthday (he thought the calf was three days younger, but was wrong)...

Well...hello there...llama...

It stood okay for a picture...

Lukie absolutely did not want to go to the bird show (we went to one this spring when it was inside), but he loved it...today was the first day the bird shows were outside and we were told to expect mistakes from the workers and birds (there were, but it was still fun)...

Afterwards, they both wanted to donate money to conservation...by giving a bird the cash to drop into the donation box...

On the Minnesota Trail, the river otters were active...

One fisher was out, we usually see both of them sleeping...

And the lynx (Lukie's favorite was standing proud)...

It was like...'look at me'...

On the Tropics Trail, we had never seen the Tapir swimming...

This was new and we enjoyed watching for awhile...

And anytime we see the python moving, we need to have a picture of that...

Back outside, the Bacterian camels were busy...

And the Russian Grizzlies too...

It was a fun day...

Field Trip with Lex...

Lexy's grade went on a field trip to the Science Museum and she asked if I would chaperone, just like I did for Luke...so a personal day was taken at work and I hung out with 3rd graders...

I got to sit with her on the bus...never really know how that is going to work...

And we saw the usual bits at the museum...like the Triceratops...

But since we entered through the education entrance, we saw some different things too...like this small raptor on the skull of a horned dinosaur...

And the skull of a whale...

CP30 and RD-D2...

Some clone troopers and our gang...

Afterwards, they all gathered outside for a picture...it is an interesting class...not sure who her teacher pissed off to get that group of boys, but she's earning her check this year...

All-in-all, it was a fun day...

Summer Ball...

Summer ball has started, at least practices...the last two nights were picture night for Lukie and Lex...

First up was Lex...we couldn't find the belt though...we'll have to keep looking...

Lukie's was tonight...we found the belt, he just didn't want to wear it...

Our evenings get busy this time of year...

Town Team Baseball...

Summer is almost here...which means it's time for baseball, first home game of the year was tonight...

And again this year, we've got a pass for all the home games (actually, the pass is just mine, kids are free)...we've got a lot of passes to do things (MN State Parks, MN Zoo, Valleyfair, Science Museum, Carver County Parks, etc.)...yeah, we're busy...

Though there are not a lot of better ways to spend an evening or afternoon than hanging at the ballpark...

Um...cheese curds?!?!?  Yes...please...

And it's time for Lukie to make some money...$.25 per foul ball.  In about three innings, he got three foul balls ($.75 total).  Plus, a guy asked he and another kid what they were doing and they replied "looking for money" and he gave them $5 to split...

So, Lukie got $3.25 in about an hour of having fun.  One of those foul balls came off the bat of Mary's boyfriend.  Apparently, Lukie ran past her and said "that's $.25 from Cam!"  He and she got a good laugh from it...ball season is here...

Valleyfair...

Valleyfair opened this weekend and Lukie & Lex said they wanted to go...so we were off...

When we got to the park, they took off for the first ride...Wild Thing...the tallest and fastest rollercoaster at the park...no need to start slow apparently...

It got calmer with the swings...

Lines were short for almost all the rides, we only had one that we had to wait more then five minutes...and this is what they do while waiting...

Lucy found a friend...

Then we took off for the Ferris Wheel...

After the Ferris Wheel, it was time to see the dinosaurs...

And time for it to rain a bit...we took some shelter under some trees initially, then hid behind a building until it nearly stopped...

Another way to take some shelter from the rain was the Merry-Go-Round...

Lukie got some driving lessons...

But when I said "hey Lex, turn and look."  Lukie failed the number one rule - don't take your eyes off the road...

 After a crazy, wicked ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl, it was time to go.  We were whipping around in circles...Lukie thought he might puke, I wasn't far behind and Lex was laughing hysterically the whole time...

 And why not take one last picture with a dinosaur on the way out?!?!

We'll be back...

Central Elementary AAA...

The Elementary has AAA (Arts, Academics, Achievement) every spring.  Students decide to enter selected events based on interest level.  Luke had never chosen to enter, until this year when his teacher highly recommended that all students enter.  Lex entered a worm garden last year, here's her scorecard.

They both entered events this year.  After looking at the possibilities, Lukie went with photography, which he admitted wouldn't take much work (though actually, he had to practice quite a bit because his early pictures of waterfalls were not good...he learned a lot about zoom and focus).  Lex went with the creative art again...

Luke took this picture of the Lower Falls of the Gooseberry River using his phone.  It was a nice picture, I figured he'd choose a picture of the Middle Falls that everyone takes, but it turned out nice...

Lex decided to make an igloo out of Starburst (it was a lot of Starburst...) candy and cotton balls representing snow.  The past two years, I've had her diagram out what she wants and this was her aim...

Lex received a 3rd place ribbon for her efforts...

Lukie received a 1st place ribbon for his efforts...

In the grand scheme of things, Lex did a lot more work for her project than Luke...though both learned lessons...