If I am guilty of something, and to be honest, I am guilty of much, but let one of those things be forcing my children to be together and teaching them to love each other. I push it like...well, this is a family blog, so just imagine. It may come off to some as fake and forced, but so far they love each other and love to be around each other.

What a shame it is to have siblings that don't love each other or keep in touch. After salvation and health, this is the prayer I make- that they will be dear to each other.
I don't think it comes as a surprise to anyone that knows me that I value family- my sister, especially, provides me with a relationship and sense of wholeness that no one but my children or husband or parents can duplicate. This is why I want to have TEN MORE CHILDREN.

So why would Lucy choose to sit on and wrap herself in my soaking wet sweater to read her book? I don't get the draw, but it was her favorite activity of yesterday.

Oh, and yesterday we ate breakfast.

Sometimes it's difficult to post such deep and thoughtful posts, but don't worry, I won't disappoint.
(Can you say, "photo-heavy?")

And she can eat books, too.

Lucy has two new "tricks" herself. The first, climbing up on the bricks, and walking on the precarious ledge of our fireplace. The second- smiling on command. One of these pictures has her true smile, and the other her posed...she often will do her fake smile without being asked- as soon as the camera is lifted to eye, out it comes, clearly causing the wearer no small joy.

Maybe you can't tell, because she's smiling, but she's really very happy.

Bowden always has a "trick." His newest is to come down the stairs head-first, and he does it quite well. It's nice to get him to let me take a picture, because many of them come out like this.


"Stop, no, Mommy."
I wanted to get him to open up his mouth and show his teeth, but I have to offer him candy, I think, to really get a good picture, and I don't think that would be right.

The best thing we did at the wild animal park, except for explore the Hidden Jungle aviary, was feed the lorikeets. We held little cups of nectar in our hands, and the lorikeets would fly onto us and use exceptionally long, black tongues to sip the nectar out. One lorikeet flew onto Rosie's shoulder, and even when the nectar was gone, would not desert his perch.
Apparently he took joy in squawking loud enough in Rosie's ear to pain, and yet delight, her.

Both children have had runny noses and coughs, which are mostly gone now, but made for some open-mouthed photos.

They proclaim, "Don't come near us, we are diseased."

Lucy loved the school of fish in the crocodile pond- one of the coolest things about the San Diego Zoo is the underwater tanks for some of the animals you wouldn't really see above the water, like the crocodile, hippo, or otters.

I got in a little bit of trouble at an exhibit, when I made my standard guinea pig noise at the meerkats, who suddenly became very alert and excited. "Why not do it more?" I thought and did, until The Keeper came out and told me I was making a meerkat warning noise, and that if I hadn't kept it up, he would have assumed it was them.
We also had a fun time bringing down our "hooves" on the railing at the gazelles of some kind and making like we wanted their ladies. We didn't get in trouble for that.

It was a little hot, and Bowden walked a lot, and Lucy hardly at all, but they both did pretty good on the trip, and seemed to enjoy it.



Now, I love the Zoo, but the Wild Animal Park had a better petting "kraal."
We were able to pet three different varieties of deer and two different wild goat breeds, and the Zoo just had the standard sheep and goats. Bowden was very good with the deer, mainly because he had been lectured on being "gentle" the day before with the long suffering goats. Lucy is a little bit violent. I don't know where she got that from.

Yes, I was away for a while. My mother, who happens to be a schoolteacher running out of summertime, decided that she wanted to take us to San Diego for a fun time at the zoo and Wild Animal Park.
You say, this doesn't look like your mom, it looks like a spider. And a funny little bug.

Yes, we took a lot of pictures of wildlife at the zoo. I'll post more later.

(Until Bowden fell while climbing on the playground equipment as I was packing up. I heard crying, then the gasps of all the other mothers, and looked up to see Bowden, sobbing, his mouth filled with blood. It looked awful, and I set Lucy down to hold him, and he cried and cried, and she cried and cried, and when I finally got a look in his mouth, one of his big teeth was pushed in almost all the way, and his other tooth is weird, and a smaller tooth next to it, as well. He also cut his lip, and really, the scene was pretty gory, and he was in a lot of pain. His lip is huge, and he looks totally different with a huge upper lip, and I don't know about the teeth, but he's okay and played happily at church today...)

On Saturday we went to Bowden's friend Jordan's third birthday party at Hurkey Creek Park. It was very fun...

( Jordan, the birthday boy.)

Lucy Happy.

Lucy Sad.

Lucy Playing With Her Dad.

(Dr. Seuss, who?)