Welcome to the Krazy Kingdom

The San Francisco Zoo

Trek could only take one day off during spring break, so I was trying to come up with some fun things for the kids to do. Our friends gave us their guest zoo pass to use for the day so we headed up to the San Francisco Zoo.

I couldn't believe how much my kids loved it. . . especially my TEENAGERS.

Their favorite thing was the monkeys. We watched the gorillas for probably a good 20 minutes. There was one gorilla that was totally picking on the old gorilla. He'd throw leaves in the gorilla's face & then run off while the poor old guy tried to chase him. It was SO funny to watch.

The kids really liked the penguins too.

We packed simple lunches & ate them on picnic tables. I love how close my kids are. They love each other so much.

I loved the cute black bears. They were wrestling & I thought it was adorable.

My kids loved the rainforest area. NOT MY CUP OF TEA. Loose birds flying all around your head, yeah, not cool. I got hit by a bird IN THE HEAD. Scared me to death.

But the snakes in the rainforest area were AWESOME.

Bladen thought the kangaroos & wallabys were pretty cool.

But really the highlight of the whole day was the huge playground at the zoo. The kids spent over an hour there playing, swinging, chasing, sliding, & having a blast.

Our last stop was the insect house. (The place my nightmares are made of)

Everywhere you turned there were spiders, spiders, & more spiders. This ugly guy was the size of my head.

My kids had leaves that they kept brushing over the back of my neck while we were in there. They must have a death wish because they KNOW I don't like creepy crawlies.

It was really fun. This zoo is great. It's not too big, the enclosures are nice & big & there are LOTS of animals. We had a blast. It was a great activity for spring break.

Auntie Time

Tylee kidnapped my girls over spring break & took them to her house for a girls sleepover. They were SO excited.

She took them out to dinner & out to breakfast. They stayed up late playing board games with their cousins & singing karaoke.

Then they all went out for pedicures.

They had a blast. We are really going to miss living so close to Auntie Tylee.

"Chopped"

Lorien had a really fun activity with the young women this month. They did an episode of

"Chopped"

for their activity. They were divided into groups & give a basket of foods: strawberries, a chocolate bar, yellow peppers, & rotisserie chicken. They needed to make 3 different recipes (an appetizer, a main dish, & a dessert) using their foods & other foods found in the pantry. Their secret ingredient was cream cheese. The cream cheese had to be used in all 3 dishes. They had 1 hour to complete their task.

Lo's group used our house to make their dishes. They whipped out 3 amazing foods. I was totally impressed with these 12-13 year old girls.

For their appetizer they made buffalo nachos. They put chips on a plate, mixed cream cheese, chicken, peppers, & some buffalo sauce (I KNOW, RIGHT?) & made some absolutely to die for nachos. They topped it with cilantro & it was really amazing. . . which reminds me, I actually want to make these for my family. They were SO good.

For their main dish, they made chicken tacos. They mixed the cream cheese, peppers, chicken, & cumin & put them inside a tortilla with cheese, tomatoes, cilantro, & spices. They added sides of sour cream & salsa. Yum.

For dessert, these talented girls made strawberry cupcakes. They actually cut up strawberries & put them in the cupcake mix. They baked the cupcakes & made cream cheese frosting with the cream cheese & topped it with strawberry pieces & shaved chocolate bar. They were to DIE FOR.

Look how beautiful their presentation was.

Lorien's little group was so fun. What a memorable night they had. We're going to miss her little friends.

"Always An Adventure"

Our family motto is "Always An Adventure!"

Sometimes life throws you curve balls & you can either sulk or rise up & make it an adventure.

Cadence experienced quite the "adventure" in March. She had a huge final PE project due the first week of April that required her to do a cardiovascular activity 3-4 times a week for 30 minutes a day. She chose to ride her mountain bike on the trail behind the base. She had to monitor her heart rate, speed, distance, etc. She did this 4 times a week after school.

Well, 2 days into the project, she was riding her bike & she noticed a stray dog (without an owner or leash) chasing her on her bike. She pedaled faster, but the dog was big & it got her. It bit her HARD right in the left thigh leaving 2 puncture wounds & a bruise from the pinch of the bite. But Cadence, being Cadence just kept pedaling because heaven forbid she mess up her fitness project. By the time she made it home (7 miles later), she was in shock. We took her to the ER immediately & they cleaned the bite really well & sent her on her merry way. A few days later we took her to a follow up with her doctor & everything seemed to be healing nicely.

Then we started getting the calls from the police department & animal control. They staked out the trail to try to find the dog that bit her just so we could verify whether or not the dog had rabies shots, but we had no luck. Disease Control called us & urged us to start Rabies shots immediately. Poor girl.

So the last 3 weeks we've waited over 15 hours (total, not each time) in the ER on scheduled days (day 1, 3, 7, & 14) so that Cadence could get SIX HORRIBLE RABIES VACCINATIONS. The first day she had 3 shots, one in each arm & one directly into the bite. She could hardly move afterward. The last 3 shots were not nearly as painful, but still not fun. April 9th we FINALLY completed her Rabies shots & she is guaranteed to live a long healthy rabies free life. ha ha ha. Poor kid. She's been such a trooper through this whole thing. She even included pictures & stats on her Rabies adventure in her final PE project to make her teacher laugh.

ALWAYS AN ADVENTURE!!!