Family Fun at the Alamogordo Zoo

We went on a McVaugh Family outing on Saturday to the Alamogordo Zoo - a little one, but a great one none the less! Hey - better than what Las Cruces has to offer in the way of a zoo!! Leigh Anne,Parker and Luke have been in town since November, and while we have definitely done some hanging out, we haven't really gone and done anything fun together. They are headed back to Washington in 2 weeks, so we decided a family outing was in order.

The first thing we love about the Alamogordo Zoo is the duck and turtle pond at the entrance where we can buy food and feed all the animals!
There have always been a couple of white swans there, but they must have passed on because in the midst of all the ducks and turtles were these two muted swans that we had never seen before:I think this turtle thought it was a duck:Luke was so cute and kept rotating through his Grampa Mac, Uncle Colin and I to see the animals. I love how he comes to us with his arms up, ready for us to pick him up!Colton and Cady had to try and jump as far as a bullfrog, which can be up to 6 feet:

Colton came close with 5 feet and Cady's longest was 4 feet!

Another favorite are the little stone animals. They used to have a bear and deer too, but they were in pretty poor shape last time we saw them, so the zoo must have discarded them. The buffalo and lion are still there, though:
Here is an emu who was as interested in us as we were it:

Luke and his big smile:
He was smiling at the tortoise who had decided to come out of his little house:He even let Colton carry him for a bit and it was so cute because even though Colton wasn't carrying him quite right, Luke still had a huge smile on his face (which didn't get captured in this picture, unfortunately): There is a wonderful playground there and we ended our visit with some playtime.

Even Auntie and Parker joined in the fun:

Before leaving the zoo and heading to Chili's for lunch, we took some family pictures in the gazebo:
It was a great day and we are so thankful for the time spent with our wonderful and fun family!

Valentine's Day 2011 Recap

Better late than never! Not sure why it has taken me a week to tell you all about our Valentine's Day! Maybe the fact that we can't seem to stay well around here?? That may have something to do with it! We are all feeling better, though, and are praying that we stay that way for a while! Anyways, wanted to share my Valentine's pics with you all, starting with the special touches I add around the house to make it more festive. First up is my mantel. I begin with pictures - not a holiday/season goes by at our house without changing up photographs. The photo holder in the middle is full of pictures of our parents, our siblings and their spouses, and of course, us, including the kids. I also moved pictures of our parents to the mantel, because they are our greatest examples of love! On the left are pictures of two of our greatest loves, the kids! Mine and Colin's wedding picture is in the center and then on each side of that are pictures of the two of us taken on our trip to Florida last November. The little bear Colin brought me on our first date (Valentine's Day 15 years ago) sis there, along with a cute "I Love You" plaque that Colton woodburned for me last year. I also put my Cricut to good use and made a new "LOVE" banner to hang, using scrapbook paper, jute twine, and tying tulle bows between the letters and hearts. I really love banners - they are so festive and easy to make.

While I had my Cricut out, I cut out some extra hearts, glued them together so they were double-sided, tied them on a piece of jute, added a tulle bow, and hung them from our chandelier over our dining room table: I also embellished a few frames by spray painting them red and making and gluing on felt flowers:Here's a close-up of the darling bear (he sits in my bedroom the rest ofthe year):
On Valentine's morning, the kids awoke to gifts from their Daddy and I hanging on their doorknobs. Colton was excited to find a new GI Joe, a Monopoly Deal card game and a cookies 'n' cream Hershey's bar (his favorite candy):Cady had a new, dressed-for-soccer, Frenchy dog, Fancy Nancy Valentine's Day book and a "diamond" ring pop:She was all decked-out in hearts for school:The day before, she and I had made Valentine's cake pops for her classroom party. She wanted heart-shaped and that is what she got!Ready to go to school:
I also made some for Colton's class, but he did not want hearts - just plain ol' round ones. They still came out festive for Valentine's Day, though:

These are the kids' Valentine's cards they gave out this year:

I found the templates online and then just redid the wording on them and added the photographs I had taken special for the cards. They turned out cute and were a big hit with their teachers, classmates, soccer teammates and grandparents!

Here they are with their Valentine's cards from Grammy and Grandpa Mac: Grammy always mails them each separately which makes them that much more special.

Colin, even though we agreed not to do gifts for Valentine's, showed up at lunchtime with these gorgeous flowers for me:So beautiful and so sweet of him! It was a special Valentine's because it was the 15th anniversary of our first date! We also went out on a movie date the Friday following Valentine's and watched "Just Go With It". Great movie and it was a fun, belated Valentine's date!

Last, but not least, I always post a picture of the kids with all of the Valentine's loot they bring home from their class parties:

I always enjoy seeing the cute bag/box/container they get to decorate in class to hold it all. Probably because that is one of my fondest memories from when I was in school!

It was a wonderful Valentine's Day full of a lot of LOVE, just as it should be!

Colton's 1st 4-H Dance :-)

Colton has added somehing new to his extra-curricular activity schedule for 2011 and it is something he has been excited to do for a long time - 4-H! He is a proud member of the Bullseye 4-H Club and has been to 3 meetings and has participated in 2 fundraisers so far! He really enjoys it and is excited fr all the shooting sports and other competitions that are coming up.

This past Saturday, however, we took him to his first 4-H Dance, something that I enjoyed doing when I was growing up in 4-H. Unfortunately, they don't hold them as often as they used to, and it usually isn't a live band like Iwas used to, rather a dj. Thanks to the Fort Selden 4-H club, though, there is always a 4-H Sweetheart Dance around Valentine's Day and we promised the kids we would take them. They were very excited! We took a few pictures before we left the house:
Colton's new hat he is wearing was given to him by his Nana for his birthday. It is a different style than he has worn in the past, but I really like it on him!
When we got there, Colton got all shy and it was like he was hiding in the corner! I had taught him to two-step a couple of years ago, before his Auntie's wedding, so he knows how, but he wouldn't dance with me! One of his fellow club members and former classmates, Maddie, was there and e kept trying to get him to go ask her to dance. FINALLY, he did and they were so cute! I can honestly say that I have never been so happy to have my camera with me as I was able to capture this sweet 'first' of his. Look how adorable they are:

After they got that first dace out of the way, they danced a few more times, once with Maddie asking him before he got a chance to ask her! :-) He would have danced more, but between Cady getting tired and whiny, and me dealing with a horrible cold, we decided it was time to go.

It was so much fun watching him dance (and Colin and I got to dance a few times, too) and we look forward to more dances in the future!

Surprises From Daddy!

Colin, being the wonderful Daddy he is, surprised the kids with special out-of-the-blue treats last week. Colton's was very special because it is over 25 years old!! The kid loves playing with GI Joes, as did Colin when he was a boy. Colin is always sad that he doesn't have any of his old toys to pass onto Colton and was messing around on eBay and found a vintage (1983) Armored Personnel Carrier in excellent shape . He was very excited about it because he had one just like it when he was about Colton's age! He went ahead and bid on it and won it! Colton, as you can imagine, was extremely happy!!The top comes off and there are little seats for all his action figures to sit:

It is his new favorite toy!

Well, Colin couldn't get Colton something without getting Cady something, of course, so he got her the one thing that she wanted for Christmas that she didn't get...a salon chair for Fancy Nancy!

Look at those big smiles from both of them! :-) The chair really pumps up and down like a real one and it came with a blow dryer, brush, plastic scissors and a spray bottle. Cady squealed with delight when her Daddy gave it to her!

Fancy Nancy really liked it, as well and has had several "hair appointments" already!

Could there be anything more fun than special surprises from Daddy?