Freshman Letter WINNER

Told him to smile.

Heathen #1 had only ONE goal for swimming this year - to earn his Letterman's jacket.  Today, he brought home the proof of his accomplishment!!!

I told him to REALLY smile because he didn't look very
happy in the original photo.  :)

Bunny Clothes

At the Zoo, the Easter Bunny doesn't bring buckets of candy.  He always brings some candy, but he also brings small toys, usually a combination of strange and silly things.  He's been known to bring sandals, swimming trunks, beach towels and candy that makes noise.

Once thing the Easter Bunny has ALWAYS put in the Heathens' baskets are new clothes to wear to church on Easter morning.  Strangely enough, the Heathen's are always excited to see the new clothes!

Weird Heathens - what small heathen likes dress clothes?

Easter 2013

The Rabbit Strikes Again

The Heathens never fail to make me laugh.  Several years ago, the Asst. Zookeeper was being silly while the Heathens were dying Easter eggs and pretended to drink the egg dye.  Every year since, the Heathens do the same thing.  What weirdos.

Eating things they shouldn't.

Sadly, this is rather normal.

Not sure what he was thinking...

Easter morning dawned EARLY and bright as always.  Usually Heathen #2 is the first out of bed and then proceeds to wake the other Heathens.   

Again, normal.

I kept waiting for him to fall off the ottoman.
Somehow, he never did.

Again, normal.

This is what happens when I say,
"Look here, I want a picture."

After the Heathens had all found their baskets, I wanted one picture of the three of them together with their baskets.  The following is the collection of pictures I managed to get.  Not one photo of everyone looking at the camera with nice smiles.  But I think I like this collection of photos better - it truly shows who my Heathens are and what life is truly like here at the Zoo.

 

 

 

 

 

Lord, I love my Heathens.

Tom Sawyer

Heathen #3 as Tom Sawyer

Once again this year, our elementary school had "Storybook Character Day" in celebration of Dr. Suess's birthday.  This is something my Heathens have always enjoyed.

The trouble is that costumes for little heathens are a bit harder than for little girls.  Lots of stories have princesses in them - and most little girls own dress up clothes.  Thinking of a male storybook character that has a fun costume is a little harder.  I managed to talk him into Tom Sawyer and then I headed to the thrift store for the pieces I needed.  Managed the entire ensemble for less than $8 and he was thrilled with the results!

Fun in the Snow

The Zoo in Winter.

The snow is so FLUFFY!

  We just had the most beautiful snow fall here this weekend.  The Zoo looks magical when this happens.  It is one of those times where I know we made the right choice in relocating the Zoo here about 18 months ago.

It was also a perfect weekend for snow tubing!  The church youth group headed to Seven Springs for a few hours of time on the tubing hill.  The Heathens had a fabulous time.  This is definitely one of their favorite snow-activities!

 

 

Heathen #2 Bridges Over

Another milestone reached for Heathen #2!  He has officially bridged into Boy Scouts, joining the Asst. Zookeeper and Heathen #1 in BSA Troop 217.  Older Scouts from the Troop joined the Pack for the evening to welcome the new members and congratulate them once they crossed the bridge.


Heathen #1 and the Asst. Zookeeper

Heathen #2's den first built the bridge. 
 

The Scouts took turns adding parts to the bridge.

The completed top of the bridge.

 Then it was time to cross to Boy Scouts!

Just before Heathen #2 started over the bridge, we removed his
Webelos neckerchief and slide.

Over the bridge he goes!  The Troop was waiting to welcome him on
the other side - including Heathen #1.

Heathen #2 was a bit nervous waiting for his name
to be called.

Last few minutes as a Cub Scout!

Proudly standing on the bridge, the Zoo's newest Boy Scout!

 The Zoo is now the proud home of a Scoutmaster and TWO Boy Scouts - not to mention the Wolf Cub Scout that is still working his way through the younger ranks!  Well done, Heathen!

Head-Eating Monsters

For Christmas, Heathen #3 received a shirt from his grandparents that was too small.  We headed back to the store to try to exchange it for the correct size - but we struck out.  They didn't have the same shirt in the correct size.  The grandparents instructed us to return the shirt and let Heathen #3 pick something that he liked.

He opted for a hooded sweatshirt.  But not just any hooded sweatshirt.  On the hood of this one are teeth and eye balls.

I told him I wanted to take a picture of him to send to his grandparents to show them what he picked.  He happily pulled up the hood and promptly made this face:



When I asked him why he was making this face, he looked at me like I was stupid.

"Mom.  The monster is eating my head."

Of course.  I should have known that.