Phoenix Zoo!!!

While we were in Arizona for the Christmas Holiday we took the opportunity to go to the Phoenix Zoo, after all the weather was amazing! We got to see lots of wildlife and our kids did great!

This black bear was not happy with being in trapped in the zoo. On our first pass by him he got up off the rock and started walking around in the cold water looking for a way to either get to us or just get out. Bryant's brother came with a couple of his kids and they have never seen the bear so active and they go on a monthly basis (they have a family pass).

After we walked around everything else and were passing by the bear area on the opposite side we got to see the bear banging on the door to get back inside. It is moments like these that I am not sure what to think of zoos. The animals are put in cages for people to look at and learn about. Some of the animals would not be able to survive in the wild but seeing this bear so upset about life was a little disturbing.

We got to see the elephants up close eating. The boys were super excited!

I'm glad that we were able to go to the zoo and that our children can be so well behaved that we could have such a great time together!

Brylee's Birthday

Brylee turned 1!!! Thankfully her grandparents each got her a gift so that she had something to open. Being the third child and probably the fourth and fifth and so on is rough for a one year birthday. We already have so many "baby" toys that I couldn't really think of anything worth spending my money on to get Brylee but her grandparents each did great!

Brylee also succeeded in walking the day or two before her birthday making her the fastest learner thus far in the family. Once she figured it out she would happily take three steps to get where she was going but if the distance was greater than three steps she would drop down and crawl the rest of the way, even if the distance was really only 1 or 2 more steps.

Christmas and December :)

 In the month of December we went to the "Light Parade" It was rather cold outside!! Everyone had a good time. I'll admit I was a bit disappointed with the "lights" Most people had the lights on the hood of cars or just glow sticks around their necks. I guess with the cold weather it is hard to have a light-up costume if you are going to just cover it up with sweaters and jackets.

This is Brylee bundled up watching the parade.

This Hunter after we got home

 

 And here is Tucker after we got home. They were both glad to be back in the warmth of our house!

We were super excited to be able to go home to Arizona for Christmas for approx 3 weeks!! We had so much fun with family and enjoyed the warm weather so much!

 Brylee loves to climb as much as her brothers and she managed to get up on top of the filled car-top carrier

We had lots of fun playing kickball with Bryant's siblings and my siblings. It is so much fun when everyone can get together and have a good time. I was enjoying relaxing in the grass with Brylee, Juli (my sister-in-law), and Clark (Juli's boy) that I didn't think to take pictures until everyone was practically finished playing. It was great that everyone who wanted to play got a turn. And the "big kids" were nice to the little kids and let them enjoy kicking and running the bases!

Christmas morning was a blast, as it should be. Tucker and Hunter both opted for the turn my stocking upside down to dump out its contents approach to emptying their stocking. It was cute.

 All three of them had fun playing with their stocking stuffers while we waited for the rest of the King Family to wake up and come enjoy Christmas morning together :) Thankfully, some of my siblings are not very patient and they took on the job of waking those that were attempting to get some extra winks in.

 I made this apron for Bryant, along with matching ones for Tucker and Hunter.

 As you can see below, my brother Jared was not super excited about being woken up to open Christmas presents. He is such a teenager :)

 This was Brylee's Christmas dress, compliments of my cousin. Since we were in Arizona for Christmas the weather was perfect for the dress and Brylee looked adorable in it!

 The boys had lots of fun opening presents at Grandma Debbie's house after church too. They sure love the marble run they got!

 After eating lunch they decided to go outside Grandma's house and look for buried treasure! Thankfully, Grandma Debbie has some dirt that they could dig in that was not part of her garden.

November

Brylee loves the motorcycle!

Tucker

Hunter

Even a little bit of snow deserves to be played in. They didn't even want their warm clothes on. They were so excited to play on the balcony!

Hunter has been caught reading a book!!

Bryant showing off the "space suit." Of course after getting it out, everyone wanted to have a turn.

Tucker's Turn

Hunter's Turn

Tucker decided to be the "alien" from outer space.

Brylee loves to play peek-a-boo!! I was so impressed that she kept it up after pulling out the camera!

One evening during dinner the boys were having a hard time eating their dinner and somehow we all started being elephants at the table, I'm sure Brylee started it by way of spitting her food, either way we had an enjoyable time taking turns being elephants and laughing all the way!

October

I thought it would be fun to make papier-mâché masks with the children. My neighbor was all for it and even had papier-mâché mix she got from a friend and wanted to use rather than hold on to. Hunter thought making a mess and covering the balloon was fun for a while, but Tucker and Armani disliked getting their hands sticky, Tucker sooner than Armani so it really became a project for Katie and I instead of our children. After letting the masks dry for a couple of days, we got back together to paint them. Everyone liked painting, only they didn't exactly try to paint the entire mask, only a small area on the front, which lead to the brand new paint colors getting all mixed up. Oh well :) It was something for them to do no for me to fret over. Oddly enough, after the masks were dry and ready to go on their heads, no one cared to wear them. I guess they are still to young to appreciate a papier-mâché mask, which is fine because I don't think I'm ready to try and make them again until my kids are more able to help with the papering part. I am grateful that it helped take up two different afternoons for several hours though!

Here is Hunter painting his mask


Here is Armanie, Tucker, and Hunter


The rinsing water was always dark, no matter how often I changed it.


Here is Armanie and Tucker


Once Brylee woke up, she joined in the fun at the table, fortunately, she was more than content to sit and watch. Thank you Brylee!



Brylee as taken to sitting in things, this is one of her favorite containers to climb into. She also enjoys the car bucket but that usually annoys her brothers because it makes it hard to find the car they want :)


Tucker and Hunter have really been into being told stories, that often involve them as characters. Thankfully, the stories can just be about whatever it is that we have done recently from as mundane as going somewhere in the car to having a treasure hunt! They like to pretend that an empty travel size wet wipe container is the book from which the story is told, and the teller of the story must always use it when telling a story.

I think that as a result of this joy, they have really been into putting on puppet shows. It is so fun to see Tucker growing enough to try and put forth entire story. Well I thought the video wouldn't load because we were sharing internet with a neighbor and the signal kept dropping but in reality it just doesn't want to load.


Brylee discovered herself in the mirror and decided to give herself some kisses :)