Springtime Fun!

Even with this crazy weather, I'm daring to say that spring has officially sprung! This means lots of outdoor fun for this family and the start of this momma trying to have a green thumb :) I'll never get better if I never try right?

Our first green adventure this year comes to us courtesy of the dollar bins at Target....man, do I love them! These herbs were too cute to pass up.



Super easy...the kit even came with the dirt




How simple, how pretty! Maybe we can paint
some flower pots for whatever I decide to grow
next....

  We had a day off from school, so I thought it would be nice to take Samir out to a local farm to pick strawberries. At his last birthday party we picked strawberries and he liked it then, so I was sure he would like it again.



Bry and Samir petting the baby pig

 


Oh yeah, that's the good stuff!




Diving right in!




Trying to lug our bucket with him




Our loot for the day....almost four pounds!



Spring also brings Daddy's birthday! I let Samir do the sprinkles and he decided to dump the whole container on the cake. Pretty festive huh?

Easter Treats

Another holiday, another reason for us to make some treats! It's Easter, so of course we had to dye some eggs.

Our next task was to make birds in nests. I had saw this somewhere in a magazine or on the internet, but for the life of me I could not find it again. Here's our version.... Melt chocolate and mix it with shredded coconut. Mush this into some VERY well sprayed cupcake pans, leaving a well in the middle (like a nest). Pop this in the fridge long enough to harden.

Carefully remove the nests from the cupcake pan. Add some egg candy (we used the malted eggs) and sit a Peep marshmallow duck on top.

Voila! A bird in a nest!

Package as you like :)

T-Ball Time!

Samir had his first t-ball game today. He loves playing in the backyard with us, so we thought we'd go ahead and give it a try on a team. Considering the age of this team, I was super proud of them! Samir was all about being in the outfield during the first inning, not so much about batting and running the bases. But by the second inning, he was ready to go! This is a 2-4 year old league, so basically each kids gets to bat, they run one base at a time and outs don't count. Obviously, there's a lot of parents on the field as well....which is why I am extremely glad Oussama comes to every game and practice! Samir took a three hour nap after all this, so I know he was worn out. He played his little heart out!



Waiting his turn to bat





Waiting his turn to be the catcher



Going after the ball



Running to first base




....and second base




Coming home



Getting the ball

Throwing it to first



Giving the other team fives

 Go Tigers!

Wild Wilderness Safari

Today we took Samir to the Wild Wilderness Safari in Gentry. It was such a blast for the entire family! The weather was perfect for being outside all day.

Samir LOVED the goats! I was so proud...he wasn't scared of anything in the petting area.

This big guy was Samir's favorite. He was all about the food though, so it was a little hard to get a good petting in. If you've never petted a pot belly pig, they have some of the coarsest hair I've ever felt!

The goats attacking Sama :)

See? No fear in that boy!

How could you not love a baby monkey? Especially in their little pampers!

In the monkey cage....this is the nice monkey. The other one, well, not so much. He bit Sama, tried to steal Samir's shoes and then, in the blink of an eye, grabs Samir's lower lip, yanks it out, and chomps down on it. Not a pleasant experience. Samir just started crying to go back to the baby monkeys. I had to agree!

This baby monkey was named Piper and she was the sweetest little thing!

These were a type of deer (I can't remember the exact name) and they were quite lovable. I was really impressed with all the animals and their great interactions with humans.

"Whatcha got there?"

Helping Daddy drive through the safari

These animals were not scared of the cars at all....

.....including this zebra, who stuck its snout on in!

This is the camel after he slobbered on the door and figured out it wasn't food!

The scariest part of the drive! A herd of buffalo surrounded our car, one rubbing its head on the front of car and making it rock, another using the side mirrors as scratching posts and still another trying to chew on the door handle! We were stuck there for almost twenty minutes!

A little prarie dog

All in all, I totally recommend this place! This was our first time to go and we plan on returning. It's not a long drive and you could spend all day there if you wanted. Just watch out for monkeys picking your pockets!