Not all the animals are in cages.........

..........at the zoo!

You won't see many of the animals in these pictures. Although we did go around and look in the enclosures, the kids seemed to have the most fun on this trip doing the playground thing.

The kids still love going to the Boise Zoo though, and know where all the animals are. Last year we were thrilled when we found that the butterfly building was open. We were able to take the kids in to see dozens of varieties of butterfly that swirled in small groups around your head and legs and feet. They were disappointed that it wasn't yet open, but we assured them that there would be future Zoo trips in the near future.

Sissy is our resident animal fanatic. She absolutely adores cats, dogs and various furbies. Her daddy has a beagle named Chase, her mommy and stepdad have a chow cross (very sweet) and we used to have Taylor the Demon Siamese at Nana and Papa's. Unfortunately Taylor was very ancient and has passed over the Rainbow Bridge.

Here she is trying to woo a reluctant llama:



Jaedan liked being able to look eyeball to eyeball with this ground dwelling critter:



There are a number of kid friendly areas and one of the favorite is where the giraffe slide is. It was being repaired the last time we were there so the kids were thrilled when they saw that it was ready for them to use:





Uncle Josh had asked for a picture of the komodo dragon. We got one but there was also this lifelike replica so we thought he'd enjoy these two pictures as well.





Of course, who can resist the merry-go-round?



Don't forget the animals that you can get up close to:









Finally, one last look at the spider monkeys. To see these, you have to climb some stairs, then walk alongside their enclosures, ending with a slide for the kids to return to the ground As you can see by how blurred the kids are due to their movement, you know that they race as fast as they can back up the stairs to go down the slide again.





It was with reluctance that they finally allowed themselves to be herded back to the car so that we could return home.

Maybe next time we'll be able to get some pictures of Nancy's side of the family, you know, the "holler" monkey and the little donkey.

The many faces of ..............................

goofs!

I just noticed that many of the pictures had faces that were beyond the norm. So I thought before I posted some zoo pictures that I would share these and possibly give you a chuckle or two!

Jaedan's favorite pose right now is to take self pics of eyes and nostrils:



I've told Nancy that if she wants her face to be remembered that she needs to quit covering up whenever a camera is pointed her way. It is a shame that future generations will only see her as a possible relative to "Thing" in the Adams Family.



See how painful it is for her to keep from hiding behind her hand?



Of course, this will teach her to clown around!



We can't forget our little "Princess":



Jaedan is giving me his "GRRRR" face, not sure if he doesn't want to hold still for the picture or if I'm keeping him from getting to the swimming pool:



Here is one guaranteed to frighten away lab rats and small children:



This is a picture of such sweetness. Compare this one to the next picture of Nancy about the same age. Don't they look alike?





Of course, if you can't get a funny face you can always use Photo Shop to your advantage. Here is one of my sister's with her daughter and the "touch up" follows:





If you can't do this to someone you love, who can you do it to?

It's For The Birds!

The Birds of Prey is just a few miles south of Boise located on a windswept knoll overlooking the Treasure Valley. It really is amazing after driving in Boise traffic, how quiet and serene the spot is just a few miles away from all the bustle of Boise.

There were a couple of hawks and eagles that could be dimly seen through screened windows on our way to the main educational facility. A small group of children from some daycare was going through the exhibits when we arrived and we briefly joined them as a gentleman appeared with a peregrin falcon on his arm.

Jaedan took this picture:



The question was asked of the group how heavy they thought this falcon might be. Our Never-Shy Jaedan popped up his hand and answered, "1600 hundred pounds". He was off by just a few pounds, with the actual weight of the bird at 1 1/2 pounds. (can you imagine having to hold a 1600 pound bird on your arm?)

We then watched a DVD presentation about the mission of the Birds of Prey that was interesting to Nana and Papa but a little bit much for the kids. They were good troopers however, and soon we were on our way to seeing some of the birds. Because it is an educational facility and the birds are part of a breeding program, cameras weren't allowed on the tour. So we obliged ourselves with some wing shots!





The kids found the tour to be too slow and to much lecture for their short attention span so we left the group and just went wherever the kids wanted to go. There were other rooms of stuffed specimens, pictures, artwork, and even other animal exhibits other then birds. Ashlynn was quite interested in this beaver.



There was another room that showed the difference in color and sizes of bird's eggs. It also had some touchy-feely objects for the kids to explore. After about an hour, we loaded up and headed for the zoo. The kids were having a pretty good time, were behaving reasonably well, and we adults were enjoying ourselves too.

$70.00 dollars for an overnight stay at a motel with an indoor swimming pool, $40.00 for dinner at Elmers. Hearing the gratitude in the kid's voices as they told us over and over again, "Papa, Nana, we love you"....................PRICELESS!

Spring Break and the kids go wild!

or as wild as Nana and Papa will let a 3 and 6 year old get. At this age, going on vacation and staying in a motel with an indoor swimming pool is about as good as it gets. We drove to Boise, ID, after church and then lunch, arriving about 4 pm. The kids were in their swim suits faster then you could look under the bed to make sure the maids had vacuumed out all the boogie monsters!

Here they are heading for the pool:



I think the expressions on their faces tell the story. Both the kids love water and will need to take more lessons this summer although Jaedan will tell you he "knows how to swim already".



She doesn't look very mischievous does she?



Ahhh! This is the life.



We stayed at the Shilo Riverside. After swimming, we took the kids to PoJo's, an arcade that has all kinds of games that dispense tickets. Nancy was standing at the coin changer (the one that can take a single piece of paper and give you 20 pieces of metal - quarters - in return). I thought she was joking when she asked me if I thought we'd have enough time to go through 20 quarters! And 40 quarters later, we decided it was time to go back to the Shilo and hit the hay.

The Boise River runs right outside the Shilo and after a good nights rest and a pretty decent continental breakfast, we went for a walk alongside the River.







It was very relaxing and although we could see 5 different bridges crossing the river, we could hardly hear the traffic over the trickle of the water. The morning was beautiful and we encountered a lot of locals using the walking path alongside the River.

After our morning walk, we loaded up and headed for the Birds of Prey. More of that in another post.

Easy Peasy Bath Fizzies

One of the products we make that is simple after you get past the learning curve are bath fizzies. These are sort of like alka-seltzer tablets. You drop them into the water and they fizz. Our grandkids absolutely love them, always begging for more to be plopped into the bath.

When I first began trying these, I used sea salt as one of the ingredients. The sea salt seemed to interfere with the texture of the fizzies and I had a difficult time getting mine to turn out as they should.

So this is the recipe that I use now and I haven't had any trouble since.

3 parts baking soda
1 part citric acid
1-2 TBL oil (I use a blend of 1:1 sweet almond and grapeseed)
scent and colorant as desired
water

I don't know how much water any given batch uses because sometimes environmental factors apply. The water addition is one that you just get to know by the looks and feel of the mix. I'll explain more a little bit later.

This is how I start. I mix the 3 parts baking soda, 1 part citric acid, colorant if used and the oil and fragrance as desired. For color, I like micas because they are easy to mix in. You can't be to heavy handed with the colorant or someone like my wife will complain that it leaves a color ring in the bath. And the oil addition can be a personal adjustment depending on how much of an oil feel you want. Remember that especially the more oil used, the more you will see and feel it in the bath, particularly how slippery it can be!

I use a fork to mix and after mixing should resemble lightly dampened sand (because of the oil).



Now you are ready to add water. I turn the water on to just a narrow stream. (I like the way my camera captured the little droplets in the stream)



You want the stream of water to be small and consistent. Again using the fork to mix, I create a small well in the middle of the mix and then for just a few seconds stick the bowl under the stream of water. Don't add to much because as soon as the water hits the mix, it will begin to activate the action of citric acid and baking soda and start bubbling and fizzing.

The picture looks like the water is already streaming into the mix, but it is an optical illusion. The water stream is actually outside the bowl:



Holding the bowl in one hand and the fork in the other, I add the first bit of water and quickly remove the bowl from the water. Immediately stir the mix, mixing the water thoroughly into the mix. Be sure to scrape the sides and incorporate all the water into the mix. I usually add water about 2-3 times in this manner. The most important thing is to thoroughly incorporate the water into the mix. Too much water and your fizzie mix will rise faster then the Pillsbury doughboy. Here is a picture of the mix after I've added the water.



When the mix has enough water in it to help it hold together, I use plastic measuring molds to make the fizzies. I've found that they tap out of the plastic much easier then out of metal.



I just scoop out enough mix to fill the measuring part of the mold. I quickly press the palm of my hand against the surface of the mix, sort of rubbing off the excess with my palm. Then I just tap the fizzie nugget out of the spoon. One tap is usually all it takes and I can make quite a few of these in just a few minutes time.



Here are a couple of different variations:



All these are made with various plastic measuring spoons. I've read instructions of people using hammers and molds and tapping them to get a compact tablet. These are made just using the pressure of my palm against the mix in the spoon. They are usually hard enough in just a few hours to package and use. We use silver pouches for packaging.



Can't believe how long it has been since I last blogged. But I've got more to enter over the next few days. Grandkids are on spring break so we took them to Boise for a few days and spent some time at the Zoo and the Birds of Prey. News at 11 :)