Penguin Swim

We spent the afternoon at Tanganyika Wildlife Park on Sunday, September 27th.  We had a special animal encounter planned for later in the day.  It was a chilly afternoon, but we still had fun walking around and interacting with several different animals at the park.

One Kangaroo really liked the blanket Mom was using on her legs.

Silas got a few of the Lorakeets to land on him while he was feeding them.

Phoebe fed the Giraffes and the Tortoises.

The highlight of the day was the Penguin Encounter for Popee and Sarah.  They were each given a wetsuit and water shoes to change into for the big event.  We all got some good laughs as they got suited up and ready for their experience together.

SARAH - For my birthday and for Father's Day, Popee and I got to do the Penguin Swim.

Before getting in the water the penguin keeper told us about the penguins, and told us information about the penguins during the whole experience.

The water was so cold!!

She gave us peacock feathers to hold, because the penguins like to play with them, and it made it so they wanted to swim by us.

The penguins splashed Popee and I a lot!!

Some of the penguins were biters!!  They bit Popee a lot, but the lady said it was a sign of love!  After a while Popee and I tried to keep our arms out of the water, so the penguins wouldn't bite us.  They must have really loved us, especially Popee!!

Popee and I were both looking at the penguin bites on his hands and arms (above).

Watch out Popee!  He is looking at your arm!!

Popee and I had a lot of fun at the penguin experience!  I am so happy that we got to do it together!  I love it when Popee and I get to laugh and have fun with each other.  He is the best Popee in the whole wide world!  I love him so much!!

September Fun

Silas decided to give football a try this season.  Practices started in early September for our league.  Typically practices would have started in August and they would have had a longer season but due to Covid the season was delayed.  The first couple nights of practice all the boys, first grade through 6th grade, started out together.  Eric is helping coach Silas's team.

The kids and I made a fun trip to Tanganyika Wildlife Park.  They had fun feeding some of the ducks.  Silas also picked to feed the Lemurs.  A Lemur even climbed onto his lap!

The goats are always a favorite for all three of our kids.

Silas and Phoebe fed the tortoise and the rabbits.

Sarah picked to feed the birds.  It was exciting!  As soon as we walked into the enclosure, birds came at us from all angles...Phoebe didn't even have any food, but the birds flocked to her too!  We couldn't stop laughing for awhile

Tanganyika has a new water park area that opened in August.  The kids were excited to give it a try too.  We packed our towels, and after looking at the animals we headed to the water park area to give it a try.

On our way out of Tanganyika we ran into a zookeeper with a baby Kangaroo.  She talked with us a few minutes and then let Sarah hold it.

We made a quick trip to Texas to visit family Labor Day weekend.  Eric got to play golf with his brothers and we had a lot of fun just spending time together.

The kids did a lot of swimming and had Nerf Gun wars together.  We all got to see Ayden play in one of his football games.

And, Phoebe and Grandma Sharon got their ears pierced.

Usually the day before school starts we make a trip to Braum's for ice cream cones.  This year, instead I took them to Dunkin' Donuts.  They were all smiles.

Phoebe and Silas started school on September 10th.  Phoebe is in fifth grade this year and Silas is in second grade.  Both were ready to start school and excited about the teachers that they got for the new year.  It was a chilly day with highs only in the 50's-60's.  The temperature just added another element of strangeness to this upcoming school year, as Covid has imposed itself among us, and we all have had to make some adjustments to this new school year and all that it brings.

Sarah started the next day, September 11th.  She is in eighth grade this year.  She was delighted to be going back to school.  She really missed her friends, sports, and the busyness of school and all that it brings.

Silas continued with football practice...a lot of football practice...three nights a week for at least two hours each night.  He is doing great learning plays, throwing great passes, running fast, and being so tough.

We celebrated my 43rd birthday.  We were super busy on my actual birthday, so we celebrated a couple days later.  Eric took half a day off from work and the kids were out of school.  They gave me some nice gifts, we ate a quick lunch at Subway then did a little shopping together for some things that I wanted...pumpkins to decorate our porch, and supplies for Eric to build a hat rack for our closet.

That evening we ate a birthday dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.

When we got home that evening we all enjoyed my favorite birthday cake that Eric and the kids had made for me the night before.  (I seriously have THE BEST HUSBAND and KIDS around!  They are so good to me, and we have such good times together.) Thank you to my family for being EVERYTHING to me.