Gators and Dinos...

We've had a very busy May. Hard to believe that today ends the month already! It goes by so fast and apparently I keep up so slow! An age thing, a mommy thing, or both? Anyway, I will do my best to catch up!

My sister and her husband, along with their plethora of reptilian wildlife, are fostering a young alligator. They brought it over earlier this month for the kids to have a look at. Before banding it they showed the kids it's little teeth. A mouth full of tiny razors. Yikes! Nathan and Beth were thrilled! Katie wasn't afraid but every time it moved she would immediately let go. A neat experience for them. Not everyone can say they've held a live alligator!

Also this month we visited the Science Museum of Minnesota. This is the event my son had been counting down daily for about a month prior. We have gone the past few years and it has been one of his favorite spots.

Each year the museum holds special exhibits. This year it was King Tut and the Golden Kings of Egypt. It was fascinating! Something I have been wanting to see since I was a child! Amazing how the climate of Egypt can preserve things, such as wood and reeds, so well over thousands of years. The artifacts we saw were between 3000 and 5000 years old! Absolutely amazing! The stone works were close enough to touch but we weren't allowed. I felt like a kid trying to restrain myself from reaching out and running my fingers over them. I admit, I was tempted to say, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see the sign." Haha! But I didn't. I was good.

The kids didn't appreciate the Tut exhibit near so much as the other parts of the museum. There were so many neat things to spark the imagination. But the favorite spot for them all was the prehistoric area.

 At many of the stations there were telephones, which you pick up and are able to listen to the history of the particular exhibit. The photograph above shows the kids at the first one, the apatosaurus. However, I should have been taking a video. I wish I had captured Katie's response! After adjusting her phone (as you can see she is listening to the wrong end) she looked very confused and said, "no, no. This is Katewyn! Kaaaatewyyyyn! No, KATEWYN!" Haha!! It was too funny!

As you can see, the apatosaurus was huge. I was unable to get much of it in the photo. Nathan was so proud of these dinosaurs. We spend a long time in this area, which also has a little miniature prehistoric site they could climb over and puppets to play with.

Another favorite stop inside the museum, especially for the girls, was the little newsroom where you got to be on TV! Every little girls dream, right? :)

It was a fun trip, but, also a long one, and we had three tuckered out kids on the way home. Needless to say, we had a peaceful end to the day.

The next day wasn't near as much fun as we had multiple tornadoes touch down near us. One in Lacrosse, one in Sparta, and one about 2-3 miles north of where we are. Thankfully, God was watching out for us and kept us safe. He was also watching out for all those affected as not one person was killed in any of those three tornadoes. So very grateful! It has been a bad year all throughout the Midwest. The deadliest tornado year in over 50 years. Yikes! Praying for calmer days ahead!

And last, but definitely not least, we celebrated two birthdays this past weekend! "Grandma in Texas" (aka Mom, Melodee) and Daddy Mark's! Only two things would have made it better. One: If I hadn't had to work. Two: If we could have had Grandma Melodee with us to celebrate her birthday in person.

Here is a pic of the birthday girl and a pic of the birthday boy! I don't have access to a baby pic of Mom but this one is close enough and sure is cute!!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Hunny!

Blessings to all!! Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!