Make a Smilebox slideshow

Jackson had a field trip this week to the Phoenix Zoo and I got to go with him chaperone! I was so excited to be a chaperone for the first time, but a little nervous at the same time. But we had such a fun time. I had a great little group of boys. Jackson, Ben (one of his best friends) and Zane were such a joy to watch. They never gave me a hard time and just had fun together. Now the trip was a little frustrating to me, but the kids had fun. It was just frustrating trying to get to see things. Here is what we did and see if you would be frustrated! : ) We arrived at the zoo and went straight to the train. We waited in line there for about 20 minutes or so. The kids were antsy, but they were watching a squirrel so that kept them entertained. We rode the train which was good, so that they got to see the main animals around the zoo. After the train ride we only had about 30 minutes before we had lunch so we went to see the elephants, orangutans and lemurs and a couple other birds and then we headed to lunch. Well, one of the mom's that was with my group didn't bring her or her son's lunch so they had to go get some food which wasn't close to where we were supposed to meet, so she took off to get food while we went to eat. By the time they came back and ate all my kids were done and ready to go, but we had to wait for them. The kids didn't even notice cuz they were playing tag and running around. They finally finished eating and then we had to try to round up the kids and figure out where to go from there. We finally decided to go to the petting zoo, which took forever. By the time we finally got everyone out of the petting zoo, we only had about 20 minutes before we had to meet the bus. So I tried to get the group to head over to the reptiles, since we had all boys in our group. Well, on our way, the dad that was with us said why don't we check out the wallabys real fast. Well, what we didn't know was that when we go thru that exhibit you end up at a playground for the kids so we just ended up watching the kids play for that last little bit then we had to head over to meet the bus. So needless to say they didn't see much, but it didn't matter to the kids. They had an amazing time and I am glad I got to go with Jax. It was so neat to see how he interacts with the kids. They all love him and he is friends with all his class even the girls. So even though it wasn't very smooth, all in all, it was a great time by all and that is all that matters! I am so grateful for this opportunity to be with Jax.

Oh The Things We'll Do For Free Food!

So I get a call today from my mom saying Tricia gave us free tickets for dinner at Cantina Laredo and asked if I wanted to go. But no kids can go and I would need to find a babysitter. I said sure why not! Free food, sign me up! So I asked Jerry's mom to watch the kids and of course she agreed, so dinner was on. But we all kept asking what is the catch. So I called Tricia myself to find out exactly what she knows, and she said she got a call saying if you hurry and reserve your spot you would get a free dinner for you and 3 friends. She of course said "what do I have to buy, what are you selling? Is it really free?" They said it was, you just had to listen to a presentation about fire safety. They even said leave your wallet in the car if you don't believe me. So Tricia decided not to go, but sent me and my parents off to see how it goes. We were very nervous wondering what to expect, and we got there and went into a banquet room at Cantina Laredo. They were very friendly and the whole time said you are not being sold anything tonight. So for 2 hours we heard about fire safety and all the dangers in your homes and how smoke detectors work 55% of the time, and don't turn on for a long time. It was really fascinating. We had food which I didn't really care for, too fancy schmancy for my taste! But it was free! They didn't push anything on us, just asked if we wanted them to come to our home to get a free fire safety evaluation of the home. (and they do have products to sell if we want at that time). All in all, it was very informative, and really made you think how safe your house is! I realized my kids have no clue what to do in a fire and that really scares me! So next family home evening, fire safety is our topic! For Sure! Thanks Tricia for the free meal! : )