Merry Christmas!

Grammie's Sweet Delight

Brushing the paint on to make her foot print.

Madelyn picked out every color for the plate.

Maybe she is a budding artist

She was very determined to paint the plate by herself.

She was so proud of her work that I had to keep reminding her that she could not tell Grammie what the surprise was.

Madelyn and I went to Art n' Soul in Plano to paint for Grammie a plate that had Madelyn's foot print on it. There were so many choices and designs, but Maddie made the final decision--Ice Cream Sundae! (But of course). We named the plate, "Grammie's sweet delight" and then owner add Madelyn's name and age to the plate. The plate came out so cute, but I forgot to get a picture of the finished product.--But I will update soon with a completed photo story.

Alligator Farm

Michael's mid-day snack

This leathery friend is three years old. It was amazing how strong he was. Slippery little suck!

Madelyn wanted to hold him, but there was no way she was going to avert eyes from the little gator to look at the Camera.

April, Aubrey, Cayden and Matt

I think Cayden would have taken him home if April would have let him.

On the other side of the Alligator lake is a Reindeer enclosure, I wonder if this is considered teasing.

The "S" shape movement they make in the water is very gracefully, so wonder they can sneak up on their prey.

I would not want to stumble across this guy along the shore.

"Big Daddy"

Seriously, they looked like statues until you see them making a tiny movement.

Cayden is a ladies man. They were so cute holding hands and walking around.

Ms. Aubrey taking in the view. Such beautiful eyes!

It was amusing to see them piled up on each other, and some of the alligators were perched so far over the edge, I kept watching for the bottom guys to move and the rest of the alligators fall into the water.

Sun bathing pile.

You would think that if you were nice and feed this obnoxious white Llama, that he would at least not be mean and spit on you. Oh no! I got nailed when he realized that I did not have any food left in my cup. Mean old Thang!

Save the Drama for your Llama

This little Joey was so soft.

Go ROO's

Feeding the Kangaroos

Madelyn wanted to see the Ostrich, but not be any where near him.

Pygmy goat. This adorable dwarf came up to Madelyn's waist. She wanted to feed this one, because she said it was her size.

Exhausted after a long day, they watched a movie together.

The two buddies played so well together.

Posing in front of the fountains at the Boardwalk in Bossier City.

April fishing out for the second time, Cayden's toy.

The Red River view from the Bossier City side . The River access had been closed due to flooding.

We spent the weekend in Shreveport Louisiana visiting some great college friends of mine--Matt and April. Ten years ago we swam together at Austin College and now look at us married with children. Oh my gosh we are getting old, but having fun in the process. We took the kids to the Gator and Friends Farm in Greenwood, just inside the LA border. Nestled in the Piny Woods, we all had fun looking at the Alligators and petting some furry friends.

Little Gym Spooktacular

Ms. Kiristen --Thing 2 and Thing .5 and Madelyn


The Grinch aka--Mr. Forest

Mr. Jaime and Madelyn doing the donut roll.

Mastering the Monster Mountain

Madelyn and Ms. Michelle

The green flash is really a swing Tinkerbell fairy

Tinkerbell is very focused as she traverses the balance beam

Mr. Jaime staring as the Cat in the Hat

A Sunny Pumpkin Patch

Our second attempt at a Pumpkin Patch proved to be a beautiful sunny day. The afternoon was one of the only sunny days, we have had in a while. Madelyn enjoyed running around outside, and took great pains in selecting the perfect pumpkin to take home and decorate. The sun was shinning so bright, that I kept asking Madelyn to smile and look at the camera. Frustrated that she kept looking away, Madelyn responded that if I made her look up at me, "that the sunshine would make her go blind and that she would be sad because I would not be able to see her anymore"... Sigh at least I got some cute pictures.