A day at the Aquarium

I had no idea there was an aquarium around here, I've actually never been to an aquarium. I guess spending 10 years living by the ocean negates the need to go. Good thing Vama works with children and learns about these things. A few Saturday's ago we headed north to go to The Living Planet Aquarium. It was a pretty cool place, there was a South American section that had a huge anaconda, some penguins and an eel, the one thing that Mallina was dying to see. Of course, they weren't all in one exhibit together :)

Fishies

Tree Frogs

More fishies

Mallina was so excited to find the eel...

And here it is!

They had this cool set up by the eel, you could put two of your fingers on these metal receptors and feel a shock that would be like you had touched an eel. The girls were too scared to touch it, but I did, then Vama tried it and it didn't work for him! More proof that he's just weird.

Some very large fishies that were in with some Caimans

In the center they had an area with ocean fish, they had a play area with coral you could climb around and through.

In that same area they had an open tank full of sting rays. You could reach down and touch them if you so desired. Mallina really wanted to, but she was scared, so she made me do it instead. It was really soft and kind of slimy, but it's tail was really hard and poke-y. Mallina resolved to come back when she is 5 and try it again :) They also had two beautiful Jelly Fish tanks that I could have stared at all day, and a really creepy looking octopus.

The last section was all about Utah fish and frogs and skeeters. They had a boat that you could "drive" and use the walky-talky thingy.

Overall it was pretty fun, it's kind of a small place, but I like that, you don't end up over-tiring your kids. We came home with two rubber sting rays that have taken up residency in our bath tub :)

Okay...

I know my blog is terribly boring. I need to get into photo editing mode soon! But until then...just so you know...Mallina lost another tooth. Yes, that is the extent of the excitement in our household :)


This picture was taken with my iPhone, so it's not very good quality, and it was at the end of the day so her hair is messy...but you can see some of her really cute art projects from school in the background! I promise to have another great post with all new pictures soon. The weather is actually nice and we are spending time OUTSIDE! So I might be able to get some good shots of our Springtime activities :)

Notice anything....

missing?

That's Mallina's THIRD tooth she has lost. She is only FOUR YEARS OLD. What in the world?! Today my mom said that with this growth rate she will be married by the time she is 13! Please that her be wrong :)

This past week my mom and I have been working on getting the girls' Spring church wardrobe together. We enjoy dressing up these girlies way too much. They debuted their Easter dresses this week since next week is general conference, so here are the two Ieli beauties before church this morning.

The Wooster Has a Birthday

I am very late getting this posted. I feel like a terrible mom, but oh well. Such is life.

Evangeline Patisepa

is now three years old. I don't know how in the world that happened! She is a drama queen, pretty pretty princess, screamer, cuddler, great colorer, toothless, brilliant, potty trained, sweet pea. And she is all mine. Well, mostly mine :) It blows me away how different two little girls can be from one another, yet adore each other (and annoy each other) at the same time. Mallina is a great big sister, and Eva just adores her. I love my little Eva Woo with all my heart and I am so blessed to be her mamma. Happy Birthday Little! We love you!!!

A few days old

Her first birthday

Second Birthday (her two year tutu party!)

And now she is THREE!

We took the girls to a bounce house place but I forgot the memory card for the camera in the computer at home. I used Jenny's camera, but forgot to get the pictures off her camera before she left. Are you starting to see a theme...? So, here are some shots of her cake and present opening. Some day I might get those pictures from Jenny, the girls loved that place and were sweaty little monkeys. :) And you'll notice that Mallina made out like a bandit too. We MUST have two of everything in this house or we have MAJOR cat fights.

Jenny got her a lei!

Yes, those are bandaids. Aunt Jenny knows her stuff.

Now that Eva is three, that means Mallina will be FIVE this year. Heaven help me!

Snow

*sigh* Last Saturday we got hit with a ton of snow. I really am not suited to live here. I think its pretty, but I don't enjoy the snow. at. all. This is what it looked like out side:


Apparently we will get a ticket if our sidewalk isn't shoveled, so Vama worked as our snow plow. The girls were dying to get out and play in the snow so we got them all bundled up to help shovel and make a snow man. When I came outside with the camera, this is what I saw. It made me laugh!

Eva was very happy to be back on the horsie Spirit. Vama and Mallina were shaking the snow off of the big pine tree, you can see how everything was just covered in snow in this shot.
Vama getting used to his snow duties.
The girls were exploring the snow covered yard.
This is called a Paul Scarlet tree, my parents gave it to my grandparents a long time ago. It has the prettiest leaves on it, and these red berries.

Then they got to building the snowman. I don't really remember ever building a snowman, and this was Vama's first snowman, so it was interesting to say the least. Eva was very diligent in bringing snow over to the snowman.



You can see how Mallina was collecting snow, she would go to a fresh spot each time and just really scoop it up. This kid is really all or nothing.


Diligent Eva, with her cute little handfuls of snow. She really reminds me of Randy from A Christmas Story. "I can't put my arms down!" haha!
Mallina's turn on Spirit, the wind was blowing the snow off of the trees, I thought it looked cool.
Mallina thought the red berries could be used to make the face of the snowman, but when Vama grabbed them he accidentally squished them. They decided to look for something else.
Eva still going at it.

Now, for some reason I never got a shot of the final snowman. I will have to make them re-create it so you all can see it :) Too bad we are just beginning February. Spring is still a ways away. *sigh*

New Years Resolutions

With the onset of 2010 comes a lot of talk about having a better year by making resolutions. This is not something that I have ever really done. I am not a goal oriented person, so it never seemed like something with which I would ever actually follow through. And I think the idea that a resolution is something I am committing to do for a whole YEAR, and most likely for the rest of my life, is just too overwhelming.

I have, however, found that spiritual goals are a little different for me. Setting a goal to say prayers or read scriptures has been more successful for me, especially if someone else has already laid out the path and I just have to follow it. With my new church calling (I am the Primary Secretary. Yikes! What were they thinking?) I have been spending a lot of time online looking at all of the resources available for me to copy. I can't believer how creative some people can be, and how willing they are to share what they have already done! One thing that just amazed me is found at this site.

Someone has created a year's worth of Family Home Evening lessons based upon what the primary will be teaching that Sunday. Looking through it just amazes me. This lady even has coloring pages and/or illustrations to use in the lesson! I am so happy that I found it. We haven't ever gotten into the groove of regular Family Home Evening so I am hoping this will do it for me, since I really don't have to prepare anything, just follow the outline! I just thought this was too good not to share. Wish me luck!