Owen’s Zoo Field Trip

Owen had his 1st ever Field Trip yesterday with his Pre-School. The field trip was to the Albuquerque Zoo. This was to go along with what they had been learning about all month which was Africa. They learned a lot about all the different animals that live in Africa. When we arrived to the zoo at 9:45am, we met up with all the kids from his pre-school. Owen was given a sheet of paper with 10 different animals and a crayon. He was supposed to find the different animals on the paper and mark them off with the crayon. Let me tell you, the kid was on a mission. Before I get to the pictures, let me explain how a pre-school field trip goes. Basically, you can not go unless your parent goes too, no chaperones as this would be impossible with 3 year olds. So you all meet at the zoo and everyone pretty much goes their own ways and runs into each other along the way. Since Brandon is off on Thursday we made it a family event so all 4 of us went. It was a gorgeous morning and such a fun way to spend sometime as a family. Not too many kids from Owen’s class came, so we mainly went along on our own. We didn’t get an annual zoo pass this year so it was a nice treat to go to the zoo. Autumn was really into looking at all the different animals. Owen on the other hand had more fun just running around and finding the animals, once he found them he didn’t really care to stay and observe them. So funny how different they are. I have a million pictures so enjoy!

 

Here we are outside the zoo meeting his school folks.

The kids were all ready to go.

Where to next Owen? He was seriously on a mission to find all the animals on his paper. We could not stop to look at an animal if it wasn’t on the list. He is such a perfectionist! My bad.

He is such a boy….has to climb on everything!

After awhile, this girl insisted on being let out of the stroller. She is so independent. Can’t you just see her little mind wondering if she should mess in this puddle of water? Hahaha.

Have I mentioned how much these kids LOVE their Daddy?!?!

Check out this 2 week old Baby Giraffe. So adorable!!!

Our family Picnic Lunch! So fun, I love Picnics in the grass.

After lunch, Brandon and Autumn went home because she was in desperate need of a nap. Owen and I stayed a little longer to finish the animal hunt.

My personal favorite….Polar Bears.

Owen’s very favorite’s yesterday were, the Spider Monkeys, the Crocodile and the Turtles.

 

He found 9 out of the 10 animals. Great in my opinion, but boy o boy was he upset about the 1 stinkin’ buffalo he never found!

I bought him a special treat to eat right before we left. Shaved Ice. He loved it until he got a brain freeze and that was the end of that. Lol.

And this is what happens to a 3 year old after a looonnnggg day at the Zoo! So precious. I love this boy. I can not believe he has completed the 1st of many future field trips. He is growing up way way way too fast!

What has the Burgess Fam been up to?

Honestly, nothing out of the norm. Cooking, Sewing and Playing has become the norm in the Burgess household. That is basically all we have been up to. As my growing obsession with Pinterest.com expands so does my cooking and sewing projects. I can’t really share any of my sewing projects with you all as most of them are Baby Shower gifts for the millions of people I know that are pregnant. I can however show you this adorable dress I made…

My sister purchased this dress from me for one of her BFF’s who is expecting in December. I’m so happy the Mom-to-be LOVED it! With winter approaching I thought my dress purchases would decrease a bit, but I have still managed to keep busy and continue to get orders in. Yay!

As I mentioned above, I have been obsessed with finding and trying out new recipes I find on Pinterest. Here are my lasted two I tried that were so easy and so very delicious….

 

Chicken Broccoli & Cheddar Braid. This was so simple to make, just a few easy ingredients, and it was a big hit with my husband. I served with a side of fresh organic green beans and we had a quick but delicious dinner. Perfect for a busy mom of a toddler and a preschooler.

 

Next on the menu was…

Crockpot Santa Fe Chicken. I was a bit nervous my hubby wouldn’t like it as this is a weight watchers recipe. It has chicken, black beans, diced tomatoes, green chilies, corn, scallions, and fresh cilantro. You are supposed to serve it over rice, but I thought it would be better if we made soft tacos out of them. I went to this new local Mexican Grocery Store (El Mesquite) my new favorite and bought my very favorite corn tortillas. They are so yummy and super fresh. If you go around 9 am they put out freshly made corn tortillas. The package is still hot that’s how fresh they are. Anyway here you have it….

Santa Fe Chicken Tacos served with Spanish rice. This was by far my favorite!!!!! This will for sure be a new staple meal in our house. They were amazing, so flavorful and they were even healthy! Even the Spanish Rice is healthy as I made with Brown Rice instead of White. Yum Yum Yum!

Other than that the kids remain to keep us very busy with play days and Birthday Parties to attend. Last Thursday was Brandon and I’s turn to babysit the kiddos for our weekly Bible Study we host. I took a few pics on my phone of Owen, Olivia and Autumn because they were being adorable so I thought I would share them with you all.

We put Barney on for the kids to watch. Well Olivia set up the chairs and asked Owen if he would come watch Barney with her and sit on the chairs she set up. Owen agreed. Then she asked if he would hold her hand while they watched the movie together. Awe, they are too precious.

And as always, Autumn is determined to never be left out. She had to come over and sit with them. Hahaha. Olivia is singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star here. Kids crack me up.

As I mentioned above we are always busy attending Birthday Parties for Owen’s friends. Yesterday was one of those days. We got invited to Owen’s friend Josh’s 5th Birthday Party (Josh’s parents Scott and Athena are also good friends of ours). Owen is fascinated with ages right now and thought Josh was so cool because he was 5! He kept saying, “Wow Mommy, I want to be big like Josh one day” Haha, who knew 5 was soooo big? The kids has an absolute BLAST! That actually may be an understatement. I have no words for how much fun the kids had. We got to the party at 4:30pm and didn’t leave until almost 8pm and the kids were actively running, jumping and sliding the entire time. I believe this was Owen’s favorite Birthday party he has ever been to. Just imagine Owen’s face when we went in the backyard to see this….

Yep, a big bouncy Castle with a giant Slide!

Up, Down and Back Up! This kid went nonstop the entire 3.5 hours we were there. Okay he stopped to scarf down a hot dog and a cupcake and then he went right back to playing. There were probably about 12 kids there and Owen was the youngest, minus the 3 babies. Most of the kids ranged from 5-8 years old. Owen had so much fun not being the oldest for once. He loved hanging with the big kids and kept up with them the whole time. He also managed to not get trampled by the older kids either. Yay for no injuries!

This poor kids face was bright red from playing so hard! He insisted on wearing his church clothes to the party. Silly kid should’ve worn sweats with how active he was!

Did I mention they have a trampoline too? Autumn loved this thing!

Check out what the static from the trampoline did to her hair. We were cracking up so hard!

Autumn and Caleb loved when Caleb’s big brother would jump and make them bounce. They are adorable!

Autumn is usually attached to Brandon’s hip every night when he gets home from work. She is a totally Daddy’s Girl! Well, being at a Birthday Party was no exception. As soon as Daddy got to the party after work she had him jumping and bouncing right along with her. He is such an amazing Daddy!

Way to go Autumn, you got Daddy wrapped so very tightly around your finger!

Aiden, Owen and Josh chasing each other in a circle while trying to not get grabbed by the girls in the middle. They has so much fun playing this game. Owen loved these older girls. He kept saying they were his best friends. Lol.

Daddy’s job didn’t end on the trampoline. Autumn managed to get daddy in the bouncy castle too! After going down the slide with him a few times, she decided she was ready to go down all by herself.

Little Miss Independent!

“…Happy Birthday dear Josh, Happy Birthday to you!”

Presents!

Hanging with the girls watching Josh open his presents. I LOVE these girls so much!!!

Owen and Averie hitting the balloon back and forth to each other. Owen thought this was hilarious!

Autumn and her BFF Aubryn. They are about 5 months apart (I know you can’t tell, but Autumn is older even though she is smaller) and they are so fun to watch. Here they are playing inside before we left.

Isn’t she gorgeous? Aubryn is my very good friend Melissa’s youngest daughter. Aiden and Averie’s baby sister. I love her, she is such a sweet girl. I’m so happy Autumn and her will get to grow up with each other, especially since they live right down the street from us.

A huge huge Thanks to the Jeffers Family for including us in Josh’s 5th Birthday Celebration! We had a blast! 

Have a great week everyone!!!