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Morgan was working really hard to move the boys across this line!  Peter started out helping her, then he wanted to be on “the boat.”

So, it was just Morgan and all these boys!

Ethan had the boat all to himself when we first arrived:

Guess who gave him the free ride?  Big sis — with a bit of help from daddy.

Morgan is becoming such an expert with the monkey bars!  Honestly, I tried and couldn’t do it!  My arms were killing me — shows you how out of shape I am!  Agh!!!

I will do a proper 2009 year in review post when I get home in a few more days.  Until then, may you all have a safe evening.  May 2010 bring you continued happiness, good health, and love.

See you all soon!

Today we headed to the Atlanta Aquarium — and had a wild time (along with the rest of the world!  Yes, it was very crowded!)  So, here are a few photos to highlight our adventure… which ended with Morgan getting sick!  We are resting today…

We started with lunch at CNN’s center — in honor of Amanda (hi Amanda!), we ate at Chick-fil-A!

Their favorite exhibit was this — the Ocean Voyager:

Walking in that tunnel was awesome!  M&M were very hesitant — but once they got comfortable, it was no big deal.  Morgan’s concern?  That they glass would break and the sharks would attack her!  Well, it’s a legitimate fear so I couldn’t force her to do it.  So, what made her do it?  The crowd!  Everyone just kept pushing forward and we had to go with the flow.  But once we were in, we sat on the edge and just stared up at these amazing creatues swim around us…

Their second favorite spot was this – the touch pool which allowed them to touch some rays and sharks swimming back and forth:

While walking around, there were docents giving little talks about different fish.  Morgan walked up to a table and the docent asked her what her favorite fish was.  Morgan replied, “Catfish — I like how my mom cooks it!”  Vince said he and the woman were laughing so hard when she said that.  I suppose she answered the question, right?!  Proabably not what you should say at the aquariurm though!  Think Morgan will eat it if she saw what it really looks like?!  (she just sees the fish fillets breaded!)

These were my favorite — seeing the colorful tropical fish and the jellies:

It was a full day excursion… Morgan went home with a sore throat… I am feeling really tired… but we had a great time!  See you next year Atlanta Aquarium!

Although someone was REALLY tired by the time we left… can you guess whom that person was?

They waited patiently…

and then they shook the life out of their stockings!

Priceless expression, no?!

Ryan was content to just dig into his chocolate bar!

Thank you Santa!

Then there was dinner!

As Peter (Karen’s FIL) said, “That meal was fit for a king!”

Peter did not know what a DS was, so he was fine with the gift… but much happier with his mom and dad’s gift!  This worked out because his game card chip (which we ordered separately so that we do not have to buy individual games – Vince was able to put at leat 15 games for M&M for now) had not yet arrived for his DS.  Anytime he wanted to play he had to wait for either Morgan or Matthew to be done with their DS – so I finally figured it out to stagger their playing time!

What a Merry Christmas it was this morning!

all were  finally ready (maybe even the mouse!)… but don’t tell Karen if there are mice in the house!  She will FR.EAK!

The reindeer were fed:

Although it was raining, Ethan and Ryan wanted to help too!

The stockings were hung (and almost full!)

Cookies, milk, and even notes to Santa’s reindeer were left out!

Gifts were displayed

And these lovely children finally went down to bed!

Merry Christmas to all.. and to all, a good night!  I will finally sleep well tonight…Vince is almost here!  His flight was delayed due to bad weather… but he is almost here!

Karen (my wonderful sister) has been a wonderful hostess.  She is a wonderful cook, so we’ve gained quite a bit of weight already!  Yikes! (I won’t even attempt to make any promises about going on a diet upon my return to CA!)

Mom is having fun getting to know her other grandchildren, Peter and Ryan.  Ryan is getting to know all of us — strangers invading his home and other little strangers playing with his toys.  His favorite word to these small strangers (mostly Ethan) has been, “MINE!”  I don’t blame him!  The last time we saw him, he was barely 5 months old!  Now he is running everywhere and telling us what he wants! 

Matthew, Peter, and Morgan have quickly re-acquainted themselves and are becoming the best of friends.  Peter, one morning, said to Michael (his dad), “I wish I could marry Morgan.”  So, I *guess* he likes her!  Don’t worry, we quickly told him that that would NOT be possible! 

(When viewing the inside of the card, you can click on the children's photos for the enlarged image.) 

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If you scroll down and read a few more posts, you'll see that I made another Ecard using the same photos... just having fun! 

We started out by exploring the nature room:

See the fish and turtles swimming?!

Oh, the snake!  Matthew loved this tunnel!

They created a food chain using a pencil rubbing technique:

 Then we headed out doors and chose the easiest trail which led us through the aviary, beaver pond, and butterfly garden (although the butterflies were no where to be seen due to the cool weather – obviously they are pretty smart!).

The various birds they saw:

the barn owl

The red-tailed hawk:

 the bald eagle… although I don’t really see them in this picture. Maybe I was just aiming for a photo of all 5!

 They wandered off the trail for a bit of imaginative play — always trying to make that campfire!  Ma is supervising closely – she’s afraid they’ll fall in the river!

Ma found a bird’s nest that had fallen:

The huge beaver!  Wow… I never thought they would be so big in person!

These two boys are learning to be docents.  They (along with the help of mom) told the children so much about birds!  The children were able to create some stamping projects, look through magnifying glasses, observe some sand prints of various bird tracks, touch some bird eggs, feet/talons, and feathers!  These boys were really good, so I’ll be sure to write a letter on their behalf when I have time this week.

This boy (Bret) was pretty patient with Ethan:

footprints in the sand activity:

owl talon:

ostrich egg:

Ryan with magnifying glass:

Owl wings — the feathers are close to each other which means that when they fly, they are quiet. We also saw an eagle’s feather and they made a lot of noise!

Boy if holding the eagle feather, mom is holding owl wings:

Inside the educational center/trading center — apparently, this place is set up so that children can sign up to trade items for their collection.  If you bring in something, they are given a point value which will allow you to trade for another item — they had some pretty cool stuff!

Peter is listening for the ocean waves!

Ethan thought it was a good idea..

Then Nikki, who works there full time, gave a talk about a box turtle they had rescued.  She was involved in a car accident – the car didn’t see her.  They tried to save her leg but couldn’t.  Well, truth be told,I couldn’t even tell her leg was missing!  She was pertty quick!

During the talk he was getting anxious and wanted to touch the turtle…but since he couldn’t he was even more upset.  But once the talk was over he could touch the shell of a different turtle – he was fine with that!

It was a full afternoon!  We will return to walk a trail maybe… there were tons of trails but we didn’t have the motivation to go with 5 children today…  maybe next time we can visit the wetlands!

Some brands that have box tops printed on their packaging/boxes: Betty Crocker, Kleenex, Kraft, etc.

Thanks!