Wildlife Ranch Videos

Bradley often got distracted by the "big rocks" while he was driving. It was really fun watch him. He would get so excited about all the big rocks (which can be actual rocks, a hill, or a cliff).

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Bradley kept telling the 'goats' to "come get it!" He loved seeing all the animals and still asks to drive.

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Daniel got hungry while we were driving through the ranch, so I gave him some crackers. He was being so cute while he was eating them, so I tried to get it on video. However, he was much more entertained by his Dad than he was by me making faces at him to get him to smile.

I love the MOM

Thanks for taking care of our family!

Safari Texas Style

Andy got down with school early one Friday so we packed up the boys and headed for a Wildlife Ranch not too far from here. We turned Daniel's car seat around so he could see the animals out the window. He was very excited!

I love this picture!

Entering the Ranch. The pictures of the animals are in no particular order.

"Demon Llama!"
Bradley has recently discovered The Emperor's New Groove, so when I started saying "Demon Llama!" He would laugh.

This ostridge was walking down the row of cars eating out of peoples hands. I had to hang out the window to get him in the picture.
This is him getting ready to eat out of Andy's hand. I missed him actually eating because I was trying to get back in the car. I wish I could have gotten a video because it bit Andy's hand as it came in for the pellets. He yelled and Bradley thought that was pretty funny!

The ranch advertises that they had Rhinos so we were hoping to have an up close and personal experience with them. However, they were behind TWO fences. I am sure it was much safer that way, but where is the fun and adventure in that? This was one big White Rhino!

Bradley loved feeding the different animals. He kept calling them all goats. It was really cute.

Bradley helping his Dad drive. It can be kind of tough when you are driving 5 miles an hour, so Bradley helped navigate through all the animals.

Bradley loved the little goats at the petting zoo. One was laying down and stood up when Bradley was standing next to it hitting him in the side with its horns. I looked at it and said "Ouch!" and moved on to stand next to a smaller goat.

There are two parts to the Natural Bridge Caverns Park, the Wildlife Ranch and the Cavern. After we went through the ranch we decided to swing by the cavern and see what it was like.

They have trails all over that would be fun to follow or picnic on.

They also have a little place where you can buy a bag of dirt and pan or mine for the gems hidden inside. Bradley loved all the running water and wanted to play in it the whole time. We didn't go down into the cavern, but we saw the entrance and it looks like it would be lots of fun to go try sometime.

The boys missed their afternoon nap to go the Wildlife Ranch, so by the time we left to come home they both passed out.

Daniel is so funny. He sucks on his binki like this most of the time. If you try to fix it while he is asleep he moves it back to this angle with out waking up!

Bradley always looks so peaceful sleeping! We had a lot of fun and I will post a couple videos later.

A Video Update...

To Nap or Not to Nap?!

Bradley and Daniel were suppose to be taking a nap. Usually I can put them both down at the same time and they do really well, but occasionally that is not the case. They were being pretty quiet at first and then I started hearing giggling. I got the camera, sorry it is such a dark picture, and went to see what was going on. Bradley was by the crib entertaining Daniel. It is funny to see Bradley run and dive for his bed! Daniel stood up after I turned the video off.

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Easter Egg Hunt...

The whole time Bradley kept going back and forward picking up one egg at a time and eating what was inside. I tried to get him to pick them all up at once and then look inside, but he didn't want to do that! I like this clip because he is so excited that there are skittles inside. I love the way he says, "Oh sweet!" with a mouth full of skittles. :)

Easter Weekend

Bradley was very excited to wake up Saturday morning to find that the Easter Bunny had come! He started eating his treats before I could even find the camera. Unfortunately our Dad had an assignment at the Bishop's Storehouse and wasn't home until lunch time, so he missed out on the Easter Egg Hunt. However, we did get to go to spend the afternoon with him and that is always fun!

The boys got new children's scripture books for Easter. Bradley is excited to have a choice when it is time to read.

Daniel was a little bit sad that he didn't get to snuggle as much as he usually does in the morning, but we had to hurry and get a picture before Bradley emptied BOTH baskets! Nothing is better that a McQueen fruit snack first thing in the morning!
Poor Daniel! Not even a basket of treats can make him happy if he doesn't get to snuggle!

Now we will have light when we go camping. Happy Easter Dad!

We did a small egg hunt outside our apartment. Bradley didn't really get the hang of it. He would stop at each one and eat it before he moved on to the next. I kept telling him to pick them all up first and then see what was inside, but he didn't.

He finally got them all!

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Later on Saturday we went out to a little airfield where a guy in our ward works. Bradley loved all the little planes. He kept running around, pointing and yelling, "Look Mom, another one!"

Dad & Daniel next one of the engines that is being rebuilt.

Bradley, Robert, Daniel, Andy & Gavin

Gavin with 'his' plane. He went for his first small plane ride a couple weeks ago and this is the one he rode in.

"This one Mom!" Bradley was so excited to be able to walk right up to the airplane.

He even got to sit inside the airplane. He was having so much fun he hated to go home. We also got to watch a couple of airplanes take off and land. One airplane was towing a glider up. We watched it hook up and take off. The video isn't very good because we don't have a zoomer on our camera, but everyone thought it was pretty cool! Thanks Robert for inviting us out!

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An interesting FACT about Easter this year!

Easter Sunday was my Dad's 58th birthday. (He is the one in the Tux, his brother Alan is next to him.) Happy Birthday Dad!

It was very historic this year, and this is why:

EASTER 2008: This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!

Here's the facts:

1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

A Hodge Podge Post!

Happy St. Patrick's Day...
In keeping with the holiday we decided to have a green dinner, but not just green. We wanted to have the same kind of food little leprechauns would eat. So what do you suppose they eat? Fancy Franks of course! Some of you may be wondering what Fancy Franks are. First you need to make mashed potatoes.

Bradley is such a good helper when if comes to using the beaters.
Next you add a little food coloring, normally we don't, but it was St. Patrick's Day!
Next you cut a hot dog in half, put scoops of potato on, sprinkle with cheese, and bake for about 15 minutes on 350.
Add a few green grapes and a green salad and walla...you have a leprechaun feast!

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The next pictures are just cute. Andy got the boys laughing really hard and took some pictures. They turned out really cute so I thought I would share.

This is pretty mush what Daniel ALWAYS looks like when you bring out the food! He loves to eat. Appropriate don't you think that we call him "Little Piggy."

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This next part is dedicated to George. He is my nephew Taylor's little pal who is travelling all over the U.S. George is scheduled to return to Taylor's class the end of April so that he can share the pictures and storied from his many travels. He recently arrived here from Hawaii where he was visiting Aunt Bonni. Now he is enjoying the beautiful spring/summer Texas weather. He will soon be moving on with some willing soul to have more grand adventures. (If you are a willing soul, please let me know!) Here are some of the things he saw while in San Antonio, TX.

George loved this carving of the Alamo, which is very important to Texans!

He also enjoyed the souvenirs isle at Wal-Mart. He hasn't seen one of these anywhere else! I guess it is just a Texas thing.

Bluebonnets are a must! We were lucky to find some since it has been such a dry spring.

George loved his personal tour guides around the Temple grounds. He loves the fountain just as much as Bradley & Daniel do! (For more pictures of George's time in San Antonio email me.)

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These videos are from the last couple weeks. The first one is of the basket races! As you will see in the video they started out in an empty diaper box. However, the boxes didn't last very long, so they have moved on to a slightly bigger and much better ride...the laundry basket! I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

The last video is of Daniel scooting. He really can do it, but doesn't like to. His favorite forms of transportation are, cruising around furniture, riding in mom or dad's arms, holding on to any ones fingers to walk, or whining until someone picks him up and helps him with one of the above!

He wasn't happy that I made him scoot clear over to me. I tried five times to catch him on film and the fifth time was the charm! He was so proud of himself when he finally got to his feet!

Garner State Park

Andy got out of school early on Friday and thought it would be fun to go camping, so we packed quickly and looked for a close place to go. We had thought about going to the beach in Corpus Christi, TX but decided against it since it is spring break for most of the schools around here. We were afraid there would be a lot of traffic, so we decided on Garner State Park. It is a little north-west of San Antonio, TX. It took us about 2 hours to get there and then we had to wait in line to get a camp ground. We ended up setting out tent up in the dark, but Bradley loved it! He kept running around with a flashlight. Then we tried to start a fire with ant-infested-flame-retardant-smoker-wood! We bought it at a small gas station a few miles from the park in Concan, TX. The lade there told us the park was sold out and tried to get us to go somewhere else. We wanted to check anyway since Garner was closer and it was almost dark. The park wasn't sold out!

Anyway, we did get our dinner cooked using the char col briskets we brought from home. We even had a couple smore's! Just no fire. Then we all went to bed. Daniel did pretty well until about 3 am. Then he wouldn't quit crying unless I was standing and rocking him. Finally Andy had had enough and took him to the car to sleep. They snuggled in the front seat and slept pretty well the rest on the night. Bradley and I slept in the tent. He thought it was so cool.

This is the sunrise on Daniel's 11 mon. birthday!

Here is our wonderful tent! I love it because I can stand in it and there is room for our queen sized air mattress, the pack'n play, Bradley's sleeping bag and room to spare!

Bradley just waking up! I think Daniel woke him up while I was changing him.

Happy Birthday Little Pig!

Daniel was being so cute in the morning, but why not? It was his birthday!!

Our ever vigilant cook!

The cook & his helpers! Aren't they so cute!? We had breakfast burritos.

This is actually lunch.

Daniel wanted to walk around so bad. He is still a little unsteady and needs help.

After breakfast we went on a hike to Crystal Cave. Bradley walked the whole way!

We had to stop in the shade frequently so Bradley & I could rest!

We made it!!

Inside the cave looking up. This picture is better of me and it shows Bradley starting to climb out. He loves to climb!

If you take a flashlight in the cave you can see the crystals shine. Unfortunately the flash on a camera does not do the same trick.

There's Daniel starting to peek out. Notice Bradley is almost half way out!

When we got back to the parking lot we stopped to get a picture by a Garner State Park sign. We wanted all of us to be in the picture so we asked a lady walking by to take the picture. This is what we ended up with, "Er State Park." I guess we shouldn't have been surprised when she told us to say "Whiskey" instead of "Cheese"! That's right! Andy and I were both thinking, "Who tells a little kid to say Whiskey instead of cheese of smile?" Now you know!

When we got back to camp we packed up and then went to the Frio River. We were just up the hill from it. We all had a lot of fun!

The water was so clear you could see the tiny fish swimming around.

It wasn't very deep in most places. I tried to get to Andy & the boys for this picture, but I couldn't tell how much time I had because I was trying not to splash them as I ran out there.

There were a few other people sun bathing on the rocks that jetted out on the west side of the river. It was perfect weather!

Daniel loves to swim, almost as much as Bradley!

This last picture is off Bradley almost running us over. Andy took him upstream a little ways and let him float down to us. He had lots of fun!

Here is the video clip of Bradley floating down to us. We all had a great time, but we were also exhausted and ready to leave by the time we got out. We had lots of fun and highly recommend going there!