BOO AT THE ZOO

We had our Family night with the girls at Santa Ana's Boo at the Zoo. Trinity, Nikki and Jesse went.

Haili and her mom had other plans and was unable to join us. But, we missed her.



Before we actually got inside, I was wondering if this may have been a bad idea.

Perhaps Boo at the Zoo was meant for younger kids. I was worried the girls were not going to have fun.

Boy was I wrong! Everyone had a blast!

We enjoyed seeing all the creepy bugs. Some even looked like sticks that could walk.

The girls made it through the maze with no trouble at all. Well, at least I don't think they had trouble. I didn't actually go in with them, but, they came out and that is what mattered.

We had lots of photo ops.

The girls are getting so good at not even bothering to complain about all my picture taking. In fact, I sometimes think they are starting to enjoy it.

They all took turns popping their heads through the hole.

In fact, after they did it one time, they wanted to keep doing it.



Finally, they all joined in. Three little monkeys peaking up above the rest of the animals. Plus, the animal trainer in the center.

This old beat up jeep was fun to play around in. Until, they figured out the seats were wet. But, if they weren't I am sure this would have been a place to play and use their imagination.

This jeep could go anywhere their minds would take them.

Trinity was thrilled her Grandpa got to join us.

I think it's super nice when the girls get to enjoy time with each other and their families.

We will continue to offer family outings pretty often.

The show called "Creatures of the Night" taught us a few things about the creatures that come out at night.

Like, did you know humans only have one jaw bone but snakes have two. That is how they can dislocate their jaw and eat something way bigger then their mouth.

Or that owls can not move their eyes and that is why they are able to turn their heads so far around.

We got to get up and personal with the night time creatures. Like this hairy tarantula.

A slithering snake.

A little opossum.

I think opossums are so cute. They make good pets too. Plus, they eat snails.

So, no more chasing them out of your gardens. They are our friends.

After the show, Jesse had to leave. She went with her mom and dad to another outing they had planned. We all wished she could have spent the whole night with us.

There were a lot of laughs and smiles.

The girls are getting closer and becoming like real "Girl Scout sisters". The more outings we go on the more they get to know each other. They are all starting to really become comfortable around each other.

It makes me so happy to see these deeper friendships growing. To me, that is what girl scouts is really about. Building deep friendships, having fun and making memories to be cherished forever.

They were having so much fun, they hardly wanted to stop to grab a bite to eat.



They had a great time on the Merry Go Round. They picked the one that spun around like the Tea Cups at Disneyland. Boy oh boy, they got it spinning really fast too.

I was surprised to see how many people were in costumes. Young and old.

Even the goat got dressed up. I had no idea that Superman was really a goat. Did you? Well, it's true, I him with my own eyes.

I think they all felt a little grown up when they got to go on train ride alone, no adults.

Check out those happy faces. You can't fake that.

Trick or Treating, games, rides, lights, food, music and of course animals. It was really a night of magic.

Time flew by so quickly. We were all taken back when we heard it was time to head home.

I do think, with all that much excitement, everyone will sleep good tonight.

A quick stop at the gift shop and to toss a coin in to help support the zoo, then it was time to leave.

I am so very happy we picked Boo at the Zoo for our Halloween outing. Everyone had a great time.

HALLOWEEN PARTY

Getting four girls together and giving them sugar and paint and adding fire to the mix can be very scary.

So, that was the theme of our little Halloween party this year... SCARY!

Black, orange and white were the main choices of color.

An old haggard crow sits atop the stand holding the cupcakes. Making sure no monsters steal them away before the girls can have one.

(as a side note...looking at this picture made me laugh. it looks like the little umbrellas were put up to keep the crow from leaving any droppings on the cupcake :) let's just hope the sprinkles were not his colorful droppings)

Big black glittery spiders were crawling on the table.

Everyone was giving a bat covered hat box full of treats for being brave enough to sit at the table.

Haili doesn't seem to look like it is scary at all.

The girls all had big smiles when the first saw the table and sat down for dinner.

Jesse was excited to hear about all the food. We had lasagna, pizza, salad, garlic bread, orange soda, cookies and cupcakes. YUM!

Everyone pitched in and made this one great dinner. Thanks everyone!!!

The little skull heads were a bigger hit then I thought they would be. They could be made to spin their heads and make faces.

Oh Jesse. She cracks me up. She loves to make her own silly faces.

Nikki was the first one to discover that if you push the button the head spins.

They all got into the action and would spin, spin, spin the heads. It kept them busy as dinner was being served up.

Whenever I do a kids party, I always wonder if they will like or even notice the little touches. I was happy to see they enjoyed their Halloween party. I see they all used the colorful straws in their drinks.

Maureen brought them all a little candy stick with a darling gummy Halloween candy on it. They loved those! Each one was different so they were playing with them like they were little puppets.

Thinking about it now, I should have had them put on a little skit with them. That would have been cute.

Haili made the salad all by herself. She seemed to be enjoying it too.

After eating, it was time to head to the kitchen to make caramel apples.

At first I was the one stirring the caramel until it melted but then I told the girls to take turns as it was going to be them making the caramel apples, not me.

I warned them that the mixture would be very hot and to be careful not to splash it on them.

They seemed to really lenjoy doing this. They felt grown up as they carefully melted the caramel. They did a wonderful job too.

They all got three apples and had to put the sticks in themselves.

Something so simple was so fun for them.

Then it was time to dip the apples in the caramel. Jesse wanted to make another silly face. After all it was a Halloween party and time to have fun.

They were very careful to let the extra caramel run off before they pulled the apples away from the pan.

I have to admit I was a bit worried about making these. But, the girls were really into it and did a super job so I'm happy we did.

They already knew who they were going to share the apples with. They also wanted to be sure they did not get their apples mixed up because they wanted to make sure to have the ones they made.

It was nice to see they took pride in their work.

After the apples were done and the mess cleaned up they got to paint two sun catchers. Halloween themed, of course.

At first, they didn't think the paint was showing up. I explained that the paint was made to be thin so the sun would be able to shine though and they would look like stained glass.

Once I put their pieces on a piece of white paper towel they saw the colors came through better then they thought they were.

So they were happy.

Once the painting was finished, we put them aside to dry and moved on to making candy necklaces and bracelets.

There was one point where I just stood there and watched in amazement. They were all so into making there creations that it was silent. Wow! Four girls full of excitement and not one sound was coming out of them for a few minutes.

I think they were thinking about what color and what piece of candy should be put on next.

Once they were finished, it was time to clean up, pack up and head home.

I think they all had a good time. At least I hope they did.