2014 Jr. Duck Stamp Awards and Phoenix Zoo Trip

A family tradition since moving to Yuma has been our yearly trip to the Phoenix Zoo for the Arizona Jr. Duck Stamp Awards. Megan has entered each year and won prizes, although this year she admitted it was difficult to find the motivation to paint another duck--she has tried so hard to earn the Best of Show for the state. Nonetheless, she indulged her parents and quickly produced this lovely painting of a female mallard with ducklings:

 Erin also participated for her first time and created an original view of a Canada Goose feeding.

 Megan won a Second Place Prize for her entry:

[Side note: Megan was scheduled to take the ACT in Yuma this morning, but she was not too disappointed when we changed her test date to June after hearing about the duck stamp awards. A day at the zoo beats standardized testing anytime!]

Following the awards ceremony, Dallin directed us to his favorite Komodo Dragon exhibit. Sadly, both Komodo Dragons died the past year and a Chinese Alligator replaced them in the outdoor pen. There were some baby dragons being kept inside a building until they grow larger. We saw two of them through a glass window, and they were very cute! We took the token Komodo Dragon statue photo:

Human Interest Photo: Arlene's Bathroom

Behold, a Galapagos Tortoise!

 

Kevin and Erin went for a ride on paddleboats while the rest of the family looked at animals and played on animal statues at the African watering hole.

 

We were amazed at the vibrant colors of this King Vulture's head.

"Mom, this water looks like your breakfast drink!" the children told me. They have yet to learn to appreciate my green vegetable juice drinks. Guaranteed, my drinks taste better than this murky lake water.

We joined back together and continued on to the South American Forest.

Since Erin missed the African animal statues, she got her picture on a South American frog statue.

We watched the mother and yearling Spectacled Bears for a long time. The yearling nursed from its mom, then climbed around a bit, then nursed again. The fence prevented us from getting a really good photo of them. I would love to participate in one of the ongoing studies of these bears in Peru or Ecuador (Ian and I heard about some of them at the IBA meetings last September).

Megan and Dallin rode on the Carousel for their extra activity.

Rhinoceros face study

 

Sleeping Lioness

Resting Erin

Overfed Prairie Dog

And we'll spare you from the gazillion other animal photos we took.

Dallin's assessment was, "This zoo is AMAZING!"

We had a great family outing.

Eight is Great!

Erin's 8th birthday was today!!! She was so excited and had been counting down the days for the past two weeks. She opened her presents before church.

For some reason, she got a lot of presents relating to owls: owl DVD, owl necklace, owl pillowcase, owl cross-stitch pattern, and owl stickers among a few other non-owl-related items.

After church, she played with some of her new things, then we made a big batch of homemade pizza (but forgot to take photos), and ate her owl cake. Mom modified it from this design. We thought it turned out pretty cute!

 

We're taking a trip in a couple of days to the San Diego Zoo to celebrate the rest of Erin's birthday.

Erin's Swimming Lessons

During the first two weeks of June, Erin took swimming lessons each morning.

She had a GREAT time and became a little fish.

Learning the front stroke

Treading water

Swimming across the pool after diving in

Floating on back

Looking at Dad!

Face Painting Mania

New face paints were among some of the Easter prizes sent from grandparents. 

Face painting has become somewhat of an obsession here lately.

Erin the Leopard

(her mom's favorite face)

 

Dallin the Bat

 

 Erin as Kiki (our new kitten)

 

Megan the Monarch

 

Mina and Erin as Twin Tigresses

 

Dallin the Wolf

 

Megan has been experimenting with painting characters 

from The Lion King Broadway musical. 

Here is her take on the character, Rafiki.

Erin as Nala from the Broadway musical

Yuma County Fair 2012

It's fair time again! This year we had a family goal to each enter something. Erin, Ian, and Megan accomplished that goal! (Kevin didn't get his kit fox photo matted in time to submit it, and April had some sort of distraction the morning she was supposed to bake a batch of bread. Dallin was exempt due to his age.) Here are the entries from our family:

Erin drew a picture of a tiger.

Ian made a survival bracelet from paracord.

And he also carved an Elder Wand 

(based on Dumbledore's wand in the Harry Potter series).

 Megan entered one of her painted animal rocks.

Megan also entered an acrylic painting of an Eagle Owl in Student Art of the Fine Arts Division. She had the option of offering it for sale in this division. She won Best of Show ribbon and also sold it! (Photos were not allowed in the Fine Arts building, so we don't have any with her ribbons.)

 

 

 We are excited that our children had so much fun creating their entries and displaying them!

Zach also entered his pig, Ginger. 

He got a blue ribbon for showmanship and sold her.

We spent Tuesday afternoon at the Fair.

Erin liked all the animals.

Dallin liked the play area.

Should we make a drum set like this for our home?

There was a traveling animal display from Ca., and they put on a show every few hours.

Erin was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the assistants to help hold an albino python!