Sedgwick County Zoo - March 12, 2011

On March 12, 2011 we decided to check out the Sedgwick County zoo for the first time. We got annual passes so we didn't have to rush through any of the exhibits and can come back whenever we want. The zoo was really nice, alot of their exhibits are in large enclosed building, but nonetheless extrememly large and spectacular.

We didn't see everything the first trip, but here are the pics we got so far:

Flamingos Rachel checking out the flamingos.

Giant tortoise: these guys stood so still and moved so slowly they almost looked like statues.Rachel wasn't really interested in them.

The Jungle building was really neat, because they had the birds, mammals and other animals mingling amongst each other and us. There was a walking path for us, but the animals would come right up to you.

I don't remember what this bird was called but it was right next to us and kept making weird noises.

Rachel was checking out the weird bird.

The swan wanted Rachel to feed it.One of the grizzly bears was sleeping, but this one put on a show for us. He kept playing in the water, grabbing his feet, chewing on his paws and playing with a ball in the water.

Turkeys...

Bald eagles

Mexican wolves

Rachel and the buffalo

Mountain lion right in front of us

Rachel thought the geese were funny!

Wichita Garden Show - March 6, 2011

On Sunday, March 9, 2011, Isaiah, Rachel and I decided to check out the Wichita Garden Show at the Century II Center here in Wichita. It's an annual event that has many exhibits, gardening techniques and gifts for purchase.

Every year they have a theme and this year's theme was Into the Movies. I hope you enjoy the photos:

Rachel and Isaiah with Elvis at the entrance sign.

Pirates of the Carribbean exhibit.

Rachel playing with the survey next to an herb garden.

Jurassic Park exhibit!

The movie Up exhibit

Alice in Wonderland exhibit

Rachel and Polie

Rachel and Polie like to look outside our family room window.

However, most of the time she just likes to look at him and mess with him.

I wonder where she gets that lip from?

Long weekend with my parents

My parents flew out for their first visit to Kansas over the long President's Day weekend. We had a great time and they got to spend lots of time with Rachel.

Here, Rachel was "walking" the Woo. Polie is so good with her, he treats her like his little sister.

In the bath

Isaiah and I were feeling a little silly one evening and decided to use our daughter for some humor. Here's some pics of her in the bathtub with some suds on her head.

Some random pictures

We had a nice day a couple weeks ago, so Rachel got to spend some time out in the grass and playing with the leaves.

































We subscribed to the weekend editions of the local newspaper. Rachel decided to help me read through one of the sections one day.











She really likes her Baby Einstein dvd's. We call her a Baby Einstein group, because she gets as close to the tv as possible and waves her hands in the air to the music.
















She's gotten to be such a big girl. She can hold the bottle by herself now, but hasn't learned how to hold it up enough while she's sitting. But laying down is no problem.

Warm days in Kansas!

The weather forecast for today and tomorrow was expected to be warm and sunny. They definitely got today right! It was so nice that Rachel and I spent a couple hours outside. She got to crawl around in the grass and I got to repurpose some random piles of bricks that were around our house.

Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer, so hopefully I can get more outside stuff done.

Here are some pictures of Rachel in front of the house - wearing her new blue jean jacket she got for Christmas!