Monkeys, karate, fish, and the zoo!

Going back to Arbor Day, April 27 for those non-Arboretum people, we went to where else but the Arboretum to celebrate! Curious George was there as well so we were able to meet up with Auntie Miya, Nathan, Jake, and Grandma for the morning. Of course before leaving Joey insisted we check to see if the tadpoles were there yet, and they were! He also convinced Grandma, Jill, and I to go play on the ropes and bridges. We did some tree crafts (tree cookies so they were called), planted 2 trees in newspaper vases to take home, and we kept running into George! George picked up Joey and Jill's birds that Grandma got them and listened to them chirp which they both thought was really cool. Joey is very into Curious George and he is going to be the theme to Joey's 4th birthday party this summer. We also were able to see the newly installed memory brick that Auntie Miya and Uncle Mark had placed as a memory of Josh. Joey found it right away, and it is perfectly placed! Thank you Uncle Mark and Auntie Miya it is a perfect way to have him with us at one of our favorite places to visit! The next day we went to Andrew's Karate Graduation. Joey had a sign he held in the audience to cheer for his buddy Andrew as he graduated to an orange belt with white stripe...and it was velcro! Andrew was really excited about that! Congrats karate kid! Daddy decided it was time to invest in a real fish tank with a filter and a bit bigger than the goldfish bowl we had before. So we headed to the store to get all the fixings for a nice home for our zebra fish. Luckily they had a 30 day guarantee being a bit stronger than goldfish, because we are currently on round 3, even after bringing in water samples that say the water is just fine. So we may give it another go this weekend with a new filter and our own test kit. Joey and Jill refuse to name any of the fish we have gotten so the names keep being transfered. We've had two fish at a time so their names have been "Hank" and "Nobody." At least the tank has a blue, white, or blue and white light you can turn on so it makes it fun to look and listen to the bubbles! Joey and Grandma also joined me on a very cold, windy, and busy day for a race in Kenosha, they were super troopers for sure, thanks! This past Sunday we hit the Brookfield Zoo with Uncle Mark, Auntie Miya, Nathan, and Jake. Unfortunately we were rained out a little early in the day but we did get to see the dolphin show and had a fun morning with them as well. The pictures don't quite show it, I think the camera comes out and the smiles go away with these 3, but they did enjoy themselves! We will have to try to head back there again sometime soon!