Well, after we got home from dropping Monica off it was time for Winry's nap. Brooke and I cleaned up the house, and inventoried snack ideas, etc. Brooke basically just helped me do dad stuff and make a plan for the next few days. We also got out all of the snow clothes so they were ready when Winry woke up, and got out everything we needed to make hot chocolate, and packed our bags of swim stuff for swim lessons that night! Brooke was an amazing helper. Once Winry woke up it was snack time, and then we hopped into our clothes to go have some fun in the snow. Brooke pulled Winry around the back yard for a bit in the sled.
We made snow angels and made snow balls and passed them back and forth. And of course, we had everyone's favorite, dad pulls everyone on the sleigh! This is probably where we spent most of our time. It's nit that our back yard has a little bit of a hill for sledding down, but also that it's gradual enough that it's not killer to pull them back up.
Once we came in we had some hot chocolate and then changed into swim suits. Then it was time for an early dinner before swim lessons, and finally we headed to the pool. Brooke was one of two kids at her lesson, so she got to spend lots of time swimming around the pool! Once her lesson was done she very patiently sat and watched Winry's lesson. Winry had a few rough moments in her lesson. Instead of jumping in she's started scooting in on her bum. Well, on time she leaned back while scooting in and hit her head on the side of the pool. Then another time when she was climbing out her hands slipped and she scratched up her nose. Poor girl! She still had a great time, and Brooke was wonderful and sat and enjoyed watching Winry swim! Brooke even got a special treat for sitting and being so good. After Winry went to bed Brooke picked a reward, like a treat or game or something. She ended up picking a box of nerds, and was ecstatic when after opening it she found out she could have the whole box!
The next morning at breakfast I felt something on my leg and looked down and Winry was sticking her spoon into my pocket... She proceeded to pull it out and stick it back in again. Guess pockets are a pretty big deal when you typically don't wear clothes that have any.
Friday morning we took Brooke to her dance class. Winry was loving watching Brooke dance! I had a lot of fun there because I don't typically get to see much of her dance lessons, and it was a lot of fun to see her do all her various dance stuff. She did a great job! We took a picture together after and when I was switching to front facing I somehow turned on the beauty mode and couldn't get it off, so sorry for the slightly weird picture...
After dance we went to Costco for samples, and then stopped at the food court for a chicken bake for lunch.
After Winry's nap we made an emergency run to King Soopers for some prunes because Winry seemed a little... backed up. I told Winry it was a treat and as soon as she finished the first once she started begging for the other container. I did not give them to her, but instead saved them for a rainy day. We also picked up some other fruit for the girls. After we got back home and had a snack we then went bowling!!
Winry was able to get a spare in the 10th frame, and finish it up with a strike, as you can see on her score card below.
Brooke also got a strike on her very last throw. I guess when you pay for a game there is also a minimum time, and so after the girls finished their games they got to play part of another one. I unfortunately didn't get a video of either of their strikes... but the important part is everyone has a great time.
After bowling we went to the arcade, and Brooke just knew she HAD to play Mario Kart. She had a wonderful time, and the game fortunately auto-accelerated because she couldn't quite read the pedal. We played a few other game, won some tickets, and got a few prizes before heading home.
The next day was zoo day (and Saturday)!! I think the more we go to the zoo, the more we like it. One thing that is decently new to me is going to the animal shows. I've been to the sea lion show before, but I think that's it, and I think twice in total. This trip we went to many shows, which is a nice way to break up wandering through the other animals. It also lead to a bunch of backtracking past the same animals several times, but that was fine. I mean, how many times in a normal day to you typically see an okapi? Probably okay if you see it 3 or 4 times at the zoo. We sent to see the grizzly bear, and he was digging a big hole. In the end he just ended up laying down in it. The kids also checked their height against a bear as well. After a little more wandering we got to see the sea lion show. It's fun to watch the tricks, and I especially like when it jumps for the ball at the end.
The elephant show is in a little amphitheater with seats, and takes place at 11:30, so it's the perfect place to go for lunch! We sat and enjoyed some food while watching the elephant do some yoga!
After the elephant show we went to feed the llamas. Both girls got to feed Fernando at Brooke's request. While we were there we heard about the flamingo walk, which we would just be able to make it to if we left right away from the feeding.
We were able to make it to the flamingo walk, though it wasn't quite what we thought. Brooke was a little disappointed because we thought we would actually get to walk down the path with the flamingos as they moved from their inside exhibit to outside. I guess if the crowd was smaller we could have walked next to the barriers. Anyway, they don't do this very often, and I'm guessing the flamingos had a quick stay inside due to that cold snap on Thursday. This is definitely the first time I've been at the zoo and gotten to see the flamingos both inside and outside.
In the monkey area Brooke took some time to play "Row row row your boat" on the drums! The Monkeys were the last animals we saw, and then we looped back to a few animals that hadn't been out before to see if we could catch them before going home. This included the tiger, who was taking a nap, and the baby lion, who was taking a nap with his dad! Good thing we circled back because we got to see all of the favorite animals!
We were at the zoo for about 5 hours, which pushed back the start of Winry's nap to around 2 in the car. Brooke was super tired from all the zoo fun as well and really wanted to take a nap, so I let her. While the girls slept I quickly ran to the basement and hopped on the treadmill for 8 miles. Winry woke up right as I was getting out of the shower. We woke Brooke up and headed to the park, even though it was close to our normal dinner time. I knew with such a late nap that the kid wouldn't be ready for bed as early, so we went to the park for some fun, and them got back home about an hour later than usual. On the way home we stopped by the flamingo house, which had 3 skeleton flamingos out with the heard for Halloween! After dinner I put Winry to bed, and then Brooke got to stay up a little longer since she doesn't usually take naps and so when she does she stays up quite a bit later. The first thing on Brooke's stay up agenda was flamingo walks! What a flamingo day!
Today we got up and ready for church, which went well. I was a little unsure about doing the girls hair, but the pony tails went it pretty easily, and they looked decent to boot! After church we went up to my brother, Tyson's house and had a great time playing with their kids. The plan was to have Winry take a nap in the car, but she didn't fall asleep until like 10 minutes before we got there, so she spent the first half hour or so just laying on me. Eventually she was ready to get up and play with everyone. We spent some time in the backyard playing all kinds of games including going down the slide on the play ground, and getting out a bubble machine.
Everyone had lots of fun together, and Brooke even helped make two desserts! After dinner was over the girls changed into their pajamas, and Brooke asked Megan to read them bed time stories! Look at them all enjoying some Berenstain Bears. The kids stayed away for much longer than I expected on the drive home, but were super out when we got home. They both easily laid down and quickly were off to sleep.
All in all I had a wonderful time with the girls! I did only have days filled with fun plans, but we also did our share of cleaning up the house after we got out toys, etc. I feel like I definitely got a lot closer with Brooke and Winry over the last few days, and I feel like I better understand them and how to work with them through their struggles. It was also good to get a glimpse into what things are like for Monica when I have to travel for work. We had a wonderful time, and I'm glad we got an opportunity to spend so much time together. I am also grateful that Monica comes home tonight! That also means I don't have a proof reader... so sorry for all the weird typing errors in this post.
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