Beaches, Buffalos, BIG laughs and....Pigs

Well, today was Memorial Day. We were supposed to take the kids to their very first trip to the beach. We were going with Jill and Wade up to Lake Erie in Canal Fulton. We were all SO excited about it. Jill and I packed a picnic/cookout lunch. I got the whole family some flip flops for the beach. And I bought sun screen, buckets for sand castles and lots of film!!! We got to the beach and it was a mess. There weren't many people there and the sand was so "shell-ee" that we never could have walked in our bare feet. It was too rough. SO, we went to another beach. There was seaweed and dead fish all over it!!! Wade asked someone from the area what the deal was, and they told him that all the beaches were like that right now due to all of the storms. UGH.
WELL, there was a nice park/playground across the street of the second beach, so we went over there to have our lunch and to let the kids play on the playground for a while.
Not too bad. But not the beach.
We decided then to go to the African Safari which was nearby. We have a zoo pass, so it allowed us to get our car load in for half price. COOL
Wade drove and Dave rode up front with him the first time through. It was soo much fun and soooo funny. The kids were all scared, so they stayed in the back far from any open windows. Jill and I made fun of Wade and Dave getting scared of the Buffalo. At one point we were all looking at a Zebra outside Wade's window, then all of a sudden we hear Dave say "uuuhhh, Guys!" and we look over to see this HUGE Buffalo with it's head stuck in Daves window!! Cracked us up so much. Then Dave stuck out the food to feed it, and just said "here, have it" and threw the bucket out the window.
SO, the second time through, Jill and I were saying how we weren't afraid blah blahblah.
I had the hardest time convincing Jill not to act afraid. THEN the BIG GUY Buffalo came to MY window. He stuck his head ALL the way in and he was SO dirty and stunk SOOOOO bad. I thought he was going to touch me. So, of course. I screamed. Yes, the guys thought that was hilarious. Wade laughed till he cried. I've never seen him laugh that hard. ROFL
After that we went to see the other animals that we can walk through and see. The kids played on another playground. We watched a show. And after Dave and the Boys got in line to hold a Red Tailed Python!!!!!! It was huge!!!!! Trevor, after much conjoling, got up there with Dave and Dylan, but just as the girl went to hand them the snake, he screamed and ran away. I got LOTS of pictures of that! LOL But Dave and Dylan did it, and we have some good pictures of that too!!
Afterward, we found out that Dylan thought it was a toy. He had no idea that it was real, or he probably would have screamed and ran too!!
The kids could go on Pony rides and Camel rides for free. The boys rode the pony, but not the camel. OH and we saw a baby monkey with his mommy too!
To end the day, we watched a "NasPig Race" Our pig was pig number 3 (which is our lucky number :) and it's name was Pig Diddy. LOL It WON THE RACE!!!!!!! Good Little Piggy!!!!
When we went to leave (did I mention that it was 90 degrees out???) the van wouldn't start!! UGH. BUT security came and gave us a jump and we laughed and reminisced about the day all the way home! It was a GREAT day. Even if we didn't get to go to the beach. Jill and I are going to take the kids to one sometime this summer though. They all, but especially Trevor kept saying "But Mom, I thought we were going to the beach?" :( made me sad. But he had a fun day anyway.
THE END
(ha ha, I felt like I wrote a book just now)

Kid's Say the Darndest Things!!

This morning, in light of Trevor telling me yesterday that I'm a "Gee-Nis" I asked him "Trevor, am I a Genius?" and he said "hmm, Not Quite Yet!" LOL

A Trip to the ZOO!!!

Today I surprised the kids by taking them to the zoo! They've been talking about the zoo constantly lately, and today was so nice, and it's free! (we have a pass) So we went and got Jill to go with us, and went to the zoo. Not too far in, they were all still very excited about being there, but Trevor said to me, "I am SOOO happy!" Then later, when we were all getting tired, and ready to head home, Trevor said to me, "MOM, you're a Gee-nis!!" (meaning a Genius) I said, "why? because we came to the zoo?" and he said "YES!!!" Too cute. After we looked at the Rhinos, which is one of their very favorite things, I said to them for about the fourth time, "come on guys, lets go see the elephants!" and Dylan said "ok, ok, for Pete's Sake!" ROFL They are too funny. We had ALOT of fun. It was a good day. Before we left, we went to get cotton candy, another thing they (especially Trevor) had been asking for since they knew we were going. Dylan and Abbey decided they wanted Ice Cream instead, so they got a twist cone, and Trevor got cotton candy. About half way home, we looked back at Trevor, and he was sound asleep with his sun glasses on, and Blue all over his little face from the cotton candy. Then not long after that, Dylan and Abbey with chocolate all over them, were conked out too! A good day......A good day.....

Ultrasound Pictures....

We had an all day scrap-booking fund raiser for the Cacoon Women's Shelter today at the church. When I got home, the kids wanted to look at their books. So I got out their baby scrap books, and let everyone look at them. Me and the kids sat on the couch, and they opened them up. Of course, to start the books, I have all of the U/S pics. I told them "these are pictures of when you were still in mommy's belly!" I hear a big Pause then Dylan says "eeeeewwwwww that's disgusting!!!" Then while I'm trying to explain to him what was what, Abbey starts to cry! I looked over at her to ask her what was wrong, and see that she has her eyes covered and when I asked what was wrong, she said "I Don't Want To See It!!!" It was all so funny. They finally all got over it, and looked at the rest of their books and enjoyed it.

What the Staigers Do with a Tax Refund!!

Well, for the first time in our marriage, we had a CPA who knew what they were doing. We actually got a refund this year!! WOOHOO. And what FUN thing do the Staigers do with a Refund????? Why, they BUY SKIVVIES!!! Yes, we were all in need of underwear. HA HA HA So, I took the kids to Walmart and we bought Undies and Socks for every member of the Staiger Family!! We are the Best "underweared family" in Grand Rapids Ohio!!! And possibly all of Ohio, I'm not sure.......

The Crimson Chin

On Monday May 8th, we had an eventful evening. To include a trip to the ER. UGH Abbey and the boys decided to climb up on the posts of the beds and swing back and forth. Abbey unfortunately lost her balance and crashed CHIN first on the floor. I thought for sure it was broken when she turned down a piece of gum. That's just CRAZY!! She NEVER turns down a piece of GUM!!! So, we went to the ER me and her, and got some "pictures" taken, and she got to ride in a wheelchair to do it so that was thrilling, all to find out she was A-OK. shwew! It looked pretty nasty though. It was all red and swollen, and I called her the Crimson Chin, which is a sometimes character on a cartoon that they watch. So Exciting!

This and That

I haven't written in a while, but there's been plenty of silly stuff happening. Today for instance, Dylan saw all of my "meds" and said "mommy!! is this ALL your medicine???" and I said "yes, it is!" and he said in this loud and funny voice "WOW, that must be BAD for a Bandaid!!" Not sure what that meant, unless it meant that because I had all these meds, I didn't need a band aid, or what?! But it was hilarious. And I'll tell ya, I'd rather have a band aid. LOL
Trevor has SUCH a good, no , GREAT memory!! That boy has been bringing up all sorts of things I thought were long forgotten. Today he went with me to run errands. It was his turn. (they've all been taking turns with going running around with mommy) And as we drove past the hospital he said "Mommy, that's where the dr. is, right?" and he talked about how they gave him milk with a cow on the box when he was there,and how the dr.s took him into a room and fixed his arm. He's getting the time he broke his arm and when he was there with RotaVirus mixed up, but it was all close to the same time. Then he showed me a mark on his arm that was left there by the IV when he was in the hospital...................OVER A YEAR AGO!!!
Abbey, the princess, we've been doing things with her hair. I've been putting her hair in a bunch of little braids, and she wears them like that for a day, then the next day we take them out, and she has "fluffly poofy" hair. Well, the other day when we first did it, she went to show her daddy, and turned around all proud like and said "daddy, how do you like my braces??" LOL