No, this is not another post about birds.

This is a model eagles' nest at Hogle Zoo that my babies all fit into perfectly.

We didn't go to the zoo alone. We went with friends we don't see enough: Anisa and her boys B, J and T and Jacinda and F & S. 

 It's not easy to keep eight kids together, but major attractions like a gorilla statue seem to help.

 Ella and I were very fond of the misters located throughout the zoo.

Ella was thrilled to find one that dripped.

Hey Anisa!

For Dane and Brenner, it was like no time had passed. It was also like they had no parents with them. They were the leaders of the day. No child hesitated to follow them around to where ever they might go.

 Hey Bryce!

Of course I'm ending with a bird! Not my fault, since this zoo helper was right at the exit waiting for us.This is a Swainson's Hawk. It was cool to get so close.

I am so impressed with the changes that the zoo is making. I love the new Rocky Shores (arctic) exhibit. That polar bear is a ham! (Did I mention that a portion of this exhibit is inside and air conditioned?!) It was a great visit. So glad we got to do this and sad that our visit had to end so quickly.

Bryce just came, laced his arm around mine and said "Mom, it's nearly midnight. It's 9 o'clock."

"Then who should be in bed? You or me?"

"Both of us."

I'm having a hard time knowing that my little buddy Bryce and I won't have our one-on-one time for half of each day anymore. This kiddo is beginning first grade!

He's completely excited. My excitement wore off this week apparently because I had a bit of a cry over it  the other night. You are allowed to laugh when I tell you that the emotional breakdown began with: "Who's gonna watch Phineas and Ferb with me?"

 I guess this is where some the benefits of being the youngest are: time with just you and your mom (a mom much more relaxed than when she first began the job). It's been a sweet time getting to know him. He's so bright, kind and enchanting. It's hard to see him go off into the world, spending more time at school than with me.

I'm going to miss you, little buddy.

I'm from Spanish Fork, formerly a small town.
In some ways, they're still behind the times. There's no Wal-mart, no decent grocery store besides Macey's, no Target...
Anyway, they've got this great splash pad at a place we used to call North Park. I went there with Mandy in June, but FINALLY got my photos onto my computer.

Ella and Z think about getting wet...

After Z had his fill of flirting with water, we went to the nearby (well-shaded) playground.

Sisters are the best!

Bryce is out of school this week due to Kindergarten testing.
We've been having a great time together.
We bought flip-flops. He's kept me company as I finish up the wall in our back yard. He helped me build this:

We've been to two nurseries together, gathering plants. He's been my little buddy and it's been great.

However, it hit me earlier today that this is the final week it'll ever be just me and him. My baby boy begins first grade at the end of July and I can feel the loneliness of an emptying house already pressing in on me.

This is the true irony of motherhood. You spend all their young lives wishing for just a little extra time to get something done or a little 'me-time' on the side, but then you get more time than you've ever needed, just about they're getting so pleasant to be around. *sigh*

Before I was a mother, I longed for the joy of walking hand in hand with a chubby-fingered toddler. That was my image of contentedness. I still hold hands with my kids, but as they leap out of the car and go off to school, I barely get a hug before they launch into a world that I only get an occasional 'volunteer/visitor-status' visa.

I'm going to savor the rest of this week. Spend a lot of it looking into Bryce's every-changing, clear eyes,  listening to his latest observations about pill bugs and iPad games.

Life moves so fast.

Ella is absolutely my brave girl when it comes to tooth pulling, though around here, it's more like tooth flicking.
She's been nursing a fairly loose front tooth since December and last night it was finally ready to be flicked.

 She loves the "weirdness" of having her tooth gone and was happy to get a "golden dollar" coin under her pillow this morning.

Here are Ella's brothers.

Bryce pretending to be asleep so he wouldn't have to go to school today.

And here's Dane, my handsome TEN YEAR OLD.

This is my off-track summary and my-computer-is-working-hurry-and-post-something post.

First, we found some monarch caterpillars. Very exciting! The kids named them Thunderbolt and Wiggles. Wiggles was the most friendly and everyone held him.

 Bryce was devastated that we put them in jars. He probably would've slept with his if it was allowed.

When the monarch's instinct tells it to become a butterfly, it'll hang upside down with the aid of a lot of silk and then hang there in this 'J' shape for a day or more (this is all written from observation, not pre-written scientific material).

The green hat is actually the beginning of the cocoon. It happen so quickly. Moving from the 'J' to this.

To this: all covered, but still stripey like the caterpillar. This all took about five minutes.

The cocoon is all finished here (well, there were a few more golden dots of color added as it ripened).

Then we waited.

In the mean time, Bryce began t-ball, Ella started soccer and Dane...got pneumonia.

Bryce is having a great time, but won't watch the ball. Ella is having fun with her best buddy on her team, but won't watch the ball. Dane is making a great recovery after about 10 days of being exhausted, moody and restful. He has only a couple of days left of his anti-biotic.

  We've made lots of yummy salsas. (I couldn't get this pic to turn). This is half-Lemon Boy tomato and half red.

Ella had a VERY happy birthday. She requested cup-cake baking supplies and got them. She's kind of a wiz with that pastry bag. We had a extended family party the Sunday before she turned 7 and then just a celebration with our family with some reserved presents.

 As part of the birthday fun, we traveled into Little Cottonwood canyon to our favorite rock throwing spot.

"We" did the final touch up painting in the kitchen. Just need to get those pendant lights installed and then the remodelling will really be finished. 

More nature inside the house: found this tiny half-dollar sized mushroom growing at the base of one of my house plants. CUTE!

Then this morning! The metamorphisis was complete for Thunderbolt. 

As of this moment, he's hanging on my ficus tree, drying his wings in the warm dining room. I have tiny sugar water supplies throughout the room. 

Bryce was so gentle. We're excited for Ella and Dane to come home so that they can see, too! This has been a precious miracle to experience for our family. It's been great!

Bryce says that "Jesus is the best!" because he helped Daddy find the caterpillars in the first place.

My baby turned five this week.

He was very excited to see we had a stack of presents all prepared for him.

Cameron said it was time for him to have his own big set of Legos to put together by himself,

without help,

especially from his brother.

The morning's most adorable reaction was about getting his first Book of Mormon (no, the kid can't even read yet, but he asked his dad for one and Dad delivered). He squealed about it and is excited to have a case for it.

This was the favorite gift of the day. He sang a ballad all about the "king of the Angry Birds" all the way to school and he just wanted to please just carry it in my backpack.

Mom said no, but it was waiting in the van for the birthday boy to be done with school.

Before his siblings came home, Bryce built his ship with very restrained help from me. He did 90% of the work himself and he was pretty thrilled about it. His favorite things, though, are still the guys that come with the sets.