Jam-packed family fun at the aquarium

What a week! Monday, we were invited to a play date with a family from church. They have a girl one month younger than Elia and a boy eight days older than Ethan. Tuesday we went swimming with our friends the Forbushes, Wednesday we went with the ward play group to "Old MacDonald's Farm"(which had lots of pet-able, feed-able farm animals, and yes, a few deer too),Thursday we went to the Children's Museum's free night and then hosted a family for dinner, Friday was a pool tournament for Eric's work and today was family day at the Houston Aquarium for Eric's work.
In fact we felt very loved this week because it was Eric's first week of work, but it was also employee appreciation week so between the two he got free lunch every day but one and they paid for everyone to go to the Aquarium...They had free lunch, free (and super-awesome) face-painting... well, our kids got their paintings on their arms... (a dolphin for Elia and a dragon for Ethan)...and a balloon-animal making clown...The Aquarium had this cool train ride that went through a semi-circular shark tank and the sharks swam on the sides and above the train, a Ferris wheel that gave us a great view of the city...an amusement ride that slowly took you up, then dropped you down. (Nancy, who is afraid of heights, got talked into riding the ride, though she tried to get out of it.)... Two white tigers (I know, pretty random for an Aquarium, but cool)...

And... always the kid favorite, a carousel...
A pretty packed week to be sure, but we had a lot of fun! Here is a final video for your enjoyment... Don't forget to pause the music first! ... (and if you watch it to the end (it is just 1 and a half minutes), at about the 1:12 mark I think, it should bring laughter to your life... and maybe this is just funny to me, but I hope you enjoy). A little explanation first: Elia and I have reading time every morning while Ethan takes his nap. This is what she does for quite a bit of the thirty minutes! It is so funny to listen to her. This day I pretended to read while I video-taped her. At the beginning, she is looking at herself in the mirror that is in front of her bed. Have you guys ever come across this passage in the Book of Mormon? Yep, that is the little book she is "reading" from. One final question, do you know what a "putzy" is? If you do, let us know... ENJOY!