Zoo Day

This last weekend we had beautiful weather in the Rockies! We have had a busy couple of weeks and haven't had much family time, so we took advantage of a free weekend and the good weather. We decided to spend the day at the Denver Zoo. I LOVE THE ZOO! The kids are only an excuse for me to visit the zoo in every city we visit!

So, we drove to Denver and after circling the parking lot and surrounding areas for a good 30 minutes and then literally stalking innocent zoo-goers to their cars we finally found a parking spot and unloaded.

We were just in time to see the lion up and about.

Gabe couldn't wait to see the Zebras (among other things) so we took a picture with one. Too bad the timestamp ended up right on Isabel's face :(

He also couldn't wait to see the giraffes. I think he was a little disappointed though because at our zoo you can feed the giraffes and at this zoo you can't and the giraffes just stand there. But it was a good family photo-op!

He wanted to touch EVERYTHING! Cool picture of a sting ray, huh!?

R.O.U.S
This thing looked like a guinea pig but was actually about the size of a large pig!

Notice the crocodile/alligator thing swimming behind them. Also if the flash hadn't reflected you could see the big turtles swimming around.

Another Zebra.

That morning when we were loading the car up Isabel told us that she didn't want to sit in a stroller all day. I told her it was a long walk and she might get tired, but she was very clear ..... she wanted to walk and didn't need a stroller. So we brought the single stroller for Gabe and let her walk. Of course, half way through the zoo she got tired and wanted to sit in the stroller ... which she is obviously way too big for. She didn't care - she was very content to ride with her feet up and the shade down. She is soooooo my daughter!

The elephants were also one of those things Gabe couldn't wait to see!

The mountain goat and her baby! Lots of babies at the zoo in the springtime!

About a block from the zoo.

About 5 minutes after that.

Easter 2010

Easter in Colorado is usually a cold, snowy, indoor event. This year, the weather was beautiful! We had temperatures in the 60's and the sun shined all day! We even got to have our Easter egg hunt OUTSIDE!!! I think the last time that happened Isabel was barely walking.

We started our day by letting the kids hunt for their Easter baskets.
(Do you make your kids search for their Easter baskets or do you just give them to them? In our family, we search!)

Before the carnage.

Gabe found his in the dog crate.

Isabel's was in the oven.

I love these cute little manicured feet!!! :)

Gabe got a Batmobil.

Isabel got a room for her dollhouse.

After church we met at my parents' house for a BBQ and an Easter egg hunt.

Starting the hunt!

With Grandpa!

For those of you with really good eyes, you'll notice that my dad shaved his mustache off ...... for the first time since puberty!!

There was one incident with a few casualties :(

My girls!

Passover 2010 PART 2

READ PART 1 FIRST!

Ok, sorry for splitting this up ... the first post was getting pretty long and organizing all those pictures was starting to make my temper flare. It was getting ugly!

So, here's the last bit of our Passover seder:

There is another part of the seder that is used to keep the attention of all the children present. The Afikoman is a piece of matza that is set aside for the children. Traditionally there would be one piece and the kids would "fight" over it. In our family, we have 6 children over the age of 2, so we have 6 pieces of matza. The matza is hidden around the room by the adults and the children are allowed to search for it after dinner. When they find their piece of matza, they turn it into Savta in return for a gift!

So, that is a look into the Cutter Family Seder! I hope you enjoyed reading and I hope you learned a little something new!

Passover 2010 PART 1

On March 29 we celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover. We gathered as a family at Joel's parents house for a night of fun and food!!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Passover, it is a holy day commemorating the Hebrews' excape from enslavement in Egypt. A big part of Passover is remembering the 10 plagues that God sent on the Egyptians before Pharoah released the Hebrews from slavery. Many of you will remember that when the final plague (death of the firstborn) came upon the Egyptians, Pharoah finally released the Hebrew slaves and they left in such a hurry that they could not wait for their bread to rise. So, in commemoration of this, during Passover, no unleavened bread is eaten. We eat Matza instead.

Doesn't look very appetizing, but it's like eating a big cracker!

A few years ago, as the number of children in the family increased, Joel's parents began to look for a format that was more kid-friendly. Traditionally, the Passover seder (the special dinner we eat during this festival) is a very long ordeal and the kids don't do very well when dinner is not served until 10 or 11 o'clock at night and if they are expected to sit still for several hours listening to someone read in a language they don't understand. Anyway, they were able to find a Haggadah (the special text used to retell the story of the Exodus) that was made for children and the whole family is able to enjoy the seder without (many) interruptions. Here's a look into our Passover seder .......

The table is spread with all of the things that remind us of the Exodus ... including the creepy crawlers that came during the plagues!

Some of our good family friends were invited to join us so there was a full house and a very long table!

My favorite part .... MATZA BALL SOUP! Yum!!!

In an effort to keep this from turning into a novel I won't explain everything, but one of the traditions is eating the bitter herbs to remind us of the bitterness of slavery. This is supposed to be unpleasant, but of course, the kids love the bitter herbs and they pretty much cleaned out the supply after everyone else had had their taste.

The first plague ... Blood.

Frogs.

Filled with water to make it more fun!
Lice.

Actually rice that the kids get to throw at each other. It gets EVERYWHERE and totally gets the point across!

Flies.

In our case, bugs .... same thing right?

Boils.

Hail.

Notice the big white balls!

Darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED ..........