The Dogs, the beaver and the zoo!

We love animals! We love to see them at the zoo, in the yard, and even in the first grade!  This week, we covered all our bases.  Mom took the little sisters to the Dinosaur Trail at the Nashville Zoo with our friends.  Jess had a great time with Laura and Molly, but less fun with the pretend (but still very scary!) dinosaurs.  There's a dinosaur behind them there in that picture, which you can't see.  Jess wouldn't be in the picture until Mom agreed to get in it too.

I didn't get to go to the zoo, but I did get to dress up for our first grade production of "It's Raining Cats and Dogs".  As you can see, I was a dog. What you also need to know is that I have a gold medal around my neck.  In my school, extra super good behavior gets you special recognition and a gold medal.  And I'm a gold medalist!  This was a very big day for me!

For some reason, Blogger won't let us move around our pictures very easily anymore, so the play pictures are not in the exact order that I would like them to be.  But, you see the first graders over there: Cats to the left, Dogs to the right. Each class sang and danced a number, although I refrained from any dancing.  If you know me, you know that singing and dancing for an audience is just not my thing.  Instead, me and a few other kids got to stay on the stage and sing into microphones.  We were a little further away from the audience this way, and it was much less stressful!

Marina had her team soccer picture on Saturday.  Here's Mom's amateur shot.  Marina was amazing in the game following pictures:  FOUR goals! A new record for her! She has learned how to be aggressive and GO AFTER that ball! She helps her teammates make their goals too. What a difference a few months ( of basketball with 6 year old boys!) makes. 

We also took some time to enjoy the amazing Tennessee weather this week.  Sunny skies and warm temperatures have been a regular part of our routine.  We lit the fire pit at night and took some nature walks during the day.

We also checked out the creek behind our house.  Here you see some evidence of a beaver.  Isn't that amazing?? We have our own beaver who we've named Justin.  Justin Beaver comes to see us a few times a day and always goes to the same exact spot in our backyard.  He is very, very shy, and runs for the creek as soon as the back door opens.  It is unlikely we'll ever get a picture of him- but trust us: He's a cutie!