Hi, Zoo! How are you?

It was great to get out in the sun on Monday and introduce Grampa to the Zoo.  We have been there several times and enjoy our membership by spending several hours or only one at the Zoo.  We have been to Members Only events and love the flexibility to go for a short morning visit in the cool fall or a long evening visit in the hot summer.  We just HAD to show Grampa all our favorite parts!

Josiah loved showing Grampa the ins and outs of the Zoo… like going across this bridge.  Until this day Josiah had never done it all by himself.  Grampa must have given him the confidence!  Thanks, Grampa!

Cute kids having fun in the Australian exhibit

Off to the Petting Zoo… Farmland!

Hannah was just ADORABLE with the animals – talking to them, feeding them and petting them!  She now has a few more friends!

Even Caleb got in on the feeding action… he loved the goats coming right up to his stroller.

Off to the monkeys….with our monkeys!

Hannah continued to fascinate me…such joy, fun, energy and silliness!

A few pictures with Nanna and Grampa to end our morning at the Zoo!

 

We made it outside despite the weather…

Dad braved the cool weather and went for a brisk walk with Josiah… they both sported Superman Hats…. an adorable pair.  Josiah just couldn’t get enough of Grampa… I think Grampa was the same way!

Then the next day, it was warm enough to get outside… all of us!  We got out the bikes and had some fun in the sun before Grampa and Danny went golfing!

Here is Hannah deep in thought!

He doesn’t really care that this bike is pink and purple!  He is pretty comfy in his manhood!

But… this motorcycle is much better!

Here she comes!

My awesome parents!

On his third toy of the morning….

With all the Lightner grandkids….

The Fun Continues…

It is always fun to make a special craft with Nanna.  On this day, I cut apart an egg carton and the kids decorated them like caterpillars – including googlie eyes.  Then we added dirt and grass seed.  All we needed then was water, sunlight and time to create a hairy caterpillar.  They were SO cute!

By the way… Nanna made the one for Caleb since he was napping!

What’s better than having Nanna come to visit?

Having my dad come with her!!!!! My dad had never been to Iowa before a few weeks ago… he said that he had wanted to come, but he had just never bought the tickets. Mom has been a bunch of times and we LOVE having her here, but we just wanted to have some Grampa time as well… the kids were anxious for the day that he would FINALLY get here. Nanna, the kids, Danny and I all had a ton of things to introduce him to… including our home, the zoo, our church, our friends, our gold courses, our library, etc!  He had just finished TAX SEASON so this was a much need vacation for him and mom.  It was good for them to get away, spend time together, NOT WORK, and get some rest – Dad really liked Nap Time!!

Snuggling with Nanna and Grampa after nap time!

Thursday morning – Grace and Grampa reading their Bibles!

Coloring with Nanna…. big books are much more fun to color on!!

Not only did Grampa bring his own golf clubs.. he also brought new ones for Josiah – REAL ONES!  He was thrilled to play some “dolf”!  He and Grampa hit the balls back and forth until Josiah started to lift them up pretty high!  They stopped before there were injuries or broken things!

Daddy helped too!

As our normal routine we took Grampa to our Library… it was hard to be quiet when they were so excited!

Having a little snack with Nanna

Grace had to read a few books to Grampa…

Josiah – still playing while Hannah listens carefully to Grampa’s story!

Insanity?

What would cause this otherwise sane mom to run to the grocery store at 8:45 last night?  A pregnancy craving? NO!  Medicine for the kids? NO!  A Redbox date with my hubby? NO!  Insanity? NO!

I made an emergency stop to Hy Vee last night because of some great deals that I just couldn’t pass up… the kind that pay YOU money when you buy them…. the kind that is just one day only and the rest of the day had been so crazy that I had to go after the kids were in bed!  Those must have been some good deals… YUP! 

Before I get to the deals, you have to know a little about our stores.  We have a Fuel Saver program at our Hy Vee.  Basically, there are certain items each week that give you cents on your fuel card if you buy them.  Then you redeem the cents off per gallon when you buy gas at certain stations.  For example, when you buy a bag of carrots you get 2 cents off per gallon up to 20 gallons.  To me, that equals 40 cents of savings (2 cents x 20 gallons).  I check to see if it is a good buy when I take the initial price and subtract the fuel cents of savings.  If the carrots were a dollar and I saved 40 cents, then 60 cents for carrots would be a great deal… totally worth it!

BUT… this month (May) has another twist… I hope you are still following me – I am so sorry for a Math post if you are math challenged….in May all of the fuel saver cents are DOUBLED on Wednesdays!  That makes for some amazing deals.  Here is the breakdown of what I got last night that I just couldn’t pass up:

3 Boxes of Graham Crackers – 2 cents for fuel saver x 2 for Wednesday x 20 gallons = 80 cents off.  They were $1.98 each – 80 cents = $1.18 per box

8 packets of Old El Paso Taco seasoning – 2 cents for fuel saver x 2 for Wednesday x 20 gallons = 80 cents off.  They were 88 cents each – 80 cents = 8 cents each  ( I usually make my own but I can’t for this price!!!)

3 bags of Broccoli florets – 2 cents for fuel saver x 2 for Wednesday x 20 gallons = 80 cents off.   They were $1.98 each – 80 cents = $1.18 per bag.

And here is the best of them all…..

4 GM Cereals (Multigrain Cherrios) – 10 cents for fuel saver x 2 for Wednesday x 20 gallons = $4.00 off.  They were $3 each – $4 = making $1 per box PLUS I had a coupon for $1/2.  So… it was like they gave me $1.50 for each box of cereal I “bought” or I had $6.00 in credit.  Understand?

So… I bought $35 worth of things (I also got ketchup, creamer, and other stuff) and then I had $28 of savings with the fuel savers.  I really only paid $7 for all of the items that I got last night.  What a great way to start my savings log for the month of May!  YIPPEE!  I was quite excited by these deals….:)