Coconut the cockatoo... and other fun critters

We got a zoo membership for Christmas from Mike and Alyssa, what a great gift! We went yesterday and it was practically empty, no crowds or lines. The kids were beyond excited when I told them we were going. I even braved the bird show so that they could see live birds fly by. It was a testament of my love to them since as many of you know birds rank pretty low on my list with all their swooping and pooping. I will admit, it was pretty cool to see a bald eagle from only 10 feet away.
The MN Trail..we saw otters, wolves, coyotes, lynx.

I had to include this picture because it is Easton and a puma. He has this love/hate relationship with puma's. I am not even sure where it stemmed from but for a couple months now he has been talking about puma's as if they might appear in our living room at any moment. He always threatens Kennedy with "the puma's coming to get you". On the flip side, sometimes I'll shout out to him "Easton, the puma's coming!" and he freaks. He'll run at lightning speed to escape the said puma and starts screaming "save me!" So, this was his first time to see a real puma and we kept talking about it all day and saying what a nice puma it was, not a scary one.

No Trespassing

Boy oh boy, is he a boy!

Easton is SO boy...through and through. He has this innate ability to make car/motorcycle/shooting noises on command. He has been sticking out both arms and pointer fingers and saying, "I shoot fire at you!" In fact, he pulls out his Uzi arm at dinner and attempts to open fire on the whole family. Initially I was appalled by the whole thing and would get very angry with him when he did this. I really have no idea where he learned it as he has no exposure to violence, guns, and shooting...I won't even let him have a squirt gun. But, after talking with other mothers of boys it seems that regardless of their exposure, many little boys have an inherent tendency to act like this. I am not OK with the boys will be boys philosophy on this one. I feel like it is my parental duty to minimize this "shoot 'em up" behavior. But, it has been really tough because he does it so often and so instinctively. I don't know about you, but I'd bet my money on nature when it comes to the nature vs. nurture argument on 2 year old boys and shooting.

Another move that he has is sticking out his tummy really far and yelling, "belly power!!" I'm not sure if it's a protective shield or if he is attempting to blast the bad guys.

Mad Scientist

Today at school Kennedy got to do a science experiment about different things that dissolve in water. She wore special goggles and while she was doing her experiment she said "I'm a scientist, just like my Poppy!"