It's 11:30 pm -- do you know where you children are?

Yes - on vacation, in the mountains, in a cabin....and on the internet!



The rest are on the bunk beds "pict-o-chatting" on their Nintendo DS's (why talk to the upper bunk when you can text?)

Happy Halloween!

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Sneak Preview Of Our New House

We are busy packing at our old house and getting ready for the move, which should be the week before Thanksgiving. Here is the only photo I have of our new house to post right now. As fall weather is quickly setting in, the yard will be faded into dormancy by the time we move, so I wanted to share this one from a few weeks ago.



Our current house sold on a Friday and we made an offer on this house the following Monday. We feel very lucky to have found this one, as it had only been on the market a few days when we looked at it. Despite the housing slump, homes are still selling fairly quickly in that area.

Beth and the boys commute to school will go from 16 miles to 2.5 miles, and Richard's commute to work will drop from 29 miles to 23 miles. Additionally, most everything we need (grocery, Home Depot, bank, gas, restaurants, Target, WalMart, etc) will be within 2-3 miles, rather than 10-15 miles. We are so looking forward to less time in the car traveling places.

Erek's First Kindergarten Field Trip!

Today Erek's Kindergarten class went on their first school Field Trip! Destination: The Memphis Zoo. The weather was cool (60's) but the pictures look like it was much colder. We had a great time exploring the new Teton Trek Exhibit and got to see the Grizzly Bears and Grey Wolves, as well as the Old Faithful Geyser! That will be a welcome relief during hot summer visits! Take a look:

Here's a short video of Old Faithful:

Dinosaur World!

While visiting Kentucky this weekend, Uncle Donald took the boys to Dinosaur World in Cave City. We've driven past this place for years and never stopped, thinking it would be a waste of time. Boy were we wrong -- the place is amazing! Here is a link to their web site: Dinosaur World.

Special thanks to cousins Debbie, Sam, and Taylor for the T-shirts from their awesome ice cream store in Somers, New York: the King Kone!

High-fives with a 50ft humpback whale...

I saw this online -- no,it was not taken on our trip to Alaska :)
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Alaskan Cruise Highlights

Carter, Erek, and Mom visit the dentist!

All these photos were taken by Carter and Erek!

No, Hell did not freeze over...

But Grandmere ate sushi for the first time -- and liked it!!

The "Velvet Roll" at Lee Kan's Asian Grill in Collierville:

Crawfish, tempura shrimp, and avocado, lightly dusted and crispy with a savory, creamy dressing. The roll is toasted and comes out warm.

See the rest of their menu here.

Sharp Dressed Boys

Monster vs Aliens

Fun movie, and the 3D effects weren't bad. Also entertaining for the grown-ups (and Beth and Richard liked it too).

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Sea Monkey Update

I had a hard time getting the camera to focus on the monkeys. The blurry dots that move are the sea monkeys. They are interesting to watch, as are the ants, and the worms. Don't forget about Honey the hamster, the two dogs, and the cat. We may be getting a new addition to the Majkrzak Zoo soon........

Hi from Erek

Erek having fun at Carter's baseball practice.

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Carter's First Batting Practice

This is a video taken from my cell phone so the quality isn't that great, but you get to see Carter in action!

Mobile blogging activated!

I'm now able to update our blog via email or MMS message from my cellphone!


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Another post about the Memphis Zoo...

The Memphis Zoo was recently named #1 zoo in America by TripAdvisor. It is truly spectacular and we are very fortunate to have this incredible resource right in our own backyard that our entire family enjoys throughout the year. During the heat of the summer or the cold of winter, we enjoy the indoor exhibits such as the Tropical Bird House, Herpetarium, Aquarium, Polar Bear/Sea Lion pavilion, and Creatures of the Night. On mild spring and fall days we like spend extra time in the Barnyard, the Butterfly Garden, and Panda exhibit. But EVERY visit includes a stop by the Meerkats, Cat Country, and Primate Canyon, especially the Lemurs (any Zoboomafoo fans?). Check out these zoo videos to see more about some of these exhibits and others.

Later this year the new Teton Trek exhibit will open followed by the new Hippo Camp area in 2011 (in addition to Hippos, it will house Nile Crocodiles, Okapi and Flamingos).

The legendary Dr. Jane Goodall was at the zoo recently to share some of her amazing experiences. Unfortunately we were not able to make it in person, but here is a link to the audio.

If you are not local to Memphis and plan to visit, you should definitely include the Memphis Zoo on your itinerary. You can also download a zoo map to plan your visit ahead of time.

Carter's class is planning a "Zoo Snooze" soon and we will post about that experience in the near future. His teacher is chaperoning the entire class and NO PARENTS ALLOWED! She does this towards the end of each school year and the kids have a blast. Mom and Dad (and Erek!) are envious!

Zoo Day

The weather was perfect for the first trip to the zoo this year - sunny and 64F.


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Sea Monkeys

Carter received Sea Monkeys for his birthday and today we set up the "tank". Will post pictures later if they grow big enough to capture with the camera.

Snow

Here are some pictures from the snow we had last weekend. Didn't last long, as we were soon into the 60's and 70's this weekend.

Casting Call

The boys tried out for Wizard of Oz with the Children's Theater today. Parents were not allowed into the audition and the boys were very secretive about the details of the audition, so we really have no idea how they did. The results will be announced this coming Friday. They had a blast and were so excited before and after the audition which made it sooo worth the wait. Even if they don't get a part they want to come back for summer camp (week 1 is 101 Dalmations and week 2 is Jungle Book). I would be surprised if they turned anyone down for this play, since you can never have enough Munchkins. Well, ok maybe you can... Anyway, Erek is convinced he will be a flying monkey and Carter has no preference -- says he doesn't want to be in the play after all unless they need him (?).

Small is Tall.

More Birthday Cake

Family birthday dinner with blue Dinosaur cake. What was in that icing??

Happy Birthday Carter!

Today we celebrated Carter's 8th birthday with a party at the Malco. The movie was "Hotel For Dogs" which inspired Beth to make an encore Dalmation cake. Carter's friends are AWESOME birthday gift shoppers and he received a mountain of super cool stuff. His friends definitely are aware of his obsession with dinosaurs! Thanks to everyone who helped celebrate Carter's big day!

Finished Product

Here are the candied orange slices we finished making yesterday:

Happy Valentines Day!

We haven't posted much for 2009 yet, so better late than never. As usual, we started our Saturday morning with a great family breakfast, except today there were chocolates on the table! Sorry for all the barking, but Molly had to spend time outside and was not happy that Lulu was inside with us!




We also made a special Valentine's cake for Beth (not for breakfast but after dinner!). It is a white cake with blackberry/strawberry/raspberry jam in the middle with white almond+vanilla frosting and shaved coconut on the outside. On top are fresh blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. It was yummy!!




Lastly, we made fresh candied orange slices. They have to "dry" for 24 hours so tomorrow we will finish them by dipping halfway in melted chocolate. These run about $4 each at Godiva and Dinstuhl's (and are worth it since more than one will make you sick) but are super easy to make at home and taste even fresher. Maybe tomorrow I will post a picture of the finished product.

Finally!

Carter got an Ant Farm for Christmas and we sent away for the ants by mail last month. For the past two weeks Carter has been getting worried that the ants would NEVER come. They FINALLY arrived today - Friday the 13th! Do you think they will escape and eat us in our sleep?



Here is the envelope they were mailed in:


They make the trip packed in this tiny test tube:


Good advice - these buggers have some JAWS:



Happily exploring their new home of mystery green goo:


Happy Camper!!

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