Wild and Crazy (Animals, that is!)

On Friday, we went to a friend's house to see some rescued wild animals from the group The Nature of Wildworks.  The girls had a great time (except for the stinky nature of it that Gabrielle noticed right away!).  The group talked about the animals, where they were rescued, and what to do if you see one in the wild.

A Virginia Opossum (either "Oliver" or "Doris"), the only marsupial in North America (I guess if you don't count those in zoos!): (2/8)

One of two ferrets ("Tinker" & "Bell"):

A skunk named "Wildflower" (the previous owner had it's scent gland removed, but then found out that skunks don't make great pets....who woulda thought!):

"Dancer" the Barn Owl:

 Watching the fennec fox:

 "Foxy" the fennec fox:

Petting "Elvis" the King Snake, one of two snakes (his friend was "Jake" the Gopher Snake):

 Petting a ferret:

Back in the Dancing Saddle

The girls have been asking for quite awhile to take ballet and tap again.  They took their first month of classes last April.  Today, they were in the same class together.  Nicolette mustered all her courage and bravery and stayed in the class the WHOLE time and had a great time.  She normally does not want to be separated from Mommy, so we are very proud of her!  Their teacher's name is Christy.  Gabrielle's favorite part of the class is at the end when they go on the stage for a little performance for the parents.
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 The final performance:

Tapping video:

The video of the final performance (I love how Gabrielle helps Nicolette get onto the stage and wants her to stand next to her!):

Super Duper Exciting SeaWorld!

After going to SeaWorld three days in a row after Christmas, we went back again this weekend for more fun!  Yesterday (Sunday) was by far the most exciting!  The pictures at the end show our most exciting experience after asking the trainer lots of questions, having adorable girls who are so into sea creatures, and meeting one VERY sweet and generous trainer!  Here's the story:

We admired the giant Christmas tree (1/5):

 Did a little modeling:

 Running:

Dancing:

 More running:

 Turtle game playing (1/6):

 Looking for dolphins after the show (our 5th dolphin show!):

 Excited with our results:

Happy shivers:

 Checking out the sea lions:

Petting the rays:

 Measuring ourself to the rays:

And, drumroll please.......

Petting the dolphins with a trainer at Dolphin Point!

Gabrielle LOVED petting them, Nicolette LOVED being so close (Daddy is holding her in the purple sweater):

Up close with Gracie, the Pacific bottlenose dolphin:

Mommy told the trainer that she had no idea how much this meant to our two girls!  (I think the trainer was very taken with hearing that Gabrielle wants to be a veterinarian for sea creatures when she grows up!)

Here is a video of our fun.  Mommy was trying to take video and pictures at the same time, so please be patient with the video!