Kate and I went to Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch yesterday for her 2nd grade field trip. This was one of the best field trips I have been on, and Kate was in absolute heaven. This place was made just for her.
They have tons of lemurs. We learned that despite what they say in the movie Madagascar, it is really a Queen that leads the tribe not a King....and the position of Queen can rotate among the group. They somehow decide amongst themselves who and for however long has this position. It could be for 6 months or 6 years.
Kate and Harmony on the safari
On the safari there are buckets of food attached to the tram that the animals will run along side and eat. They also make stops along the way for everyone to pet the different animals. They had several Clydesdale horses. This was Kate's favorite.
This part of the safari was a "no petting" zone. They threw the food our around the tram so the animals would come up close so that we could see them better and take pictures. The kids loved this pot belly pig.
I thought this was an odd grouping: a deer, a pig, a goat, an alpaca (he got cut from the picture), and something else...not sure what that big white one is...
This is Thristy the camel. They had tons of camels. We learned that if camels are happy they don't spit and these camels at the Sharkarosa Ranch were super happy which we were grateful for...there was no spitting.
This baby camel had his debut yesterday and was around people for the first time. He was literally crying for his mama. Kate was so concerned for this little guy. At one point I think she was on the verge of tears herself because she felt so bad for him.
This baby zebra is 5 weeks old and has super soft fur. Kate wants this pictured framed for her bedroom.
Sharkarosa Ranch also has lots of kangaroos. Most of them are albinos. They take them in because these kangaroos would not be able to survive in the wild. This baby kangaroo in particular was not an albino. He was super cute all cuddled up in his "faux pouch".
Kate did want her picture taken in front of this sign. I thought it was funny so I bribed her by going into the gift shop. :)
Want more info on Sharkarosa Ranch? Just click
here.
One of Joshua's favorite spots in Grandma Martin's flower bed...under the Japanese Oak tree
This was so fun! My dad rented a HUGE van so that we could all fit to ride around Joplin. It was hilarious.
We saw lots of homes with just the center most room left standing and so, so many that were just completely wiped off their foundation.
This is Joplin High School, home of the Eagles. Someone has temporarily renamed it Hope High school and there have been eagles carved out of some of the trees that were ripped up by the tornado.
This is in the parking lot of the church that my family went to. The empty lot is where the church building stood just across from Joplin High school.
As many times as we have been to Joplin it was hard to recognize were we were. There is miles and miles of nothing where there use to be houses and businesses. It is so sad to see, yet Joplin is pulling together and the rebuilding has already begun. After rolling through town on Friday night and just seeing the little that we did, Joshua made this Saturday morning..... 
Braeden's jr. high soccer team went to the playoffs and then won the championship. The final two games were super intense that went in to over time and then ended in shoot outs. The Lobos came out on top!!
Joshua's baseball team went 16-0 for the regular season and then lost one game in the final tournament for the championship to come in 2nd. They were so disappointed, but still played hard til the very end.
Braeden with his piano teacher, Emily Blair. Braeden played Canon in D and Bella's Lullaby from the Twilight soundtrack. 
End of the year awards assemblies......Joshua got A/B honor roll and commended on his Reading and Math TAKS test. Josh with his 4th grade teacher Mrs. Sutphin.
Kate got A honor roll for the whole entire year. We are so proud of her. Kate with her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Bustos.
They have tons of lemurs. We learned that despite what they say in the movie Madagascar, it is really a Queen that leads the tribe not a King....and the position of Queen can rotate among the group. They somehow decide amongst themselves who and for however long has this position. It could be for 6 months or 6 years. 
On the safari there are buckets of food attached to the tram that the animals will run along side and eat. They also make stops along the way for everyone to pet the different animals. They had several Clydesdale horses. This was Kate's favorite.
This part of the safari was a "no petting" zone. They threw the food our around the tram so the animals would come up close so that we could see them better and take pictures. The kids loved this pot belly pig.
This is Thristy the camel. They had tons of camels. We learned that if camels are happy they don't spit and these camels at the Sharkarosa Ranch were super happy which we were grateful for...there was no spitting.
This baby camel had his debut yesterday and was around people for the first time. He was literally crying for his mama. Kate was so concerned for this little guy. At one point I think she was on the verge of tears herself because she felt so bad for him.
This baby zebra is 5 weeks old and has super soft fur. Kate wants this pictured framed for her bedroom.
Sharkarosa Ranch also has lots of kangaroos. Most of them are albinos. They take them in because these kangaroos would not be able to survive in the wild. This baby kangaroo in particular was not an albino. He was super cute all cuddled up in his "faux pouch".
Kate did want her picture taken in front of this sign. I thought it was funny so I bribed her by going into the gift shop. :)
Want more info on Sharkarosa Ranch? Just click here.
