The Zoo Trip

We went to the zoo in Asheboro today. It was a perfect zoo day, because it wasn't too hot or too cold. The animals were out and active which was great. We have been to the zoo several times and today I saw some animals I have never seen before. We loved the otter exhibit, so Colton chose to get an otter stuffed animal. Colton and I were attacked by geese two different times. The first time was just hilarious. We took two steps onto a long bridge and two geese were on the opposite end. Colton said it looked like we were in a gunfight. As soon as he said that they started flying right at us! We actually had to go clear up against the railing and duck or they would have flown right into us. People were laughing so hard as were we. Then, after we left the polar bear exhibit, three geese flew at us again. It was crazy!
Colton enjoyed taking some of the pictures you will see below. We had so much fun. The new African Plains exhibit will open in April, but we were able to see a preview of some of it today. It is going to be really nice.
Afterwards, we went to Books a Million, an arcade and then to dinner.
It was an awesome day!!!!
By the way, Mike comes home on Monday! Colton and I will go down with my parents to meet him!!!!! Hopefully, I will have some pictures to post soon!!!!

One of Colton's favorite land animals. Don't ask me why though! Colton hatching from an ostrich egg.
As Colton rode the bicycle, he moved the arms of the artwork.

GO HERD!!!!
This bear cracked me up. Later he got down in the water and licked the wall by us.
Colton took the next two pictures.

We had never seen this beautiful fox. There were three of them.
The polar bear was wiped out when we saw him. Colton took this picture as he was laughing at the tire on the bear's nose.
We think this looks like a larger version of our Mimzy.

Talk to you soon!!

Soccer, Soccer, Soccer

Well the Dutchess' soccer seasons have officially started. Matt's indoor season started this past Wednesday night. Matt is the goalie of course and he got a WORKOUT!!! His team, Vigilant Roadkill, has one member under the age of 30 so his team must play in the under 30 league! Matt's team won 13-10 against "Bend it like Marco". Now before anyone else gives him a hard time about the 10 goals that were scored on him I must say that he stopped somewhere around 30 goals (or more). They kept him busy!!!! Next up, the Roadkill play "Doo Doo Brown". You got to love the names!
The next update is regarding Colton's first outdoor soccer game. Colton had a shutout!!! His team won 12-0!!! Colton played incredibly!!! He was diving (his nickname is Diving Dutchess), stopping everything, kicking, throwing, etc. He hustled so much!! He was so excited that he had a shutout. Also, he was so happy that 2 parents from the other team complimented him. He thought that was pretty cool. The team was passing beautifully and just playing well together. So, Carlyle's Grocery is off to a great start.



Matt's injured leg! We did find out the hard way that if you can have a bad reaction to too much Icy Hot!

Warming up before the game.
Diving Dutchess as the game started. He was too fast for my camera. I should have videotaped it.

Football and Info

The Dutchess' enjoyed a day of football on Sunday. We went to see the Fayetteville Guard play an exhibition game. It is an indoor football team. We tailgated before the game by playing Cornhole and eating some lunch (Colton made our sandwiches and Matt made some pasta salad).
It was a lot of fun. Then it was time to go into the game. Since it was an exhibition game, our tickets were only $5.00 each and we could sit anywhere. We ended up 4 rows up and center. The guard destroyed the other team! Colton picked out his favorite player (#20). He was probably the shortest, but also the fastest player. I think he became Colton's favorite not only because of how well he played but because he did the YMCA on the sidelines. Colton bought a new t-shirt, which he wore today to school.
We bought 3 mini footballs to throw into a moving pickup truck during the end of the 3rd quarter to try to win free pasta at a restaurant for a year and $50.00. Colton threw his in and then I made mine which made Matt nervous. He made his in as well. We couldn't believe we all made it in; however, the cheerleader didn't pick ours out of the truck. Oh well, we were still excited.
We went to Outback after the game. Matt made a bet with Colton that Colton couldn't eat all of his ribs and mac and cheese. The poor child did it, but I swear I thought it was going to get messy. You know he is full when he passes on dessert. All of that for $5.00!
By the way, Colton's indoor soccer season is over and his team finished in second place with only one loss. His outdoor season's first game was rained out so his first game will be this Saturday. Matt was asked to play on a team for the spring indoor season and his first game is Wednesday. We cannot wait to see him in action!!!!
Finally, my brother should be home from Iraq by the 18th!!!!! We cannot wait to have him home!
By the way, we weren't the only ones who tailgated ( it just looks like that in this picture).