What's Better than the Zoo?

 The last couple of days have been our weekend. With KC working retail, we usually have him a couple of days during the week, instead of the busy bike selling weekend.

So today was our big day, and what is better than the zoo to kids : )

The boys are at the perfect age for the zoo. We saw so much excitement throughout the day. Their noses as close to the glass as they could get them. I pulled them off of the fence barricades all day long. Tried to keep them from pounding on the glass and keep them quiet when signs were posted.

But with three boys, we were only successful 33.3% of the time. One of the three was constantly climbing, pounding and yelling with excitement.

Here's Emmitt caught red-headed. 

It's hard to get him to stop when he gets the reaction he was looking for.

Lots of fun found throughout the day. One of the animals were hard to miss, because they were everywhere! Peacocks, Audrey's favorite : )

They were wandering the walkways, right along with us and in with many of the other animals.

It really is a beautiful bird.

My favorite has always been the Polar Bears. It's from a childhood memory at the very same zoo, watching them swim under the water. I've always found it to be magical watching such a huge animal swimming so gracefully. I was a little bummed that they didn't feel like swimming today.

I loved watching the kids enjoy the animals all day.

 

Couple of cute things that happened throughout the day.

Castiel loved the pacing Cheetah. Back and forth the Cheetah went, and back and forth Castiel went.

The girls had a little argument over this.

Zoe thought it was black with white stripes, but Audrey thought it was white with black stripes, LOL.

They can never agree on anything. . . . . 

Cameron LOVED the Aviary House. I have to confess, I was too busy ducking to take any photographs. The girls liked to even less than I. Audrey thought a bird targeted her and swooped at her head. Cameron was so excited, he told me all day long how much he loved the birds. I think he loved it because there weren't barriers, we were part of the exhibit  : )

Emmitt had a break through.

Look at the pride on his face. The first grate that he has walked over himself. He has always walked around them in the past. He actually stopped at this one and thought about it, and then just decided he was going to do it. KC missed it. I said "Emmitt show daddy what you just did!" and he went back to walk over it again . . . he got high fives and cheers from the whole family . . . I sure anyone that may have seen us, thought we were nuts.

We didn't head to the zoo until nearly 11am, so we totally destroyed the boys nap time. They did great. Wanted to walk everywhere and didn't slow down all day.

Emmitt even wanted to push Audrey : )

We had to be careful, because we didn't buckle them. They were in and out of that stroller all day. A couple of times Emmitt saw something that he wanted to take a closer look at and he'd launch out of the moving stroller without warning. Only fell on his face once : )

And probably the coolest thing we got to see . . . . actually hear, a roaring Lion right in front of us.

He was so loud. That's something you don't see every day. Emmitt was roaring the rest of the day.

Long day. Fun day.

 Thought it was going to be an early bedtime, but they all got a second wind and made it until 8:30pm.

I love the zoo, and I love that my kids love the zoo  : )

Something a Little Different

Spring Break - DAY 3

I wish I could say that we went to New York : )

The Brookfield Zoo is always fun : )

Cameron has been wanting to "go on a bear hunt" . . . not sure this counts  : )

A stage coach ride would really make the boys happy, but no horses to pull it.

I've wanted to take another trip up to the "New Zoo" . . . I hear that I new giraffe exhibit is amazing!

I'd love to go back to Punta Cana and feed the flamingos again . . . so would the kids : )

And now that the boys have most of their farm animal sounds down, maybe it's time for a trip to a barn yard : )

Daddy is in need for a new car . . . we found a cute used one : )

Maybe a little dog shopping, but Emmitt was a little afraid of this one : )

We even thought we caught a glimpse of Grandpa : )

Afternoon at an amusement park is always fun, but expensive with 5 kids . . . they really wanted me to buy this for them, I thought about looking into it  : ) 

That morning, I told the kids that I was taking them to a junkyard for day 3 of their Spring Break. You can imagine the girls reactions, LOL.

Not really a junkyard, but it is a place things die if their are no buyers for them. If you didn't guess where are field trip was for the day. Schettl's!

I know, it's a silly place to take the kids, but I enjoy wandering around their yard of over sized items. I've been there a few times before with my father. It's where he has bought cabinets.

It's free, entertaining, and all the kids enjoyed it.

Emmitt even got to hug a monkey who was dress up like Napoleon : )  Kids don't get to do that every day!

Audrey found a treasure chest that she loved! Reminded her of "House of Anubis", her favorite tv show and she loves treasure boxes! The $500.00 price tag scared her away.

And then I snapped this shot. Maybe I shouldn't have, but I had too. I'm not sure what this conversion is all about?!? Poor Castiel looks a little worried . . . 

It was a little colder today then I thought it was going to be, so we didn't stay as long as I had planned. We were thinking of visiting both of there locations, but we'll save that for another day.

And yes, as silly as it is, the kids are excited about checking out the other one someday.

It doesn't have to be expensive to make kids happy, it doesn't have to cost a thing.

It just has to put smiles on their faces.

I saw lots of smiles today  : )

Something to Keep the Kids Entertained for the Summer

Spring Break - Day 1

So, I wasn't sure how today was going to work out.

But in the end, all that mattered was a bunch of smiling faces : )  I think that Grandpa was smiling just as big as the boys.

There is a back story to this day.

There's always a back story when it involves my family.

My father is one of those people that thinks all things are possible. He is a firm believer that things will work out if there is a good plan. He had a plan.

But when I got a phone call from my husband (who had to be at work at 9am and was in charge of loading the set onto the trailer with my dad starting at about 7am) telling me to call backup, I was thinking I was in for a long day.

Dad showed up with the trailer. A forklift loaded it right onto the trailer at the store . . . now, how to get it to the backyard?

It was hanging out both sides of the trailer. 

Thankfully my backup was close behind. (A HUGE thanks to Katie, Tony and Vince for saving the day . . . and Dad's back!!!)

I'd like to point out how the guys are all standing around staring at the thing, while my sister grabbed the power tool . . . GO KATIE!

I kid.

This is the guys moments later.

And this is where Katie and I were laughing about me with my camera. More important to get good pictures for my blog, then to help : )  And then I realized that I really wasn't sure where I wanted it. Yeah, the guys loved that . . . 

They had it all under control. Hee. Hee.

They positioned it and tipped it up right off the trailer.

That's when a sense of relief came over me and I realized that I should have never doubted my father. His plan worked out perfectly.

The kids all started getting excited.

The crowd grew as the pieces all started coming together.

The first person in the fort . . . Katie, of course!

The excitement was building and the kids were all over it while it was still being put together.

Audrey soon found out what she'll be doing the rest of the summer.

And before Grandpa took off with his trailer, I tried to get a cousin shot.

None of the others turned out and this one is really blown up too much . . . so we'll have to try again next time we get together.

Thank you Dad/Grandpa! This will definitely wear them out. Now's hoping the rain stops and the sunshine returns, otherwise I will have soggy boys, because there is no way a little rain is going to keep them inside now.

THANK YOU.  THANK YOU.  THANK YOU!!!