A Sleepy day at the Zoo

Today was the first really super nice day this spring. It got up to almost 80 degrees outside so we thought we were brilliant with a plan to take the kids to the zoo. Apparently EVERYONE else had the same brilliant plan that we did. The zoo was packed! We still had fun but Kaylee and Gabby were really tired before we even got there. I know it's not from lack of sleep (they go to sleep at 8:00 p.m. and wake up about 8:00 a.m.) but lately they have been exhausted. We went to the zoo with my sister Wendy and my friend Nicola. We started off with a picnic lunch and then attempted to fight our way through the crowds of people to see all the animals.

At the Elephant exhibit there were seats. Even though it was one of the first things we saw the kids were all ready to sit down.
Gabby wanted to see the Giraffes but when we got there all she could do was rub her eyes.
At the big cats exhibit she was ready to sit down again. I think if we would have let her she would have curled up on the rock for a little cat nap.
Here are our amazing 3-year-old map readers.
At the Asian Highlands exhibit there was a place we could get ice cream. I think that must have been the highlight of the day because the kids were thrilled and happy. Gabby took a few bites from her ice cream and it fell on the ground but she was just as happy to take the rest of my ice cream cone.

Even Roman was really sleepy at the zoo.

But...After the ice cream Gabby was happier than ever.

Next...we went on the zoo train. When we got to the line for the train we found out that the computer had crashed so they couldn't sell tickets...That meant that we got a free train ride. Wahoo!

Kaylee and Noelle wanted to sit together on the train so they made sure to stand in line attached to each other so they could make sure to get on the train together.

Here's Nicola...the most wonderful sanity saving friend ever! and her little boy Adam.

Kaylee and Noelle did make it on the train together.

Thanks to Wendy and Nicola my sanity has been saved once again at least for today. Thanks you guys! Even if my girls were sleepy today at the zoo I think they had tons of fun. I know I had fun.

Gabby's Dance

This morning Gabby found some money on her bedroom floor and was so thrilled with the idea that she found some money that she was dancing ALL around the living room. I grabbed my camera only to find that it didn't have a battery or memory card in it. I was happy to see that Gabby was still dancing all around by the time I got my camera put together. Sorry, there is no sound on the video but it is still cute and funny.

She had this great idea that with her money she wanted to go to McDonald's (just around the corner) and get kiddie cones for her and Kaylee. Instead, I convinced them that if they got the play room cleaned up we would go to Wendy's and get Chicken Nuggets and Frosties. Yes, I have a nice clean playroom now. At least for a few minutes until they are done with their lunch and get out their toys again.

What do you tell kids?

Tonight while Kaylee and Gabby were eating dinner they looked out the window and asked "What's that?" I walked over and looked out the window to find a dead squirrel or chipmunk or something on the sidewalk just outside the back door...Now what am I supposed to tell them? I told them that it was a squirell laying on the sidewalk.

After a few minutes they were still eating their dinner and Kaylee informed me "I think the squirrel was probably sleeping in the tree and fell off the branch it was sleeping on. Then, it was so tired that even when it fell out it still stayed asleep." I decided I would just agree and move on with life...I mean really...What am I supposed to tell her?

As far as the update with the fish that jumped the bowl...It's been over a week now and all I did was put the bowl away. We didn't get a new fish and the girls never even noticed. At this point I think they might think it's funny too.

What is with all these wierd animal things happening?

Ballerina the Fish

Yesterday morning I went to Wendy's house first thing in the morning, followed by going to a scrapbooking warehouse sale, out to lunch, to our friends house, back to Wendy's house, then to dinner with Paul. We finally made it home at about 7:30, just in time to get the girls ready and off to bed. After things settled down I went down to the kitchen and found that the fish had managed to jump out of its bowl and had been on the counter for quite a while.

About 4 days ago I cleaned the fish's bowl. It was really enjoying the clean water...but I guess it was a little to close to the top. I haven't had the heart to tell the girls that their fish jumped out and isn't there anymore but I think we will have to make a trip to the fish store and get another fish. But, this time I will make sure that when I clean the bowl I don't fill it so much.

Happy Birthday Gabby!

Today Gabby turned 3-Years-Old!!! We had a birthday party for her at Build-a-Bear with some her cousins and some of our best-friends. There were 8 kids there and they had a blast! They each got to choose and build their very own animal.

They started by choosing what kind of animal they wanted. Gabby chose a monkey and Kaylee got a pink bunny. Savannah went through several different animals before she finally decided that she wanted a bear.
After choosing an animal we went over for them to be stuffed. Gabby got the birthday stool to sit on. Each child and parent got a heart to put in Gabby's monkey, and Gabby put 2 hearts in so her monkey now has 12 hearts in it.

Roman even stepped on the pedal to put stuffing in his bear. Some of the older kids (such as Gabby) were afraid of the loud sound but Roman was completely okay with it.
Next the animals needed to take a shower. Air blew on them while they got brushed.
Savannah's Bear is SUPER clean because I think her bear took the longest shower out of any of them.

After the showers the kids ran through the store to find clothes for their new animals. Gabby's got a beautiful purple gown and shoes.

Here is a picture of all the kids together with their new animals.

After the party the kids were exhausted! Gabby and Roman were asleep pretty quick. Kaylee hit the wall before we made it half-way home.

Here is Gabby's Monkey, her special birthday bear, and Kaylee's pink bunny

Gabby and Kaylee love their new animals from build-a-bear.

Easter Sunday

Warning!!!!: This post includes a lot of events and pictures. It is a long post...just thought you should be warned before you start into it.

Easter Morning

This morning started bright and early with Gabby waking up at 7:30. We rushed around and got the kids ready for church before we let them go downstairs to see if the Easter Bunny had come since we had church at 9:00. Then after dragging them around to get ready we went downstairs and their eyes popped open and were thrilled to see their stuff.

These bunnies are bigger than both the girls but they had fun with them.

The girls were thrilled when I told them they could eat breakfast at their new little table.

The girls each got a princess set that Gabby had to test out.

Dying Easter Eggs

After church we hurried and got changed to go over to my parent's house. The girls dyed Easter eggs with my sister's (Janeene) kids while the guys went outside to hide eggs for the egg hunt.

Easter Egg Hunt

After dying eggs and playing for a while Wendy and Spencer finally got there, so we let the kids out to the egg hunt. This year instead of trying to even up candy after the hunt we decided to assign each of the kids a certain design egg. Jaren had animals, Kaylee had Princesses, Savannah had pastel flowers, Gabby had Mickey Mouse, and Roman had Superman. Paul thought it would be funny to hide one of Kaylee's eggs on the roof of the playhouse. Kaylee could reach the roof but not the egg. Finally Marla came and helped her get it.

Whenever Kaylee found an egg in the playhouse that wasn't hers she would call out what kind of egg it was and then roll it down the slide.

Roman was done with the egg hunt...so he decided to eat the eggs.

Gabby's Birthday

Gabby's birthday is on Tuesday so we celebrated her birthday today at my parent's house. She has been so excited about a birthday cake lately. So we went and let her pick out a cake, and she chose Barbie.

She had tons of fun opening gifts. She got a bunch of clothies, a dress-up dress and crown, a Vacuum, Easy Link games launch pad (For computer games), and a fishing game. By the time we left my parent's house both the girls were completely exhausted. Gabby fell asleep pretty quick but Kaylee talked all the way home. Wow...what a day.

Fishing at the Park

Today was so nice outside and amazingly Paul got off work pretty early today. After playing outside at our house Paul asked if we wanted to go to the park (Really he wanted to go fishing at the pond...it had nothing to do with playing at the park). So, we went over to the park and played for about 15 minutes and then headed over to the pond. The spot that Paul picked was a place where the girls couldn't get down to, so we walked around the pond and found some people feeding some ducks. They offered the girls some bread so they could feed the ducks too. Paul eventually wandered over to join us and decided to find a different spot to fish where the girls could fish too. Kaylee especially loved fishing even if she doesn't catch anything.