Zoo with Dad

1. Buddie, a.k.a. gifter of Zoo pass, I am posting these Zoo pictures especially for you!

2. Ryan messed with the white balance setting on my camera. These pictures are unedited and AWESOME as far as vivid colors and no flash. I love the new setting and have been playing A LOT with the camera ever since.

We had plans to go camping last weekend, but due to sickness, we had to cancel. Ryan had planned the day off on Monday for the camping trip, so we decided to head to the Zoo! 

First stop was somewhere I don't think we have EVER been before. We go to the same places every time it seems, so it was fun to go with Ryan because he led us down different paths!

These spoonbills were GORGEOUS!

 The Prairie Dogs were right next to the glass which was super fun for Henley Jane!

Gavin the Gopher :)

Kim Alexander--every time I pass these, I quote Wheels on the Bus: "Scarlett Macaw!"

#1 reason why the Zoo is more fun with Dad: He pays for a camel ride! We pass this every time and I never even think to pay for the kids to do this! (In my defense, it's $5 for, turns out, 1 time around! But it was not crowded so Gavin got to go 2 times around.)

 Big stuff. He knows it.

 Henley may try one day, but she was a little too timid!

Who wants to look at the giraffes? There's a bird's nest with eggs!

(Another reason why Zoo is fun with tall Dad!)

 Totally forced cheese but still cute!

(And yes, I dress my children in animal shirts every time we go to the zoo. Don't you!?)

A rarity--me in a picture!

This is Henley peeing like a Wild Dog. My mistake to show her this.

 That's my girl!

The Gibbons are by far my favorite in the whole Zoo!

I make a fool out of myself on a regular basis trying to get these guys to talk. This time, they talked back! (Technically we had already walked away but raced back as soon as they started up!) And you can hear Gavin and Henley in the background talking to him, too!

Gavin with his monkey shirt in front of the chimpanzees:

 

No stroller=fun unpaved back way!

Stop. it.

Bald Eagles?? There are Bald Eagles at our Zoo?!? 

See--the Zoo is more fun with Dad! We find things we never knew existed!

The rhinos were super close to us. I've never seen them right by the fence like this!

Stop it again.

Condors. Yet again--really? How have we never been over here??

The kids loved comparing their "wings" with the condors'.

We love the Carousel!

And Henley is finally a fan!

We all love the Petting Zoo!

The newest part of the Zoo has tons of these guys called Budgies just flying all around you:

We learned we could buy a seed stick for $1 and they would come super close!

The best spot (we were told) is standing at the fence and feeding them over/through the fence:

On the stick!

My little hatchling in her nest with her owl shirt:

The Beaver was putting on a show for us! He was swimming right up at the glass full speed. It was super neat to watch! 

Reason #48 why we love Dad coming to the Zoo--"Slushy Dogs!"

Can't wait for another fun day at the Zoo! Thanks again for our pass, Buddie!

Milton the Mouse

Gavin had a preschool program 2 weeks ago, but I got a call from his teacher the day of that he was running a high fever and I needed to come pick him up. Which meant, sadly, no program for this sweet boy that knew his song word for word. We had plans to go down to Chattanooga for the day after his program for work for Ryan, so when we thought Gavin was doing better, we headed on down. (Turns out, he only felt better because Tylenol kicked in. He was a super high fever very sick boy for 3 days straight!)

Betty was supposed to come eat dinner with us, but obviously couldn't with Gavin being sick. So we called her on FaceTime and DID NOT ask Gavin to do this, but apparently he was ready for his program and needed to perform for someone!

If you make it all the way through the video (it's super long, I know), Gavin also performs Travis Tritt's "Great Day to Be Alive" that he and Ryan have been singing together on guitar. Love my musical little man!

Easter

Gavin's preschool had an Easter Parade where each class decorated a different Easter thing. Gavin's class had an Easter crown. Then all the classes marched down the hall for the parents. It's pretty precious.

 Gavin's sweet class:

Again, FREEZING day, so we dyed eggs inside on the table:

Did I mention cold? Our church's Easter Egg Hunt was frigid to go along with the rest of the month. We bundled up and still had fun!

 Henley is contemplating hunting more or just eating what she already got...

 Good choice, Henley Jane.

 Ryan is teaching Gavin to bypass the obvious eggs in front of him to go to the hillside where all the eggs are. It was like a football huddle strategy, people.

And sadly, every other kiddo had the same idea!

Our neighbors the Eadys came with us, and Abbey helped all the kiddos with their eggs and candy:

Forced "Cheese!"

Easter Sunday, Ryan's family came up to celebrate with us:

 Gavin still fit in his Ring Bearer suit from Aunt Amanda's wedding, and I basically stole Henley's AMAZING dress for $5 on a crazy sale with coupons, so of course we had to have a photo session!

But here's what happens behind the scenes with sweet pictures:

 My ABSOLUTE fave:

And shocker, it was too cold (and raining) to be outside, so we hunted eggs inside:

Thankfully the next week, the sun came out and we got to redo our egg hunt!

Until next time! Hopefully sooner than 1 month! :)

St. Patrick's Day

Shameful. SHAME-FUL! Full of shame. And overwhelmed by pictures on my computer.

I cannot believe I have basically ignored this blog for a good 2 months. That is basically how long our lives have been crazy non-stop busy! So I have dedicated this evening to catching up a bit with the helpful nudge of my 1 of 3 blog readers, Aunt Joanna, who asked if my blog was broken. :)

St. Patrick's Day

Probably until my children are 18-years-old, I will do this activity with them every St. Patrick's Day. No joke. I love it that much. We did it last year, and I separated the colors with them in separate bowls. This year, I decided I wanted them to sort themselves! They of course loved it.

 "Sweet sugary goodness!"

 It was cold and rainy outside, so we stayed inside (and the kids opted for the floor instead of the table!)

 Finished product! We added a pot of gold this year which I love!

 And apparently the Gavster approved, as well...

 Our neighbors Abbey and Gabe even got in on the fun! See, never too old, kids! :)

Florida: Last Post

Watch out, people! I'm determined to get caught up! Ryan playing banjo and the kiddos sleeping is helping quite a bit!

On to the last of our week in Florida...

Even though it was SNOWING in Knoxville, it was sunny, warm (according to me--Joanna the Floridian wore a jacket the whole time! :) ), and strawberry picking season in Florida!

Joanna teaching Gavin how to find the perfect strawberry:

After we went strawberry picking (and by the way, a pallet of these guys were gone in 2 days because they were SOOO sweet and perfect), we drove down to Lake Jesup, a.k.a. Gator Country! As you look out across the lake, there are eyes sticking up everywhere! (It may be hard to see here but there's a gator next to the dock.)

There was a restaurant that had a cage with live gators in it and we CARRIED the children to walk down the little inlet the restaurant was on surrounded by water because we were afraid a gator would carry them off! They were everywhere!

Back at home, we all had craft time. The kids with their new crafts from Great Aunt Joanna, and Joanna putting the finishing touches on Henley's princess skirt for our last day at Disney!

We celebrated Gavin's birthday a day early since we would be in Disney on his actual birthday. Mickey mouse cupcakes!

And a trip to Joanna's is not complete without painted toenails!

And a tea party with a REAL tea set! Henley's new favorite thing!

Joanna, John, and Madison, thanks SO MUCH for opening your home to our wild and crazy crew for an entire week so last minute! We can't wait to come down and visit more now that Ryan's office is so close to you!! :)