Fun at the Zoo

Last Friday, Julie, Anna, Trey, Mary Ella, and I met Jennifer, Audrey, Leah, and Leslie at the zoo. I'm sure the Little Rock Zoo is not the best ever zoo experience, but pretty much if they had it, we saw it. It was the perfect day! The weather was great and all the animals were out and about, playing and enjoying the sunshine.

We saw monkeys swinging and talking to each other.

Mary Ella had the best time. Although the cousins wore her OUT, she loved every minute of it! She might have noticed some of the animals, but I think she had her eyes on the monkeys we brought to the zoo.

We got to see the giraffes super close-up.

Ewww

I did get ME out of her stroller to see the giraffes since they were so noticeable. She was really looking at them. Oh, and Aunt Julie took her in to see the vampire bats. Not my cup of tea.

Lazy lions

It was great seeing the lion close-up through the glass. We also saw a grizzly bear right up against the glass.

Thought this bird had a cool 'do

Black bear

Leah, Trey, Audrey, and Anna

ME also enjoyed Trey and Anna's LR cousins.

Audrey and Anna were being bears, but Leah and Trey were too cool.

Saw the gorilla up close too. The baby gorillas were cute rolling and playing with each other.

Had fun at the farm exhibit too!

Anna, the squirrel

Mary Ella, the chubby squirrel

We really only took one little break to stop for a cotton candy snack. Unfortunately for ME, all she had was applesauce and squash. Toward the end Julie showed me how to lay the stroller back (I don't know how to use my own baby gear), and ME enjoyed riding like that too.

Kicked back

Our last stop was letting the kids ride the carousel. I didn't get a picture of that because I was busy doing the first public diaper change of the day, yes I said first and public, and trying to get ME to take her bottle in the midst of all the distractions. It was a fun day at the zoo!

33 Weeks

33 Weeks Old

Spring Break came to us this week! First, on Monday Mia and Pa were in town for a doctor appointment. He had his heart all checked out at the Heart Clinic right down the road from us. Mary Ella and I went to visit them in the waiting room and to have lunch. We walked in, and ME immediately recognized Pa and smiled. I handed her off to Mia and was pulling up a chair by Pa when a nurse came around the corner and informed me that he was radioactive and ME need to stay atleast 6 feet away. Whoa! Needless to say we rushed across the room and just admired Pa from a safe distance. We also had to sit waaay across the table at Cracker Barrel. When he was all done with his tests they came over for a quick visit before heading back to Hope. We haven't heard back from his tests yet, but hopefully everything is okay.

Then on Wednesday Julie, Anna Claire, and Trey came down for some Spring Break fun. Mary Ella LOVED hanging with her cousins! Thursday we went to Firefly and the kids painted pottery.

Trey painting his Easter egg.

Anna hard at work on her butterfly.

Mary Ella watched the big kids the whole time.

The finished product

Loveliness

After that we ate lunch and took the kids to play at an indoor play place. Then we went home and made a bunny cake.

Daddy's home!

Just in time for cake!

All done- okay, so I have to confess. The bunny cake didn't turn out exactly as I had planned. There were 2 round cakes. Just enough for the bunny's face, ears, and a bowtie. Notice the bowtie is missing. As I was taking the cakes out of the oven to cool on wire racks, I accidently pushed one off the counter. It landed upside down on the floor. Brad tried to rake it up off the floor, but it was in pieces. We were able to salvage 2 ear-like pieces, but the bowtie was a bust. Oh well, you would have never known if I hadn't told you.

ME loves her Easter book!

Feeling the bunny fur

We are all ready for Easter!

On Friday we took the kids to the zoo. It was the perfect day for it, and we had so much fun! (I will post pictures of that later.) We spent several hours there, then came home for a little rest, and went out to eat at Cantina Laredo that night. Julie, Leslie, and I came home, put the kids to bed, and watched The Blind Side. So good! Saturday morning our visitors headed home, and Brad and I worked out in the yard. We pulled up what seemed like half of our landscaping and re-planted. We planted rosebushes, azaleas, petunias, and merigolds. We needed some color! Brad did most of the work because I had to tend to the girl when she needed me. But she is pretty content just to be outside. I don't know if it's allergies or what, but she has had a stuffy nose and has been coughing. Hope that won't last long! What a beautiful week!

A Day in the Country

When Mary Ella and I were in Hope we spotted a large patch of jonquils in bloom at an old homestead on Patmos Road. So before we headed back to Little Rock, Mia came along as we trespassed, plopped ME down on a blanket, and took advantage of this beautiful backdrop. We may live in the city, but we are country girls at heart! What a lovely day!