Mother's Day

I had an amazing Mother's Day weekend! Friday evening after we returned from Melissa's house, Dallas and I went out for a while. My mom had come over after work and she put the kids to bed for us. She helped us and cut her drive the next morning to the birthday party in half. We had reservations for PF Chang's at 7:45 pm. We showed up and they had three reservations to seat in front of us. Ugh, whats the point of reservations? Unless we wanted to sit at a small table by the bar. Heck yea! So we were sat immediately and I was happy. Dinner was amazing. They brought me spicy chicken instead of sesame chicken. They left the incorrect order. Dallas was thrilled! Spicy and free! We finished dinner and were supposed to go to a movie but I knew I would be asleep within minutes. Dallas suggested Dave and Busters since we were already in the Highlands. We ended up playing games for a while and had a really good time! Thanks again Mom for babysitting.

Sunday morning I woke up at 7:30am and Dallas was already up with the kids. I had really wanted to take the kids to the zoo but I was so exhausted. I ask D if we were going to the zoo and he said it was kind of rainy. I turned right back around and went back to bed! I didn't wake up again until about 10am. Happy Mother's Day to me! I woke up to my beautiful babies bringing me cards in bed that they picked out and signed with crayons. Aw, how sweet! Then they both left and came back with a balloon that they had picked out. Next thing I know Ethan walks back in with a dozen roses and Paige is carrying a big cookie that they picked out. It was so sweet for Daddy to take them shopping for me. It was definitely a great way to start the day!

Once I actually made it out of bed it was 10:30am and too late to attempt the zoo. Nap time is around 12:30pm and that would not be enough time to go and get back. I was so disappointed. Dallas insisted we could still go later. Ethan was extremely cranky so I decided to put them down early for nap so we could go to the zoo once they got up. Ethan fell right to sleep but Paige played the entire time. I was getting frustrated. Ethan woke up an hour later and she was still not asleep. We decided just to head out to the zoo without Paige napping. It was a chance I was willing to take. I have been dying to take them to the zoo because they are obsessed with animals. They can name many animals in their books and I wanted them to see and associate the animals in the zoo with those in the book. I wanted to go before it was so hot outside we couldn't stand it. We arrived at the zoo at 2pm and headed in to start the journey.


We went to the gorillas/monkeys first. I was holding Paige and she was laying her head on my shoulder. Oh great she is already trying to sleep and we just got here! Luckily by the second monkey she was wide awake. The large gorilla ran right up to her at the window and she just stood there pointing. I was amazed. That giant gorilla kind of scared me but neither one of the kids was scared at all. They were pointing and smiling and I knew that it was going to be a fun experience.

Monkeys!


Rhinos.


Paige was really into the little bears.


They liked the zebras too.


Paige didn't know what this was but she pointed anyway. :)

The animals were very cooperative with us. The elephant Paige and I were making eye contact with walked right over to us. He stood right in front of us stretching his trunk out. We stood there for quite a while with the kids looking on very intently.



The hippos were also very interesting. The two giant hippos kept coming right in front of us to chew on the wall and grass. Paige was screaming with delight and kept trying to reach them. Too cute!


The kids really liked the flamingos simply because they were able to get so close to them.


Penguins are always a favorite at any zoo. We happened to be watching Happy Feet himself. All the other penguins were sitting up on the ice embankment relaxing but not this little guy. He was swimming, turning and completely showing off. He kept coming right in front of us and staying there flipping around.
The kids were amazed!

I love penguins!


We tried to hurry and see as many animals as we could because we knew the kids weren't going to last much longer. They had done so well thus far. They would ride in the wagon and get out when we stopped to look at an animal. As soon as we were done they would get back in the wagon. I just can't believe how old they are getting.



They are so into buckling straps.


We are getting tired. Daddy cared more about the snake than anyone.

Only boys care about big lizards.

By the time we got to the petting zoo the kids were almost done. I was so disappointed with the petting zoo. There were only a few goats, some chickens and one baby calf. The animals were not even close to the gates and the employees didn't seem to care. Ethan pet a lazy goat through the fence but it wasn't the experience I had wanted for them. They had more fun washing their hands afterwards and drying them in the dryer. Ethan of course stood under the dryer laughing.


This is NOT a petting zoo experience.


He loved the dryer.

We decided to head back to the front of the zoo but the train wasn't open. So we had to pull the kids and wagon all the way back to the entrance. Then we walked to the back of the parking lot where we were parked. We were exhausted so we packed up and headed home.

The long walk back. Cooling off in the car.

The kids did so well at the zoo! I was so excited that we had finally taken them to see the animals. However I did pay the price for the next three days. Paige had allergies so bad from the trees and cotton wood blowing around that she was up coughing for days. We have her back on singular and she is doing fine now. Apparently Zyrtec is not enough by itself.

I could not have ask for any thing else for Mother's Day. Thank you Dallas for making me feel so special and appreciated! I love you!

*I think we may go to Country Critters Farm this weekend for a true petting zoo experience.