Already?

I can't believe that I already missed a day to post.

It was a great day for the kids. The warm weather was welcome and they went outside shortly after breakfast, playing in their rain boots because our backyard may not dry out until July.

I had to work the majority of the day, so Kevin and Uncle Nate took them to the zoo later in the afternoon. Apparently it wasn't the best day to go there for an outing as most of the animals weren't ready to come out and show their faces to eager kids. The lions, however, were all wound up and gave the kids a show.

A special dinner was waiting when I got home from work. Kevin grilled chicken for dinner and it was delicious! I married a really great cook, and as you know "chicken on the bone" is the boys' favorite meal, and grilling is our family's favorite method of cooking. It helps when Kevin's the one doing all the work--ha, ha!

Today was a small "taste" of what's to come with us knocking on Spring's door. We are all very excited!

Happy Belated Father's Day

Kevin and the boys took Grandpa to a Reds game yesterday for some good ol' fashioned boy-time. Plenty of hot dogs, peanuts and sunshine were on hand. Unfortunately, the Reds didn't want to cooperate in the specialness of the day and decided to blow it in the last inning, but with the great weather and company, everyone had a great time.

Meredith, Grandma and I had some good ol' fashioned girl-time of our own. We went to the new Cancun's restaurant in Norwood, and then spent the afternoon at the zoo before stopping by Uncle Nate's. Grandma got to witness Meredith's sheer exhilaration at seeing the animals as well as the talent she's developing as a singer. Both definitely need to be seen!

It's a Different World

Today we set off for the zoo to meet our friends Owen and Eli...er...sans Owen. And sans Louie and Benny. Such a weird thing, but no one seemed to mind (don't tell the older brothers!).

Actually, Charlie and Eli had a great time together I'm sure that there were people who thought they might be brothers themselves. I know these guys missed their brothers, but I also think that it is something that all younger siblings secretly desire: the chance to make decisions. Where to go, what animals to see, when to eat lunch. When all the guys are together their opinions get pushed to the wayside.

It was such a great trip, the boys entertained themselves, Meredith got a kick out of all the animals and enjoyed the train--as long as I was holding her, and Amanda and I got to hang out. Win-win-win situation for everyone!

A Good Day

Time is quickly slipping away before Louie and Benny start school and so we had errands to run and a trip to the zoo planned for today.

My rant for today (and many days since I've started collecting them) is this: is possible to make a relatively easy task any more difficult? There are the most bizarre things on the school supply list (12 large glue sticks--do the kids eat them for snacks??) and things that are almost impossible to find (4 black thick dry erase markers. Almost all the ones I've seen have only one black and then an assortment of other colors filling out the set of 24. I'm not buying four sets of 24 to get the four he needs for school!).

So...I wasn't overly successful in the school supply shopping, but Benny and Louie each got a new pair of gym shoes to wear on their first day. All my kids have wide feet and this makes it a bit difficult to find shoes that fit well, but our helper today was very patient and kind and helped us pick out the right shoes for the boys that will hopefully last until the new year.

After these two stops we headed to some place we haven't visited all summer--the zoo. The boys have been pretty upset about it but something they don't take into consideration is that there isn't animal deodorant in the world yet and the zoo stinks. It's crowded. It's hot. Things that they would realize once we drove there, got out of the van and joined the swarms of people who thinking summer visits to the zoo are da bomb.

Today was a relatively mild day and I figured with a lot of schools in session, it might not be too bad. We all had a nice time, especially Meredith. This was the first time she's been there where she was excited to be there. She squealed with delight at seeing the gorilla a stone's throw away from us. She kept pointing to all the fish and manatees in the tank. She gasped when she saw the lime green lizard scurry up the branch right before her eyes.

It will be fun to keep going back to experience these things with her. But the thing that really got her excited was her first ride on the merry-go-round! She started out on the baby seal next to Charlie who was on the shark, but soon moved over to the zebra who was wearing a jeweled harness. (A sign of things to come??) She loved going up and down, checking out the paint job on her ride and watching her brothers on the panther and gorilla.

The day ended up getting pretty warm and the water we brought along ran out so we had to pack up and leave. Here are some shots from our day:

This poor guy (gal?) seemed very tired and hot. S/He probably didn't appreciate the boys making Gibbon noises at it.

We finally got to see the Komodo Dragon! Unfortunately, it was taking a bath and we only saw a bit of its head and tail. Not good for picture taking. We did see a lot of other lizards and the boys even got to pet one.

Meredith was loving her trip to the zoo.

Not the most exciting pictures of Baby Girl, but she was being really cute and pointed to all the animals she saw.

This is her checking out the baby seal she was riding.

Louie on the gorilla and Benny on a panther, leading the way.

How does this thing work?

Long Overdue

It's been way too long since we've visited the zoo. Today was a great day to visit--and most of the city had the same idea. The weather was mild and Daddy was home and there's almost nothing the boys like more than when Daddy can come somewhere with us.

We were lucky we chose that day to go because I'm not sure if the tulips would be there the next weekend. They were definitely over their peak time. Maybe because of the warm start to the month they bloomed earlier?

I don't remember these from last year. I thought they were so pretty, looking like someone took a paint brush to add the red stripes. Benny liked them, too.

The manatees have returned! Well, these aren't the two we had before, but the boys were excited all the same. They are two females named Turner and CC Baby. I'm not sure if CC will keep the "Baby" part attached to her name when she gets older.

Ah, we're getting to the age where pictures do not want to be taken and attitudes prevail. Look at Louie's sweet face. So mad because Mommy wanted a picture with the tulips instead of the reptiles.

But Meredith was excited!

And this Gibbon caught Meredith's eye. If I get a chance I'll post the video of her reaction to him. So loud, and she though he was hilarious.


Unfortunately, the digging area wasn't open, but at least we got this picture of Charlie hanging out under the gorgeous wisteria.

And no trip to the zoo is complete without the classic rhino pic!

We Love Katie!!

We LOVE when cousin Katie hangs out with us!

(Louie saw me putting up this picture and got sad. Poor kid, doesn't get to go on our fun outings anymore.)

Where have you been?

There's two things we've been not seeing enough of: the zoo and our friends, Owen and Eli. Unfortunately, Louie couldn't join us on this trip, but we still had a good time.

This boy is a climber. He has almost no fear.

Monkey-see, monkey do, and if you can believe it, Charlie has even less fear Ben. Not good for moms with a tendency to worry.

Hopefully it won't be Christmas before we see these guys again!

Girls gone wild...at the zoo

Meredith and Grace went on their first trip to the zoo. Apparently, the excitement was just too much for them and they both slept through the entire visit. Oh well. We got a few cute pictures and the mommies had fun watching the polar bears swim, and desperately searched for the new baby tigers in the shrubbery.

There's a chimp in there somewhere. Can you find it?

Waterfall shot of the girls

Grace wore the cutest giraffe shirt, so of course we had to get her picture taken with them!

We had such a nice time, and maybe on our next visit the girls will enjoy it, too!

Take advantage of the sun

I'm so glad we were able to go to the zoo yesterday with Lexi and Grandma Alice. Today it is chilly and has been alternating between pouring down rain and sprinkling. Ah...but yesterday was nice. Hopefully there's more days like this to come!

Sun + Warm Weather = Zoo Craziness

When we were walking into the zoo to meet Amanda and the boys an older couple stopped me to ask if kids around here were off school today. It was pretty overwhelming! The kids filling the zoo weren't just preschool age and younger. There were older kids, too, along with moms and dads and even some people who seemed like they were on vacation. I guess it's possible that people are on spring break now, but it seems a bit early.

We met our friends in the Children's Zoo and the boys ran around, chasing other kids while the moms ate lunch. Louie, Benny and Owen have started a game where they are lions (or some other predatory creature) and they chase zebras or gazelles, or some other poor animal. Unfortunately for the prey, they have no idea who these growling little boys are, and at least in one case the little boy looked absolutely terrified.

Ah, I guess this is something I have to get used to with having these boys 'o mine.

Charlie, spreading his love.

Louie and Owen, pretending to have elephant ears.

So happy to be outside!

Let's all go to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

Our wonderful friends, Owen, Eli, and Amanda were able to meet us at the zoo after school yesterday, as they too wanted to take advantage of the spring-like weather. Again, it wasn't as warm as we would have liked, but we were able to be outside!

We met in the Childrens' Zoo where the boys ran around until the peacocks started terrorizing them. The birds didn't hurt the boys, but it is pretty freaky when this large animals come up within a foot of you. I've heard they're mean birds, but they luckily didn't show this side of their personality. It probably didn't help that we were eating lunch right in front of them.

An interesting discovery at the polar bear exhibit: Michael Phelps and Polar Bears are related.
(I tried to upload pictures making this startling revelation, but for whatever reason the computer doesn't want to cooperate.)

Amanda's post on this is much, much better, and it has pictures!

Begging for Spring

Yesterday I saw that Monday was going to be nice and warm, so of course I wanted to take advantage of it. I guess I failed to realize that "nice" started at about noon and we went to the zoo at 10am.

The boys had hats and gloves and jackets on over sweatshirts. They claimed they were "toasty" and didn't want to wear the gloves or hats. As time went on it did start to warm up a bit and little by little they started shedding.

There was a fairly good crowd there today, so I wasn't the only person forcing their kids to be outside. The zoo is under a great deal of construction though, so the pathways have lots of mud and gravel, and trucks as well as backhoes come out of no where. We had to be careful.

To fight some of the chill (Charlie shed his gloves in the van and refused to wear mine) and the backhoes, we went into the manatee house. In less than five seconds Lou pretty much ruined my day. The last couple times we were in there, the manatees were not. We were pleasantly surprised to see them both out when we got there. "Slip" and "Lil' Joe," as they're known, were lying down on the floor of the tank. It seemed pretty odd since usually they're doing this fancy underwater ballet when we see them.

Lou asked what was going on and I said that maybe they were resting. His response was, "Like what you do, Mommy." Ugh. So, not only am I lazy and lie around all the time, but I'm as big as a manatee! Yes, I will admit that last night I spent a good portion of the evening resting and reading. I've been really tired lately and had a enormous headache that could only be cured by going to bed and reading...far away from screaming munchkins.

I am a manatee.

Don't think I'll be posting any pictures of myself until after the baby's born. WAY after the baby's born.

By the way, I couldn't tell the boys what the manatees were actually doing. The warm weather we're having isn't the only sign that spring is on its way. There's a good chance there's going to be some lil' manatees running around the zoo soon...

Great suggestion, Benny!

Somewhat out of the blue, we had a really fun day. It started off by going with Aunt Joanie to get her wedding dress (yay!) and used our Frisch's Halloween coupons for lunch (Big Boys & cherry cokes!). All throughout lunch Benny kept saying that we should go to the zoo. Non-stop.

For the end of November it was actually a beautiful day and after lunch with Joanie and Grandma we headed to our beloved zoo. Louie thought the above picture was hilarious and had me take a picture of it. (I guess he gets his sense of humor from me because I thought it was pretty funny, too.)

I felt like Miley Cyrus on her 16th birthday, when Disneyland shut down just for her. We didn't see anyone there when we first arrived, and only a few as we walked through the park. It was awesome! Christmas music playing and decorations everywhere. Even the animals seemed to be enjoying it.

I was completely freaked out by these bats. I try not to come into this particular exhibit but Ben insisted. Maybe they sensed my fear, but the boys were pretty intimidated by these large bats and wanted to leave immediately. As soon as we rushed to the automatic door a bird started squawking like nothing I've ever heard, in an almost baritone, and I pretty much trampled my offspring to get away.

As nice as the weather was, it still was a bit chilly and when we sought refuge at inside exhibits I was reminded that I am pregnant. Every building had the stench of a port-o-let on a sweltering July day. It was awful. I try to breath through my mouth, but then my mind tells me that I have that smell in my mouth and that may be worse. Wouldn't I be a fun zoo date?!


They have these blow-up lawn decorations all through the park and the boys particularly liked this one and wanted their picture taken with it. Not sure when we'll get back to the zoo, as it looks like a lot of snow is in the not-so-distant forecast. We'll head back with Daddy at night to see the lights and the 4-D movie of Polar Express. Can't wait!

Long Lost Katie

Yes, Katie still lives in Cincinnati, but now that she's a nurse we don't get to see her all that often. We were very excited for her to go to the zoo with us!

This was the first time we were at the zoo for feed the giraffes. They eat three pounds of a mixture of raw carrots and sweet potatoes. The boys each got a sweet potato stick.

Charlie didn't realize that you were supposed to let go. He held tight as the giraffe had it strong tongue wrapped around it, pulling. I was holding the kid so there wasn't much I could do. Finally I set Charlie down so the poor giraffe wouldn't be teased any longer.

Lexi & Grandma Alice joined us too, and the kids actually asked if they could have their picture taken on this fall display.

They're making a lot of changes at the zoo, and the boys thought it was cool that the elephant looked like Bob the Builder.

They have a great time with Lexi, their surrogate sister.

Charlie had no qualms about getting right up in there with the goats.

And it is true: goats will eat anything. Here this sweet lil' thing is eating my sweatshirt.

Highlights of the Zoo

Our pass expired in July and I never made much of an attempt to renew it, mainly because the zoo stinks in the summer. And it's hot. Bad excuses, I suppose. After Charlie and I picked up Lou and Ben from school we headed down to Evanston. Louie asked me to call Miss Amanda to see if Owen could go, too. Luckily, they were all for it!

There are these strange monkeys that actually look more like a skunk (when sleeping) than any primate I've ever seen. Most visits to the zoo involve a 45-second look into their cage to wonder why they are monkeys while they sleep on tree branches.

Today was completely different. They were hopping around from branch to branch, and one's hand got bloodied from all the rowdiness. When I was walking away to see the gorillas, one leaped to the screen holding them in, right toward Amanda and the boys! I hurried back to see the bloodied one staring down another and he started to tinkle. That is when the thought came to us that maybe they're in heat and decided to get the boys away from that as soon as possible so we didn't have to have that discussion.

The male Silverback gorilla posed right in front of us. The boys did their best to get his attention by talking to him, but he was enjoying lounging on the rock.

Owen asked if I'd take their picture. Could barely get them to sit still and all looking at the camera. They have so much fun together!

This is after these two just finished eating Oreos. You can't tell, but they're a mess!

Owen introduced us to places the boys have not been yet. It's one of those things where you get used to doing a certain thing and don't stray from it. Louie and Benny like seeing the elephants, the giraffes, the gorillas. We'll go see the tigers and the manatees and the gibbons. We'll stop in to see if there are any babies in the Children's zoo and ride the train, but don't do much different during our trips. It's great to go with people so they can introduce us to what they like, too!

We stopped in at the Reptile House, which completely creeped me out, but was cool at the same time. Especially the too-close-for-comfort python. The Cat House was next, and even though it was neat to see them I don't know if I can handle the smell of feline pee again. I breathed through my mouth the entire time! The good thing is that the boys absolutely loved both. I just need to suck it up.

It was a great trip and I'm so glad we renewed our pass. There will be many trip in the near-future!