Its the little things...

Its the little things in life I appreciate...like staying under budget at the grocery store, and having both my girls behave when we go places. Last week I had one of those moments...and this week - well, not so much. 


There is no consistency when it comes to children...at least with mine that is. At times they can be very well behaved, listen, help and offer love for one another. Then at other times they can be honory, mean, and beyond fun.

Needless to say, we have a lot of pouting, and sad moments that I wish would go away, rather than reoccur daily. I wonder how many other families go through this? Stressful days, misbehaving children, tears, sweat and whatever else. 


I am sure there are more than I can imagine. 


Yay for Spring! We got to spend another fun week with family on Spring break. We rarely go anywhere without "help" so this was quite a treat!

Last week, we had quite a few fun adventures...we went to Crown Center with my mom, and little brother (see pics above). We got to check out the FREE exhibit, watch fudge being made, and eat lunch at Fritz's (where they serve your lunch/dinner with a train).

Then we went to Chuck E. Cheese. And then finally to the Zoo on a rainy Friday. 

You gotta love Spring Break! And any time spent with Grandma Melanie and Uncle Joe is so much fun! 


The following weekend we attended a birthday party for Patrick's cousin's little girl ~ Gentry who turned One.

Aren't these matching dresses adorable? We just got them that morning in a package from Great Grandma Reta. 

Happy 1st Birthday Gentry! Isn't she gorgeous?

G is for Gentry!

Then the following day, Patrick's mom and step-dad came for a visit. 

Can you believe Easter is already here??

This past weekend, we went to our first Easter egg hunt (which was the first one for our city that we live in). It was CRAZY packed, and definitely needed a little more organization. But we still had fun despite the large crowd. 


Oh - and Pat started Softball season again from now until Fall. 

We also started working on some front yard work - pulling weeds, planting flowers, putting rock down, etc. It looks pretty good, but I would NEVER take up gardening as a hobby. It is hard work and incredibly HOT.


I still can't get over our 85 degree weather we are having in March/April. We finally caved in a couple days ago and turned on the A/C. The attic fan just wasn't cutting it...so we will see what happens between now and actual "summer". All our fall/winter clothes are put up - and Spring/Summer clothes are in full swing!


Until next time, I hope everyone has a wonderful week and Easter weekend ahead of them!!!

Where are all the animals?

On Sunday, before the (unofficial) fifth or sixth snowstorm of 2011, our family managed to make an escape outside in the beautiful upper 60 degree weather to the Zoo! The entire time we were driving, Destin kept asking, "Where are all the animals?"

If you live in or around Kansas City you may have heard the buzz over the last year about our newest addition the Kansas City Zoo: Nikita the polar bear. Upon entering the zoo, you will see an all new entrance - along with the sea otters and a brand new polar bear exhibit. Due to the weather some of the exhibits were closed or the animals were inside while they were doing construction - like the sea lions and Africa.

Here is really awesome pic I took of Nikita swimming in the water...

We loved watching him..and where we were standing when I took this pic - he would swim around in a circle, swim under the water blowing bubbles out of his mouth/nose and push off with one paw against the glass. I wish I would have got a pic of his paw on the glass.

After visiting the polar bear, we visited "Asia" where we saw tigers, orangutans, exotic birds, monkeys and more. We then went on to "Australia" where we saw singing dogs, kangaroos, and other animals. Then off to the farm area - where they have goats and sheep on display. We also got to the camels, play on the playground, go in the interactive children's farm and finished off with seeing the elephents. Here are some of my favorite pics from the zoo that I took:



Destin & Daddy saying hello to the goats...
she was a little scared of them!

 

I love this pic of Arwen in her monkey hat.

I love this one of the girls together!

Destin was showing off her climbing skills for this one!

Daddy took a pic of the girls & I together

Destin really liked the elephants...

they actually came up close to the fence to say hello!

Overall a really great trip! I cannot wait til the weather warms up & we can go more often this spring. We bought a Friends of the Zoo membership last year, and we have been debating on which one to get for this year since they will have a new "Skyline" ski-lift ride in Africa which will open in the spring. They have several different kinds of memberships - single, couples, families; and then you have the option of adding unlimited rides on the tram, train & carousel. The new ski-lift feature sounds really neat - but I am not so sure what the age/size limits are for it - the girls are still pretty little, and I'm not so sure they would be able to ride it...so we will just have to see what we decide.