Zoo

Today was a trip to the zoo with our homeschool group. It was fun and a bit crazy. J isn't feeling well - either teething or allergies. He didn't sleep well last night and then slept in so he missed his morning nap, which led to some wildly, abnormal behavior. He is now not wanting to nurse during the day so that wasn't a cure all fix for today either :-) But it was a pretty enjoyable trip, considering. We did find a great new picnic spot!

Oh and getting a good picture of all 3 is elusive these days : -)

L has such an attitiude these days. She just barked at me when I told her no more bedtime snack. Holy Cow! She is totally throwing a fit right now. J just snuck into school corner and is pretty pleased with himself. He loves to click the mouse on the kids' computer and act like he's working on the computer. Oh now he's climbing up on the desk, grunting and whining pulling himself to a standing position. I should get him off but feel too lazy. Oh now he's done and chasing S around trying to eat some Goldfish crackers.

Zoo

We went to the zoo today with our friends, the K family. We don't hang out nearly enough anymore due to our crazy schedules but when we do - watch out... TONS OF FUN!

Daddy Piper had work today = WAHOO! So off we went for a day of fun. It was an abbreviated trip due to Art lessons at 1:30 but fun nonetheless.

Right now we are having a argument about who is better - girls or boys. L and I think girls ROCK but the 3 boys think they rule. Well we know who is right, don't we?!?

So back to the zoo fun. I even let J out of his stroller to walk around some. That walking stuff is fun when it's new, after 30 years, I wish someone would push me around in a stroller : -) When we got to the zoo, the monkeys were soooo loud. They were putting them into a cage thing to clean their island and they were not happy about it. It was great to hang out with the K family. The K girls are getting so big. KK is talking amazingly well. SK is as adorable as ever. Her and L hugged upon sight of each other. The weather was a bit warm for November but we managed okay. We saw the giraffes, walked by those noisy monkeys, and headed for the farm. Everyone wanted to pet the goats. The messy, poopy goats. A quick stop to milk a pretend cow and into the goat pit we went. I hate that nasty part of the zoo but the kids love it so we do it. L & S got to comb the goats and J was down walking and touching the goats for the first time. After the goat (gross) experience, we went to the little farm play area. J got to get down and play there too. L & S got to run around and be wild, just like they love to do!

Ok, after fighting my daughter over the last of the cotton candy, I gotta get some kids in the bath.

Zoo

L lost her hat running down the hill!

I had to work and work to get a sem-good picture of these 3 munchkins together and this was the best out of about 40 shots : -)

It was a nice day so we decided to take advantage of the break in the weather and go to the zoo. Our membership is such a wonderful thing. We go once or twice a month. The kids enjoy the walk and seeing the animals and I enjoy the no-fuss family time. We brought my nephew along this time. We rode the train and looked at a few animals before stopping to have lunch. We bring our lunch so we can buy a treat. It works out pretty well! Anyway our lunch today consisted of pb&j with our yummy homemade peach jam. We picked peaches a few weeks ago and made jam from some of them. It is the BEST peach jam I have ever tasted. Our our way home from the zoo, we went by a local farmer's market to get our fruits and veggies for the week since I forgot to order them in time from our co-op. I was very impressed with the quality and amount of stuff I was able to get for $15. It should be enough to last us a week, until our next co-op!! I really liked that most of the stuff was local grown and ALL of it was USA grown!!

Zoo again

Today was another trip to the zoo. It was a chaotic morning. We finally got out of here 10 minutes later than I wanted. I hate being late - I am never late - never, never, never! Okay have a third baby and I am late to almost everything. Walked out of the house late only to find I had a low, low tire that needed fixing before heading 45 minutes to the zoo. I ran by "the tire shop" to get it fixed. They were johnny on the spot fixing the tire. I went to pay only to realize they don't take Visa or Mastercard (WHAT?!). They did agree to let me go if I sent Daddy Piper down later to settle up my tab : -) Then I noticed I was low on gas. Quick stop at the gas station and we were on our way. We ended up being about 45 minutes later arriving at the zoo than I wanted but we still beat the K family there : -)

Baby J is still super fussy from the vaccines/cold thing he is fighting. Things got unbelievably crazy within seconds of getting to the zoo. J was fussy, L wanted to sit in the stroller and S just gets lost in the shuffle sometimes. I was ready to toss in the towel and head home before even getting into the entrance of the zoo! Thankfully Mama K helped out a ton and made me feel okay about her doing so much work with my older 2. We haven't had too many crazy, stressful days out with 3 yet but today was definitely one of them. I am just grateful for 2 kids that listen wonderfully over and over like they did today. We brought our lunch and enjoyed a picnic lunch in the beautiful weather. Some peacocks were stalking us and S from the K family was not happy about this development. She was truly frightened by these peacocks. We rode the carousal shortly after and headed home. S was asleep before we hit the first of 2 major freeways we take to get home. L stayed awake and we talked and shared some laughs from day. I do enjoy her being up front with me!

This afternoon/evening was fun. I was trying to watch the Sex and the City movie and some cool music came up and I looked out in the playroom to watch L jamming out to the music. She caught me watching her and we laughed together while she ran and jumped in my arms. I got to talk to my sis for a bit after she got off work tonight. I do enjoy the feeling of our conversations. I really treasure her and have missed her these past few years. Then tonight after baths, we watched some Madagascar 2 together. The kids enjoyed the music at the end. They were bopping and dancing around the living room with their to-die-for giggles. I LOVE hearing them giggle and laugh together.

Daddy Piper doesn't have work again tomorrow but he did get some promising calls so hopefully things will be back on track next week. Financially things suck but family wise, I am the luckiest woman in the whole wide world!

Zoo

I ended up joining the family on the zoo outing, with L's blessing : -) It was fun! We met the K family there and cruised in areas that we don't normally visit. I forgot our stroller and we rented one there for the first time. The only stinky thing was that it wasn't set up for a baby so I had to hold Baby J in his Moby the whole time. Fortunately, I wrapped it different somehow and it was super comfortable for the 4+ hours he rode in it. The kids got to ride a camel, which they loved. I don't normally spend the money but Daddy Piper was there and feeling generous. They enjoyed that immensely. We were able to witness some true "wild" loving when the baboons started feeling frisky and got busy right in front of us - YUCK! Fortunately our 2 kids were too wrapped up in their snacks to ask questions but J's daughter, S caught on and the questions started FLYING!!! After that fun experience (not), it was off to see some other animals. We did get to see the wolf today. We had lunch and a carousal ride and it was home to take naps. The kids did wonderful, as usual. I am very blessed with 2 good listeners. And it was fun to have Daddy Piper along for a change.

Zoo Fun

We had our day all planned to attend MOPS (our first of the new year) but that was nixed when S said he didn't want to go. So I had to come up with an alternate plan for the day. Since the weather is perfect right now, we headed to the zoo. It was so much fun!! We were able to enjoy all the wonderful animals and gorgeous weather. Even Baby J woke up for part of it : -) We haven't been to the zoo since last spring. We normally go once or twice a month but just haven't. They had a couple new things so it was an exciting time!

L & S reading the map to figure out where to go first.
Baby J is awake!Playing on a new(er) play structure.

Posing pretty on a frog.

Zoo Fun!

It was a cloudy, dreary day here so we headed to the zoo. Makes sense huh?!? We had the most wonderful time, just the 3 of us. We only have a single stroller now and it worked out better than I thought. L & S took turns riding and no one fought to ride but rather fought to walk! We rode the carousal right away when we got there. Next up was a walk to find where S's birthday party will be held. We found that after some detours to check out other cool things along the way. They really enjoyed the Wallaby Walkabout which included a spiderweb to crawl on, a cactus to slide down and even a wallaby to pretend play with. We eventually found the area where S's party will be. I was happy with it. Looks like a fun place to celebrate his birthday. We had lunch, which everyone ate well!! Then we thought about taking a ride on the paddle boats but after finding out that someone would have to sit alone, we decided to save that for a day when Daddy could join us. We had such a nice day with no sibling fighting and just tons of fun for everyone! Being home with my kids to enjoy days like this is truly a gift. I am such a lucky wife and mom!!!!

p.s. Isn't my new camera just the best!

p.p.s Last night L had a bad dream and wanted her mama, so I got to sit and hold her like a baby on the couch for about 30 minutes. I bet that hasn't happened in a year or more. I LOVED it!!

Puppy Love

Today Daddy Piper agreed to take L to school so I could take S to storytime at the local library. On the way out, L spotted a puppy in the yard. Seems to be overnight, a beautiful white dog adopted us! He hung around while I got ready and then took off or so we thought. When Daddy Piper came home, there he was wondering around the property. He has decided to make this his home. He is so friendly and GORGEOUS! I am not a dog lover by any means but this guy is so cute and lovable. The kids just love him, if no one comes to claim him, then I guess we are now dog owners!!

Tonight during dinner, I was asking Daddy Piper if he wanted to join us at the Zoo tomorrow and didn't want L to catch on to what I was asking so I spelled out "Z-O-O". She proceeded to ask why we were talking about the Zoo. Yep -she sounded out the letters and knew what I talking about. Guess spelling things is on the way out!!