Easter-Just One for Now

I've got a bunch of pictures to go through from Easter, but here is one for now.  :)  What a beautiful day we were lucky to have!

Brookfield Zoo With Old Friends

At the end of March we visited one of our old favorites, the Brookfield Zoo.  This time though we were joined on our visit by the Dasbachs and Smiths.  At one point in life, we were all able to get together much more easily, but that was B.K-before kids.  :)  As time has gone on and families have expanded, it becomes a much more complicated planning process!  Even with that, it wasn't perfect as the Andersons couldn't join us, but that is just another great excuse for another get-together!  It was fun watching the kids enjoy themselves and catch up as if no time had passed since they last saw one another. 

Love this of Steph-right away she took Mia and Ava's hands :)

 Our gang of kids (minus Anna)

 Stephanie is seriously such a great helper!

 Checking out the rhino

 While the guys did some catching up of their own

The kids checking out the giraffes (or the rocks on the ground, not quite sure!) 

 The girlies

 2 group shots-look how big these kids are getting!

 The boys

 The African Wild Dogs

 It was like I was on a safari-ha, ha!

 Cort and Cole checking out the eagle 

 Mia's wingspan

 My 2 favorite girls

 We got to see the polar bear up close that day, I love how the water distorts his legs!

 Ava and Mia again

 Cole

 Brian, Anna, and Cole

 The kids ready for a boating expedition

 Cole and the Alligator

 The girls once again

 Beautiful snow leopards snuggling

 Mia and the leopards

 Cole and the leopards

And just one more because I think these are one of the most beautiful animals and I love their tails! 

(3.25.12)

Neigborhood Easter Egg Hunt

One of the things I have loved about our neighborhood since we moved here 5 years ago is the Halloween parade and Easter egg hunt they put on each year.  I am a big sucker for tradition!  It is that time of year again, so today we headed on over to the park to hunt for some Easter eggs.  It had rained the night before, so I was expecting the field to be a muddy, wet mess, but luckily it wasn't too bad.  The kids had a great time collecting eggs as you can see from the pictures below.  If you want a good laugh, you can check out pictures of Mia (Cole was in my belly) from the hunt back in 2008.  I thought I had blogged more of our egg hunts in past years, but I guess that was the only other one I have done.  Now on to the pictures....

Mia and her friend Mia :)

They divided the kids in age groups, so Cole went first.

 And he's off!

  

  Cole was so funny, he shook each egg before he decided if he was going to keep it. :)

So excited!  

 His loot!

 Now it's Mia's turn!

 Waiting....

 Go!!!!! 

 Watch that rope!  :)

 Taking a moment to count her eggs

 So sweet!

 Checking out what's in their eggs

 And of course, an Easter Egg Hunt is not complete without the Easter Bunny!