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!

Monkey Joe's

This week Cort, Cole, and I have been on Spring Break and enjoying it.  Unfortunately, Mia has break next week, but with her having half-day kindergarten, we still get to spend the morning with her.  And I do have to say that it is nice to get some one-on-one time with Cole.  Yesterday afternoon we took him to Monkey Joe's and had a great time.  Monkey Joe's is one of those jumpy places and Cole really enjoyed going from jumpy to jumpy and encouraging us to climb and slide with him.  :) 

That brings me to the video.  Cort is such a kid and heart and I secretly believe he wishes these places were made for grown-ups.  He was having a good ole time with Cole.  This video is of the "pinball" jumpy where you are supposed to bounce off the things on the side.  I have watched this video over and over and over because it just makes me laugh.  Enjoy!

Shedd Aquarium

As I mentioned back in this post, each month we have been doing a different excursion with my mom.  This month we headed into the city to the Shedd Aquarium.  It was so much fun!  My mom was a good sport and let us pick her up at 8:15 (gotta beat those crowds and be there right when they open!).  We saw so many cool fish and sea creatures.  According to the family two big highlights were the big aquarium when you first walk in (where we got to see the diver feed the animals and talk to the audience) and Wild Reef (amazing aquariums and sharks).  Mia even got to ask the diver in the big tank a question that he answered while he was swimming-How does he get in there?   :)

Please excuse any blurriness or funky colors in these pics.  They discourage flash photography around the fish, so I only busted out the flash when fish were not present.  :)

Mia and Cole checking out one of the many aquariums

 Cole and Grammy checking out some fish

 Doesn't he look happy?

Mia checking out one of the poison-dart frogs 

 Kiss for a fish

Here was Mia with the same fish 4 years ago!  My how she's grown!

My mom's reaction to some of the ENORMOUS river fish (true River Monsters!) 

 Mia

 Cole

 Mia and the snake

Cole and the snake 

Grammy and Mia 

Insane crab! 

Cort and my mom 

 Mom and the kids at lunch (you can't tell here, but we had a nice view of the lake)

 Cole touching some sea stars

 Mia's turn

 Some hands-on exhibits

 Thanks to my mom for getting pictures of me with the kids today!

 My mom loved the otters-they were sooooo cute!!

 Kids today-Mia asked if she could take a video of the penguins with my phone-really???

 One of our penguin friends

 My two favorite penguins

 Family shot

 Grammy and Mia learning something new

 Me with Mia

 Mia, Cole and a turtle

Mia

 My favorite of the day!

Thanks mom for a great day!