A Day at the Zoo

Eric and I finished out the year with the kids by going to the zoo! The zoo was running a deal where if you paid for one adult then one child got in free. Worked out great for us so we took them up on the offer. Today we entered at the West gate rather than the North gate like we usually do. I only mention this because we saw some things that we have never looked at! Usually we start with the attractions by the North gate but are tuckered out by the time we hit the stuff by the West gate and boycott it so we can go home. Not today! All those things that we usually miss we looked at today. Mostly it was some birds and ducks but Eric and I found it interesting so there you go.

Once we made it through that area we stopped for lunch at the cafeteria. It was really chilly today so there were very few people at the zoo which was wonderful. None of the exhibits were crowded which is always a plus. On the down side it did start to rain right after lunch and so we were pretty wet by the time we finished. Although I guess we should expect that living in the PNW. At lunch we asked everyone what one thing they HAD to see before we left.



Andrew picked the snakes as his must see exhibit. I am not super fond of the reptile house but at least it was warm and dry so off we went. The kids really enjoyed looking at all the exhibits in the house. And at the end of the snake area there was a touch exhibit.


The kids were all incredibly brave touching the snake. I declined. But I was glad to see that the kids were ok with it.

Even Lucy was braver than me!

After the nocturnal house it was a time to see the gorillas (my pick). I didn't get any pictures of the gorilla baby this trip but it was being super cute and wrestling with one of the other gorillas. The big gorilla would beat its chest and tackle the baby. It reminded me a lot of Eric wrestling with the kids. Lots of fake aggression and tackling.

A quick walk to see the elephants (Zane's pick) and then the grizzly bears (Eric's pick) rounded out the animal watching.

We spent a lot of time watching the otters. They are always such a hit. Cute little buggers they are! (plus it was covered!)

We even got to see the super elusive gray wolf they claim lives at the park. In all the years we have been coming Eric and I have never seen the darn thing. Today we not only saw it but got to take some photos. It was very cool.

The end of the day we went on a carousel ride. I don't know exactly why but it was a free carousel ride day today. We rode it twice! A very nice treat because it is not something we would normally spend money to do!

Spending time with my family. I can't think of a nicer way to end 2009!

ALREADY?!?!

I have had a suspicion for a few days now that my Gwenie girl could sit. She is pretty sturdy when you have her sitting on your lap so I thought that I would try her out tonight on my bed while I was folding clothes. Lo and behold I was right!



Not only can she sit, she also never fell on her face and managed to stay sitting for about 20 minutes before she finally tuckered out. She even could bend over to grab at stuff and then get back to a full sitting position. I think all the time that she spends in the saucersizer helps. It certainly has not hurt her core strength. Plus she constantly watches the kids play and seems very interested in getting in the mix too! Next thing I know she will be pushing back up into a sit and crawling. She is not old enough for this. I wanted her to stay my little baby for just a bit longer. Really bittersweet for me.

Children's Museum Fun

Took the kids to the Imagine Children's Museum in Everett this morning. We had a good time. I am not crazy when it comes to knowing my limits in ability to do things with all my kiddos and so this was the first time I felt confident taking all four to the museum by myself. The kids had a wonderful time playing with the trains and the ball maze this morning. Then they started getting hungry tummies and we went downstairs to have some lunch. Once filled up we headed back upstairs to play in the water room and with the other exhibits that we hadn't gotten to earlier in the morning. Lucy in particular loved the ball maze. She played with that for at least 30 minutes once she figured out how to get the balls into the tubes. The boys played trains quite a bit and had a wonderful time with the water room.

I needed to take them to do something today because they are getting on each others nerves now that Christmas is over. It will be a good thing when Andrew gets back to school. A little separation is a great thing these days. Gwen managed to sit and look adorable the whole time in her seat. It is fun to see how much other little kids like babies. Especially the 1 to 2 year old group. They are just fascinated by them and want to smile and touch them. Very cute.

The only thing I did not do while out and about with my kiddos was take pictures. Right now trying to lug the camera along as well as kids and lunch just ups the stress level a wee bit too much for me. When I have Eric with me I will take photos; when by myself I don't. There is a limit to my multi-tasking and a camera is just over the limit.

Her Highness: Lucy the Lovely

I talked to my brother this week to give him hints for Christmas presents. The obvious hint for the boys was Wii stuff but Lucy was a puzzle. I mentioned that she liked jewelry and Reece and Angie took it and ran with it!

Lucy of course insisted on putting it all on. No way could she only wear one ring, or bracelet, or necklace. She had to wear them all!

I believe a jewelry box will be the present for her birthday from us. I think she has more bling than I do!

Elizabeth Taylor: Eat your heart out!

Merry Christmas!!!

Hope you all are having a wonderful celebration of Christmas! The kids were very excited to have Christmas come this year. Lucy got a lot of little girl jewelry and she is quite proud of herself! What a little diva!!!!

Santa brought the boys a Wii this year. They are having a lot of fun with it!

Andrew playing the Lumberjack game!

Gwen seems a bit overwhelmed by it all but is happy to watch the activities from her saucer.

Two excited boys!

Lots of stuff to happen later today when family comes to visit. Hopefully we will be able to tear the kids away from the Wii!

A Farmer is in Our Future

This was published in the local paper. Apparently Andrew wasn't totally honest with us about what he wants for Christmas. He will have to wait for us to have a different house though! There is no room for a chicken here. And his plan of having it live in a cage under Zane's bed is absolutely out of the question!

Cereal Time!!!

There is a hard and fast rule at my house. The rule goes something like this: Once a baby who has been sleeping through the night begins to wake again they must be fed cereal. This is because a mommy who has begun to experience whole nights of sleep is cranky when woke up again and again and again.... You get my point. Gwen had been sleeping through the night. The last two nights however she has been waking every 2 or 3 hours to eat. Not so hot in my opinion. It makes me a wee bit grumpy to lose sleep like that.

Yesterday I bought some rice cereal in case I had another rough night last night. So tonight we started with the cereal. Gwen has been super interested in food for a few weeks so I figured it was about time. Anyway, we tried the cereal at dinner time with the expected results.

Miss Gwen getting ready for some delicious rice cereal

Really excited

A first bite

Seriously Mom? More of this foul stuff?

I don't know exactly how much Gwen ate but she was not entirely in love with the cereal. It will take a few days and then she will get into it I am sure. Now I just have to wait and see if it makes any difference with her sleeping tonight. I certainly hope it helps!