Like Our Own Personal Zoo

It was a cold and cruddy day, but I had told Ben we could go to the zoo a few weeks ago, so we went. And it was a great day to go because we had the whole place to ourselves! There were maybe 6 other groups of people at the zoo. The boys played in Nature's Neighborhood for over an hour! We typically don't spend more than 20 minutes in there because it gets crowded, but they had the whole place to themselves. 

I couldn't figure out what this fluffy chicken was. I stared at it for a long time trying to figure it out. A zookeeper showed up and was crate training the two chickens, so I asked him. It is a Chinese chicken, also called a Silkie, I think. He was crate training them so they could be used in educational programs. They were crazy looking chickens! And they have black skin under all those white feathers. 

So these lemurs are like rabbits. They have had babies every year for the past three years at this time of year and they did not disappoint again this year. The two sisters had babies the week before. We tried to see them, but the mamas had them all bundled up and cozy in a mama cocoon and we didn't get to see them. I expect we should be able to see them this Friday when we go to the zoo again. 

In the meantime, we did get to see this little guy (little brown head, second from the left). He's two months old and pretty darn cute. He's a crazy little thing - hopping and swinging all over the place when not cuddly with is mama. And I swear there is a pregnant gorilla at the zoo (no picture). I'll keep you posted. 

Getting Our Clean On

As I sat at the table eating breakfast one morning, trying to look out the back door, I decided it needed to be cleaned. But I was eating breakfast and Adam was doing the dishes, so who did that leave? Ben and Nick. So I called Ben over, told him to grab the paper towels and windex and get to work! And of course Monkey See, Monkey Do kicked in and Nick joined in. One took the inside and the other the outside. I wouldn't call it a professional job, and there was a height restriction issue, but it was definitely better than before they started. I am planning a Target excursion to find all the 'child friendly' cleaning products. I hear there are some good toilet cleaning products that a responsible 5 year old can master. 

Work It!

It was work out time in the basement this weekend! The boys hit the weights and started doing some chest and shoulder lifts. Nick then did some push ups and I guess we could call it yoga. (Pictures taken with iphone in non-optimal lighting, but you still get the idea)

Legos upon Legos!

Friday morning we went over Build It, an all Legos, all the time place. Needless to say, my children were in heaven. They had everything from duplos to regular legos to giant blocks. Nick loved playing with the train set. I couldn't even tell you how many of the train/car pieces they had, but at one point Nick had all of them. Ben and Cameryn had fun making cars and racing them down the tracks. Ben has been begging for small legos ever since!

The Very Last Of the Snow!!!!

Date: April 2. 

Alleluia! The very last bit of snow from the epic curb pile in our yard. The last hold out is the 10ft pile from the cul de sac circle. There is still some left there. But our yard is now snow free!

Some Sweet Dance Moves

These are some of the most awesome dance moves you will ever see. The song: Miami Sound Machine, Conga. Totally awesome

A Frozen Inspired Nap Time

I will suffer through Frozen songs if everyone takes a nap!

More Snow Pictures

I kind of forgot about these pictures from the snow - they were on my phone. 

This was still mid-storm. We had a total of 9 inches behind the back door.

Our totally awesome neighbor plowing our driveway. It was a tough job!

Note that the snow pile on the circle is now taller than the snow plow. He also almost got stuck going around the circle. His tires were spinning and didn't move for a few seconds. 

The Wolny snow hill.

Nick will not be able to reach this branch again until freshman year in high school (if he's lucky)

#tbt

There is this thing called Throw Back Thursday, aka #tbt, where you post old pictures. So in honor of #tbt, I am taking us back to December 2009 and cute little baby that loves his pancakes. Jump forward 4 years and cute little boy now eats nothing less than 5 pancakes, a yogurt, a banana, orange juice and maybe some cereal for good measure, for breakfast. Then has another breakfast at school, lunch, snack and then 2 pork chops, two helpings of vegetables, a quarter pound of potatoes, a yogurt (and is still hungry!) for dinner.

December 2009:
Little piggy was scarfing down the pancakes yesterday. He ate 4 pancakes, and banana and a bottle for breakfast. And then ate a sizable lunch 3 hours later. I guess walking requires a lot of calories.

Little Green Leprechauns

Our little leprechauns on St. Patrick's Day. Nick wore his big green bow tie all day. I gave Ben the option of green pants and black shirt or black pants and green shirt. He nixed the black and went with all green. Note, three different shades of green.

Just Another Snow Storm

Same story, different day. Adam out of the country, me home with the boys alone, mid week snow storm, 9 inches of snow, level 3 snow emergency and a test to my sanity. After the blizzard of the morning subsided, we went outside in the afternoon to play. Cameryn and Avery trudged over to see us and the seven foot snow piles. The kids went sledding on one of the driveway piles. Ben dug a tunnel in the pile while Nick sliced it with his small Jake sword. So, after this snow storm, our street pile was about 6-7 feet tall. Almost three weeks later, there is still 2 feet of snow in that pile. I believe it is the last surviving pile in the entire neighborhood.