Off to the Zoo

It's one of our favorite things and the Minnesota Zoo can be enjoyed year-round, so we often find that on really cold, frozen tundra days OR really nice spring weather days, it's a great destination.

So a few weeks back, we headed down for a trip. The kids wanted to ride on the monorail (which for those of you unfamiliar is an elevated electric train that travels throughout the zoo's acreage so you can see the exhibits from up high, there are walking trails on the ground that follow most of the same route since the zoo is HUGE, so we had to walk that too). The last time we were at the zoo, the Monorail was closed due to 'technical difficulties" so the kids were excited to ride on it today.

We visited the farm they have there, and since it's spring time, they have all the farm babies now on display as well.

We of course have our favorites - the big fish tank and the dolphin tanks. We got to see them working with the dolphins, but no shows since they are on hiatus for awhile.

Andrew was more willing on this particular day to pose for photos. Cailin, not so much. You just never know whose going to be hammy when we have the camera out.




We stayed so long, longer than usual that we even ate lunch there and then spent more time running around. It was a beautiful day!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. (www.mycharmingkids.net)

It was not me that was nursing two sick kids this past week and while caring for said sick kid #2, carrying him into the bathroom from where he was resting in my bed, having him throw up all over the bathroom floor didn't say out loud "glad THAT didn't happen in my bed two minutes ago - WOW". That would not have been me, I'm sure I would have been most concerned about my poor, sick, uncomfortable child.

And it wasn't me who took a recovered child #2 to the local flower store to pick up some vegetables to plant in our garden that apologized to some nice lady in the store when my son yelled at her "DON'T LOOK AT ME!". Nice. I'm sure that could not have been me OR it could not have been MY child!

And it was not me that hasn't completed a Not Me! entry in well over two months. Nah - couldn't be me. I'm sooooooooooo organized and would not have forgotten every single funny story that when it happens I think 'hmmm I have to remember this for monday...." yeah right, I am so not forgetful!

Happy Monday!

Definition of "Perfection"

In My World:

enough said.

The View From Here

I love this time of year.

The tulips (my favorite flower) are blooming.


The lilacs are blooming (also a favorite and a Minnesota classic).


Our new crab apple tree is about to burst into bloom.

We pulled out the dead stuff that didn't make it. :( like my sad lilac.

My Azalea bushes survived (even with the dog doing his best to destroy them)and are in full bloom.


We planted the garden.


Strawberries are blooming.

Tomatoes are planted.

Lilacs on my table.

Spring is awesome! New life planted, blooming and growing. Love it!

A Day in the Country

We went down to Pine Island to visit Grandma and Grandpa Friary recently. With all the recent nice weather, we were itching to get the camper out of our driveway and do some camping.

Plus, with the new family addition, we weren't sure how he was going to handle camping (and sleeping) in our camper. So we decided to try things out in familiar territory so that if things went horribly wrong, we wouldn't be too far from comfort.

We spent one of the days out at Grandma and Grandpa's new country retreat. Out in the country near where the old family Mosher farm used to be, they have land. On that land, they built a shed, kind of a fancy schmancy shed as far as sheds go.

It also has an awesome view and lots of land to roam. Well, the neighboring land is owned by other relatives. But hopefully they like us still and are ok with us wandering a bit on their land... :)


It was a beautiful day and we spent some time wandering through the tall grass.


The dogs loved it. All three of them. No, we did not adopt any MORE dogs, the other two goldens belong to Grandma and Grandpa. Sometimes it was hard to tell at a distance who was which dog.

We played in the shed on tractors and rode our bikes around too.


It was a beautiful day!

Dresses

When I first found out that I was having a baby girl several years back, I was excited. Excited for many reasons, but one was so I could buy all those really cute girl baby/toddler clothes they have now. I remember when I was little that the clothes weren't exactly as cool as they are now.

But to my dismay, Cailin REFUSED to wear any kind of dresses. She hated them. I had so many adorable dresses that went on to another family having never been worn by Cailin. "Oh well, maybe someday...." I'd think.

But that has all changed lately. One day she says to me "Mom, why don't I have any dresses? I'd like to wear a dress today..." So off to the store I went and bought a few dresses.

There was a craft fair in town recently and there is a vendor that I love that goes every time. She makes really cute tie-dyed stuff.

So I bought her a dress. (just ignore the sweatshirt - it was a bit chilly on this particular day)

And, she actually is wearing the dresses I bought for her.

And she looks really cute in them to say the least.

Wish I could wear stuff like that and look cute like her.

Easter Weekend

This year (as with most years) we began the Easter Weekend with coloring of the eggs. The kids LOVE to do this activity and when I was at the store I wasn't sure which coloring kit they'd like, so I bought two. That was more than enough and we got to coloring.

Mike helped with the eggs.

Then Cailin and Andrew had to show off their hard work.



Andrew thought we should hide the eggs in the backyard until I reminded him that it was only Thursday (a few days away from the arrival of the infamous bunny) and that our dog Jake would make sure nothing was left if we put them outside. And I don't even want to think about what that would look like if Jake ate one dozen colored, hard-boiled eggs. yuck!

Cailin woke up bright and early Sunday morning and thought that the Easter Bunny had indeed arrived since it was morning. It was painful to her to wait until Andrew woke up, who surprisingly, decided to sleep in. Once both kids were up, it was the instant search for the baskets that were well-hidden. Cailin found her basket and then helped Andrew find his.


On Sunday afternoon, we headed to our Aunt Rayna's house for the family gathering. We were thrilled to see Joey who was back from college for spring break, as we were excited to see everyone else. We all had a late lunch together and then set off on our big egg hunt. They have a large yard, so it was a big search and lots of fun!

Cailin was 'directing' her little brother - as usual on the ins and outs of egg hunting.


And they were successful in finding all of their candy-filled eggs. Then of course they needed to enjoy their goodies!


Then we played and played and played and played and played. Needless to say by the time we got back home, the kids were fired up on sugar, filthy from playing outside all day and absolutely exhausted. It was an awesome day!

Springtime in Minnesota

You can tell those first warm days in Minnesota when EVERYONE is outside. It's still got a little bit of a chill in the air, but everyone is outside. Walking, doing yard work, cleaning, playing - you name it, anything that can be done outside is done outside especially on those first few nice days in the spring.

It's awesome because we don't have bugs yet and it's not one thousand degrees out, or 100% humidity levels, so you can be outside and comfortable. You can be warm but not hot and not worry about getting eaten by mosquitoes the size of my uncles Dachshund.

So this past weekend, we joined the bandwagon and spent as much time outside as possible.

March hasn't been a great month for me. I have been working through some medical stuff and then finally this past week was home ill with a high fever and strep throat for a few days. That knocked me out once again. But let's hope this is all behind us (and that I didn't get anyone in my family sick unknowingly). So there have been a few weekends where mommy has been laid up and not up for playing outside. That seemed to be the hardest for the kiddos - But that is leaving with the tides of March (or so I hope...)

Saturday was cooler and overcast most of the day, so we bundled up and headed outside. We had our first fire of the season in the backyard and of course had to make s'mores. The kids found that if they climbed up into the tree house on our swing set that the dog couldn't get up there

Even though he tried to, the slide proved too slippery for him to master....yet at least.

We had to install a fence around our vegetable garden as Jake has found this is an awesome place to play, dig and do other unmentionables, so we put up a fence to keep his mischievous paws out.

Then Sunday was much warmer. The sun was out and we hit two playgrounds in the area plus our own backyard.

Andrew was up first from his nap well he actually didn't nap today for some odd reason, so he was up within the hour wanting to go outside again. And hey, who could resist? So we headed out back for more playtime and he had to show off his skills on the glider and monkey bars.




So here's to many more warm, sunny spring days ahead. Full of smiles and good health!