Cameron Park Zoo

Devon didn't end up having to work today, so we decided to head to the zoo. I have heard about this zoo before, but we had never been. When we first arrived it was overcast skies and a misty rain, so there were only about ten cars in the parking lot. The place was practically empty.

Miss Lyric led the way with the map. The big girls took their cameras, so Cadence took this pretend camera. Every time someone would take a picture she would also take a picture. If her camera would have been working we would have some great sky shots!The girls checking out the bald eagles. They were all wet from the rain. We were really hoping they would stretch their wings out to dry, but that didn't happen. We pretty much had the place to ourselves, so we could RUN!

Posing with the butterflies or riding on them, still fun either way you look at it.Lyric and I checking out the sloth. The girls love It's A Big World, so it was fun to see Snook in real life.We saw this sign, so everyone held on to mama!

Here come the alligators...

Get ready... I wouldn't want to be in there! They has this cool area where you could crawl in this hole to see the alligators through the glass. Story and I thought it was stinky (it smelled just like fish)! So, we were going to wait for Daddy and Lyric to check it out. But, Daddy and Lyric said it was really cool we had to come in. So, we did. It was very cool you could see an alligator just laying there floating in the water.Little did we know, if you keep walking through a door you could see the same thing without crawling in the stinky hole. Sorry we drug you in there Story Bell:-)The leopard display was pretty awesome! You could sit right in front of the cage. I wanted a picture, but Lyric and Cadence were too busy looking at the leopard to pose for the camera. I can't say that I blame them. We thought the girls would really enjoy sliding through the otters. Story and Cadence did. Miss Lyric was more afraid of the otter swimming under her than she was of the alligators or the leopard!

Another sky shot from Cadence.

Miss Lyric hitching a ride.

The elephant was my favorite part of the zoo. He was getting a drink right there in front of us! It was so cool. He would suck the water up his trunk and then squirt it in his mouth. Did you know their trunk can hold a gallon and a half of water at a time? That's a lot of water! After seeing all the animals it was time for a snack.

Fudgescicle, yum!

Water, yum!I wanted to take the girls' picture on this rock, but the big two wouldn't cooperate and Cadence would sit, but she really didn't want to look at me.We visited the gift shop at the end of our trip. You guys should have seen Baby Cadence in there! That child is grown! We were walking around letting the girls each pick something out. She walked up to Devon with a toy in each hand, "Buy, buy." She is only 18 months old. Isn't she too young to know what that means?A couple of cute wagon shots.

We had a really good time today and will definitely be visiting this zoo again!

Made Me Smile!

We stopped restricting food with our girls probably about six months ago. This means they can have whatever they want to eat whenever. I know it sounds crazy when you first think of the concept, but you would be surprised how well it works. I was just in the office on the computer and I heard the girls in the kitchen. They were trying to climb on the counter because they couldn't reach what they wanted. I went in to help and discovered they were reaching for a bowl of grape tomatoes. I helped them reach their prize and they were happy. Sitting right next to the bowl of tomatoes was a container of Thumbprint cookies from HEB. You know the kind that have a glob of chocolate in the center.

Amazing! At 5 and 3 who would think they would pick the tomatoes over cookies!

Gardening

We decided to start a garden. This is something we have never done, so it should be interesting to see what happens. Devon and the girls did some hoeing this evening. Just so you know, they all picked out their own clothes to complete this task. There was no help from mom or dad. Lyric chose to go with capri pants with a t-shirt that has a flower on the front and says grow (very fitting for the occasion). Cadence has on pajama bottoms and a hat (must protect that little head from the sun--apparently that cute little belly needed some color). Story Bell thinks gardening is a dress up affair; she decided to go with some pants and a shirt (the child never wears clothes, but for gardening one must be dressed and dressed nice at that!).

Along with the vegetable garden the girls and I decided we wanted to plant a sunflower garden along the fence. There was lots of work that needed to be done in this spot. The girls put the John Deer to good use this day. They hauled weeds and rocks. Wilbur, Lyric's new pig, went along for the ride. [To Grammy: Yes, mother I know they all three shouldn't be riding in it, but they make themselves fit and it is just so darn cute!] Everyone got to throw some of the sunflower seeds out.Everyone got a turn to rake. Everyone got a turn to water. Now we get to wait and see if they grow...

Think About Me Daddy

I got in a LOT of trouble for taking this picture! Story wanted Daddy to take her sea turtle and her scarf to work with him today. I just had to get a picture because Daddy looked so cute wearing her scarf. She DID NOT want me to take his picture, but I didn't think it was a big deal, so I did it anyway. Boy, was a wrong! She started crying, ran to her room and wouldn't talk to me. I felt really bad. The next time she tells me not to take a picture I will be sure to listen.

Daddy does look really cute though, don't ya think?

Window Silhouettes

The girls and I did a really cute Easter craft today. We found the idea over at Skip To My Lou. They had a really good time painting and the end result turned out really cute!

I think this may be our new holiday craft. You can make them any shape.

The Great Pretender!

The girls and I were heading out of the house for a little shopping today. As we were heading out the door I discovered they were in the middle of playing "Mama and Baby". Story was wearing huge rim pink sunglasses (she was the mama), Lyric had a pacifier(she was the baby) and Cadence was just Cadence (or so I thought). I got them all in the van and the big girls went to their seats. Cadence was just sort of wondering around the van. I said, "Get in your seat, Baby. Come on Baby, get in your seat."

Story, with her huge rim pink sunglasses and best "mommy" face and voice you have ever seen or heard said, "She is not the baby."

As she was talking, I started putting Cadence in her seat.

Cadence looked at me and yelled, "Lulu, Lulu! KAY! Lulu! KAY!"

Now I know "Kay" means okay, but I had no idea what else the child was saying.

Story, still wearing the huge rim pink sunglasses and using her "mommy" voice said to me, "Her name is Lulu."

Oh, okay!

For the rest of the day if you asked Cadence what her name was she said Lulu. She is quite the good pretender, but they may be confusing the poor kid!

Camping in Our Own Back Yard... Well Kind Of

We were going to go camping for Lyric's birthday, but it was cold and rainy, so we finally got around to it this weekend. She wanted to go to the donkey park. It isn't literally in our backyard, but it is only about ten or fifteen minutes from our house.

Cadence enjoyed telling Daddy just how to set the tent up. Daddy hard at work. The tent that we like to call our hotel. It is big, but we are a family of 5 with a lot of stuff! Miss Lyric found some cool sticks. Lyric spotted some dirt mounds across the pasture from our tent site. The girls and I decided to hike over and have a look at them. I pulled Story and Cadence in the wagon. The mounds weren't all that far from our site, but they seemed like miles pulling the wagon in the tall grass! First we checked out these, but decided it probably wasn't the best idea to climb on them because they had lots of big rocks and sticks sticking out. Lyric and I just didn't think they looked safe for climbing. Story disagreed:-) These mounds were just made up of small rock. We deemed them much safer.

King or shall I say Queen of the Mountain! I didn't get a picture of Cadence sitting in the wagon, but she wasn't into the dirt piles. After about five minutes she was sitting in the wagon yelling, "Ready, ready!" Story Bell posing by the wagon. When we got back to camp Daddy had the tent all set up, so Baby Cadence gabbed the lights and helped load it up! "Lights, lights!"We have had some rain lately, but not quite enough. Miss Lyric borrowed Daddy's hat for a while.After we got camp all set up we headed over to feed the donkeys.The donkeys are one of the girls' favorite things at this park. The two little ones enjoy watching them and Lyric likes to pet them. Today we took a couple of carrots to feed them.

This was a great idea in theory, but when it actually came time for the donkeys to take the food from the hand...That part didn't work out too well. But Mama enjoyed feeding them. After the donkeys we hiked around a while. Story Bell loves maps! She loves trying to read them and tell us which way to go. She spotted the trail map in the park and wanted me to take her picture with it.

This was my idea for the picture:

But apparently she had another pose in mind: I bought Cadence a new cup from HEB for $1.00. She LOVED it! You could hardly get the thing away from her. A dollar well spent!

Of course we had to hit the playground. Miss Lyric did some lounging while we were there

and some climbing.

Story Bell did a little hanging.Back to the trail. Story had the track guide looking for animals. Although she called it her "map".

Lyric and Daddy walking down to check out the pond.

Miss Lyric hitching a ride.

Miss Lyric getting a lesson on cooking with the camp stove.

We have no idea what Cadence was saying, but she stuck her head out of the tent about 400 hundred times and yelled at us. Every now and again we would hear a, "KAY!"

So, we would nod in agreement, "Okay."

The next morning. We hit the trail right after breakfast. It was still pretty chilly, so the girls and I decided to hike in our warm jammies.

Story didn't want to ride in the wagon, but wanted someone to carry her. Daddy and I both said we couldn't carry her, so Big Sis said she would. It lasted about three steps before Miss Lyric pooped out.

Aren't our jammies cute?

The girls having a seat to look at the water.

These things worked pretty good as a chair, but we have no idea what they are really supposed to be.

When we got back to break down camp Miss Lyric found something amazing! Deer droppings.

And yes she picked one up to show mama. Overall, we had a really good trip and we were back home in about 15 minutes! We did discover a major difference in our youngest child from the older two. We have always taken the kids camping. I remember a particular trip when Lyric was 18 months old (just like Cadence is now). She found this big rock and she carried it around the campsite. She would sit in her lawn chair and then get up and carry her rock around. You know just chilling out. Story has always pretty much been the same way camping. She follows around big sister and just hangs out. Well, not Cadence my friend! That child was in to everything! She was climbing on the picnic table, trying to climb on the camp stove while Daddy was cooking, pulling all the food out of the ice chest and a lot more that I can't remember right now! It was hard to relax trying to keep her out of everything!

We can't wait to plan our next trip.