The Zoo!

Sam, Max and I carpooled with Ramita and Eric from next door to go to the zoo this morning.  The weather was perfect . . . overcast and slightly chilly and the boys were so excited to get there!  I think Sam and Eric had more fun running around together than actually looking at the animals, but as long as fun was had, who cares!!

Checkin' out Big Papa Lion with his "little" cubs.

SOOO excited about the Amazon exhibit . . . pointing to his favorite ginormous fish.

More fish.

The whole tank of interesting fish and he's pointing out the tiniest white snail on the window . . . see it?

Ramita agreeing to give Sam a ride on the bear . . . and Eric then thinking it's a pretty sweet idea too!

Perfect timing!!  An actual orangutan on the "O-Xing!!"  This guy was posing (and peeing) for us.

 Although the Amazon exhibit was Sam's favorite (lots of freshwater stingray, HUGE fish, snakes, and real tarantulas for him to drool over) I loved seeing the orangutans over our heads.  One of them actually stopped to pose for pictures and let out what must have been 50 gallons of pee!!  Good thing he was over the gardens and not directly over our heads!!  Here's a video (can you tell I was excited about it??!)

It got VERY crowded so we left before lunch and the boys and I met Daddy at his office.  Sam LOVES going to his office and has been begging me all week to take him.

Stapling and staple-removing stuff.

It's a VERY serious job.

No interest in the ball . . . straight for the cables and cords EVERY time.

Daddy *thinks* he's being slick by standing in front of the cords after removing the boy 16 times.

So lucky I'm a cutie-pie!!

All this fun followed by a nice looooong nap (for everyone!!).  Can't wait to get on the plane and see the Granny's, Gramps' and Aunt Heather next week!!  :)

Who Needs Coffee?

When I get to wake up and greet the day with these cute little monkeys?  Sam, in taking on his new role as best big brother ever, has decided that when he wakes up, he needs to keep his baby brother entertained and happy.  Such a good boy.

 

Otherwise, poor Mr. Maxy-Pie would have to entertain himself solely by chewing the crib rails and/or squealing at his older brother while at the same time banging various body parts into the slats. 
 

Look closely . . . can you see the amount of *stuff* piled up in this crib?!!  I can promise you it wasn't in there while they were both sleeping!!
 

Sam likes to give his brother Big Panda, Dinosaur, Little Panda, Giraffe Pillow, and just about *every* book in his book box.  See that red bump on his forehead?  Probably from pre-stuff head-bumping!!  

It's so sweet to see how much Sam loves his little brother, especially since Max *adores* him!  And when I catch him doing something thoughtful for him it fills me with ooey-gooey heart-melting love so intensely that I just want to bite his toes off!  

My Thumb *Just* May Have A Bit Of Green In It!

Last weekend, during the beautiful weather, I took advantage of having Granny and Grandpa here and got all of the planting done.  Meaning, I have succeeded in FINALLY planting our yard with pretty posies way before my normal mid-summer deadline, which leads me to think only one thought:

Boo-ya Mr. Green Thumb Older Brother!!  My yard kicks your yard's butt!!!

I know it's only a matter of a few weeks before his yard is planted and fully beautified, so I'm taking complete advantage while I can.

Siberian tomatoes and pretty sad basil.

More Siberians.

Zinnias and a sunflower on one side of the steps.

Zinnias and smelly purple one on the other side.

Gorgeous hanging baskets!

Big improvement, don'tcha think?

Hot pink begonias along the bottom steps.

Lots of Sun Babies along the house!

And lots and lots of cuteness that is my Sam and Max.  'Cause if you've read this far you deserve a bit of that too!!

Right before he lunged for the camera.

Stopping only for a moment during his hard work to pose.

Keeping the yard looking nice is hard work.

 Thanks Mom and Dad for the plants!  Doing out best to keep them green and beautiful!!  :)

So Grown Up!

Believe it or not, my "baby" is wrapping up his first year of school.  Okay, so it's only nursery school, and only two mornings a week, but still . . . where does the time go?

Check out his adorable class picture.  My Sam's the tallest one in the back row, same as I used to be.  (And yeah, I totally took a picture of a picture which is why it's so fuzzy . . . at least I didn't get my thumb in the corner! )

For all of you Grannys and Grampas and Aunts and Uncles and Cousins who may have been hearing all about his school friends, now you have a face to go with the stories!  In the back row next to Sam is Seamus and Zachary.  Next row is Madeline, Maddie, Jackson (one of his *best* friends), and Hannah, and in the front is Ben, Zoe (who Sam has always insisted is quite naughty) and Coltrane (another of his besties).  Mrs. Dunmire is on the right and Ms. Robbins on the left.

This afternoon, while waiting with the mommies to pick up our big kids, Jackson's mom was telling me how he is always talking about Sam, and likes to end his Sam stories with, "He's a really nice boy."  This morning when Jackson's dad brought him to school he asked his mom, "Which one is Sam?  I'm always hearing so much about him." She told him, "Sam's the tall one who always acts so much older and calmer than everyone else."  Let's hope that since he'll always be the oldest in his class he continues to be such a role model!!  Love him to pieces.  We'll definitely have to get Jackson's phone number for some summer play dates!

May Already??!!

Yippee skippee Spring is here!  We've actually been lucky enough to have a few springy days here at the end of April instead of going from extreme cold to extreme hot like it usually does each year.  

Michelle and I took the babes to the park to ride the train and the carousel today.  They loved the train so much we rode it twice.  Max was the only one of all of us who *loved* the carousel. . . Sam actually picked to ride on the boring bench, Aidan wanted Mich to walk around with him and put him on different horses, and the spinning speed was *just* a bit too fast for us girls to handle so we were a bit nauseous and dizzy by the end.  Aside from that though?  It was so wonderful to just hang out and enjoy the gorgeous weather while watching the big boys dig and run around like lunatics.

The cuteness riding the train.

Watching where we're going.

HAD to sit next to Aunt Mich.

Aidan with Mom.

Seriously?  How cute is this kid?  And how much is he loving the swing?

Insists on wearing his cap backwards.

Climbing so high!!  (And making me SO nervous!)