Zoo Trip

Chris had the week off last week and because the weather was pretty nice, we headed to the zoo!

This was the third visit for us this year, and it was TONS of fun, as usual! Instead of seeing the usual animals (bears, big cats, dolphins), we checked out the more exotic animals. We saw lots of turtles and birds :) A lot of the animals were also really close to the fence, so I got some pretty good closeups.

During the summer, Brookfield Zoo also has a stingray exhibit, so we decided to go! Sadly, there was a summer camp group in there that was splashing and being rather obnoxious, so I ended up being the only one who got to touch a stingray. Poor Ethan - he was so excited about being able to meet Mr. Ray!

Here are the highlights:

Lion ride :)

Well, hello there

Wombat butt :)

Pygmy hippo!

Mr. Rhino

Peacock in full glory!

This gorilla was awesome - he was resting, then decided to look for a different spot to lounge, so he picked up his bedding and climbed up higher :)

My little otters :)

Buffalo on the run! They alternated between grazing peacefully and running like crazy!

Check out the gorgeous colors on this guy!

Just a really neat view of a turtle swimming

My little fruit bat

Remember that scene in the first Harry Potter movie with the huge python? This is what this reminded me of!

Ethan wanted to take a picture with the friendly bear outside the gift shop

Mr. Ray & Co

The most adorable little turtle - this little guy was crawling around and Ethan claimed it waved at him :P

Eva the Pig

A Quick March Roundup (including Easter)

I have the best intentions on doing timely blog posts about fun things, but life and children get in the way! So here's a quick round up of some of the fun things we did in March, including Easter!

Face painting at the Whole Foods Easter Egg Hunt - Ethan chose Spiderman, of course!

Picking up eggs :)

Quick picture with the Easter bunny

Fun outside - come back nice weather!

Eva is having more fun than this picture suggests :P

A trip to the zoo!

Easter dress!

To Be A Superhero...

I swear little boys go through the same few phases - Elmo, trucks, trains and super heroes! Ethan is going through a super hero phase now and loves anything to do with Spiderman, Superman, Batman, etc.

Last night, we went to my good friend Mary's house for dinner with her and Scott. Being the curious child that he is, Ethan discovered super hero aprons and (naturally) had to try them on. Mommy also had some fun too, as you can see from the pictures below.

Thank you for a fun evening, Mary and Scott!

Superman and Wonder Woman

Ethan as Wonder Woman

Saturday Fun

We had a pretty fun Saturday this weekend and thought we'd share it with you!

It was the first Saturday of the month, so there was arts and crafts at Home Depot, which Ethan has been doing for 1.5 years now! This month the kids made a little red race car. Sadly, there was no painting, but there was plenty of hammering and stickers involved!

Then we decided to have a little treat and headed to The Sugar Path, which is a new cupcake place in town. OMG do they have wonderful cupcakes! I'm the girl who HATES buttercream frosting, but I love The Sugar Path's version - smooth, creamy, buttery and none of that gritty nastiness that you usually get. They have creative flavors too - my favorite is Fluffernutter (a marshmallowy peanut buttery delight!)! 

Of course, having eaten all that cake, we needed to burn off those calories (a girl's gotta watch her waistline, right?). We still had a reasonable amount of snow in the yard, so we headed out back and went sledding! Even Eva got in on the action and a good time was had by all :)

Hope you guys had a wonderful weekend as well!

Carefully placing the sticker

All done!

Mayhem, vegan strawberry and Lady Jane by the slice

Ethan's cupcake - the vegan strawberry. Scarlett (red velvet) is his favorite, but it wasn't on the menu when we went.

Me and Eva's cake - Lady Jane. Just a simple yellow cake with pink buttercream frosting!

Chris's cupcake - Mayhem (yes you need to get the Allstate employee the Allstate cupcake :P).  Fudge filled chocolate cake topped with buttercream frosting, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, caramel sauce, fudge sauce and coconut!

Eva's enjoying her cake covered fingers!

Cupcake <3

Going down the hill!

Baby girl zooming by :)

Valentine's Day 2013

We didn't do anything spectacular - just stayed in. Chris went out to NIU to speak to their ACM organization, but he brought back some super yummy takeout from a Mexican place we used to go to.

Chris and I also did what was supposed to be $10 presents, but ended up being $15 presents - it was fun being creative! I got him some Guinness and a "beer and pretzels" cupcake. He got me a tripod for my DSLR- yay!

Ethan did have fun at school - I found some Spiderman Valentine cards for him to take to school and share with his friends. We also made a super cute Valentine's Day banner :)

Beer, "beer and pretzels"

Sibling love :) Eva's shirt says "True Love" and she's wearing a matching Minnie Mouse hair clip.

The banner! It started out as a Valentine's Day snowman, but then he wanted to make a heart for each member of our family, so we made a banner instead.

Daddy's heart

Mommy's heart

Ethan's heart

Eva's heart

Ethan at 3.5

Interview with a 3.5 year old - the answers are all his, I've clarified in parentheses :) 

Ethan has grown up so much and we are so proud of him - he can be difficult at times, but overall he is a very sweet boy.

1. What is your favorite color? Red

2. What is your favorite toy? Train table

3. What is your favorite fruit? Bananas

4. What is your favorite TV show? Alfie and Jack (Thomas's Trusty Friends)

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? peanut butter sandwich

6. What is your favorite outfit? Spiderman shirt, Spiderman underwear and Spiderman shoes (don't worry, pants are involved too!)

7. What is your favorite game? Candyland

8. What is your favorite snack? bunny crackers

9. What is your favorite animal? Pooh bear

10. What is your favorite song? Spiderman

11. What is your favorite book? Ironman

12. Who is your best friend? Mommy (<3!)

13. What is your favorite sport? football 

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play with my dump trucks

15. What is your favorite drink? milk

16. What is your favorite holiday? Valentine's day

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Pooh bear

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? cereal and milk

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? cake (we took him to Sugar Path for a half birthday treat)

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Batman

Sibling picture :)

The Scarlett (red velvet) - there was a raspberry on top, but someone snatched it up in a hurry!

Chinese New Year

My little dragon baby just celebrated her first Chinese New Year with everyone!  We went and spent the day at my parents' house. My brother came home (he lives and works in St. Louis) for the weekend and we got to meet his friends Nathan and Mallory (who also happen to be Diablo 3 players, hehe).

Here are some pictures!

Beautiful girl

Eva in her Chinese New Year outfit - complete with dragon onesie and a custom headband by (who else) Mia and Mackie in the Mirror

Future piano prodigy

Playing a song for Grandpa

Grandpa with Eva and Ethan

Eva and Momby

Cheesecake- my mother's favorite dessert!

The spread

Daddy and the kids